The Story of my Harvest Table....

Well, I have mentioned before that sometime I would share the story of how I aquired my harvest table, and I guess today, since I actually have some free time, is the time to tell you about it.
So, grab a cup of coffee, this will take a few minutes! ;)
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My family and I went antiquing after church,one Sunday in July of 2008 to my favorite antique shops. It just so happens that a cousin of mine works at the antique shop and we got to talking about our likes and interests in decor. I told her that I love more prim antiques, over victorian and so forth. "Well", she said...."have you seen the very prim and old table up here....it is so neat?!" I said "oh, no I haven't...."
As soon as she took me back to see it I WAS IN LOVE! She told us that everyone just loves it and stops and looks at it, but you have to have the right house for it, and you have to have enough room for it, because it is 10 feet long.

I was just smitten....speechless, in fact! ;) I said to my husband immediately...."This is it, this is the kind of table that I have been talkiing about. * My husband and I talked about someday adding on to our house, and I could see a lot of the design in my head and the one thing that I wanted in that room was a big harvest table to seat all our children and someday grandchildren at for holidays and get togethers! *
Well, my husband liked it and thought too that it was very nice and quite unique, but wasn't as excited as I was. "We have a table" he said. "I know, but this is a one of a kind....we will never find one like this again, and it is even on sale!" ;) * The price tag had an original price and then it was marked down quite a bit and marked firm. I thought the price was FANTASTIC! My husband was kind of agreeing, but not with me on the overall picture.
So, we later left the store: EMPTY HANDED. :( I was ok, and I didn't argue with my husband, but I just felt in my heart that that was MY table, and it was meant for me....the piece I had been searching for, but I obeyed my husband and agreed that there were other things that needed our financial attention!
So, it was now getting later in the evening, and my parents had stopped in with dessert, and later left when it was getting late. My husband having the summers off, got ready for his work week of painting a huge old building that he was hired to paint. This certain building took around a month or so....it was very large and he worked by himself. He would get up early in the morning, load up our trailer with all his supplies and ladders and head out by 6 or so to get a head start before the heat would really hit. He would then usually come home for lunch because the job was only a few blocks away from our house.
This particular Monday I was planning on having a little baby shower luncheon for my good friend Amy who was having a baby girl in August. So, 3 of my closest friends were coming over for this luncheon and I was making it all cute and pink and we were dining out on the deck. I told my husband to get home a little before noon so he could be with the kids for lunch and tend to them while I hosted for my girlfriends.
All was going well....My friends and I started having our lunch even though Bob wasn't home yet for the kids, but that was ok...I got them their quick lunch and then they were back to their playing. So, I heard him finally coming home and he came out to us and greeted all of us. He then came up to me with his one hand behind his back and said that he had something for me. He brought his hand out from his back holding an old antique scale, and he said "Oh, that's right, this is what I wanted...." *I will quickly give you an inside hint....when we went antiquing, he wanted an old antique scale to weigh clay on for pottery....and he had seen a few when were antiquing on Sunday, but couldn't make a decision on any...*
So, immediately I was SPEECHLESS AGAIN and got a little choked up.... "You didn't?" I said. And he just looked at me.....by this time all my girlfriends are like what? "What's going on?"
I was in shock......did he really go and get this? He said "I have it, it's on the trailer!" I quickly ran to the car, with all my girlfriends running behind me (including the one that is soon to give birth!) :) He certainly did have it, and I was just beside myself.....I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe that he changed his mind.
So, I had to fill the girls in on the whole story, and they were just as awwed and as happy for me as I was. They later left, telling me that they couldn't wait to go home and tell their husbands what Bob had done for me, hoping that they would take a good hint too! ;)
Bob later told me that after we got home the night before, he started really thinking about the table and he couldn't get it off his mind, and he found himself also believing that we would never find something like that again, at that price then yet. He made up his mind that he would go back in the morning and get it, and he even told my dad his plans, and told him not to say anything to me. He got up early in the morning and left like his normal routine, but never went to paint....he went right to the antique shop and was there like an hour and a half before it opened! He was sooo worried then that it had already sold the night before, and he wanted to make sure that he was the first person in the building that morning to get it if it hadn't sold. Sure enough, it was there waiting for him to bring it to it's new home....and he picked up his scale then too! :)
So, that is the story of my harvest table.....I wish I knew more about its origination, where it was found, where it was used, but no one knew. All the employees of the antique store told my husband, that he was truely aquiring a treasure..."you just don't see pieces like this anymore" one man told him.
The neat thing about it is that the table is painted this very light moss green, but it goes perfectly with my rug, and I think it fits our home just perfectly! :) So I would have to say this is one of my most favorite pieces! :)

Great Things by Great Friends!

