Antique shop furniture in my house

These are projects that have been done for awhile - and I didn't go to all the trouble with them that I'm doing with the two end tables.  Just grabbed a can of spray paint and went at it.

And, in case you're wondering, I'm still working on the end tables.  Grandson said I should have posted progress pictures, but it's too late on the one - it's ALMOST finished.  Just waiting for the 'smell' to dissipate a bit.  Had to use spray adhesive inside the dog bed table and I don't think dog or cat will be interested until that smell subsides a bit.

So, back to my post... was looking for something to go in this spot right inside the door of my bedroom.  Originally had a dark wood tiered shelf like thing that had been my mothers.  Never did like it, didn't show things well.  Found this little bookcase on one of my daughter's and my antiquing trips.  It's solid wood, was already painted white and needed a repaint (which I did).  I love the fact that it's white, and it inspired me to add a lot of other white to my bedroom.

This little chest was green when I got it.  Remember the old 'antiquing' paint.  That's what it looked like.  I originally got it to use as a night stand for the big king size bed.  It was tall enough and exactly fit in the spot between the bed and the wall.

When I got rid of the bed it was way too high for the new platform bed, but I liked it and didn't want to get rid of it.  SO, decided I liked the white bookcase so well, I'd paint the little chest white. I do like the white - doesn't show the dust as well :-)

I've had the little stool since my grandkids were little.  Kept it in the bathroom so they could stand on it at the sink.  Now the cats use it to jump onto the trunk under the window. 

Furniture refinishing update

I've added a coffee table to my projects!  And no, not nearly finished with the two end tables.

Here's the coffee table sitting on saw horses ready to be sanded.

I'm pleased with my coffee table find.  It's pretty rough and beat up, but solid wood and I paid practically nothing for it.  Since it's not a family piece I am comfortable doing 'whatever' to it.  Plans are to stain the top and paint the sides and legs - haven't decided on a color yet... something to coordinate with my living room.

I sanded it this morning - and about did myself in doing it.  I didn't get the entire top down to bare wood like I wanted, my back gave out first.  Will get the primer on legs and sides later this afternoon after I recover a bit.  Then it sits for 7 days and I'll be able to work on the tables.

The primer on the tables had to 'cure' for 7 days so the first ones have just been 'sitting' and waiting.  Got the first partial coat on the dog bed table this morning.  Partial because the table is upside down getting the 'underside' of everything painted. Second coat goes on that later today.

These projects were much easier when I was younger :-)

Baby Goats - Help me name them

There's nothing any cutier - and I have 3.  Born last night.  Two little girls and a little boy and they're tiny ones.  All three have diarrhea and had to bring the little boy in this morning and clean his little rear.  He was good though - I'm sure it made him feel better.

I've been naming goats for 20+ years and have long since run out of names.  Grandkids have named some of them - but the grandkids are bigger and not as interested these days.  SOOOO, how about some naming help from my friends???  A contest maybe.  Of course, I'll have to come up with a prize.

So, here's the little boy.  His mama is a really young mama and I heard her crying when I let Frosty out at bedtime.  The baby was born by the time I could get on shoes and jacket and get son and DIL to go out with me.  So thankful - when I heard her crying I was afraid I was going to have to help - and that wasn't exactly what I wanted to do at bedtime.  He has a black strip down his back, just like his Daddy.

The first little girl.  Looks like her mama - except the mama has a little white patch on one side.  This little girl is ALL black.

And the other little girl - her twin

And here they are, all together

Now, who has names???  I'll feature you and/or your site on my blog and Iris Originals facebook page.  Not impressed you say? Oh well... at least you can enjoy the pics of these adorable babies.

Frosty has a New Raincoat

Frosty is a working dog and has to look good.  He's got a better wardrobe than I do.  Isn't he adorable???

This will be his 'winter raincoat' as it's heavier and has a hood.

This picture makes him look bigger than he is - he's wearing a sweater under the raincoat :-)  I gotta say, he wasn't real enthusiastic about the hood, and it comes down over his eyes if I'm not careful.  

