Oh Christmas Tree.....

We went to cut down our tree this morning. We decided to take Wrigley and Maggie with us. This isn't Sparky's kind of activity, so we didn't feel bad leaving her behind. She was snuggled under her afghan on the couch when we left.

We have been cutting our tree at the same place since our kids were little. I love that they don't use insecticides on the trees and that it is a small family owned and run operation. We enjoy supporting them every year. They also donate a portion of the proceeds to the Environmental Defenders group.

They have hay wagons that take you out to the fields, and I wasn't sure how Wrigley would react. She's doesn't really like new things. I picked her up and put her on the wagon. I held her tight, not sure what she would do when we got going. Irv also had to lift Maggie up because she had no clue what we were doing. The tractor got going and the dogs seemed as happy as can be!

Here we are on the way out to find the "perfect" tree....

This tree farm suffered a huge loss during the drought years in the early 2000s and then the owner had a couple of knee replacements done and they weren't able to replant right away. Slowly they are getting new trees in and before you know it their fields will be full. I'm sure a lot of people have gone to other tree farms, but we are sticking it out and supporting them during these lean tree years.

We like short needled trees. I don't mind a Charlie Brown tree either. I just like the look and smell of a real tree. I don't want one that was cut back in October and sprayed to make it look more green. I am happy with what Mother Nature has created.

We found a great little tree.....and I can't wait to bring it in. They always look little out in the field and then we can barely get them through the front door! We'll probably set it up in a week or two.

Do you have a real tree or an artificial tree? Do you buy your tree on a lot or do you cut your own? When do you put your tree up? When do you take your tree down?

I'll post some pictures when we get ours up and decorated. I saw a cute tree in the window of a store and they tied all of their ornaments on with thin ribbon......it looked so darn cute that I'm going to give that a try!

Happy Saturday

We had a wonderful day yesterday with the kids...food was great, interesting conversation and fun bowling on wii! Today I am still full and tired and feeling just awesome. We are headed out this morning to cut down our Christmas tree, so I will check in again later. Make it a fantastic day today!

My BIG FourDogDay etsy sale continues through the weekend. Lots of FREE shipping and sale items plus some great clearance sections.

Chat with you again soon!

Happy Day After and etsy SALE WEEKEND!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday. We are having our Thanksgiving today, so I have a lot to get done this morning.

My dryer decided to pack it in yesterday, right in the middle of drying sheets, people blankets and dog blankets. Irv was able to mess with it each time it clunked out and get it going again, until the very last load of dog blankets. That was it...the dryer was done. The dryer is very old and we can't get a replacement part....so we will be out dryer shopping tomorrow. What a bummer! Here is what Irv and the three dogs looked like last night after a long day of cleaning and dryer repair! You can see Sparky's little head behind Maggie!

I got into trouble at this new little shop someone had recommended to me this week. First of all, I was there Wednesday morning and found this darling little vintage table that was perfect, and I mean perfect for between our two little chairs!

Then Irv and I went back in the afternoon because they had a lot of lamps that I liked. Of course, we found one, but it wasn't a resale one, it was new...but made to look old. We bought it. It's pretty funky and I'm sure the kids will look at it today and say, "WTF is that?", but I thought it was a riot! I moved the chairs so you can see the whole table with the funky lamp!

I found a dark brown couch cover. I'm not in love with it, but we decided a lighter one would just not work with the dogs. A couple of muddy paws and it will never look the same again, so we opted for the dark brown. It looks nice with the chairs and the walls, so I'm fine with it.

I hung Matt's pictures too. I just love them. I had to go a little high because there will be a table with a lamp in that corner and I didn't want them to be too hidden.

I have some work to do on the drapes. I hemmed them and after I hung them, they stretched, so now they are laying ON the floor, and 2 panels was not enough for the front window, but 4 is too many. Might have to do some cutting and sewing. We will see.

