Christmas at Pine Shadows (Affectionately known as LAST DOLLAR HOLLER)

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas Day! Can you believe it? I can't!  How is it possible that we have lived in our new home five months already?  And there is still so much to do!  However, I have come to realize that I must pace myself.  "ALL IN GOOD TIME" is my new motto.

Some of you have been reminding me that it has been more than three months since my last update.  I had no idea going back to full-time employment would be such a adjustment - but I have learned that I must manage my time better if I am ever to get it all done.

Paul is doing quite well after having three separate procedures (in October, November and December!) on his legs. He had poor circulation due to blockages in the veins and arteries.  Peripheral Artery Disease Intervention is what they call it, but it is basically the same procedure as a heart cath, but in the legs. They were able to get good circulation going again in both feet, and we are very thankful! He is walking every day again when weather permits and says he can already tell such a difference.

 Decorating for Christmas has always been one of my favorite things to do, and this year it was especially fun! To be honest, I didn't do a LOT of decorating due to my poor time-management skills, but it has been fun, knowing my children and grandchildren would actually be here to enjoy the results! We had a wonderful party here last night. It was noisy and messy and SO MUCH FUN! I've missed that a lot and it is wonderful to be HOME! 

Finally, after all these years, I have made peace with dirty dishes!  My kitchen window has become a place where I enjoy being!  I no longer object to time spent washing dishes.  In fact, I love standing there (on a thick padded mat, of course) looking out at the trees, the stable, the squirrels, the birds, and the falling leaves. (And falling trees! Did I mention that? You can see it right through that window!)   I enjoy it so much that my dishes almost seem to wash themselves!

As you can see in the photo below, I do have a dishwasher, but at the moment it is not connected. It's a long story...but I almost don't want to fix it because then I would have no excuse for spending so much time looking out the kitchen window!

You may notice one new piece of furniture in my kitchen, The drop leaf table is on loan from my daughter-in-law, Donna.  I wasn't sure if I had room for a small kitchen island and this was the perfect way to find out. I LOVE IT. She might have to fight me to get it back. It makes a great table to seat extra dinner guests too so it really is a multi-purpose piece. It will be difficult to replace when the time comes!

I really haven't made any major changes to the house since my last blog post.

 I just took down all the autumn stuff and replaced it with Christmas "stuff". The orange chair cushions have now been recovered with light blue toile fabric and I am much happier with it.

I found this cute metal and wire TEXAS garland (below) and had to have it.  The embroidered fabric

draped over the basket below was a gift from Janice Meagher . I LOVE IT!

 I found some cute Christmas pillows at the local antique mall to replace (temporarily) the orange pillows on the sofa. Snowmen always make me smile... 

I took these photos with my phone. I apologize for the blurriness. You can't really see them, but the angels hanging on the garland below were given to me by my mom and are 

special keepsake ornaments.

I also have a beautiful crocheted tablecloth my mom made for me many years ago.  I have "repurposed" it for the bedroom. My mother also made the porcelain dolls in the basket. She poured the molds herself, fired them in her kiln, painted the faces, sewed the bodies, curled the wigs, and made all of the clothes as well! They are family heirlooms that I hope someone in the family will  appreciate long after I am gone.

I am not quite done with the tablecloth to curtain project...but I'll keep you posted. I prefer not to cover up the old wood on our door table, but I really want to find a way to display Mom's beautiful crochet work.

 The bluebonnet quilt and shams were a Christmas gift from me TO ME!

It took me six months, but I finally found the quilt I wanted and I wasn't about to let it get away!

I am loving the farmhouse feel of our place. Now I just need a few miniature horses, a goat to keep the undergrowth cleared and a cow or two.

 We love our country home, but I must admit that it has been far more work than I thought it would be, and I knew it would be a lot of work! There are not enough hours in the day right now.

We are still working to get the motorhome listed for sale. The weather here has been

wet and very cold, with a few rare, warm days mixed in.  Between that, Paul's medical issues, and the J-O-B,  the motorhome project has taken a back seat.  But...it is at the top of our To-Do List now!

Hoping you are all well and wishing you the VERY MERRIEST CHRISTMAS! 

