Jenny and I are having a "crafting" night!

Jenny is coming over after work tonight and we'll be "crafting". She called me yesterday and has some piece of jewelry that she has created but just needs a little help from Mom. She also wants me to show her how to make earring wires. I am getting really good at it. I haven't even got my "Thingamajig" yet either. Jenny if also a very good photographer (that's what she does for a living too!) so she'll be taking some really good pictures of my jewelry for etsy.com. It will be really nice to spend some time with her alone. We haven't done that in so long. I have spent some time with Megan but not with Jenny. I think Mom's should spend as much time with their daughters as possible! Everyone have a wonderful day!

Fall had come to our house!

I have always started decorating for Fall at the end of August. I think we all love summer but sometimes you just need something new! I only brought a few Fall things out for now but I'll be adding some more things as September moves on. Hope y'all love the decorations so far!


I decided I was getting tired of the hydrangea wreath I had on the door, so off to the garage to find the Fall wreath I had made last year. It was right on the top shelf just like it was waiting for me! I don't have the pumpkins out yet, it's a little too early but they will be following soon!


I got together all my Fall Centerpiece items and created this centerpiece for the dining room table. I always use the Charleston Wrought Iron Tray and the main piece, this year I added a footed metal candle holder and put the rust colored leaf carved candle in the middle. I then added the large Fall candle ring around the candle. I love this time of year!


Here is the full arrangement on the Dining Room Table. I put the Fall runner on the table, did the Fall Centerpiece arrangement and put the Fall candle rings around the candle stick holders.


I got out the pumpkin placemats. I love these placemats! I've had them for atleast 10 years. I bought them at a shop called Abigails when I lived in NJ.


I love candle warmers. Instead of burning the candle, they just melt the wax and keep it warm so the scent can waft through your house. I have spiced pumpkin on the candle warmer right now-wish you could smell it!



I had promised I would show you Teddy with his new haircut and here he is! He was too lazy to get off the stair landing so I snapped it while he was resting (lazy boy-LOL).

Those Weather Fibbers Fibbed again!

I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny, cloudless day! The weather fibbers had said it was going to be a horrible day today weatherwise. We were suppose to have torrential downpours, gray, cloudy skies. Well I'm glad they fibbed once again! I was talking to John the other day about weather people and their forecasting. I wish I had a job that I could be wrong 50% or more of the time and not get fired-LOL! Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Tasha Tudor Day!!

I forgot to post this earlier this morning-it is Tasha Tudor Day! Tasha Tudor was a wonderful and remarkable woman. She was born on August 28, 1915 and died on June 18, 2008. It was a really sad day when Tasha Tudor left this world. She lived in Vermont home with her goats, corgi dogs, chickens and all the other little creatures she had. Her books are among my most treasured! Tasha was living in a different era, more like someone from the 1800's. Her "heirloom" crafts included candle dipping, weaving, soap making, doll making and knitting. She lived without running water until her youngest child was five years old.

Here is a list of Tasha's illustration and writing accomplishments:

Titles written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor include the following:

Pumpkin Moonshine
A Tale for Easter
Snow before Christmas
Thistly B
The Dolls' Christmas
Edgar Allan Crow
Amanda and the Bear
A is for Annabelle
1 is One
A Time to Keep
Corgiville Fair
Tasha Tudor's Seasons of Delight
The Great Corgiville Kidnapping
Titles illustrated by Tasha Tudor include the following:

The Wind in the Willows, 1966, World Publishing
Wings from the Wind, 1964, J. B. Lippincott
A Basket of Herbs, 1983, Stephen Greene Press
The Night Before Christmas, 1975, Rand McNally & Company
The Secret Garden, 1962, Harper & Row Publishers
A Little Princess, 1963, HarperCollins Publishers

This remarkable woman is greatly missed! Happy Tasha Tudor Day!

This weekend will be filled with jewelry making and reading!