I have a BIG sale going in my etsy shop FourDogDay. Lots and lots of FREE shipping and 20% off coasters and cake stands. I had some sales yesterday so I am one happy little shop owner!

Well, I really need too scoot. The pumpkin pies are done which means I can have some for breakfast and I need to still make the apple! Have a wonderful day today and I will chat with you soon.

Being Thankful

Being a vegetarian....I prefer my turkey alive and happy like good old Courage here. Courage received a Presidential pardon yesterday and will not end up on anyone's dinner table today!


I hope that your day is filled with family, fun and good food as mine will be tomorrow when we celebrate. I have so much to be thankful for that when I think about it I get choked up. I have such wonderful kids and such an awesome husband. I have a darling little home. I have clothes to wear and food to eat. I have a great job and a car to get me there. I have three (sometimes) fantastic dogs and so many people in my life that mean so much to me. I have my health and I am so unbelievably happy. I don't know what I have done to deserve what I have, but I thank the "powers that be" every single day for finding me so deserving of this life.

This holiday season, my plan is to share what I can. Irv and I have decided to skip our holiday parties at work and make a donation to our local food pantry and PADS. PADS provides nightly shelter for the homeless in our area. There are so many people in need, and I have so much....

Today I will count my blessings as I do every day and keep in my thoughts those who are not as fortunate as I am. I want them to know that I am thinking about them with love and caring...and hoping that life will be better for them soon.

Have a wonderful day today everyone!

I Did It

Yep, I did! I took today off.....I really can't believe I did that....like four days wasn't enough? I really do have so many things I would like to get done. We are still putting the house back together and hanging things after painting, I have drapes to press and hem, a couch cover to find and food to prepare on Thursday for our company on Friday. It's just 6 of us, possibly 8, but it's still nice to have the house looking good and have tons of food to pig out on. :)

The extra day off will just make it so nice and relaxed.....so chee hoo for an extra day off.

So, what is on your Thanksgiving Day dinner menu? I love hearing about the different things that people cook. We are pretty basic here in my house. Here is what we will be eating...

Lots of pre-dinner snacks
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Good old Green Bean Casserole
Cauliflower with buttered bread crumb topping
Rolls
Deviled Eggs
Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Pie
Caramel Pecan topped Apple Pie

I am SOOOOO ready for the pumpkin pie. I'm sure I will have one of them half eaten before anyone even arrives!

Whatcha' eatin' at your place?

Plan B

Yesterday afternoon I was thinking about what I might like to have for dinner. Yes, I like food. I don't like to cook it, but I love to eat it. What came to mind was a burger and fries. I am a vegetarian, so I buy frozen veggie burgers. They're okay, but they are not big, fat juicy burgers or even remotely close to that. They are thin, flat and dry. To make my burger a bit yummier, I decided I would saute some mushrooms and onions and then slice up some cheddar and provolone to pile on top. I thought about it all afternoon.

When it was time to start dinner, I sliced up some potatoes to make oven fries and then sauteed the mushrooms and onions. I opened the freezer to get my burger....hmmmm.....where is a box of burgers? I looked on the top shelf, on the lower shelf and in the door. I moved around some of the stuff in the freezer because I knew I had to have a box of burgers. I always have a box of burgers. In fact, most of the time I have more than one box of burgers.

No burgers!

Are you kidding me? How could I have no burgers?

Well, that's an easy question to answer....I guess because I ate the last one and didn't buy any when we went shopping!

In my ongoing effort to not get rattled over little things that really don't matter....I pulled out some bread, sliced up more cheese and had a big, fat greasy grilled cheese with my fries.

Mish Mash

Sunday was a great day. It was one of those days when you have so much to do that you don't even know where to start, but little by little things get done and by the end of the day you can smile and say, "Yep, today was a good day!"

