~~THIS is AWESOMELY "NICE"!~~

Wow - Awesomely Nice ~ "NICE DOES MATTER" and I'm THRILLED that this award came to me from Wanda from "Excuse Me While I Buy This Junk"! It's amazing how many NICE people have come into my world through blogging & how wonderful it is to find another new blogger friend! Thanks Wanda!! ~~ Each one of you that I've met since blogging is "THE Nicest" so I pass this along to all of you ~ even though most of you already have it ~ you deserve it again & again!

P.S. I'm real proud of myself - I finally just this minute figured out how to do a link in the middle of a post ~~I think everyone knew that but me! Now if I could just figure out how to make a header & why it's so difficult for me to line my posts up nice & pretty like everyone else does ~ picture - words - pictures - words.....nothing goes where I want it to!! ~ I think I finally did that here but it wasn't easy!
I still need "blog school"!!

Hope all of you have a WONDERFUL SUMMER DAY!

~~Just ONE More?!!~~

After a wonderfully happy family reunion things are falling back into place & into a daily routine again. I'm happy to get back to work with these gorgeous red roses & baby's breath sitting on my desk ~ a sweet surprise from TZ ~ they smell HEAVENLY!

Does anyone have a collection that you say "just one more"?! I have collected talcum bath powders for years, all of them from garage & estate sales and none have been over 50 cents ~ usually they are a quarter!.....so since I find them so cheap I can always add "one more"! My little powder shelf is overflowing & although I don't think I have room for "one more"......the next time one appears at a sale how could I pass it up?...lol I'm sure when I find one I will have to make room. My little cubby powder shelf is in the corner of the bathroom and not only do I think they just look pretty, I actually use them all. I love picking out different ones to use & they all smell so good ~ never have I found one I didn't like and never have I found two alike! Next time I find one I will have to "just say no" or find a bigger shelf!

~~From the CURB to the COTTAGE!~~

I fell in love with these daisy chairs! They came from the curb - can you imagine anyone throwing THESE away?! Now I love them even more since I gave them a new life. I went through my fabrics & picked 4 to choose from.....it took me forever to decide ~ but I'm happy with the one I chose. I made a purse from this same fabric last year & love the bright colors. I've been using a stool when I sew so one will be my sewing chair.......the other one will go wherever I can find an empty spot in my crowded cottage! ~ maybe in the kitchen. I'm off to my mom & dad's in Denton today ~ this week is my family's yearly summer reunion - my sister, neice, and nephew fly in today ~ my oldest son Ryan is in Denton & my youngest son Eric drove up from Austin yesterday ~ & my brothers will be here for the weekend. Many happy times ahead to make new family memories!

~~HAPPY BIRTHDAY TZ!!~~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TZ! ~~The love of my life turns 49 today ~ our weekend was a Happy celebration of dancing & celebrating at the Rockin' Rodeo where we spend every Friday & Saturday night on the dance floor~ boot scootin' & twirling the night away to country music ~

I Love puttin' on my Pink Boots! ~ or black, or brown, or the ones I found at a garage sale autographed by Travis Tritt & Sammy Kershaw ~ In our 5 years of dancing we have rarely missed a night ~ 35 miles from the country to get there but we're there because we love to dance ~ we ARE addicted to dancing!

Happy Birthday to a guy who loves adventure & who I call "Superman" because he can do anything & everything! The bottom picture we were on top of Guadalupe Peak - the highest point in Texas & a mountain we have hiked twice ~ absolutely beautiful up there ~~ & there is a geocache at the top! We also love to geocache - check out www.geocaching.com ~ treasure hunting that will take you to so many beautiful & interesting places....we are "kattz" in the geocache world with 1,436 finds & 43 caches that we have placed to be found. Our chihuahuas Cabo & Cookie love being "Little Scout" & "Baby Scout" when we're on the trails to find one! When the GPS "beeps" they know it's time to jump outta the car & start looking for the "treasure"! Happy Happy Birthday honey oso! Here's to many more dances & geocaches in our future!

~~When It Rains ** I Sew!~~Pillows*Pillows*Pillows!~~

Wow - what a busy & RAINY SUMMER!! North Texas has seen rain this summer like we've never seen before - & it just keeps coming! I love it! And when it rains I love to Sew! So in between ebay, gardening, just enjoying summertime, & everything else I have spent alot of time at the sewing machine. But I have missed my blog & all my blog friends so I gotta get back at it :-) I'm so envious of all of you who manage to post almost every day ~~ I wanna do that! I realized that once you get "outta the groove" it's easy to get lost! I want to say a special "thank you" to all the sweet comments I've received since I began my blog a few months ago & thanks for all your wonderful sewing room organizing tips! Well this is what I've been doing & here are some of my creations that I have listed on ebay ~ I enjoyed making every single one! Happy Summer to you all & I'm off to read what you're all up to!

~~Delectable Delights from She's Sew Pretty!~~

What a wonderful surprise I received today! I was very lucky to win this special 100th post giveaway from Betty at She's Sew Pretty~ I was speechless & delighted as I unwrapped such beautiful treasures ~ Betty was so kind & generous & she is definitely so very talented. I love the sweet handmade cake! ~ it is amazingly adorable & so creative! The gorgeous plates!...wow! The little cottage plate will be a very special addition to my cottage china collection! I adore the little roses - I don't know how she makes them but they look good enough to eat ~ like real cake icing!! I love the precious embroidered linens too & the Pink Roses card & little 3-d Angel card are so pretty! Betty, Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! ~ I will cherish & enjoy each little treasure & I will forever appreciate your kindness! xoxo to Betty! :-)

~~ Home Sweet Home after Summer Vacation!~~

There's nothing like it! Getting away from it all to do something fun & definitely different ~ if anyone had told me I would ever hike down into the Grand Canyon?? Well what an awesome adventure that was! After a good night's rest at the Bright Angel Lodge we started our hike down early the next morning.....And I loved every minute of it ~from carrying everything we needed on our backs 4 1/2 miles down to camp in Indian Gardens in the 100+ heat ~ sleeping on the ground in lightweight sleeping bags in our tiny tent because you can't carry much down there ~ & the 4 1/2 mile hike back up at 3:00 a.m. to avoid the heat ~ I could barely walk for 2 days afterwards! And those 2 days after were spent sightseeing, (not much gambling for us because we don't know how....lol) in Las Vegas - creeping down the strip with Grand Canyon legs.....LOL The end of the week we had a beautiful drive through Zion & Arches National Parks in Moab & a breathtaking ride on the Durango/Silverton locomotive steam train through the most gorgeous mountains & rivers in Colorado. I don't even know where to begin with pictures - between the two of us we took hundreds! I know I can't blog hundreds!!! So here are a few! And isn't it always wonderful to come home? After being gone for a week coming home is as much fun as going! I was inspired to do so many new things from seeing beautiful flowers & finding some vintage buttons in Silverton ~ I can't wait to get started on new projects!