Morning Prim Friends! Today is looking absolutely beautiful and it isn't supposed to be so hot, YEAH! :)
I wanted to share with you some new things that I received....I think you will like all of them!
First off, I must share with you our new, but very tiny addition to our family:

Isn't he cute?! He and his 3 brothers/sisters were orphaned from their mom, so a friend asked us if we would want one, and we took this little black cutie! We already have an orange and white male cat that is 3, so he is trying to adjust to this new little one roaming around the house.

Next take a peek at this awesome giveaway that I won from Colleen!

Let me tell you how great these look and smell! I just love these bowl fillers that she makes....what a great, great giveaway! She had them all packaged up so beautifully! Thanks again Colleen!








I also got this great magazine from Patti at her shop. I certainly enjoyed this prim magazine with lots of great reads and prim pictures with a cup of coffee.

And when I was down to visit Patti at her shop, she sent some great tarts along with me that she made. Let me tell you what....I burned the sweet orange chili pepper tart and it smells so good. I actually have it burning right now in my tart burner. It is so great! Thanks Patti!~

Well,I certainly got some great little gifts from some veary dear friends, don't ya think?! And I am so happy to have great friends!

Prim Patriotic Dress

It's a dress, it's a flag, it's a little dress made from Olde Glory!
Calling all you seamstresses, and even non-seamstresses, I have an easy project for you! This adorable, perfect for this time of year, dress is made from none other than an old flag! Complete with some staining and faded colors. Now how clever is that? We all have old disgruntled flags that have been weathered and instead of throwing them out (which the proper thing to do is to take them to a flag drop off box), you can turn them into a little dress and make the cutest little patriotic display in your home.
Take a look at the one I have here....there are no finished edges!



I personally did not make this dress, but I found it at a cute little shop very cheap! So, I quickly grabbed it up and have one to look at if I ever decide to make another one! Great little gift idea, don'tcha think?! ;)

If you decide to make a flag dress, I sure would love to see how it turned out! Have a great weekend. Happy Memorial Day, and a big THANK YOU to all those who have served and are serving this great country of ours. May God Bless America.

MIA

I have truely been missing from blog land, and I am sorry. I keep thinking that I am now on the downside from the busy activities, and for once I know I am. Softball and baseball games are winding down....only a few left and they are more spaced out now. Most all of the big activities that I was involved with or attending are pretty much over, and school is soon out. My husband only has 6 days left! So, hopefully then can we get a lot of projects done around here, and get a LOT of pottery made! I am trying to keep caught up on reading everyones blogs, and it seems that everyone is ready for summer!
I know that today is Wednesday, but Woolie Wednesday is taking a week off. It will return next week! ;) Once summer is here, I will be cutting back on the woolie Wednesday projects to either one or two a month. Who wants to work with big heavy wool in 90 degree weather?! Plus, I plan on doing a lot of vegging this summer and can't keep a schedule!
So, here is where I have been lately......




Plus my son's games, but whenever I finally get to his, I forget my camera. I will have to take some and share them with you later!
I also wanted to share some photos of some kiln mis-haps. These trays were to be gifts for some special friends and something that was sitting beside them in the hot kiln blew up and sent huge chards of fired clay everywhere and this is what it did to them. This is the picture after we grinded the huge pieces off with a dremel..... so, I guess I have to use them now.





Ok, well I need to get some real work done now! :) Hope you are all well, and I promise to get on here a little more often now! Toodles!

