Going once.....going twice.....sold!

Auctions! I love 'em. They are pure entertainment for us. Plus, you can get some mighty good deals if you know what you are looking for.

Since we moved to North Georgia, Body Guard and I have been to a plethora of auctions. We have been to auctions of all, and I mean all......kinds.

They are usually spontaneous ventures for our Saturday nights. Tonight was one of those nights. About 5 oclock today, I said to Body Guard......."hey, I wish we knew about an auction tonight." That would be fun! Within a few minutes, he just googled online and found out that there was one within 10 miles of our house......so off to the adventure we went.
We stopped by the Chinese restaurant and got a "Pu-Pu Platter", and I will spare you the reason why I think they call it the Pu-Pu Platter, and headed out to the auction. We usually have no idea what we may be walking into.

Once we stopped spontaneously in this old, country church and we knew right away, this was not going to be a good one. I mean, they were auctioning toilet paper, garden hoses, Bill Clinton dolls, and lots of junk. We really laughed more at the interaction of the people in this auction.

Another time, we went in and there were signs all over like......No spitting on the floor, No cussing........and we again, knew this was not going to be a good one. Only in North Georgia does this happen probably! We slid out of the building hoping no one recognized us! LOL

Then other times, we have found some really good stuff for little of nothing. Real antiques, trunks, and treasures.
So, tonight we really felt lucky at some of our finds.

I have found that my closet sewing nook has expanded so much that I want to make a stitching area in the basement. We have the room for it, so I have planned ahead the basic things I wanted.
I got a long, old...very old oak table for my sewing machine and matting board that would seat 4-6 people for 50.00. I got the solid wood chairs for 7.50 each! And the coolest is that I got a china cabinet, again very old, with the glass panels----beautiful, for 25.00. Yes, this will hold my fabrics and fat quarters and other sewing treasures. I got an old, large trunk for 20.00 and BG got a "Gentlemen's chest" for 25.00. I also got a Windsor type old rocking chair to put in my stitching area for 30.00. The Gentlemens chest has not been opened so we have no idea what we may find in there.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me or I would take pics. But tomorrow, when we pick it all up, I will snap a few. I'm so excited to have a big table to put the sewing machine on and have more elbow room!
The auction was 4 hours long. We have settled back in now and reflecting on our really great finds!
Hope you had some good fun on this Saturday!
Jennifer

My stitching stand, clip and qsnap

I've had a couple inquiries on what kind of stand I use for stitching. Sometimes I don't use this stand but alot of times I do to simply relieve pressure from my left arm, shoulder, and neck as I have cervical disc issues. The stand came from Ebay (also known as the Bay of Evil by Deb! LOL) last year. I'm not sure on a brand name on this one but it's very travel friendly. Of course I wouldn't take it everywhere but it usually resides by my chair now next to my magnifying light.

Last year, you can see I attached a larger qsnap working on the Quaker Christmas design.

The first pic is a closeup of the pattern clip. I just got this at a stitching shop in Pigeon Forge. I use is to hold the patterns up. The front side of the clip is transparent. I love it! If I am traveling and use the qsnap only it just clips on the frame or whereever something is nearby.

The Sky sampler verse

There is beyond the Sky

A Heaven of Joy and Love

And holy Children when they die

Go to the world above.

From a sampler by Deborah Green, Massachusetts, 1784

Going for a walk........Friday evening

Friday evenings are usually tiresome. We both meet back at the house after a long day of work and after trying to please a thousand folks at work, we are tired and here we are. ........here for each other. The whole world is put aside as we travel down the road to our house and we are once again released from the pressures of the world.

We each let that go at the mailbox as we enter our dirt driveway. Our house is a refuge now for each other.

At least 3-4 nights a week, mostly 5, we walk about 2 miles for exercise. Just plain good common sense for middle age folks! LOL Its'a great stress reliever and keeps us healthy.

Our Labs know when it's time for us to walk. They run to the back of our house, peak in the window and show a great amount of interest for our evening time. We have a dog Charlie, that comes down the road and shows great interest in leading the way.

We smile at how we finally got Charlie to trust us. He didnt' let anyone, even neighbors down the road, touch or pet him as he was obviously abused in the past and scared for anyone to get near him.

But about 3 weeks ago, Charlie let me for the first time pet him and he loved it ever since. He comes down the road to our house at time to walk and greets us. Then he travels ahead, usually sides with Ruby, and has a doggie smile, while we walk.

Ruby is the one that runs off at the side as we walk and we have to call her alot. Charlie, honestly, I thought, for a long time would never let anyone come near him. Now, he lets me pet him and hug him. I'm so glad. Bodyguard takes lead as I usually give out of breath by the first hill. Raven lags behind with me. Here are a few pics of our walk this evening. The evenings here in the mountains are cool and relaxing.
We make sure we get back to the house by dark as there are lots of bear sitings here.
Someone stopped us down the road tonight to let us know they saw a bear at the top of the road this morning at 8:30am looking through trash. That's scarey!
That's one thing I make sure since I moved to the country. No walking outside after dark.........I'm serious. Very serious. We have coyote, bear, snakes, anything. I stay in.