It is suppose to be a rainy, cold, overcast weekend and I'm going to be snug as a bug inside making jewelry, designing jewelry and reading! I might even start a new knitting project! So many people I know are having babies or have had them! John has to work so much this weekend that I will have all the time in the world to do these things! Next weekend I might get some porcelain clay out and make some pendants for earrings, bracelets and necklaces!! I really have caught the creative bug!! Everyone enjoy your weekend!

Took some Fall like pictures!

You can see from this picture how tall the fountain grass has gotten in the courtyard. If you look real close to the right side of the picture you can see the birdfeeder my Dad made (which by the way is about 7 1/2 feet up in the air!).


Yes this picture was taken on an angle. I was watering some plants and lifted my head up and this is how I saw it, so I snapped that pic right away. Thought it would be different!


This doesn't look very Fall-like, but I thought I would put this picture on my blog anyway. This is the miniature Gardenia John and I bought Saturday for the courtyard. It smells heavenly!


Here is an upclose shot of the gardenia in the courtyard.

Everyone Fall is on the way! Enjoy all the colors of this season!

I've been busy making jewelry!

I have finally got the time to create some jewelry! This is a ring I made the other night. I used Swarovski crystals in all different sizes and shapes. I plan on making some more in different colors. I can make any size too. I'm going to get some silver-colored and gold-colored wire to make some different style rings. I just thought the copper colored wire went well with the olive green color.

If you are interested I have this ring for sale (and some earrings)on etsy.com. You can go to etsy.com, where there is the drop down box (it says handmade) you would click on Seller, type in my user name, which is cherylmcdermitt1 and when my site comes up you click on my username again and the entire site comes up! Even if you don't want to buy anything on there, please let me know what you think. Enjoy!

What a great weekend!

I have to say this weekend was really nice! Saturday John didn't have to go into work until noon. We went to breakfast and it was so good! It was good to just chat and not be rushed. I dropped him off at noon and picked him up at 6. I worked on jewelry for my etsy site. Then I went to pick him up so we could head on up to Jenny and Kevin's for dinner. Right before I had to pick up John I saw my neighbor at the mailbox. She got talking about things and I did too. Then she asked if I wanted to check out her townhouse (I love the porch over porch townhouse, but not really liking the floorplan). She then wanted to see the floorplan for ours. She likes ours better too. She does have her master on the first floor and 2 bedrooms up with a bonus room upstairs, but the downstairs seemed like a tunnel to me. Dinner and visit at Jenny and Kevin's went really well. We hadn't been up to their house in quite some time. They painted their shutters, front door, redid the front door and Saturday started putting down hardwood floors in the bedrooms and then their living room. I made the eggplant parm and Jenny made a salad and rolls. It was really yummy! Everything in her salad was from her garden accept the lettuce. The lettuce in her garden has bolted from the heat. Sunday John and I went to church, the grocery store, over to the old house to check on things, did laundry, read, watched TV and just plain chilled out! It was wonderful. I love weekends like this! I hope things are finally calming down with the old house and all the drama that goes with that!

Everyone have a great week!

Uplifting Blogger Award

I just received this award from Mary at Bookfan Mary! Thanks Mary! I am passing this award on to Kay from Musings and Sarah at Britgirlusa!

Saturdays schedule

This morning John and I had a really nice breakfast. Then we headed over to Lowe's. I need to get a metal cutter so I can make some more earrings. We went into the garden center and we bought a miniature gardenia, which grows outside here in the South. It smells wonderful. I lost a rose I had transplanted from the other house so I took that out of the container and slipped in the gardenia! It looks great out in the courtyard. I put it by the picnic table so we will be able to smell its wonderful fragrance while we relax out there! We came home from our errands and John and I figured out what was wrong with the water flow in the fountain. A bird had sat on the top of the acorn and crimped the rubber piping. That was an easy fix! I then drove John to work and came home and the big news of the day my car now resides in the garage!! It just makes it! Some day we will be able to pull both cars in the garage but that won't be in the next week that's for sure! Tonight we are dining with Jenny and Kevin. I have the Eggplant Parm all made and ready to pop in the oven before we have to leave.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Relax, enjoy and soak up the sun if it is out! Take care!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Happy Anniversary to Jenny and Kevin

Today Jenny and Kevin have been married for one year! Boy did that time fly! Unfortunately Jenny has to work late and she won't get home until late so they are going to have to celebrate their anniversary in a few days. John and I are going to have dinner with them on Saturday night-it will be good to see them!

