~*Weekend Works*~

Hello Dear Friends! I hope your weekend has been good so far. We did finally get a little bit of rain & some cooler temperatures. We were at 6 days in a row of 100 plus heat... and it was doing me in for sure. I am so thankful to see the numbers much lower today. In fact, right now it is a beautiful 73 degrees. Hmmm... maybe I should get away from the computer and head outside?

Well, before I do... I would like to share these with you. Things that kept me busy the past couple of days...

This old washing machine was an auction goody that Tony & I picked up a few weeks ago. The bidding war was on for this too. Another gal & myself really wanted it... but with the encouragement of my sweetheart, I was able to win. We picked up a few mums for it yesterday. I transplanted one of my smaller ferns to fill some of the space too. The washer is sitting in front of our barn. We have a circle drive that wraps around & swings by the barn, so the washer display is a welcoming decoration. A little cheery I think. I do just LOVE the green of the washer bowl! Don't you? I plan to fill it with a small evergreen for Christmas & winter and some bright red geraniums next summer.



I took a slight break from hooking on my pony rug. I plan to get back at it today & as you can see, I don't have too much left to hook on it. It will be nice to take it outside to work under the shade trees today...



The sampler that I stitched for my sister is framed. This frame was a headache in the making. It is a thrift store frame. It was very sturdy, but stark white ~ and enamel-like paint finish too. Because the white paint was so slick & I was too lazy to try to sand it... I sprayed it with an ivory paint. It still wasn't what I wanted. My Mom had given me a tube of Rub & Buff a few years ago. I thought that might do the trick... but it looked too silver then. So, I finally grabbed my shoe polish and went to town on it. This is the finished product. My sister's decorating style is a mix of country 'barn' and shabby chic. Maybe this will fit. I was going to give it to her for her birthday, but am not sure I want to wait until November. It will probably be a 'just because' gift. Emma is my niece's name & the year 1877 is 100 years before my sister's birth year. I like to do things like that with names & dates.



My Mom does have a birthday next weekend. This is her gift. The box is from the box of 'trash to treasure' goodies sent to my by Joanne. (Thank you again Joanne!) I painted the box a deep red, sanded, and shoe polished it. The cross stitch for the top was stitched on prairie cloth... with my Momma's initials. I glued it to the top of the box, trimmed the edge of the box with a little grosgrain ribbon, lined the bottom of the box with an antique music page, re-did the pincushion under the lid with some wool, and made a woolly strawberry (from a Stacy Nash pattern). It doesn't look like the same box anymore. (You can see the before in this post.)...





Well... the nice weather is calling me. Time to head outside for the day.

Wishing you all warm smiles...

Betty