We are signed on!

We have signed on with the realtors! As of the first day we had a showing. I just couldn't believe it. A showing on the very first day the house was up for sale. That just seems too quick for me. It is happening so fast it seems. We priced the house right, not too high, not too low, just right.
I have decorated tastefully and we had picked pretty colors for our walls, muted greens, yellows, and the dining room is a wedgewood country blue color.
The colors feel soothing to the eyes..well, soothing to my eyes at least! ;)
The house has been cleaned top to bottom.
I had baked cookies for the first showing..but not before I had dropped a whole bag of sugar all over the kitchen floor...boy...was that fun to clean up!!
We left the house and parked our car in the neighbors driveway and waited....we were about three houses down..yes, I was curious to see who was looking at our house!
My daughter was very observant and noticed that the license plate said "North Carolina".. we are thinking a job transfer has people looking this way in Florida perhaps.

It is a lot of work to have a house up for sale, especially when you are still living in the home. It is extremely exhausting to keep it spotless, and then, or course there is the bird cages to keep clean and the rabbit..well, he goes outside everyday first thing.
I tell my son not to cook his burritos or anything smelly of the sort...I want the house to have a nice aroma from the apple airwick air fresheners I have placed around.
I don't know though how long I can keep this up! lol

I just pray that if it goes into contract the timing will work out good that our daughter can finish this school year without it interfering. Keep us in your prayers please!

Hope you all have a great weekend,
Louise

Hello From Peter!

It's a beautiful day outside today and Peter is enjoying every minute of it.
He was munching on spinach leaves as I took this photo :)
He wishes you all a lovely weekend!
:)

Sunny WON! ..A family trip...

Thank you for those of you that voted for our dear bird Sunny on Facebook. He WON the contest! YAY!!!
The wonderful artist Bill Muck will do an 11 x14 pet portrait of our bird for us to hang in our home. We are so excited! He does amazing work, what a talented artist!
I will be sure to post a picture of this finished piece when we receive it. :)

Our family took a 3 day trip away up to the Carolinas this past weekend. The weather was just perfect! Not sure where God will place us to live yet, (North or South) we have a lot of thinking and praying to do ..but know wherever it will be, it will be where HE wants us to be at that perfect moment. We already looked at some homes . The Carolinas are really beautiful. Lots of flowering trees at the moment so the scenery was really pretty!

As we drove around I took lots of pictures to share with you...These are some old houses ..not houses we looked at to buy! Just some houses that were very old looking. I just happen to see these houses as we drove around and thought you might like to see them too :)

 

Pretty streets we drove down:

 Flowering trees:

Clovers for Saint Patrick's Day!! :

A WONDERFUL quaint restaurant my husband and I dined in just the two of us for a candle light lunch! "The Jasmine Cafe and Gift Shop" This is the restaurant from the outside....

 

and....photos of the inside!

So beautiful and so quaint! We really enjoyed ourselves. My husband had a reuben sandwich and I had a salad with grilled chicken and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It was delicious!
One of the houses that we DID look at, and was absolutely beautiful and amazing was this one....

So very pretty, on a cul de sac, and the landscaping was just gorgeous! It is lots of fun looking at homes!

We have lots more searching to do, not only homes, but for a hometown! We may have changed our mind again as to where we actually want to live. With my husbands job relocation and with him traveling, we can sometimes be a little bit flexible.

I hope you all had a wonderfully Blessed and Happy Saint Patricks Day...the day wouldn't have been quite the same without seeing a leprechaun...so, without further ado...here is what we ran into on our trip! ;)

Thank you again for voting for Sunny! With your help he won the contest! :)

So very thankful to all of you,

Louise

A request from fellow bloggers on Facebook

 I have a request. If you would please, it would mean so much to our family. There is a wonderfully talented artist on Facebook, his name is Bill Muck. He has a facebook page, "Wildlife Paintings by Bill Muck". He has a contest going on right at this moment and we have entered. I entered a picture of our dear bird "Sunny" that passed away in 2010. Most of you know how much this bird meant to our family. He was 24 years old when he passed away on Saint Patrick's Day in 2010. We purchased him when we were first married. This wonderful artist will do a free pencil sketch of our bird if we win! The only thing we need help with is for others to go over to his page, click "LIKE" for HIS Facebook page, and then "LIKE" AGAIN for the picture of our dear bird "Sunny". So, that would be two "LIKES" when you get to the page I will post the link to. Thank you so much for those of you that can do this. I would love to give this to my husband as a birthday present this year for his 50th birthday! :)

Just click on the link if you would like to vote for our dear bird who meant the world to us!  (Don't forget to click "LIKE" for Bill Muck's page also. 

Thank you so much, I hope there is a chance of winning this for my dear husband.

CLICK HERE

Blessings to you!

Louise

Cutting up the fabric!