It's a pretty purple color, lined and trimmed in pink.  It's okay, "Real Men wear Pink".

Our 'boss' gave it to him.  We work a couple of days a week in our local cross stitch shop.  He's the "greeter, guard dog, and all around conversation starter" and he takes his job very seriously.  

He always thinks we're leaving for work when I put a sweater on him, though he wears one most of the winter because he's so little and gets cold so easily.

Here's Frosty taking an outside break at the shop and sittin' in Rita's lap (note the sign in the window);

To twitter or not to twitter

Just uploaded a new lovely iris background to my twitter account - here's the original picture I used.  Don't you just love irises?  They're the most gorgeous flowers.

I'm still trying to figure out the fascination with twitter.  First of all, I can't say anything in the amount of space you have there.  I hate hash tags - and I particularly hate seeing twitter posts on facebook - you can't read them - what do they mean.  They're speaking a foreign language with lots of number symbols in little them :-)

I've been there for a long time, just haven't used it.  So, I'm giving it a shot.  Kinda like my blog - trying to get back to it.  Someone tell me why it's so wonderful though????

Today's plans were changed as I had to pick up granddaughter at school this am and take her to dr.  School nurse thought she might have the flu.  Thank God it wasn't - sinus infection.  She's been sleeping most of the day.

So, since I'm at home, I'm able to listen to my oldest grandson, Matt Thompson play baseball.  He's playing with the California Winter League and I can listen online (when their audio feed works - which is very sporadic).  Games just started on Saturday so hopefully I'll get to hear most of them.  Go Matt!!

Refinishing furniture

Found a great idea online to create a cute dog bed from an old end table.  FINALLY found the old table - really ratty and beat up, but that's okay.  Actually found a second (very different) table about the same time and decided to use both of them - after all, my love seat does have two ends.

Here's the original idea - I love it.

I still have to choose the fabric for the inside.  Looks like I'd better get busy with that.

Anyway, thought I'd have to wait a bit to start work on them but yesterday turned out to be a pretty, and relatively warm day - so I dashed out to Lowe's, got my supplies and got started.

Sanding was first.  Well, no that's not actually correct.  FINDING the sander was first.  Son finally found it in hubby's shop.  (The shop is such a mess it's difficult to find anything - we've GOT to clean it up - but that's another story.)  My patience level is zip and I'd probably have given up and bought another on... so I'm especially thankful that he found it.  Of course, there was sandpaper galore - hubby always had plenty of everything.

Took the entire project outside as I didn't want fine powdery dust over everything in the garage (the shop is in too big a mess to work in there - oh yeah, think I mentioned that).  So, got the sanding done.  (Yes, I wore a dust mask.)  I hate sanding! 

This is the table as I bought it - you can't really tell, but it's REALLY rough and beat up. Found it on Craigslist for next to nothing.

After sanding - but before cleaning.

This is the second one - has a little drawer in the top and then a file drawer in the bottom.  One can never have too many drawers to put "stuff" in - right?  Got this one at an antique mall - also really cheap.  This picture is before any sanding or anything.

Cleaned all the fine dust off both tables and moved everything back inside (well, son moved everything back inside).  Got the original idea table up on saw horses and applied primer.  Now, this table doesn't look very big, but there's LOTS of wood surface so that took awhile.

It's been drying overnight and now son has switch the tables and I've just finished putting prime on the second one this afternoon. Then they need to cure for 7 days before first coat of paint is applied.

When I was younger, I loved doing this sort of thing... (except the sanding - I always hated that part) but my back is still bothering me from yesterday, and I have body parts that hurt that I'd forgotten I have.  And you know - it's not like I really needed any more furniture in my house.  But, I've been slowly morphing my living room into something different for a couple of years now and I think I'm gonna like these little tables.

It's a good thing I didn't have room to work on both of them at the same time though or I probably wouldn't be able to walk. 

More on this project later... 

Meet Max

I have a friend who has an adorable dog - Max.

