Our Little Retreat

I thought I would show you what I did with a small entertainment center that we have had for 25 yrs. or more. Our bedroom is on the 2nd story of our house. We have an incredible amount of company. Sometimes it is a steady stream and this year it has come in spurts. In fact, a family of 5 is arriving today from MI to bring two boys to college.

If it gets late and some want to stay up or watch something downstairs that may not interest us, hubby and I retreat to our little area upstairs and crash.

I thought it would be a good idea to turn the part of the entertainment ctr. that had a turn table record player in it (that tells you how old it is) into a snack ctr. So we hurried over to Walmart and got a mini frig. and microwave. It's been one of the best ideas I've had, if I do say so myself. Let me tell you after working all day and hubby working late, I just go up those stairs and do my own thing.

When my sister, daughters, or Ceekay comes over we can let the guys have the downstairs and up we go to watch a movie. They all think it's a hoot. In fact, my sister always stocks it on her visits.

This is the cabinet and you can see through the glass doors that I stock all paper goods above the microwave.

To the side of the cabinet we put the frig.
On the bottom shelf I keep soups, crackers, drink mixes, chips, peanut butter, biscottis--you name it.

One day our daughter's internet service went out (she works from home) and she had to come over to use our wireless upstairs. She later confessed she raided the cabinet. (smile) That's ok, Sarah.

Closer look at the inside. There's a sweet grass Rose on the shelf that I got from Charleston.
The top shelf even pulls out.
This is our sitting area of the bedroom where the cabinet sets on the right.
Come on over, prop your feet up and we'll pop some popcorn and watch a movie.
Have a great weekend!

A Few More things of Charleston

Charleston is known for it's ironwork gates. They are very popular and many houses have them at their entrances. They are photographed and painted quite often and are for sale at shops and in the market place. These are two prints that I purchased and framed. They sit on a table in our bedroom. I'm sorry they are not clearer. I should have taken them out of their frames, perhaps.

Jewelry with the different designs of the gates are also very in. Here is one that my DH bought for me. It is a design of a gate somewhere in Charleston. The chain is a replica of pieces of rice.
Charleston was known for their rice in the late 1600's. They were a major supplier of rice to the colonies. The history of the gates and rice are below the picture. I scanned them and but the quality is not the best.

Ceekay , on the left, was with me on this trip. We are enjoying the beautiful gardens in the pic below. She also surprised me with a sweet grass basket that a lady had just made.


It is sweet, don't you think?
We went to the Naval Shipyard which is housing the Civil War submarine, The Hunley. The men loved seeing them work on the sub. They are still getting artifacts out of the hull.
Below is a replica of the coin Lt. Dixon had in his pocket that he carried for good luck.
It was a very small space that nine men had to sit and work in. There is many more items that were on display that we could not photograph.

It's a fun city to visit if you get the chance.

Have a great week. See ya soon.

I want to also thank Carlotte at http://athomeinscottsdale.blogspot.com for giving me these precious awards. You need to visit her wonderful blog. She actually has two now. Thank you Charlotte!

Take a Little Journey With Me

Take a little trip back in time with me of olden days gone by.

Turn the corner here to start our adventure and go back 327 yrs to Charleston, SC

Now down the lane we go lined with huge old trees on both sides. They say it is one of the most photographed roads around.
I see the plantation just ahead. North & South, Queen and other movies were filmed here.

Here's hubby and I out front.

Our tour guide is ready to take us in. Sorry no cameras allowed.

Coming back out there is a play in progress on the front porch. She has quite the southern drawl.

Now come around the back to see the grounds with trees that are hundreds of years old.

Beautiful horses grazing on the property. Oh did I mention Ceekay is with me and tried to feed the horses.

Fort Sumter out in the water.

Of course we had to go to the Citadel and tour their museum.

I do declare if this isn't the house in the film sequel "Scarlet".

You must see Rainbow Road and the Battery with the beautiful, stately homes.
Gorgeous, just gorgeous homes.

I'm being beckoned to leave the market place and I 'm trying to bar myself in, as I really don't want to go yet. Well.... I've probably spent too much money and there's always the next trip.

I hope you enjoyed your tour with me. Till next time.

Do I have to?

This & That Thursday

It's always busy around the house in the summer months if you have a yard and flowers to tend to. Lots of weeding, deadheading and watering. We've managed to keep the grass green in a drought here in SC. My hubbby swears by his Scott's 4 step program for the lawn.

This is where I put the mushroom and one of the frogs I recently painted.

We have wanted a hummingbird feeder all summer and finally got one. Hubby tried to get a pic of one of the birds that has been feeding but it is a bit blurred. He is flapping his wings in pic below.

I have also done some sewing lately. I did these curtains for my daughters sliding door. I cut the solid curtain almost in half and added the white shear material with cording joining them together. She hurriedly put them up just to see how they looked and took these pics.
This is what they looked like before.I have been wanting to do something for my young granddaughters. I decided to make them matching aprons. They love helping in the kitchen making cookies and whatever else Mommy lets them do. I sewed their initials on the pockets.

See you tomorrow for show & Tell.

Apples

These are a couple items in my kitchen that I painted years ago when I first started painting. My kitchen is done in apples and fruit. In fact, my whole house has fruit in most of the rooms, in one form or another. It's a reminder to me to live the fruits of Spirit. (I fall so short at times.)

This little cabinet has a little boy up in the apple tree picking apples, while some fall to the ground for the little girl to pick up and put in her apron with two little bunnies looking on. It has a couple of shelves in it for storage.

This is a lazy susan that I painted in 1987. All the children are doing different tasks with apples. One is cooking in a pot and says apple butter under it. The other sayings are applesauce, apple jelly, & apple pie written around the edges.

I didn't need to use it as a lazy susan so I put it on a stand and put it on the kitchen counter. (Ceekay's idea)

Setting on the kitchen counter in the corner.


This is a grouping on the counter (with fruit) and a Norman Rockwell plate. My husband saw the apple slices in a gift shop and had to buy them. They fool most people that visit.

Another little grouping on the counter has a tea pot, a pewter plate that was handmade by being hand punched and a fruit vine.

I hope you've been having a good and productive week. Enjoy the weekend with family and friends. See ya next time.

Stop by and see Linda of Behind My Red Door at http://behindmyreddoor.blogspot.com for a great Fall givaway and please tell her I sent you.