Before(UUUUgly) and After (WooHoo)!

This is the wonderful piece (well not at the time) that my hubby pulled over and got me off the side of the road. He suggested I spray paint it white! He is starting to understand-take something ugly and spray paint it and it looks beautiful. Kind of what God does with us, takes us in our imperfect state and beautifies us from the inside out! Now the process might be rough but the end result is much nicer to look at and be around!Blessings, Debbie

"Therefore let us pursue the things which bring peace and the things by which one may lift up others!" Romans 14:19

Home made roast and gravy

We had several family members over for the weekend and decided to make not one roast but two...we have alot of relatives! We took two chuck roasts and browned them. Next we take cream of mushroom soup and spread it on the roasts, then we sprinkle the onion soup mix on top of that. Next we added potatoes and carrots. My husband sprinkled one


more package of onion soup mix on top of everything.

Then we added two cups of water, covered with foil, cooked it at 350 for 3-4 hours while we were at church. My hubby made the gravy (he makes it the best of anyone in his family). Yummy it is so good. I will tell you this, when he makes gravy he takes the drippings in the pan after you remove the food, and he adds an EQUAL amount of flour. So if there is about 1/2 cup of drippings he will add that much flour. That is important in making gravy. Then he starts adding milk and stirring constantly in the pan till it thickens. He likes pepper so he always adds plenty of that, and usually with roast gravy he adds a can of cream of mushroom soup. It ends up being soooo good. We just make it for special events, but everyone enjoys it. Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings, Debbie

Earthquake!

WOW, we just had a good sized earthquake. I looked at my mom and thought she was doing a Hawaiin dance with her hips, then I realized everything was swaying back and forth. I grabbed her and headed for the door just as college boy was grabbing his computer! So much for priorities! We are all safe, thank God. It's weird, there is always a large boom or sound right before the shaking, often times the pictures and mirrors on the wall start tapping the wall, so you know it's coming! It makes an unusual noise during the earthquake, usually someone screaming, and the men yelling to get outside! (They act like they are calm), yeah right!
Blessings, Debbie
No the earth didn't open up...

Alfredo for my college bound boy

This happens to be one of my middle son's favorite casserole/meals to eat.
I use only the best
ingredients (big smile)
wholesome ingredients. What could be
healthier than
pasta, butter, cream, and
cheese?
Of course I am kidding, since this is a grown up version of

macaroni and cheese.
I cooked
pasta, then made a white sauce that I added
parmesan cheese too.
The sauce can't be
too thick since it needs
to cover all the pasta
and not be dry.
Then there is one
secret ingredient that
I cooked and added
to the casserole that
flavors the dish!


The secret ingredient is...
SPAM!
I cook it then slice it into squares (bite size).
My son loves this meal and since he is leaving in
5 days (boo hoo), I am
making all his favorites!
Thank you for stopping by.
Blessings, Debbie

Outside color!

My husband unexpectedly brought home some flowers, one of my favorites-geraniums. I love pink and red geraniums. I have a
couple of spray painted planters that I just love!
So I put the red geraniums in red painted pots, and I love it.




This red
geranium on
my front porch
however
is
not real!
I love the
look of it
next to the
cherub and white
birdhouse
and decided I
wanted a fake
one that wouldn't
wither or
fade.

I love to sit on our
front porch and
watch my sweet
family plant...
while I sip my
iced tea.
Here they are planting
indian corn, pumpkins and beans for the fall.
It is a little
late to plant but it
stays warm here in
California till about November!!! At least it does where we live.
Blessings, Debbie

Join in on the fun - Pink Saturday!

Today is PINK SATURDAY and it is sooo much fun. The sweetest hostess named Beverly athttp://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ is putting on all this fun. She had the lovely idea to do this and now there are over 50 participants joining in on the fun. Be sure to go have a look, there are some amazing entries!
I apologize this didn't come through better, it is the sweetest handpainted pink rose thimble, along with vintage spools of thread and some vintage buttons.
Who can
resist
a pink
spray
painted
shovel!
It is very pale but I love it!
I wish I could have
painted a few
pink roses on
there, but it will
have to do for now.
I have a wheelbarrow
on my porch
that I fill with seasonal
flowers, right now
it is overflowing with
summer flowers, next I will
fill it with mums, and fall
foliage with a fall sign.

