Life is Good!

I haven't been blogging a lot lately as I have been super busy. I have been quilting on my bed quilt. I have been super busy at work. I have been sharing the computer with my family, which has been an issue in the past!

Today we have snow! It has started to taper off since I took these pictures, but we have a good 1/2 to 1 inch of snow on the ground. I am just hoping the wind will pick up and blow it around a bit, so we can have a snow day tomorrow. That probably won't happen; but a girl can hope, can't she?

Yesterday, we hit the thrift stores. I was on a rescue mission to save as many vintage Christmas ornaments as I could find. I didn't find a single one. But I hit the jackpot anyway!

First I scored some vintage tatting thread. Rick made a point to tell me that he thinks I have hit hoarding status. I love the size 50 or higher vintage tatting threads. Those little balls of thread are so cute and they have the most amazing colors. Colors that aren't made now! I got an unused ball of yellow and pink as well as partial balls of green and variegated pink.

Here they are on my craft room bookcase with their counterparts. This little basket makes me so very happy.
But then, this whole bookcase makes me so very happy!

My next find, is another one of the things I collect. I love antique spools. These ones have been used as candle holders by the person who had them before me. I am not sure if I will use them for the same thing. But I found a home for them for now.

Sorry about the quality of this photo. I couldn't get a decent one with the flash on, so I turned it off. Then the light decided to glare through the blinds. Sometimes I can't win, no matter what I try.

Another one of the things I love are vintage aluminum drinking glasses. I haven't found one in almost a year. Yesterday, I found one in the most beautiful shade of blue! I just love these! In the summertime, iced tea stays pretty cold in these. And if you enjoy a really cold glass of milk, there is nothing better than an aluminum glass! I am not a milk drinker, but I love it in these glasses!

Here it is with it's relatives. When I took this photo, 3 of them were in use by my daughter and her friends with their lunch.

Next, is one of Rick's finds. He teases me about hoarding things, but he has his hoarding issues too. He collects sunglasses. Yesterday, he found a pair of late 50's or early 60's Ray-Ban sunglasses. He thought Hannah would love them and she did. Only drawback is that they have prescription lenses in them. They are super fun though!

Here is a shot of Rick's sunglasses. He repurposed a metal CD holder to hold them all so they wouldn't get scratched. He never pays more than about a dollar for any of his glasses. A few weeks ago, he found a $200 pair of Revo sunglasses for a dollar! And they are still listed as a current product on their website!

And lastly, I came across this bag of yarn. I have a really hard time passing up anything that I can use my crafty skills with. This entire bag of yarns cost me---

$2.50! These are Lang Yarns. I looked them up on the Internet and I got a steal! I am so excited because they are blends of some fantastic materials. There is an awesome linen blend, a cotton/cashmere blend, a silk blend, a Merino wool/silk blend and a few more.

I am going to make fingerless gloves for Hannah's best friends, Keith and Ron. I am going to try my hand at Alicia Paulson's http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2009/10/stripey-wristwarmers.html
version of Lucy's http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2009/10/wrist-warmers.html wrist warmers.

I am so excited to get started. Keith's are going to be charcoal and light grey with pink Fun Fur. Keith's favorite color is pink. Ron's are going to be a mixture of what is left of the charcoal and light grey with the green and dark red.

We are going to have Thanksgiving at our house again this year. Usually, we have it at my mom and dad's. This year, my mom has had some health issues, so Thursday here we come. It will be a bittersweet time, as our oldest daughter is moving to Arizona. We are hoping that Christy and her family drop by as they are leaving on Friday. Our oldest son has to work. Our middle daughter is in Alaska, where she lives, celebrating with her mom. My mother-in-law plans on spending the day with my niece, Devin and her dad Rodney. But we will still celebrate none-the-less. But we will have my parents, our youngest son, Brady and his wife Kylie and Hannah and possibly Keith and Ron for dinner.

Thanksgiving weekend has to be my favorite time of the year. On Friday, our community has a local toy drive at a local nursery. For the entry fee of an unwrapped, new toy we are treated to a great night. We get a potato/chili feed, Christmas music, all the hot chocolate and coffee you can drink, huge bonfires, and an awesome fireworks display. On Saturday, we are headed to our local forest, permit in hand, to get our Christmas tree. All day Sunday will be spent decorating the tree and the house. I am SO EXCITED!

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving Holiday spent with family and friends.

Donnelly

Happy Anniversary, Webb!

Even though my Rick doesn't read my blog, I want to wish him a Happy Anniversary! These 19 years have been a roller coaster ride!

19 years ago today, I became the married mom of 4 instead of the single mom of one. I became the mom of a 16 year old, a 8 year old, a 6 year old and a 2 year old. Now, I am the mom of a 35 year old, a 27 year old, a 25 year old, a 21 year old and a 17 year old. Not only are there now 5 children, I now have a son-in-law, a soon-to-be son-in-law and 2 daughters-in-law; as well as 2 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.

First and foremost, I want to thank Rick for the wonderful gifts he has given me.

