My Little Treasure

Isn't school summer vacations suppose to be relaxing?  It's the third week in July and I've only had a few days off.  The best time this summer was to watch my daughter have a great softball season.  Now with a few days off, it was my time to do a little Estate Sale shopping this weekend.

I found this little treasure in the 25 cent box.

When I see this table top calendar I look at it as a goal.  You see, I have this little goal... to open a shop that has all of my favorite things.  It could be antiques, flea-market finds or my reuse/salvaged projects.  I don't see this goal happening soon as I will be following our kids for the next seven years in school  but I can always have this goal.

So in the meantime I will keep looking at my little treasure to help me remember that one day I will reach my goal and if that goal is met, this little calendar will be next to my register.

"Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life."

-Les Brown

Clearing the fog

Are your headlights foggy?

We only have a single car garage and only a Volkswagen bug could fit in it.  So over the years the headlights on the family van became foggy.  It was to the point that it just would not produce enough light when driving at night.  This foggy look came from years of sitting outside, the weather elements did it's damage.

I once saw an article where toothpaste was used to clean headlights.  So I thought, what the heck, I have toothpaste so why not give it a try.

I took hot soapy water and first washed and rinsed the headlight.  Then I took paper towel and squeezed  Regular White Toothpaste on the paper towel.  I rubbed the toothpaste in a circular motion.  Then I went back with more hot soapy water and rinsed it off.  I can't believe it, it actually works!

Wow, what a difference.  I'm sure that you can use other type of cleaners, really you are just removing the grime from years of weather.  I assume by using toothpaste, it's mild enough not to scratch the headlight.  Is the headlight crystal clear, not completely but it's about 90% better than what it was, plus it minty fresh too!

Croaking Friends

Just a couple of our little garden friends.

Throughout the summer season we gain a few, when I say few it's about 4-6, frogs in our little hosta garden pond.  They hang out all around the house until sunset and then they head to the pond and start singing.    You would think it's so calming to hear the sounds of frogs but when you have to shut all your windows just to hear your TV at night, it can kind of get annoying.

No matter how loud the little guys can croak, it's always fun to see them out and about, even when they are climbing your window screens.

Just a little Hosta garden

After five years, here is the result of our hosta garden.

It was the summer when the economy started going down hill, my husband was laid off and I work at our town's grade school. Without receiving many paychecks during the summer, projects were put on the back burner.  I had gathered so many different hostas, daylillies and rocks throughout the years, I decided to create a hosta garden in the only "shade" area at our place.  The hostas were already free, split them out and in 3 years, it should fill out pretty good, right?

My husband didn't care about another garden, it was just that much less we had to mow.  So I took our tiller and started in and 35x35 feet later I was done.  I stood at the corner and thought "What in the world was I thinking!"  My husband stepped outside, shook his head and went back inside. 

Now that this garden was just a little larger than plan, I had to try and figure out how to fill the space.  Why not have a type of sitting area and maybe a small pond, those would be great fillers.  We had this very old sidewalk that went to an old chicken coop that is no longer there.  I had my son Jake take a sledge hammer to the sidewalk, pulled out the bigger pieces and we placed them into a small square patio.  I mean what else was we going to do with that old cement so let's recycle it.

Then came the pond, I stood there with the shovel and out comes my husband.  Bless his heart, he steps in and starts digging.  He dug two deep holes in the pond in hopes of having fish.  We wanted to make sure the fish had somewhere to go if they encountered the neighborhood raccoons during the night.

As I started bring the rocks from my other gardens over.  I had so many rocks, we were able to create a type of waterfall.  The only things we had to buy were small slabs of slate from a quarry, water pump and a liner.  After laying the liner down, we positioned the rocks, outlining the pond.  We carefully stacked the rocks and slate slabs to create the waterfall and it worked out great!  We gave gold fish just one try and after they died two days later, that idea was done.  Also I have a real issue with green water so what I do to keep the pond clean is to use pool shock.  Sprinkle a little shock in the water every couple weeks, run it through the pump and the water stays crystal clear.

I knew it would take a few years for the hostas to fill in but I'm really happy on how it turned out.  It looked great for Jake's graduation.

Searching out the Pickers

We spent the day in Davenport, Iowa at a high school softball tournament watching our daughter play.  After the first game we had 2 hours to wait so we decided to take a quick trip to LeClaire, Iowa.  My family watches the American Pickers show and we knew their shop was in LeClaire, about 15 minutes from the softball field.  So off we went and it we were a little surprised.

The shop is not as big as you think.  The thing that was neat is that some of the items displayed was actually items I watched them purchase on the show.  No site of Mike or Frank but understandable, we all need a little time off.  I do have to say that the town of LeClaire is cute and we are now planning to go back in a few weeks!

Oh, by the way, the team won one game and lost the second.  Our girls little 1A team looked great against those 5A teams.  Go Lions!

Entry Way and Laundry - Part 3, FINISHED!

After a long 8 months this project is finally finished and I have to show off the final product...

Laundry Room:  The sign is hand painted, the cupboards are basic off the shelf cupboards from a home improvement store, my great aunt's buttons were used on the curtain (a fun collection she had) and old barn boards were used for the shelving...

   

 

Entry Way:  what a HUGE transformation.  Remember, we moved over the door and used a full glass door to bring in more light.  The floor looks like a real wooden floor but it's linoleum.  3"x4' planks that I found at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  This would allow me to have the look of wood but less maintenance when it comes to country mud and winter months.  The light fixture is a vintage base and a Mason jar.  Where the old entry door was is now our closet/entry to our basement.  This entry way is now much more user friendly!

Just think, it all started with just simply removing the old wall wooden paneling and replacing it with drywall, simple right?  The goal was to have it ready by our son's graduation and we did it!  Thanks to my hubby, brother Darren in moving electrical wires and our friend Andy on properly installing the entry door!

Egg Wire Basket Light Fixture

I wanted to try something different for a light fixture.  Many years ago I saw a picture of an egg wire basket used as lighting.  Again, my Mom found this egg basket at an auction for $1.00.  We already had this simple light fixture that was removed from one of our bedrooms so I spray painted it to look rusty, to match the wire basket.

How many people does it take to install a wire basket light fixture?  Two, definitely two!

My husband found an Edison light bulb and it looks great!