Last but not

least, I spray painted a small

baby chick feeder

white, and added

my favorite

color of thread!

Thank you for stopping by!

Blessings, Debbie

Baby Showers on line? You bet!

Welcome! Today is a special day, we are having a virtual baby shower over at p://scooterbluswhimsy.blogspot.com/for a wonderful gal named Heather from http://hopscotchandhydrangeas.blogspot.com/. She is having a little baby named Calista, and Calista is almost here. Several of us are celebrating and you are more than welcome to join in on the festivities. I'll be honest this is new for me, but very fun! Congratulations Heather!

Heather we are so happy for you and your new blessing that is almost here!

Blessings, Debbie

PS I hope your day today is very special!!!

Finishing up the organizer

Here are the cute little dividers I copied and made using scrapbook paper. I just love the print.
Next
I also
copied an
envelope that
was bright
green and made
one out of paper
I liked. I believe
I will use it for
receipts.
I am loving it
already.

Then I added
a little bling
to the
crown that
embellishes
the front of
the divider. I love it!

Next I will put the inside calendar in it.
In my purse it will go
to be perused
everyday...I'm
hoping.
Blessings, Debbie
Psalm 139:16 "Even before
I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do."

What are you working on...Wednesday

Sweet Leslie, just love her blog, over at http://sweets-mycountryhome.blogspot.com/ is asking everyone to join "What are you working on Wednesday?" That is today. I joined because I am working on the organizer, to get organized, which is everyday! Enjoy yourself and have a look...Below is my organizing post!

Organizing the Organizer

I am trying to yet again put together an organizer to help me stay on top of important dates. I shared earlier that I missed an extremely important wedding. So now begins the work of making the organizer cute so that I will look at it more often! That is the goal. My last organizer I loved but unfortunately it weighed as much as a yellow telephone book and had to be carried with a pulley attached to my bra strap! Extremely embarassing to look at and to carry while my hubby was with me.

His ugly comment was that he couldn't believe I hadn't spray painted the thing!
I took the insert that sectioned off areas and made my own out of heavier duty scrapbook paper. I just traced them onto the paper and used scissors to cut them.
This was also in there and I used it for a pattern, cut one out, glued it together and then cut my own little circle thingymabobbie.


I'm lovin it so far!

But we will see. Next I must incorporate some kind of calendar, you know where you actually write down the events you are supposed to look at and remember.

Blessings, Debbie

Organizer! Organizing! Agonizing!

I am in the process of redoing and making an organizer.

I started off with a blank organizer book that I got through the mail from a scrapbook club. It was plain and blank.
Next I have covered it with hard scrapbook paper that will hopefully be durable.
Next I bought some generic inserts, and file pages that I am covering with scrapbook paper as well. I want it to have a shabby chic appearance. Sorry the picture is cloudy.
I also stamped a little crown on the front, inked the edges and added pink rhinestones to the tips of the crown.
I am starting to enjoy this. I hope it works!

Tunis sheep

Here is one of our cute little Tunis lambs. Wondering what in the world is going on outside. They were all curious what I was spray painting! If you read any of my posts you will understand I have been spray painting everything that does not move! This little baby is curious but safe from my spray painting which is done very far away from the sheep for obvious reasons!

This one gave me a dirty look! She loves me when I feed her or scratch her head

but the rest of the time I am just one of 'them.' Of course my husband she adores, they all do. They just hear his voice and they all come running. Pathetic bunch of females! It may have to do with the fact he feeds them more. With me they love to run all over the property and giggle while I chase. So for now I am just decorating to make farmer hubby's house a lovelier place to dwell. They understand the word country but not 'country decorating.'

Blessings, Debbie

Psalm 24:1 "The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord."

The Heaven's Announce

Mountains melt away like wax in the presence of the Lord of all the earth, and the heavens announce, "The Lord brings justice." Everyone sees God's glory.

Psalm 97:5

Today is Pink Saturday!

PINK SATURDAY is hosted today by http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Be sure to check out all the other ladies who have graciously joined it. There are beautiful pictures to behold. Check out my post below for my part. Thank you for stopping by!

Pink lovelies!

