Fun, Fun, Fun!

Mrs Rabe and I met at the church
yesterday to do some decoratin'!

What fun that was. I was on a ladder
reaching into the ceiling to place the
greens, ribbon and sparkly ribbon.

It was good that Miss Emily found the
ladder because just before that I was
on a little bench and had just about
decided to put a step stool on top of
that to be able to reach. Ahem...I think
that would have been a very bad idea.
Thank you Emily!

Deanna, (Mrs Rabe), brought her bow maker
and made beautiful bows for the huge wreaths
that are now hanging on the stone columns
outside. We were going to hang the wreaths
on the doors but we could not easily do that.
I noticed big nails in the columns and we chose
to go the easy way there.

We got the Advent wreath all set up...I just
need to remember to buy the candles. The base
of the table that the Advent wreath is on was
bright red. The cloth for that table is now
a burgundy...we used to have a red one...I spray
painted the base a pretty bronze color. Less than
five minutes and it looked sooooooo much better!

I did not have my camera with me...silly me. But,
I am going back over today to clean, practice my
music and all of that jazz...so I will take some
pictures.

There is a pretty basket on the welcome table that
is filled with pretty ornaments, apples, lights,
and greens. Deanna made a bow for this basket, as
well. It might be my favorite in the whole place.
So it was there that I placed Mary, Joseph and
Baby Jesus made of leaded crystal. Gorgeous!

We also wrapped greens and ribbon around the stair
rail in the area where we set up our breakfast. It
looks so pretty. I love a decorated stairway!

I know we will decorate more...in preparation for the
ladies tea on the 15th. But this was a great start.
I welcome any time to fellowship with friends!

How are you doing with decorating this year?
Are you "into" it or just getting it done?

Maybe if you are struggling with it you could invite
a friend over and share the task. Suddenly it is
enjoyable!

Blessings!

Becky K.

Progress...People

A small corner of this huge room is beginning to take on personality.
I will be searching for a cover for the futon today.
Pillows will be put into the shams that are just
lying there so lazy at this point.
These pictures will get bigger if you click on them.

This is a close-up of the border.
Remember it was 50 cents per roll.

Aren't these girls absolutely dear?

They enjoyed playing together while the adults worked last evening.
They played...after they helped Grandma Ruth weed the flower bed!

Sometimes our real world and our blog worlds collide.
Last night this happened in the neatest way.

We received a call that a young couple was passing through
our area for the weekend. They are over the road truck drivers.
The father of the young man is the owner of the truck company
and he was seeking out hospitality and a church for this sweet
couple and their two baby boys to visit as they were in the area.

We invited them to join us at the church for our work/fellowship
night.

Soon we received a phone call that they were stuck at an underpass
and needed assistance finding another way.

Mr. Rabe offered to go and lead them back to the church. As I was saying
their names Mrs. Rabe said, "I read their Blog!" To offer more proof she told us the name of their youngest child. She was absolutely right!
We were completely amazed!
It was them! From Griffin Georgia, this absolutely wonderful
young couple spent the evening with us and now are being cared for
over at Creekside Cottage. I am a bit miffed that we didn't have
space for the truck in our neighborhood. But I am happy for Mrs. Rabe.
She and the young mother will have a wonderful time today...in fellowship!

We will love seeing them all again on Sunday Morning for worship.

I will leave the posting of names and details to Mrs. Rabe, should she care to
do that. But, isn't God amazing? Isn't this blog world amazing?

Too cool!

Well, I have a bazillion things to get done today!
Truly.
Have a great weekend!

Painting 101

Do not ever, ever, ever open up the opportunity to paint your church fellowship hall to the entire congregation!!!!

You cannot control who shows up.

This is especially important if you are painting over a white carpet
with a color that is called Frank's Fire!

There were really very few drips but having everyone want their own roller, a teenager who apparently has never had training with a paint brush and not enough
drop cloths I nearly lost my mind.

The room is not finished but it is coming along nicely.

There is much conversation about my color choices. I can only hope that when the room is finished it makes as much sense to everyone else as it does in my mind's eye.

The rest of the church is sedate in Kindred Spirit, malt, garden green, etc. This is a bit stronger. Gotta have some fun somewhere. I am taking the heat for it, though. And I have been in serious pain since Monday...that did not help my mood either.

Oh well...Frank's Fire is a deep orange. That is the color on the bottom half of the room. The color for the top is called Maple Leaf. It is a very pretty yellow.

The room is about 70 feet long and is narrow. There is white carpet three quarters of the way down the room and then a very nice tiled floor. We are treating the two flooring areas as separate rooms and will paint the bottom of that back area a navy blue. The Maple Leaf will still be on the upper half but back there we will put up a border that is very Americana and I will put up the flag plaque I showed you last week.

It will be fine...eventually. I just wish I had painted it myself, or handpicked a couple of helpers who are a bit more visionary....and experienced.

I will take pictures. It was just a tad too stressful last evening.

