Rainy days and Mondays.

It was a gloomy wet weekend, not at all the weather

I ordered for the last 2 days of my vacation.

The only good thing about rainy weather is that it gives me plenty of time

to work on indoor projects.  I've got a huge pile of old junk in the basement

in preparation for the 3rd and probably last garage sale I'll ever have.

Forgive me for saying this, but I would rather visit the dentist than go to garage sales
 and the thought of all those wasted hours having one of my own...ugh,
but every 10 years or so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

The unknown animal on my clock now has 2 ears.
As I'm looking at this photo, the thought that comes to mind is,
"There's a sucker born every minute."
Is that what you were thinking, too?
I thought so.

I propped it on top of my medicine cabinet while the clay cures,
and even my coffee cups are smirking about my foolishness!

Enough about that.

As you can see, I've hung valances on my kitchen windows.

They weren't exactly what I had in mind, but they were quick and easy.
I bought three 16 x 90 table runners from World Market and sewed 2 together
for the bay window and hung the 3rd one on the window over my kitchen sink.

WM also carries napkins and towels to match.  In fact, the towel hanging
on the drawer pull was my inspiration for the valances.  I went to buy more,
thinking I could piece them together, but I was pleasantly surprised
 to find the runners instead.

Now that they're up, I have to curb my temptation to adjust the folds.
As my Baba would've said, "It's put near impossible to get them even!"

The table runners were $12.99 each, so for around $40 I've got window treatments
that required very little work.  I ripped out the finished edges on two sides of each runner
before sewing them together for this window.  Then I stitched a rod pocket on the top edge,
 pressed them, and that's it!  Easy peasy!


 The runners are available at World Market in...

 Orange

 Black

 

Blue

and red,
and now they're on sale for only $9.74!

I've been given a piece of crocheted autumn inspiration that's tempting me
 to make another set of valances in orange.

What do you think?
Should I go for it?

Red striped valances for December through mid August,
 and orange stripes for the autumn months.
Halloween, Thanksgiving, pumpkins, candy corn.....hmmmmm......

Well, today it's back to work for me, so no creative time for quite a while, I'm afraid.

Thanks for visiting!
Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:
Tweak it Tuesday  Cozy Little House
Share Your Style  The Essence of Home
Share Your Cup Thursday  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

What you see is what you get.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 When I saw this listed on Etsy.....

 (Etsy photo)

I was smitten.

I couldn't spend my Etsy gift card fast enough!

Now that I have the clock in my possession I realize my mistake,
 but I'd also like to get your opinion on the matter.

What is the animal at the top of the clock?

Tick tock, tick tock.

Okay, time's up!

What's your guess?  A cow?

That's what I  saw, too, but let's moove in for a closer look, shall we?

It appears to be a hunting themed clock with a rabbit on one side and a 

pheasant duck partridge woodpecker bird of some species on the other.

Now I ask you, what in the world does a cow have to do with hunting?

Do hunters ride cows into the wilderness?  It's not
a common sight in these parts.

My curiosity got the best of me, so I researched
the subject on Google and here's what I found....

 

 source

Aha!

This makes much more sense to me, to place a deer caribou antelope elk antlered
 hunted animal at the head of the clock, don't you think?

Google Images

Bag o' parts.

I'll take one please!

Also, my newly acquired clock seems to be missing a decorative piece on the bottom.

And the pendulum.

And part of the deer caribou antelope elk large mammal's ear!

This fact was disclosed to me before the sale, but in my haste I thought she wrote

that part of the rabbit's ear had gone missing.  No biggie.
On the other hand, to have the star of the show arrive on my doorstep

with an amputated ear was.....well, rather disappointing to say the least.

This is not the first time I've bought a clock with questionable parts.

In my defense, this clock was only $3.

The clock is mine now, so I purchased a chunk of air-dry clay to repair the ear.

I'm no sculptor, so who knows what animal it will resemble when I'm done!

Moral of the story:

What you see is what you get.

(Look closely and read  s l o w l y.)


I still see a cow.

In the end, I do not regret my decision to buy this forlorn little clock.
I'll smile every time I pass it in my foyer.  :o)

Here's an entire collection of miniature cuckoo clock eye candy
 for you to enjoy......

Sold for $415 here and not a cow in sight.

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for part moo, I mean two.
Vickie

I'm joining the paries at:
Share Your Cup Thursday  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Let's Talk Vintage  Bella Rosa Antiques

Coming soon, curtain progress!

Everything but the kitchen sink.

I finished painting our new tongue & groove wall and open shelving quite a while ago,

but I haven't had the chance to take any photos until now. 

I painted the wood with the same BM Timid White I used on our cabinets, but chose
a flat finish for the wood.  Over the years, I've found that flat finish paint holds up
just as well as semi-gloss and a low luster look is my personal preference.

 As you can see, red and green are not reserved just for Christmas at 911.

At least the fan says summer, right?  Although I said I wasn't thrilled with my

neutral kitchen, I can see the advantage of changing accent colors with the seasons. 

My orange walls may be gone, but I'll be digging through my hoarding bins

for earth toned junk when the leaves turn color........which is

less than a month away!  Where has the summer gone?

The polka dot bowls? 

Walmart!

 

The old treadle sewing machine I owned back in the 80's is long gone,
but I saved the pretty drawers with the thought that someday I'd find a use for them.
I cut the sides off one and nailed an old board on top to make a display shelf.

It's a perfect fit between the stove and microwave.

Reflection of blue skies and green trees.

I wish I could keep this view all year long!

I unearthed this pretty tureen for only $4 when I dropped off

a bag of clothes at the thrift shop.  It's sitting on the shelf over our bay window

which has curtain mock-ups tacked to the trim at the moment.

For DeeDee's little helpers.......

 A stylish red toy vacuum for $3.99 that works!  Well, it

lights up and makes noise, but doesn't actually clean the floors.

I splurged on a jar of MMS's furniture wax to use on our kitchen table base and chairs.
  Unlike the smelly wax I normally use, this one claims to be odorless.

I painted our chairs black almost 10 years ago and the paint was still  tacky,
so I'm hoping 4 coats of creamy white chalk paint and a coat of MMS wax
will solve the problem.

  I'm not sure how the wax will hold up when washing
food off the chairs, but in a week or so they'll be put to the test.
Boy, will they ever be put to the test!  hehe
Just be careful when you sit.  The newly stained and varnished
seats aren't attached to the chairs yet.


Looking into the back entry.....

One of the bathroom window sashes that we replaced last year
makes a summery backdrop for my favorite toy car.

 

In the yard......

We'll have a bumper crop of apples from our 2 trees this year.
Time to sharpen my paring knives!

These apples ripen earlier than most.

Hollyhocks have a habit of growing wherever they please in my flower beds,

and between the coneflowers and hollyhocks, we've got plenty of bees bumbling around.
We've had a few cool days that were perfect for digging up plants
 and moving them around.  I hope they survive!

 I may get around to stitching up my kitchen curtains when I'm
on vacation next week!!! woo hoo!
Or I may do nothing at all.   :o)


Thanks for visiting!
Vickie

I'm joining the parties at:
Let's Talk Vintage Bella Rosa Antiques
Mod Mix Monday  Mod Vintage Life
Share your Style  The Essence of Home
Share Your Cup Thursday  Have a Daily Cup of Mrs.Olson
Party Junk  Funky Junk Interiors
Tweak it Tuesday  Cozy Little House