Hello! Thank you for stopping by and visiting. I wanted to share a few beautiful pink roses always at the top of the list! These are from my sweet mom's birthday!
Next she has a few beautiful rose embellished tea pots and cups and saucers.

I love this picture, it is of our daughter in laws bridal shower. EVERYTHING was pink and black, I even made my son's wear pink shirts. All for the pictures sake you know! Plus I can tease them all later on.
Last but not least, some beautiful china my dear farmer hubby's grandmother hand painted and fired. I am certainly a blessed recipient of her talent.
My daughter's pink and black bedroom! There are enough polka dots and fur in this room to make my head swim. Anyhoo we are encouraging our young designers to go to the next level!

I don't care to sleep next to something that feels like one of my farm animals!

Lastly here are some

pink shoes my sweet

daughter in law wore

at her wedding. That

is the style now I was told, colored fancy high heels with a white wedding dress!

Wowee Kazowee!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I was prohibited from putting a picture of my son in his pink polo shirt. He was scared some of his college buddies might see him on my blog! Yeah right big boy!

Blessings, Debbie

Proverbs21:21

"If you try to be kind and good you will be blessed with life and goodness and honor."

Keep decorating and keep looking...

This is my version of Pottery Barn's scrapboard or bulletin board, using 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. I love it but did not want to pay 29.00 a 16" tile. So I kept thinking how can I do this? I am going to put white or black trim around the outside of it. Then I will cover some tacks with little rhinestones, or small black flowers. I also bought small one inch mirrors, I may place these somewhere, corners? I am not sure. But over all I like the first part of it!


I also thought about doing a small one in my laundry room with small checked paper, shabby chic rose paper, etc. Still thinking.

I thought if maybe we had more scrapboards around and posted wedding invites, party invites, church obligations that perhaps I WOULD NOT FORGET SO MANY THINGS!! I am a little scattered with so many kids home. Also my dear hubby is no help. I look for car keys, wallets, cell phones (of course they are on vibrate!) and a shoe, just one! They are never together! It is amazing what can be found under a couch cushion, oh and keys in the refrigerator? Have you heard of that one, someone getting ready to leave, grabs a drink and 'oh let's set the keys down on the egg carton'. Yeah that one is always fun. What about the wallet in the shower? Can you believe this one? My darling hubby, God love him, madly in love with him but mostly mad!! He leaves things in places that are crazy. One time I found money out by the barn, alot of it. I kept it and headed to Michael's craft store. I tell my family if I find money it goes to the "creative let us keep mom happy fund." If he ever asks me about money or how much I spend, I just say I spent an equal amount of 6 bales of hay!!! He NEVER has a comeback for that one!

Talk about chicken feed, it is way up! I just smile because if his costs go up, then so do mine!!

I'm workin it girlfriend!!

The pottery barn version, a little more but certainly adorable! It costs about 14 bales of hay!!!(Big smile)









Blessings, Debbie

Roadside Excitement!

My hubby stops the car in front of this house where a sign says "free" and asks me if I wanted to take this home and paint it white! OH MY GOSH. I couldn't believe he stopped, couldn't believe he asked me, and then suggested that I paint it white. Usually he pokes fun at my white fixation. Yes I said, stop the car, grab it. I felt a rush of excitement, my mind a whirl of thoughts. Yippeee. He made me happy and it was free! Woohoo.

Deuteronomy 28:3 "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country."

Plates of my own making

See these red plates behind the rooster plates(from Kohl's)? I needed red plates for this shelf. The roooster plates weren't tall enough and just disappeared. I didn't have anything to put back there. But I did have some wood plates from the thrift store. Old, ugly, dingy. I washed them and decided to spray paint them. I had visited Tales From An O.C. Cottage and she has been spray painting everything in her path. She should do a commercial! She gave me the idea, of course everything she is painting is pastel, creamy and beautiful to behold.
I just wanted red!

So I found my Christmas red spray paint and voila changed them into these little beauties.
Obviously they will never be used for food, but they look lovely on my shelf.
My husband wasn't home when I spray painted these or else I am sure he would have had a comment to make about me spray painting everything.
Maybe just for fun I will spray another chicken feeder, just for his benefit. (Giggle)

Blessings, Debbie