Thomas stays behind and guards the house.....LOL He greets us at the top of the road when we return. He is secretly wishing for a bowl of cold milk this evening......... his dream is for a mouse or a frog to flurry by him. He just LOVEs to bring us the remains of a mouse on the doormat. He is so proud! I usually scream!

During our walk, the dogs, Raven, Ruby, and Charlie find a water fountain and he turns it on for them to drink for a midwalk refreshment.

This cow is cement and in a yard down the road. Our dogs, Raven and Ruby always go sniff it's butt like it was real. Go figure! A funny site indeed!

This is my best friend, Dot's house.

And there are lots of lovely mushrooms budding in the woods. I'm not kidding, they get the size of dinner plates around our house!

Ok, here are the guys and girls.

This is Charlie when He comes down the road to our house at night.

ok, here is my dog, Raven. She is out of breath and has enjoyed her walk.

New Start~~Jonah's Hornbook

Today I received the 35 ct Lambswool Linen in the mail for the Jonah's Hornbook which is another project in the Sampler Girls Companion Booklet 3.

The whale-tail hornbook is from Wayne Sims Primitive Folk Art--ebay seller ID: colonialthymesprimitives and the color is Ohio Cupboard Blue. The threads are DMC colors which I have on hand.

I'm eager to start this!

My needlework around the house

Well, Tanya's blog got me to thinking about taking pics around my house where I have my needlework scattered. I have a couple of other seasonal designs around my house during the holidays. So, here goes............
here is a project I finished my first year of college. The letter J for Jennifer! The backing was handstitched brown cordoroy. Its pretty old but still a treasure.

Here is a wall grouping in the master bedroom.

Here are some really old pics, I completed these in high school actually and stored them in my hope chest. I used them in my kitchen since then. So they are pretty old too. They are 22 over 1 and several fruits. This is beside my pantry and the door to the basement level.

Back to the master bedroom where I have the Rose Cottage.

This was stitched in 1983 and also stored in my hope chest and was in my first apartment.

Dining room. This bench is about 2o years old.

Closer up views

My love for Delft! and our fireplace which brings many many warm cozy evenings in the Fall and Winter. The Amsterdam piece is on the right.

This is one in my hallway that was completed by Meghan a long time back. That was before she thought I wasn't her best friend! LOL

This sits on my windowsill in the family room.

Another finish this year sits on top of my TV armoire right next to Brandon's pic.

Grouping in the family room. The tatting lace pic on the right completed by my 90 year old mother in law.

This is not so good in coloring but a picture that I stitched for Bodyguard when we were dating. We both like wolves. I had wrote a poem on the back of the picture, 1999. This is in one of the bedrooms that has rustic flair!

Upstairs bathroom over the towel rack. We refinished this last year and it has an old fashioned pedestal sink next to the flowers.

Again, the coloring of the camera not good but this is another piece I stitched 5 years ago and its on the canoe bookshelf in the rustic bedroom.

With Brandon's picture when he was a little feller.

The canoe shelf

This picture will have to be reframed. I completed it 2 years ago and did not use blocking or matting board. Of course the tension now has loosened so I will be stretching this one again and using the matting board. It's hanging in the upstairs hallway.

This is one in Meghan's room or guest room.....whichever. I stitched this in 1988 during my pregnancy with her.

This is the whole design. The glare on the glass is not so good but..........I was on bedrest with this pregnancy for about 3 months, so I had alot of time to stitch.

Thisdutch girl quilt was handmade by my aunt and it was a gift to me when Meghan was born. This is the pinkwork pinkeeps sitting on the night stand in Meghan's room. There are lots of pink roses in this room so this is their temporary home

A Bent Creek design in the stairwell.

A shelf with a few recent finishes.

Overall, I love the handmade items sprinkled around the house.

On my wish list

I just saw these necklaces recently on a blog and clicked here:

http://www.countrystitchesonline.com/catalog.php?category=29

I will put the necklace " Hearth and Home Necklace" on my wish list! Aren't these neat?
Too cool!
Hope your week is going well.......
Jennifer

New finish and some goodies I found just perusing shops

Well, had a good day in Atlanta, traffic not bad and stopped by a antique store and got good deals.
First is a cross stitch book, 2 bucks, that was loaded with the different stitches, finished, infomation on blackwork, darning,open work, how to frame, how to make pillows, just good stuff!

My new pin cushion for gold 26 needles~~ Very cute and primitive and has a weighted feature for easy use. Four bucks.

wooden heart buttons DMC floss

1888 Ohio Quilt Posey

2 over 2 on 32 ct antique ivory fabric

Design The Sampler Girl/ Tanya Marie Anderson

The Companion Booklet

frame is from Ebay