Happy Anniversary you two!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

I Won a Beautiful Apron!

I entered in a giveaway over at The Apron Goddess (http://aprongoddesses.blogspot.com/)and I won!! Julia stopped by my blog to tell me to check out her blog-wink, wink. The above apron is the one I won!! The apron was made by I'll be Cooking Aprons (http://www.ibecookingaprons.com/default.html). Check out this wonderful website when you get a chance.

Thanks!!

Gift from the Sea

On Monday night my bookclub met at the local Barnes & Noble and discussed Gifts from the Sea by Anne Murrow Lindbergh. What a wonderful and inspirational book! This book was written over 50 years ago and everything in this book still holds true for todays busy world. You really can't read this book quickly, this book is to be savored and reflected on. If you get a chance to read this book, you should! Everyone have a great day!

This is a happy day for John and I!!

Today after I got back to the office I noticed John had sent me an e-mail. He had wonderful, wonderful news! The Banks have accepted our Short Sale Contract on our house!! We have waited 1 month and 6 days to hear these words. Now they will set a closing date and the rest of the closing stuff! We can maybe finally get on with our lives! Thank you all for supporting us, it means the world to us! You all are the greatest!!

Summer Cold just doesn't quit!

I had a summer cold and I thought I was finally over it but then Saturday afternoon I started feeling really tired again. I thought it was just from cleaning the house and doing laundry. Our friends from our old neighborhood took us out for my belated birthday dinner and I felt fine then. We came home around 9:35 and I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks! I immediately went to sleep. Got up on Sunday and I felt crummy but still went to Church. The rest of the day I slept, read and watched HGTV and did absolutely nothing. Today I'm feeling better and I'm hoping the cold has finally left. Everyone have a great day!

Odds and Ends Saturday!

Today is kind of an odds and ends day. I have dusting to do, cleaning up around here to do, design and some earrings, read, have dinner with friends to celebrate my birthday at last, etc. It is overcast here today, but I don't care since I've got many things indoors to keep me occupied. John is working until 5 today and then dinner out. Tomorrow he is off for the whole day-YAY!! We will be going to church and then home to do whatever we want! He says we need to address the garage again. I would like to make a jig for making my own earring wires, earrings and necklaces. He said he would help. I also have to go to Lowe's to get a metal snipper. I've been able to get heavier copper to make some hammer earrings, necklace pieces, etc. so I need to cut it with really sharp snippers. I am reading Life's a Beach by Claire Cook and I'm plowing through it really quickly-it's a great read! A great summer or Beach read.

Well the cleaning and all those things I mentioned I need to get done today isn't going to happen with me sitting here. I do love chatting with all my blog friends-old and new! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Antique Hats

Now that we have settled down in the townhouse we still have boxes of things and items that we just don't need or have room for. I took pics of those things and listed them on Craig's List tonight. I thought I would share the antique hats I put on there. They are all lovely! Enjoy!

This ladies flower hat is absolutely gorgeous and is my favorite! The picture doesn't do it justice but you can get an idea of what this hat looks like. It has lovely silk flowers and leaves all around the brim.



This woven straw bonnet is trimmed in carmine red velvet with little flocked flowers around the front brim.


This little cream with russet trimmed and russet ribboned childs hat is just really beautiful with it's brim of little spring silk flowers.






This darling off white childs hat is trimmed in navy blue velvet. I can just picture it on a little girl going to church for Easter!



Here is a group picture of all the antique hats.