 MAY 2014 BE YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

Debra

The Dining Room and Kitchen - Almost there

Now for the dining room photos I promised.  We started with the purchase of a dining table made of an old barn door, found six old ladder-back chairs (mixed and matched) and built the rest of the room around it.

I already had he copper-winged angels, copper star, copper pots and the metal scroll-work pieces. I wasn't planning to use any of it...but -- plans change.

I may have mentioned that FALL is my favorite time of year. If you know me well, you know I like earthy colors - particularly FALL colors. The stone-colored leather sofas,  natural burlap/linen curtains and dark wood colors gave me a neutral background. I love the cobalt blue and various shades of orange mixed with it, right now,  but I know I will eventually need a change. It will be easy enough to change my accent colors and get a new look without changing EVERYTHING!

Finally, when I come home to our house and walk in the door, it welcomes me.

It isn't REALLY finished yet (Is it ever?) You may have noticed that we are still missing some interior doors. We have purchased the doors, but it has been a real challenge, trying to locate someone who will come hang them for us.  I want to switch out the light fixture over the table for something more rustic and I'm still searching for the perfect rug, but it's beginning to feel like HOME.

I love the view of green from every window. I occasionally see a Mama Doe and her twin fawns while washing dishes or standing at the dining room window. And there is an army of squirrels in our back yard. They are the most industrious little creatures this time of year! One of the things I love most about our house is the natural light in every room, but at night, the kitchen was very dark.

 Finally getting some light up over the kitchen cabinets has helped brighten things up. The Quail Parade makes the place feel more like "HOME" to me, and we finally replaced the rusty old florescent shop light in the kitchen with a larger, wooden fixture. I still can't cook, but at least I can SEE the stove when I try!

Charlette and David (my sister and brother-in-law) came for a visit last week, and David worked on some electrical problems, installed new light fixtures and kitchen faucets, and they even helped us move my piano into the house from the motorhome! I was so happy to finally be reunited with my piano after six weeks without it. Thank you! 

We LOVE having family and friends visit!  

If you get anywhere close to

 CUT N SHOOT, Texas, call us!

We'll make a pot of coffee and leave the porch light on for you.

The Purpose of a Love Bug?

I can't believe it is FALL! (Almost.) The Texas summer has already started backing away but  I can't wait for that first really cool, brisk morning.  I guess we are never far from our childhood no matter how many years have passed.  Falling leaves bring back memories of new school clothes, construction paper, freshly sharpened pencils, and that unique smell of a lunch box. Remember those thermos bottles with the delicate silver glass inside? My thermos never lasted more than a few days.

Texas is currently experiencing the semi-annual PLAGUE OF LOVE BUGS. The bugs are harmless, but such a nuisance!  You gotta' wonder why God would deliberately make a bug like that. Their average life expectancy must be about 20 minutes! At least twice a day I vacuum up dead ones from the window sills, the door frames, the front porch, and anywhere else that can be vacuumed. I suppose they are part of the food chain, but ...yuck.  Yesterday as I was pumping gas into my car, I had them in my hair, on my shirt, stuck to one eyelid, and trying to fly into my mouth, which I kept SHUT for a change!  This morning? There is not ONE SINGLE LOVEBUG left alive at my house, inside or out. They are all dead.  I wonder...did they know how short their life would be? Did they do everything on their bucket list? Were they happy? But what I REALLY want to know is, What was their purpose in life and...did they fulfill that purpose?  Hmmmmm. something to think about.

Now, to the house progress.  I have finished most of the painting inside the house EXCEPT for the white woodwork. I have decided to take a break before tackling that mountain.   However, I have been busy working on the decor. This is the FUN part for me.  I don't know about you, but, for me, THINKING about the decorating and DECIDING is always the most time-consuming part. First, I dig through hundreds of magazines and thousands of photos on Pinterest.com or Houzz.com, saving the pictures that "spoke" to me, as in- really caught my attention.  I also look for color inspiration anywhere I can find it.  And of course, since I am not wealthy, independently or otherwise, I must also look at what I already own and try to figure out what I can do with it. I already had a lot of cobalt blue glass and had purchased, piece by piece, Blue Willow China.