Max was a stray someone apparently dumped and my friend (Jacki) and her husband adopted him last year and, of course, fell madly in love with him.  Who wouldn't - look at this adorable baby.  The vet estimates he's about 1-1/2 years old.

Max is a terrier cross found abandoned last august.  He had bladder stones and now he needs liver surgery.

This is expensive surgery and without it Max's life span is only months from now.

I know many of my friends are animal lovers and I'm appealing to you for help.  Even a little means a lot.  A fundraiser has been established and if you can help AT ALL it would be appreciated.  Here's the Give Forward link.

Please keep Max in your prayers and if you can give at all I thank you, Max thanks you and Jacki thanks you.  And no, she didn't ask me to post this - or know that I was going to - but she still thanks you :-)

It's COLD in Alabama

WOW - two posts in two days.  That must be a record for me.

Yesterday was snow.  I don't like snow and cold. I'm definitely ready for spring/summer!

School out early so family all at home.  Son insisted we play a card game - what he and his brothers and Dad used to do on snow days in Missouri.  So, pinochle it was.  I'm not really a game kind of person and hadn't played it in years, but it pretty much came back to me - and I rather enjoyed it after we got into it (please, do not tell my family I said that :-)

I lived in Missouri for many years and endured way too much snow and cold.  Alabama is in the deep south - we're supposed to have warmer weather... and usually we do.  But yesterday was snow and ice.  And this morning, there's still snow & ice.  Not a lot of snow left, but the ice is still there.  The sun is shining today (thank you God).  Now if the temps will just go above freezing!

Those pictures probably don't look that bad if you live in an area that has snow - but remember, this is Alabama.  Not only do people not know how to drive on it - there's no means of getting it off roads.  We don't have ice trucks and snow plows here.

School closed today - too much ice on the county/back roads and parking lots.

I live in the country - on a mountain - and getting up and down it when there's ice is really tricky - so I'm home again today too.

Did I mention I hate cold and snow????

Oh my goodness - has it really been over a year since I've posted here?  apparently so.  I had such good intentions when I started this (and you know where that leads), but life just seems to get in the way.  I know, I know, whatever you make a priority gets done - obviously this wasn't high on my list.  Or maybe I just didn't have anything much to say.

I don't write nearly as entertainingly as some of my friends do, consequently, I'm not nearly as interesting to read..

A tiny recap of my year - had three grandkids graduate from high school this year - in three different states.  Thankfully on three different dates so I could make all of them.  One of my dreams when I was diagnosed with breast cancer was to see all of my grandchildren graduate from high school.  Two to go.

Oldest grandson graduated from college too.  Would have loved to be there, but just couldn't manage two trips to Texas within such a short time.

Left the church I'd attended for twenty two years to attend Resonate Church 9.22.  A new church started by my son.  It's still small and meeting in my house, but such a major blessing in my life having my son as my Pastor.  I'm still in contact with my previous church on a regular basis and they are doing well.

One son & grandson ripped up the carpet and put down new laminate flooring in my living/dining room while I was gone to one of the graduations.  I'm LOVIN it!  Looks so much better and much easier to clean (especially with the cats).

Finished Arimidex (cancer drug) in August... WOO HOO!!!  So, I'm officially off any prescription meds.    At my age may not always be able to say that, but I think that's a major blessing at my age.

Had to have Belle put to sleep - that was really difficult.  She had been Chuck's dog, but definitely became mine after he died.  It's never easy to lose a furkid, but their lifespan just isn't as long as ours.  She always thought Frosty's bed was there just for her - size apparently didn't matter.  She was 12 years old and had gotten so gray.  RIP sweet girl!

Started working on some weight loss towards the end of the year.  Only want to drop about 10 pounds, but that may be more difficult than a lot.  Managed 5 - but then the holidays came...  If I ate more food on a regular basis I could cut back more, but never been a big eater, so that doesn't work.  Trying to cut the carbs - but you know, the very best things to eat are full of carbs :-(

I'm sure there were other earth shaking events this past year, but since my memory is short, I can't think of them at the moment.

I am going to try and post more here this year.... we'll see how that goes.