2012 Here We Come!

Another new year is upon us.  I am not a big resolution maker, but this year I do have a few.  Like a lot of you I want to declutter. Our living space is pretty good, but the basement and garage looks like we are hoarders!  It has been hard because my mother in law passed away last May and we have all her things in these 2 areas.  My husband is not quite ready to think about selling or even giving away her things, so here they stay.  We need to organize the stuff though, as it is a jumbled up mess.  He said we will take a small area at a time and go through it all.  It is just getting around to him wanting to do it.  One of my main resolutions for this year is to try to cut back on my grocery bill.  There has to be a way!  Couponing is not my thing. I have tried it some, but it seems like the coupons are always for things I don't usually buy so buying something for the sake of that is not a help.  I have 3 adult children that live here, and they eat a lot. My husband is also retired and eats all day long. lol . You would be horrified to know what I spend per week on food. My resolution is to begin to plan meals for the week on Sunday, go shopping once a week instead of daily, and try to get this grocery budget under control. It will take some getting used to for us, but it has to be done. What are your resolutions?

Happy New Year!

Nadine

Countdown to Christmas!

I can't believe that Christmas is only a week away.  I haven't wrapped a single gift!  I said to hubby today, "We are staying home and getting things done." One reason I have procrastinated on putting gifts under the tree is a new addition to our family named Vader. My son's kitten!  He is a cute little all black kitten, and frisky as heck. I just know he is going to tear all the paper off the presents. lol  

A few more Christmas decor pics below:

The trunk in the front entry decked out with a prim tree and some old world Santas

All is calm, All is bright... Stained glass window on the stairway.

A lotta snowmen - A hooked rug on the living room wall. I will keep this up through February along with my other snow friends.

May your days be merry and bright this holiday season. Merry Christmas!
Hugs,
Nadine

Christmas is Right Around the Corner!

Here are a few more touches of Christmas at our house. The old Canadian goose decoy nests in a bed of snow covered Christmas greenery on the coffee table.

The bucket bench holds a few stoneware pieces and some Christmas cheer.

The stepback cupboard holds the old world Vaillencourt santa and his snowman friend

Oh Christmas tree! How lovely art thy branches!  Our main tree for this year.

Thanks for stopping by!
Christmas Blessings,
Nadine

Christmas Around the Farmhouse Kitchen

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at our house!  I would like to share a few pictures of some of my primitive farmhouse decor this year.  I have kept it pretty simple with touches of greenery and some simple vignettes.  The bay window is the exception in the kitchen and is decked out with a tree and village. My children no matter how old love the Christmas village.  These pictures are in my kitchen. I will share some more of the rest of the house tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays! You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The kitchen table display is an old painted tool carrier that I usually keep on the table and change the contents with the holidays.  This year I filled old Mason Jars with treats for Santa and surrounded them with greenery.

The old Chatillon country store scale holds a bundle of fresh holly from our holly tree.

A few touches of Christmas on the beam above the stove.

For some reason this sled picture will only post sideways. Anyone know why?  I have tried everything to get it to post straight. lol.  Anyway, tip your head to see the old sled that was my Mother in Laws when she was a child decked out for the holiday.

The bay window in the kitchen adorned with festive tree and village.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few pictures of my kitchen at Christmas this year!

Have a Wonderful Day of Thanksgiving

I have much to be thankful for this year.  I wish you all a blessed day of Thanksgiving!

Great Yard Sale Day! Many Prim Goodies!

Wow, what a morning hubby and I had at the sales.  There weren't many but we decided to hit 2 places.  The first was a craft fair in a local neighborhood.  They had some lovely crafts and I picked up a few gifts, but they also had a section called "Nana's Attic" which held all the yard sale type goodies. I got the prim snowman bowl, the stocking, the repro coverlet, the hooked chair pads, some nice pocketbooks ( Vera Bradley and 9 west, plus some great hard cover books on quilts, cooking and the like.  Everything was 50 cents each.  I wish I had gotten there earlier. Next we stopped at a sale that was in an old barn. We got a ton of stuff there. The man said everything had to go and to make a pile of what we wanted and he would give us a lump sum price.  I was a bit nervous, but it seemed like he was a reasonable fellow so yeah, it was 10 dollars for all!  Hubby got an old scythe for the yard ( not in the picture because of it's size) an old yoke, the early footstool, a gourd dipper, the corn dryer, the old birdhouse in great old blue paint, the brown crock, an old buoy in old chipped paint ( which I collect) the yelloware and green pitcher, a few old barrel spigots and a great Early peg rack in a reddish brown old paint! I know it is kind of hard to see it all in my pictures, but it was a great haul, and for 10 dollars!  We have had a lot of luck at the sales lately. The antique market is slow for dealers I think because of the economy so they are selling dirt cheap. I have a few more things to show you from previous weeks.  Now to find places for it all !
Prim Blessings,
Nadine

Front Yard Fall Display

Wow time is sure flying!  Here we are at the end of October already and I haven't shared my outdoor signs of Fall.  This old wheelbarrow was my husband's grandfathers. Don't you just love the old red paint and original stenciling on the side? We have had more people stop and want to buy that wheelbarrow from us, but we would never sell it. It belongs here. Unfortunately we have to keep it chained to a tree. We have already had someone steal the pumpkins from the display. I am hoping it was just kids.

The bittersweet looks so pretty against the red door!  I have had trouble with my bittersweet this year turning brown.  I don't know if it was because of all the rain we had or what.