All that being said, sometimes I STILL end up with a plan that just doesn't work.  This is what happened to me.  I knew what I wanted, but...and I know this might sound strange, but some of you will understand - the house sometimes takes control and begins to rule. I couldn't get going on the decor, because it just wasn't right. When it's right, you just FEEL it. I had painted the back wall of my kitchen a light blue. The rest of the very open living and dining area was painted white. I had planned to use just a touch of red as my accent color with burlap colored, natural linen curtains and stone-colored leather sofa and sofas. I bought red throw pillows and made a burlap valance with tiny red gingham bows.  

It just didn't feel right.  So I went back to my "inspiration" pictures.  This is the one that YELLED at me!  "HEL-LO-OH!"    Handel's MESSIAH music started ringing in my ears!

The red didn't work, because I was supposed to use ORANGE and Rust with the Blue, NOT RED! So, down came the red stuff ( to be used elsewhere, of course).

I must stop my rambling and go to work now.  Guess you will have to check back tomorrow to see the after pictures! LOL. Sorry about that!  Hope your day is good. I KNOW it will be BLESSED.  I am going to do my best to fulfill my purpose today, for who knows about tomorrow? Are we really so different from the Love Bugs?

Blue, Blue, my World is Blue

Finally, I am back to write more about our new "Country Life" adventure.  Since my last blog post I have become the full-time Nanny of four children: Everett (Age 6), Owen (4), Lilly(2) and Sawyer (3 months!). It has been an interesting few weeks and progress has definitely slowed now that I am working five days a week.  However, things continue to change and improve at the Last Dollar Holler!  For one thing, we have living room and bedroom furniture, and the living room, dining room, kitchen, master bedroom, and one bathroom have been painted.  You might enjoy seeing the difference a coat of paint can make!

Remember the lime green kitchen?

The kitchen is now blue and white, with natural linen curtains in a burlap color.There is still much to be done, but it is coming together. Stainless steel appliances helped, as did the glass top for the old door table (found at a resale shop for $40.00).  I want to change out the light fixture. This table begs for a black wrought iron lantern, don't you think?

I had Paul remove the doors on one of the upper cabinets and use this cabinet now to display my Blue Willow China and cobalt blue glassware. I found this great little shop in Conroe where I bought an entire set of Blue Willow. You may have heard of it...it's called KROGERS?   I hope to have new white cabinets eventually, but...in the meantime, this will have to do.  When I can find the time, I am going to try my hand at painting these cabinets white. Or ...who knows? Perhaps I will just take the cabinet down and replace it with white open shelving.

The Master Bedroom has come along way from that crayon smeared purple wall.  The purple wall is now the color of  "Morning Rain" from Walmart (hey - I'm proud to shop at Walmart!) The rest of the room is white. To refresh your memory, the "before" picture:  

I found an ugly two-toned wooden headboard at a junkshop. The wood was ugly, but I loved the design, shape and PRICE (35.00!!) so I bought it and put about four coats of white paint on it.  I love it.  I found the small chest of drawers at a little antique mall up the road. I am currently using it as a night stand, but...eventually, it will go on the west wall, under the arched mirror that matches it.

 I used black as my third color, mainly on accounta' because I already had a lot of black stuff from Coyote Cottage in Arizona.

 I still haven't found the perfect dresser yet. When I do, it will go on the wall opposite the bed, with a flat screen TV hung above it.

Some of my friends will remember the Javalina painting I bought for $2.00 at a garage sale in Gold Canyon, AZ. (Right side of window.) It was a brand new, still in the wrapper, signed original using a technique that involves scraping black paint OFF the canvas to make the picture. Loved it then. Still love it now. Couldn't leave it behind, and now I'm really glad I didn't!


Our son, Heath, has been doing some outside work for us.  He worked from daylight to dark last week, cutting down small trees, and clearing the scrappy brush around the bottom of each tree in the front yard. Our place now looks CLEAN. Neighbors are stopping by to tell us how great the place is looking! Thank you, HEATH!    Heath is also feeding the deer at the back of our land, and hoping a deer will feed HIS family in return this winter!  Nothing better than good deer sausage! (But...he promised he would NOT shoot the mama and fawn that have been visiting lately.)   This is how it looked before Heath tackled it last weekend with a chain saw and a weed-eater.

This is how it looks now after Heath did his thing and Paul spent all day Monday on his new lawn tractor.

 Our neighbors are happy to see the place coming to life again!

