This and That Wednesday:

Hello, Friends!

What's up?  Well, around here, the main excitement is getting ready for the carpet cleaners.  It actually is exciting, because that job has been put off for way too long.  They will be here in the morning, and I have been moving things out of the way in preparation.  This led to me deciding to rearrange the living room furniture after they are all done cleaning.  If I'm lucky, they will help me move the couches right then and there, and Cary can help me with the t.v. when he gets home.  

So, I have been deep cleaning as I go along.  I seem to have bothered my shoulder with all of this work, but it is worth it.  It seems funny that I have removed so much from the living room and it still looks very full.  Yesterday, I set up the little vignette below.  I haven't put up pictures and wall hangings prior to moving the furniture before, but I think this will work out nicely.  This little end table will go between the couch and love seat:

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I want to use the bottom of the hutch as a t.v. stand, and needed to find a new place for the top of it.  There really was only one spot that could support it safely, and that is the dresser in our master bath.  I am very pleased at how this room has turned out.  It is non-traditional, but this has to be the best and prettiest bathroom that I have ever had!
 

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

So, this is my view as I am soaking in the tub.  It makes me happy to have all of this cheery ME stuff!  To see the post when I reworked the bathroom this summer, please "CLICK HERE".

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I'll show you the living room and dining room when they are all done.  It is nice to get the house clean before winter hits.

My son Nigel called last night and told me that when he tested for his Microsoft Word and Office exam in the Job Corps a couple of months ago, he got a score of 1000 out of 1000.  Yesterday, he received a certificate and a letter of congratulations for being number five in the whole nation to accomplish this!  Way cool, Nigel, we are so proud of you. 

Have a wonderful day everybody, and God bless ya! 

Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
 

This and That Wednesday:

Hello Friends!  Happy Wednesday to you.  So, what's up?  I've been busy making things again.  Here is what I have been working on over the past week.  (This is a long post, so please scroll all the way to the bottom to leave your comments.)

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Eleven little preschool pillows and three kids' scarves.  Plus, I finished the edging on four little heart pillows.  Yay!

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

At the fabric store, you can usually find panel sets that are meant for sewing into a book.  Instead, I decided to make little pillows out of them. 

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Four are stories from the Bible, and the others have to do with colors.  I chose the appropriate color for the back of each color pillow.  These are kind of neat, because they also have the color and words in Spanish and French, as well as in English.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

I still need to finish trimming these pillows, and to add a few more rows to this little scarf.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

It takes a bit more time to stitch around the edges, but it adds value and just looks nicer.  It is kind of peaceful to do the hand-stitching as I am watching t.v.

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

When these are all done, I'll get them ready for sale and put them into my vintage store trailer.  (I keep saying that to make it real to me ... it is kind of a way of goal setting. The more I get it into my mind that it really is going to happen, then it will, don't ya know.)

Meat Bees:

Meat Bees Source ~ Flicker

The meat bees are terrible around here!  They showed up a bit late this year, in the month of August.  At first, we were able to co-exist, but now we can't even sit outside on the front porch.  I was stung on the back of my knee a couple of weeks ago, and it still itches.  Lots of my friends and relatives have been stung too.  Some swelled up black and blue.  I swear that last week the dogs were also being stung.  They were making crying noises that I hadn't heard before, so I brought them right in.

Meat bees like to gather around water and food.  I guess that  sometimes we are considered food.  When I feed the cat her canned food, she has about one minute to eat the gravy before those dang bees begin to show up and join her.  She won't come inside, and I have had a hard time figuring out how to make sure she gets more of the good stuff.  She has dry food available, but it just is not her first choice.  Yesterday evening, I fed her in the garage with the doors closed.  That seemed to help a bit. 

It has been getting into the 30's a night the past few days, and that seems to be helping the situation.  I miss being out on the porch in the afternoon sun!

Freak Accidents

This is a weird little story.  Larry is a friend of mine that I used to work with years ago.  I am friends with his ex-wife and kids on Facebook.  The other day, his son wrote to tell us that Larry rode his motorcycle to Reno with his father and brother for a guys weekend.  They were at the airshow on Sunday when devastation hit.  The three of them were unharmed, thank goodness, and I am very sorry for those who were hurt or killed in that tragic accident.

Later, they were back at their hotel (not sure which one) and were riding in the elevator.  Suddenly, the elevator malfunctioned and dropped several floors, slamming everybody in a heap.  Both Larry an his brother have some pretty hurt knees.  Glad that nobody was hurt seriously. 

But still, what are the chances of those two weird things happening to the same group of people in one weekend?  Have you ever had an elevator do something like that when you were riding in it?

Un-Newsworthy?

There has been something really big going on in North Dakota since June. There was a huge flood in Minot that caused a lot of devastation, and there are tons of people still trying to clean it up.  At the same time, a bunch of oil has been being drilled in mainly North Dakota, in an area called "The Bakken" (here is a USGS Release about this "The Bakken").  

People are swarming there to work.  There are "man-camps", farmer's fields full of R.V.'s and tents trying to accommodate the influx of people.  Have you guys seen or heard anything about all of this on the news?  Why is it being kept so quiet?  The flood part was mentioned at the time it happened, but the rest of it seems to be circulating by word of mouth.  Some of our friends have taken their equipment back there to work.  Do you guys know more about this?  Who decides what is news and what is news but should be kept quiet?  I'm just sayin'.  We watch a LOT of news around here, and I'm just not hearing about this great adventure.  On second thought, maybe it is just like the rest of the news; it is on there for a bit and nobody except for Anderson Cooper does a follow-up. 

Well, that is enough for now, I've got to get going and give you guys a chance to do something else.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit.  I hope that your Wednesday is grand!


Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.