Oh, if you could have seen it when this dear teen girl stuck her entire brush into the paint, up over the bristles, and then was freaking out because it was running and dripping. She wanted to help so badly. We taught her and she was open to learn so it all worked out in the end. (Except for that time that she stepped in wet paint and tracked it across the room. At least it was the yellow and not Frank's Fire!)

Really, it is fine now...my blood pressure will settle back to normal any day now...

Have an awesome day!

How do I do This?

I need your help.

I have a plan for these poles.
This is what they looked like on
Saturday.





When I got to the church yesterday
Warren and Pastor Mike had stripped the
poles naked...totally! I do like them this
way better but want to do a finish
on them that looks like distressed metal that
has endured the elements in a garden.
Mike will then attach a planter base to it and
it "should" look kind of cool.



Jon brought in a metal grinder
and took off lumps and bumps last night.

Man, I wish that would work for me.
I've got lots of lumps and bumps - lol.

I then went and got a dark gray metallic
hammered finish rustoleum paint.
It looks pretty good on the poles, but now
I am hoping that some green paint in
the right spots will make them look
like they belong in a garden which
will make the plants we plan to put in the base
make sense.

So the question is, what do you think?
Have you done anything like this before?

This is our new wall color. The front wall
is this soft green/gray that actually looks
more blue. I guess it is the lighting...it
was green on the paint chip. Whatever the
case it is just right. The color is called...
Kindred Spirit! I thought that was just too
cool. The rest of the walls are a soft brownish
color called Malt. I think it is working
out just about right.

The flooring guys will be there this morning laying the carpet.
This is a day ahead of schedule
so I am pleased.

This is the screen Jon is painting onto the wall.
I think it looks kind of cool. Mike is making
a frame for it.



Ruth and Sue were such a big help last night.

I was really getting done in and here they came.

Sue made a wonderful dinner of hamburg BBQ, chips,
watermelon and strawberry pie. Yummy!

Ruth painted and moved lots of stuff from one room
to another.


Well, off to another busy day beginning with my
post-op appointment. I think my surgeon will be pleased.
He might wonder about the grayish paint that won't come
off my hands...Do you know that while I did have some
pain as I painted yesterday, I don't feel worse for it
today...Warren will be so sore...he did all of the
climbing on the ladder to paint near the ceiling
and ripped up a lot of flooring, etc.

A very hard day's work.
He is a very good man!


Have a great day!
Be creative...plant something...
paint something...write something.

It is good for the soul!

The Pottery Experience and Home Decor

We are studying ancient history this year so I wanted the kids to do something "hands on" that would help them to remember our lessons. I found a great new pottery shop that lets you come in and make something of your own design or to paint a previously fired piece.

Chelsea chose to paint an existing piece while the boys were assigned to make a mask from clay. It is so interesting to see how the same clay becomes such different things...oh, I could launch into a sermon here about how people are created so differently and about our Creator...Who shaped us...but I won't!

Jen, the owner of Jen's Pottery Den was wonderful. She had books for the boys to look at for ideas and spent time gathering materials for their use in molding and shaping the masks.

Here you can see Jonathan's mask as it is in process.



I thought Chelsea's design was quite interesting. She learned how to "swirl" the paint into the inside of the pitcher so that it is sealed all the way and is actually able to be used if we so choose.

For now, Chelsea's pitcher is living up on my kitchen hutch since the colors go so nicely with the country decor. I imagine one day, this will be headed with my dear girl as she sets up her own home.
We were at a furniture store yesterday with my mother-in-law who was in need of a dining room table. While we were there Chelsea was planning what she would one day like in a home of her own. I was delighted and saddened at the same time...you know? Just hard to believe that time has gone this quickly and my baby is twelve. I am thrilled at her interests in homemaking and decorating, though. Hmmm... wonder where she got that?!?
Ohhhh...speaking of decorating and such! I finally got paint for my bathroom. It is the only room in the house that was not painted since we moved in...except Jonathan's...and I have been searching for just the right color for a while.
I have taken some before pictures. I'll post more later but for now here is one sneak peek.
Just know that this is just a face lift, for now, not a total re-do (which I so much desire). This was the reason we had not painted until now. I wanted to do the whole thing but time and money are not allowing that at this moment... so paint will have to help it look better. We are dealing with that powder blue tile, blue linoleum and blue one piece shower/tub. Shudder! The counter top is that horrible fake marble stuff! Oh dear, I got started on this and that is not what this post was even about...reminds me of being on the phone with an old friend and the conversation just kind of meanders...

Anyhoooooo...Chelsea has many ideas for a home of her own and I am excited for her...she'll get to experience that in about 40 years! Ha!
Back to the pottery, the boys are currently painting their masks which came back to us white after being fired. Mikey's broke at the jaw so we are going to attempt to wire it and make it cool. Maybe, I'll remember to show you the finished product. No guarantees. I'm experiencing the effects of scattered brain cells these days, as this post so neatly demonstrates!