Here is some Pics from our little ride of Columbia, SC on Sunday

Sunday John came home from work and said he wanted to take a ride. We headed South and ended up in Columbia, SC. Here is some highlights on our trip! Enjoy the ride!


As we drove away from Charlotte and headed towards Columbia, SC we crossed over the Catawba River. The picture doesn't do it justice, it looked beautiful!



This was a beautiful bed and breakfast in Columbia on a wonderful street of old homes. They were all lovely!


This is the Mann-Simons House in Columbia. Celia Mann, a slave who acquired her freedom in Charleston, walked to Columbia and purchased this cottage in around 1850. Celia and her descendents owned the house until 1970.


We drove down this street that was like driving down the small curving streets of San Francisco. This is a new house that was built to look like an old home. It was beautiful!


Another lovely old home in Columbia, SC.


This was one of the first houses we saw. I love the witches hat by the porch!


Here is a pedestrian bridge we drove under in Columbia, SC.


Here is another pedestrian bridge in Columbia, SC.


This is a building at USC in Columbia, SC.


This is the USC (University of SC) Gamecock Stadium. This stadium is huge!

Today 30 years ago John and I were married!

John and I were married 30 years ago today! I just don't know where the time has gone. We have 2 beautiful children, Megan (28 yrs. old) and Jennifer (26 yrs. old). Here is a picture of John and I on our wedding day. Remember this was 1979 and guys wore crazy color tuxes! Don't you just love my hat!!



Jennifer, our youngest daughter was married last year in August also and she wore my wedding dress minus the hat-LOL!!

Here is a picture taken of John and I in December of 2004. We pretty much look the same today accept for my hairstyle and John has a little more grey in his hair!



We have been through alot of things but have always remained close, loving sweethearts! Love you sweetie!!

What a nice weekend!

I had a really great weekend! It started out on Friday night with a pedicure with Megan and Kaitlyn from work. Saturday I slept a little late and then had my haircut. After that I came home and cleaned the whole townhouse. I made a really nice dinner for John and I when he got home from work. We watched some TV and chatted. Sunday I got up a little late again and proceeded to have a nice breakfast, read a little, and then I made some earrings. Not as many as I would like but some. I will be making more this week. I put 2 of the copper earrings on etsy.com. If you would like to take a peek, I'm under cherylmcdermitt1. John had to work until 3:30 yesterday and when he came home he wanted to take a little ride. So we drove South and ended up in Columbia, SC. We saw some really nice older homes, which I took pics of. I'll be posting them tonight. I love old houses they all have so much history behind them. We headed back home (we live about 1 hr. 20 mins. away). We had a nice dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and then chilled out for the rest of the night. What a perfect weekend!!

Showing off my new haircut!

Yesterday I went to my daughter, Megan's hair salon. The one I was going to was really nice and very close to my house but the layers the hairstylist was putting in my hair was just too blunt and sharp. I asked her about 3 times to blend it in and she didn't. So off to try this new salon and hairstylist. I love Tammy!! She knew exactly what I wanted and she said I can grow my hair longer if I put alot of layers in it to take out the bulk I've got! I have exceptionally thick hair. She texturized, she cut, she shaped and presto chango here is my new do! I love it. It also takes less time to dry, so the mornings getting ready for work will go quicker! Thank you Tammy!! Off to make earrings and rings! Everyone have a great weekend!

Yummy Chocolate Eclair Cake!

This recipe was on Kathi's blog (http://lavenderlaceandthyme.blogspot.com/). It is awesome! My husband would love for me to make this every day of the week if he had his way. It is so easy and tastes just like Eclairs.

Chocolate Éclair Cake
1- 1 lb box graham crackers
2 small packages french vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
8 oz carton cool whip
1 can chocolate frosting

On the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch pan line with whole graham crackers. Mix the pudding and milk with an electric mixer, beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes. Fold in the whipped topping. Pour half the pudding mixture over the bottom layer of graham crackers. Place another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding mixture. Pour the remaining half of pudding mixture on top of the layer of graham crackers, then cover with a final layer of graham crackers. Frost the top with the can of chocolate frosting. Refrigerate for 24 hours and serve :)

Saturday is going to be Earring Saturday!