I have attempted to begin the knitting stitches from the book..well, let's just say that didn't go over too well. I was able to do the first stitch then I lost my place. LOL! I put it down then decided to start cutting up the fabric. I want to make a really simple runner for my table.. I wanted the colors of  red, white and blue to sit on my table in the dining room. I am not going to fuss with binding. I am going to sew a back on and turn. Easy peasy!
But, it looks like I may have already packed the batting that I knew I had in the house. I am so hoping I won't have to go back to the craft store. Anyways...this is what I have done so far...squares sewn together that I will sew into bigger squares...then into one long strip. Then, either hand quilt or stitch in the ditch perhaps..that will go quicker.

sewing definitely put me in good spirits, as I love being creative. :)
Louise

Hello

It's me again. I think I am falling into a rut. I feel like I don't want to do much of anything the past week. I guess I feel so overwhelmed with the thoughts of the move, our son leaving for the military, and I keep waking up during the night, so I don't get good rest. As I try to sleep I keep feeling hot, then cold, then hot...covers, no covers, covers, no covers..I am sure you get the picture!! Ack! I tell hubby to put the fan on...then an hour later I want it off...but then think I want it on again! It's crazy!
 I have been thinking about knitting. I would like to learn how. I chatted with another blogging friend, Hazel at Quietly Stitching and she gave me some tips. My husband thought I needed a day out to myself today, so I decided that might be a good idea. I think he was right. I went over to the local craft store and walked around for a couple of hours..browsing and getting all sorts of ideas. I went over to the yarn section and picked out some knitting needles and found some yarn on clearance for practicing. I found a beginners book to help me out.

This should be interesting! I will attempt it anyways..we will see what happens. I also picked up some pieces of fabric to make a table runner..just a small one for our dining room table. Pretty reds and blues!

Then, I found a piece of blue striped ticking for just .71 cents! :)

I also picked up some fake geranium flowers for a glass vase I have in our living room. Needed something in them that will last while we try to sell our house. They were on sale 50 percent off..so , the perfect time to buy them. They are really pretty!

Well, that was my day today, not really productive at home, but it was good to get out and just have "me" time...
It is a beautiful day outside, the weather is just perfect!
Blessings to you,
Louise

Scorpions in Florida!!

I just about fainted! My son walked in the door from his hiking in the woods today...this is what he came home with....

Yes, it's a scorpion!! I wasn't even sure if I should put it on my blog. They give me the creepy crawlies!! But, I just had to inform you that scorpions DO exist in Florida!!
I don't ever think I will sleep with both eyes closed ever again!!!

Giveaway at Just One More Stitch!

Please head on over to "Just One More Stitch"!
Wonderful giveaway with beautiful fat quarter fabrics!
Enter for your chance to win! :)
Giveaway

Pine Cone Patrol, Stash

Most people might think Florida is mostly pretty palm trees. I can tell you it is not. :)
We live in Northern Florida and our backyard is jam packed with pine trees. Yes, pine trees. It is sort of nice, a reminder of living up north, but not nice when they start dropping all of their pine cones and you have to pick them up!
So...the daunting task begins...over a span of many months!
Noooo...they don't drop all at once. That would make it much easier. They drop on a continual basis and it seems like you never get any headway with clearing off the lawn. They even drop right when you are picking them up and bagging them. Almost as if they are laughing at you while you are doing it. I was hit on the head once while I was doing it!
Here is a section of our yard..you can sort of get an idea of how they are spread out everywhere...

At first, it seems like it would be easy to pick them up...but bending over and over a zillion times is a real workout and I guess it could be considered aerobic exercise? hee hee :P But! It is beautiful out today, and I was really enjoying being out there in this beautiful weather we are having!
I worked and worked..and this is what I gathered up....
4 whole bags!

Some of them are quite large..as you can see in comparison with my hand..I have small hands...so some of these pine cones are quite large!

By the time I came around to the front yard..I was about exhausted! I laid down on the grass to rest..and noticed how beautiful the front lawn is coming in.....this was grass that we planted from seed last year!

As I lay on the grass...well...ummm...I shouldn't have looked up into the trees...because..this is what I saw!!
YIKES!

Busy yard work for another day! Nature is providing in abundance!
The mailman just came and I had a sudden "pick me up"! :)
3 new charts arrived in the mail today. Aren't they sweet!!
Just love bunnies, and when I saw Rabbit Folk..I knew I had to add it to my collection :)

Happy Monday Everyone!
Louise

Giveaway at Feathers In The Nest!

What a wonderful Giveaway for a chance to win a beautiful pair of limited edition TESSA Gingher scissors from Feathers In The Nest! Please hop on over to this beautiful blog for a chance to win...
don't just stop there, check out all the beautiful freebies that are also so generously offered so graciously to all of us stitchers! I think we have already won with the Blessings of freebies that are bestowed upon us from a very giving designer. :)
Click HERE to enter and join in the fun!

Louise

A Plateau.............

I know that age is catching up to me...well, I guess it does to all of us eventually.
I have lost a total of 35 pounds. I feel much better.
Although, I am "stuck". I am stuck right there at a certain number. I am still walking..just yesterday I walked two miles.
I have not snacked, or taken a bite of anything you would consider a treat in months now.
My calories are limited, although, I am getting enough of calories, all from healthy good foods, the right foods that I should have been eating all along.
I just cannot lose anymore weight. I am at a plateau I guess :/
I guess it is an age thing..some say it gets harder as you get older?

I can always count on my dear sweet husband to make me feel better when I get discouraged. I had just walked out of our bedroom today, not realizing he had come home early from work..I had put on a new outfit, fixed my hair and makeup..
he looked at me and smiled and said "wow! you look amazing!"...
That was just what I needed at that very moment. God Bless him for always saying the right things at the right moment. I don't know what I would do without him.

Although I have been wishing I wasn't the age I was at this moment...I have to keep reminding myself that I am BLESSED to BE the age I am..I had just lost my dear friend last year ..and she was not much older than I am. It is a privilege to have gotten this far and to have experienced all I have in this wonderfully blessed life.

Anyways... Nothing much new here except for packing more boxes and cleaning...
We are hoping the house sells quickly.
I suppose I am a little bit excited about looking for a new house to live in.
It's always fun to look.
We have been looking online and will also be looking in person too.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead,
Louise