Woolie Wednesday!~ Patriotic Mug Mats

Hi friends! Once again, Wednesday snuck up on me too quickly! But, I do have a small new little project to share with you today. It really isn't new, but the design is new.
You remember the tutorial I did on the mug mats back in March? You can read about it HERE. They looked like this:

...and this.....

Well, I made them a little patriotic....

Keeping the same size circles I just made a star that had all its points touching the middle star and completely omitted the small circle. Now I know how many of us just love our stars in decorating, and these are super easy to make....Memorial Day is just around the corner! ;)
I wish I had a full stack of 4 to show you, but I sold those and now I am working on another stack!
But first I have to finish a project/gift for this weekend. Hope it all goes well, I will share it with you when it is all finished! Have a great day! Tarrah

Birthday Parties Galore!

'Twas the weekend for parties! What a crazy, jam packed weekend of fun it was though, I don't even mind that I am still exhausted from it all!
I will start with Friday......I searched all over creation for all the things that I needed on my list, hours of in and out of stores, and being on the road started making me feel like I was coming down with something. I sure did come down with something..... as soon as I came home, I spent the next 4 or 5 hours on the couch with a touch of the bug. :(
After I took a nap I was able to pull myself together to start cleaning the house for all the 10 year olds that would be here the next afternoon, and thanks to my husband, he helped me get soooo much ready too!
Saturday, we were busy getting everything ready for Gracie's friends that arrived around 2. From that point on it was chock full of birthday party fun.
We did.....tye dye shirts (which got just awesome)! Then we did sno-cones (which were just as awesome), then we did the pinata (can I say awesome again?), and then we had cupcakes after Gracie opened up her presents! And just as they finished their cupcakes the parents arrived! ;) It was such a great party! My son told me that this was the best day of his life....and it wasn't even his party! LOL!!!!





As soon as all the kiddies were gone, I prepared for round 2! Both sets of Gracie's grandparents were coming for dinner, so I started preparing the menu! Oh, it was sooooo delish. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I was really craving some steaks, and these just hit the spot!
The birthday dinner menu was:
Sirloin Steaks with a butter garlic sauce
Onion Potatoes
Crab Won-Ton Bites
Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Poppy Seed Dressing
Everything Bread
And for dessert: German Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting, leftover cupcakes for kids, and MORE SNO-CONES!!!!! :)
It was a very nice evening of eating and being together with everyone......Now, for Sunday!
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Sunday, my Mom was having a small birthday party with just our family for my Dad who turned 70!!!!! So, after church, we immediately headed there for yet another big meal! Oh, and that was soooo good too, but I got a break and didn't have to make anything for it! She made sliced ham, baked beans, pasta salad, bought chicken, and all sorts of other little goodies......talk about being around food all weekend!
We all went for a walk, the kids played a lot, and then later in the evening my son had a baseball game, and that was pretty much the end of our weekend~! Whew....it was a busy one, but it was FUN!!!

Homemade Ice Cream!

Ahhhh, homemade ice cream....nothing like it! :)
I told all of you that I would give you a little review of my new ice cream maker and let you know how the new ice cream recipe turned out, and the results are in: fantastic!
I made it late one night after getting home from a ball game, and it hit the spot! I wanted to make strawberry, but 2 of the kids kind of wrinkled up their noses and said no, we just want vanilla. So, I made vanilla and just kept the cut up strawberries for who ever wanted them to throw in their own little bowls.
Here is that yummy cream mixture churning around starting to thicken:


Add a little strawberries....

And voila!

It took about 25 minutes of churning to have the ice cream....and my kids couldn't wait for it, they had to have it right away, so it is SOFT! After I dished theirs out, I put the bowl in the freezer to harden up the ice cream a little bit more.
I did make the french vanilla recipe that came with the maker, but it had such a great vanilla bean taste to it, and this is the reason why:

This is from Williams Sonoma, and I highly recommend it. I was going to buy a couple vanilla beans and split them open for all the great flavor and for those little black specks (the vanilla bean seeds), but they recommended this to me...It's kind of like a liquidie paste with such a great pure gourmet vanilla flavor! It's now a new fave! :)
So there you have my little review....Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker....It's A Good Thing! :)
Now, I'm off to get ready for a crazy weekend of birthday parties.....talk to you next week! Tarrah