I told you I would show you some of the things I found at IKEA on Saturday. Here is my little white lantern. It's so darn cute. I bought a silver one like this from IKEA years ago, and it has been outside on the table that's on our deck for years. I thought this one might make a cute centerpiece on the kitchen table. Maybe some evergreen around it with some little pine cones and maybe some funky ribbon or something tied to the ring on the top, the little candle burning...could be cute....not sure...we will see.

Here is the fabric that I bought. Just 1/2 yard to make the secret something for my living room. No, not a pillow. I will do those once I find a couch cover. I have to order some parts, so I won't have it done for a while, but I will show you when it's ready to make it's debut.

Here are the three matted black frames I bought. My son Matt takes some awesome photos that we sell in FourDogDay. I framed three of my favorites. I might hang these over the new chairs, but I need to get the lamp first so I get the height right. If not, there is another wall where they will work. I think they look awesome!

This is our built in shelving in the living room. We have always painted the back wall of it the color of the walls, but Irv wanted to try it white this time. I love it. I put some books, photos, and little things on it today. This is the shelving that I want to put all old black and white photos in black frames on. I think that would look great.

The family photos that are on the shelf now will go around Matt's Family poster that I hung in the hallway today eventually.

The living room is really starting to take shape. I haven't found a little table for in between the chairs yet, but I dug this out of the garage today! Guess what Irv is going to do?

I bought this darling....but very old and grungy snack tray at a garage sale this summer for $1.00. It has about 10 coats of paint on it, so Irv is going to sand it and probably paint it. That will be our end table for now. I thought about papering the top maybe....

We found a little end table at Bed, Bath and Beyond that was cute but it was $40 and I know I can find one resale for next to nothing if I keep looking....so we'll use this for now and if we find something resale that we like better....cool...if not, I think this will be perfect!

So, that was the day for me. I hope your weekend was enjoyable. Make Monday an awesome one for yourself!

Oops.....

Saturday was a long day of shopping with just "some" success. I would have liked more, but I am a patient woman, so what I didn't find today.....I will find another day.

What I did find was my other pair of $14.99 drapes, my 12 forty-nine cent candle holders, 6 forty-nine cent dish towels, a darling white lantern for $5.99, 100 votive candles for $3.99, 3 black matted picture frames for a few my favorite pictures of Matt's for $5.00 each and some very awesome fabric for a secret project I am going to start....if it turns out...I will be making these for my etsy shop FourDogDay. I will show you when it's done. I am SOOOO excited. Saw it in a magazine and had to have one!!!

I will share photos of all of my goodies with you soon, but I decided to share some other photos with you first. We have been leaving sweet little Maggie, our newly adopted border collie mix out of her crate when we run out for a couple of hours to see how she does. So far, things had been going well. Today, I think we exceeded the amount of time that she will nap and quietly entertain herself with her toys and bones. Read on.....

The dogs all greeted us at the door when we walked in and the first thing Irv said was, "She has fuzz all over herself." As he let the dogs out, I walked into the kitchen and saw this....that would be feathers on the kitchen floor. I don't pluck geese in my kitchen, so feathers on the kitchen floor can never, ever be a good thing.

Backtrack......we had these two big throw pillows that Tresa gave us when she changed her decor. Here is one of them....nice pillows, probably not cheap.....


Right after we got Maggie, she managed to chew two of the corners of one of the pillows, but only the cover and not the feather filled insert.....do you get where this is going??????

Yep, you guessed it! She completed what she had started!

Can you believe that many fluffy little feathers came out of only 1/2 of that pillow?

So, we scooped up as much as we could as they billowed around the room, vacuumed up the rest, had to shake out all of the dogs blankets and afghans and vacuum the couch. Even when she came in from playing outside for 45 minutes, she still looked like a dog that was turning into a goose with little white feathers sticking out all over her black fur! I would have liked to have seen her face when she got the end open and the feathers started pouring out.

I'm sure Wrigley was sitting in the hallway, away from the action saying, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! You are in some BIG trouble my friend!