And we enjoy sitting on our front porch and looking out across the holler. We can actually see the road now and wave at folks as they pass by.  Life is good!

What a Difference a Week Makes!

Our First week in our new home has been exciting!  We closed on July 26th, and by Monday evening we had accomplished our Primary goal of getting water, sewer, air conditioning and indoor plumbing! That might not sound like much to y'all, but it was quite an expensive and stressful ordeal!

The most exciting and noticeable difference this week is OUTSIDE.  I think I mentioned that our two and a half acres is 140 ft wide and 770 feet deep!  Most of our land lies behind the house, and was impossible to walk through. I guess you would say we bought it sight unseen, as the only thing visible from the small back yard area was a THICKET!  (Below: There is a small stable back there somewhere!)

 Our Backyard, prior to clearing THE THICKET stopped about 30 feet from our back door.

 All of the property behind the house looked like THIS or WORSE!

But, OH MY!, what a difference a Bulldozer Makes!

Paul loved supervising the entire procedure...And as soon as the first trail was blazed he wasted NO TIME in checking it out!

NOW, THIS is my view from my kitchen window! Our

Backyard looks like a park! I love it!

We will be having a rather large bonfire when the weather cools down.

 This photo shows the house and stable from the back portion of the property.

 And remember that abandoned little stable?

Paul can actually park his lawn tractor in there now! He is a happy farmer!

Wizard was pretty stressed out about it all, as you can see.

Heath and Aimee and Blake came to check things out. They also brought steaks to grill,

 for which I was truly THANKFUL!  

 Heath put a feeder out  back and we are hoping to attract some deer for our morning and evening viewing pleasure!  I will let you know how that works out.

We are thoroughly enjoying LIFE IN THE COUNTRY!

PROGRESS!

Hip Hip, HURRAH! FINALLY, we closed on the house Friday. All went smoothly, but we were sweating bullits after all the horror stories we had heard about HUD FORECLOSURES. The house we bought has been sitting empty for two years.  It was love at first sight because it was exactly what we were hoping to find - a modest house in a nice country neighborhood with a little land, but not too much. And it had a very open floorplan with lots of windows and two bathrooms.  Even more important, the price was right!  We had to submit a bid, along with many others. When I asked the realtor how to decide on our bid amount, she just said, "How bad do you want it and how high can you go."   THAT was the question. How bad did we want it?  We wanted it BAD!

Three days later, we were notified that we had won the bid. EXCITING DAY!  And then...we waited...and waited...and WAITED SOME MORE! There were problems with getting Title insurance because the property was located in Mongomery County and the city was listed as Conroe, but the mailing address was actually Cleveland, and that is in Liberty County. Very confusing but suffice it to say that approximately 90 days later it is a done deal and we are no longer homeless!

The Well guy was Johnny-on-the-Spot when we arrived at our new home Friday afternoon, and 3 hours and two-thousand dollars later we had  WATER!  Someone had stolen the well pump while the place was empty. Someone had also stolen interior doors, light fixtures, stove and anything else that wasn't tied down. The previous owner? Who knows?

The AC man showed up early Saturday morning to do some basic repairs and maintenance, and man, did that cool air feel GOOD!  I started painting the kitchen. The interior is/was quite colorful. The entire kitchen was lime green. We currently still have a purple master bedroom wall, a hunter green wall in the living room and a barn red wall in the adjoining study.  Each room and color is visible from any of the other rooms, so this was a bit of an issue for me, though Talyn (age 4) was disappointed when we painted over the last of the green. She told us she "wanted me to keep the RAINBOW HOUSE!  

BEFORE:

AFTER:  The kitchen is not decorated yet, but it is painted and ready to receive the stainless steel refrigerator and stove on Tuesday!  I love the new look. So much lighter.

Blue and White always looks so fresh and clean. Nothing but BLUE SKIES ahead!  My daughter-in-love came over yesterday and finished painting the kitchen for me. THAT girl is AMAZING. She did not use tape. Free-handed the edges and it looks beautiful. Wish i could do that! 

As of today, Monday, we have water, air conditioning, and a new aerobic septic system.  But, did I mention that when the water was turned on, the toilet in the Guest bath leaked - A LOT, and there was a big leak under the sink. The well man said he had closed the valve so water would not go to the house, but because the valves weren't operational..well...splish splash! We were taking a bath, long about Saturday night.  And...it wasn't RELAXING!