After I get my haircut on Saturday I'm headed home and I'm going to make a ton of earrings and put them on my etsy site. I'll let everyone know how to get on to my site, etc., etc. when all the earrings are ready. It is suppose to be the hottest weekend this year so what better way to spend it making earrings and other jewelry! I will be making some more copper earrings and I'm going to try and make some rings. I've got some new ideas for rings that I'm dying to try! I feel like I've been bitten by the creative bug this weekend! Everyone have a good one!

Goldfinches are so cute!

Last night John and I took Teddy for a really long walk. When we got back we put him in the house and then set out in the middle courtyard of our community. There are alot of coneflowers and cattails. The coneflowers are in the courtyard part where there are park benches and the cattails are down in the middle areas on either side-kind of sunken garden like. John and I set out there for about an hour just watching 4-6 goldfinches stripping the coneflowers of their seeds. The males were getting super agressive and the females were daintily picking the seeds out and slowing eating them. The picture above wasn't one I took.

John's job prospect really not one at all.

John got a call yesterday from the guy he was suppose to be having lunch with this week for the job prospect. They were suppose to be talking $, etc. Well the guy called John and leveled with him and said the job prospect was non-existent. I think something happened with their investor because all the guy told John is they were suppose to move 15 people up from Florida and they only moved 3, they don't know about expanding nationwide now, things have been put on hold, etc., etc., etc. I told John things happen for a reason and now he can just focus on building our business up and making it grand! I told him we could have closed the Agency, he could have gone to work for this company and in a few months they could have layed him off. Things will get better, we both know it. This is just a stepping stone in our life journey! Everyone have a lovely day!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Last night after dinner John and I walked across the street to the movie theater and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. John has read all the HP books and we both have seen all the movies. We came to the conclusion that while some parts are entertaining, others are long and drag on and on. Overall we were disappointed in this movie. We wanted to like this movie. Oh well, you can't win them all. Everyone have a great day!

I made these copper earrings-what do you think?

Well I said I was going to make textured copper earrings and here they are! Tell me what you think of them? I am going to make more but this is just the start. I even made my own copper earring wires!

Sick yesterday but feeling much better today!

I was under the weather yesterday but feeling so much better today. I think I had a 24-hour virus or something. Today I had to go over to the old house at 10:00 and let a realtor in that didn't have a lock box card. Why our realtor couldn't do it, I'll never know! Then I proceeded to Off Broadway Shoes and bought 3 prs. of shoes for under $70.00! They had great sales! I bought a black sandal for work, which is oh so comfy, then a white pr. (DKNY) for casual, and a brown sandal for work and casual! I made out really well. We can wear sandals here in Charlotte almost through November if the weather stays warm.

I then headed over to Michaels. I was looking for sheet copper to make earrings and I found it there! I also found out I can emboss this copper sheeting. It isn't the thin, flimsy kind even though they had that for cards and what not. It is medium thickness and it will be great for earrings. I'm going to put them on etsy.com if they come out really good. I bought copper wire, headpins and copper jumprings to make them with. I posted a picture below to show you my goodies!



When I was there I also found this wonderful book for oil painting-well I do acrylic and watercolor. I am going to use the book to do my acrylics anyway-it is basically the same technique! I just love birds and flowers so this book was calling to me! I'll let you know if the painting come out too! I would like to start some more painting and possibly sell them on etsy.com too!

John is working again today, but I think he only has 1 or 2 more Sundays at Best Buy and then he is done with working on Sundays. He told them he wanted the off from now on. Of course, the schedule was already made up so he has to wait until the new schedule comes out. I hope he gets that job this week or next and then he can leave Best Buy all together!

Everyone have a lovely evening!