The plumber came today. And now...we have WATER, and NO LEAKS! We also have indoor plumbing which is a very good thing to have.  Tomorrow?   Choosing a new toilet for the guest bath, as the existing one had a crack in it!  And I don't think I mentioned that the tub must be replaced as well.

We STILL love our house, and are so excited about it...But we are now calling it by a new name  -LAST DOLLAR HOLLER! 

Still waiting to close and making plans.

NEWSFLASH:
 Well, my friends and family, word on the street is that we might actually get to CLOSE on our house this week! FINALLY! We have been waiting for what seems like FOREVER, but has actually been less than 90 days (but not by much!). Now that it seems to actually be happening, I feel like we are NOT READY! Isn't that CRAZY? I guess the truth is, I may not be ready for ALL THAT WORK. Hope we haven't bitten off more than we can chew! It was love at first sight with this place, but you know what they say: LOVE IS BLIND.

 

The outside of our little house is in decent shape. Just needs some TLC and landscaping, but the inside...well...that's another thing!

 

 

Though you may not be able to see it in this small photo, the interior features an art gallery - Crayon on the walls, the window sills, the doors and even the cabinets!

 

If you know of a good way to remove crayon before painting, please let me know.  I've tried WD-40. It worked, but it left a grease spot, which will be worse than the crayon to try to paint over.  I also tried magic erasers. They work pretty good, but disintegrate very quickly, and those things aren't cheap! The VOLUME of crayon would require us to float a loan for magic erasers, so I am looking at other options. So far the  GOOF OFF product purchased at Home Depot seems to work best, and a little goes a long way.

 

 

We will start work in the kitchen. I have decided to paint everything a pure white for now, including the ceilings. Then it will be easy to add accent colors as we have time and energy. I want to sit a spell in my home and get a real feel for it before the real decorating is begun. We just need to get things CLEAN and ready to move furniture in right now. IF we close this week, we will have just over a month to get the place move-in ready! Our house-sitting job in Willis ends on September 1st or thereabouts. Willis is about 20 miles from our new place so it is easy to go over for the day and work.

 

...and speaking of spending time inside the house, as you know, that is not allowed until after closing at least not unless we call our realtor and have her drive 45 miles to the house to unlock it.  So, when she opened up the house for us several weeks back, she asked us to be sure and lock the doors before we left.  I promised to do so, AND I DID. However, She never said a word about making sure all of the windows were locked.  Just so happens, the large window on the front porch was unlocked.  We have been climbing in as needed to measure rooms and windows and arrange newspaper furniture on the floor, etc..  And last week...Paul was out in the back yard walking around and FOUND two keys on a ring. Both keys unlock the front door!  It was meant to be.

 

 

 Does anyone know why realtors always open cabinet doors to take pictures of the kitchen? We have seen that A LOT.  Just curious about why.

My plan - always subject to change - is to replace the apple-green color with white, darken the wood cabinets a few shades. and to remove the upper cabinets on the back wall (shown below) to open up that space.

 

We will put up some open shelves there if all goes as planned to make it feel more like a farm kitchen. Stainless steel appliances are on my shopping list. I got a great deal on natural linen curtains, sort of  like burlap and in a taupe color from Tuesday Morning (love that place). These will go on the big dining room window and the living room window as well, to frame our view of the backyard and the stable further back, which is currently obscured by weeds and brush at the moment.
 

 We bought this beautiful (to us) door table made from reclaimed wood for the dining room, and have completed a collection of old ladder-back chairs with rush-bottom seats. I will stain the cabinets to approximate this shade of wood. We also found a glass top for the table at a resale shop. I hate to cover the wood with glass, BUT - the surface of the old door has large nail heads and there are crevices that would fill with crumbs if we didn't.

 

Below is another view of our dining room, The door on the left goes to the laundry room and out the back door. The purple wall you see is in the master bedroom.  The interior is quite colorful! It is a very open floor plan - exactly what we were looking for.

 

 

I started this blog as a record of our Pine Shadows Farm adventure.  Will try to keep it updated as time allows, and can't wait until I can start posting the AFTER Pics! Thanks for visiting. Your comments are always appreciated.