Rick has tried to teach me patience; which I might finally master in the next 19 years.

He has taught me to love Christmas and all holidays. Rick introduced me to old Christmas ornaments; thanks to him, they are now one of my obsessions. He has given me the gift of a Christmas Party for our friends and family.

He has given me the gift of music I would have never found on my own. Because of Rick, I love Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Garth Brooks, George Strait and many more.

He has given me the gift of theatre; while I will never step on a stage to act or sing, he has shown me ways to make the theatre mine.

He has taught me to ride on the back of a motorcycle. I have less fear each time we ride. There is nothing like it!

Rick has shown me that dogs are awesome! Before we met, I was a cat person.

He has shown me that I can overcome rheumatoid arthritis with a positive attitude and his help. Rick has given me the gift of not obsessing about housework; it is okay to let it go for a little while if I don't feel well or if I am in the midst of crafting something.

Rick has given me the gift of pursuing my crafts. He doesn't blink an eye when I need new supplies or when I want to learn a new craft. He has even (almost) mastered sitting in the car in front of Joann's or Micheal's!

He has given me sports of all sorts: NY Yankees, Utah Jazz, and NASCAR. I will even watch Pro-bowling and golf on a Sunday afternoon!

He has taught me how to thrift at thrift stores and yard sales. It is not a normal week, if we don't go thrifting on Saturday mornings.

He has taught me to love, when my heart was broken. He has been a great father to all of our children; fair and honest in his love. Rick has taught me to hope for the future.

Next, I would like to thank my children for sticking with me long enough to be my friends. Our first few years were extremely rocky and, to be honest, not very pleasant. But, we have learned a lot through this time and we are a family! I can count my grown children as my friends, how sweet is that? I cannot wait to see how my family grows in the future. When I am a very old woman, I will have children and grandchildren and God willing, I will have great-grandchildren; because of Rick.

I hope that everyone that reads this has as great a ride as I have had these last 19 years!
Have a great day!
Donnelly

Holy Cow!

I just realized how long it has been since I last posted -- 10 days! Where did the time go? I am not totally sure! Not a whole lot has happened since my last post. My son and his wife, Kylie came for a surprise visit on Saturday and my mom and dad took us all out to a local pizza place for lunch. It was an awesome surprise. Brady and Kylie don't get down here much, as Kylie is taking 18 credits and working 2 jobs and Brady is working full time. And of course, neither my mom or I had our cameras.

A couple of weeks ago, Hannah and I went thrifting and I picked up milk glass goblets in my favorite pattern. I would have shared them earlier, but I am sure we were right in the middle of Jekyll and Hyde. That experience was like being on another planet for me. Awesome, but different!

These are in the Grape Vine pattern. They were marked $2.50 each, which I was going to pay. When I got to the counter, I found out that they were 1/2 price! Yeah! I have another 4 or 5 of these in our storage room. We moved from a 1908 farm house with a built in china hutch, to a 1980's house with NO storage at all. So I don't have all my lovely stuff out. But I am going to search some boxes this weekend, so I can set my Thanksgiving table with these!

I also found this little basket in a closet. I bought it sometime after Christmas last year. It is truly lovely! It is made from antique Christmas cards!

I wish they still made Christmas cards like these, in such lovely colors. I think the candles are my favorites. This little basket is blanket-stitched together. I am going to fill it with flavored Hershey kisses and set it on a table at Christmastime!

I am back to working on my quilt for my bed again. I have been really bad at not working on it. I was talking with Rick last night about it and I have come to the conclusion that it is because it is so overwhelming! I have never made a queen-sized quilt before and I have never hand quilted anything quite so large. So, I am going to set myself a goal of at least 1 hour per afternoon and see what I can do!

I am not so patiently waiting for Robyn and Clare's ornament exchange. I am so excited. I almost have one cross-stitch ornament done, all I have to add is the beads. and then sew it together.

Have a great day!

Donnelly

Final Night!

Tonight is closing night for Magic Valley Little Theatre's production of Jekyll and Hyde. It is a bittersweet night for our family. For the last 6 weeks, Rick and Hannah have committed Monday-Thursday for this week. There will be a lot of tears I am sure!

We in the Magic Valley are so incredibly blessed to have such amazing talent! I cannot tell you how well the leads have stepped into their rolls and brought this world to life; simply no words.

Opening night we had 420 patrons and last night we had 540 patrons. Word of mouth is spreading like wildfire.

I have had so much fun this week. I have been stretched outside of my normal comfort zones; and I have found out that I rather like it. For starters, I was privileged enough to help out backstage. There is so much energy back there. And God willing, I will get to help out back there tonight.

I have done my usual costume repairs which I enjoy. This show though, I had to repair a lead's corset that was not constructed very well and was falling apart after opening night. I stretched my imagination and was able to repair it and make Liberty feel so much more comfortable in her role.

I have so enjoyed getting to know the cast. They are all such a gracious, friendly, accepting bunch of folk; an extended part of our family, if you will. I have marveled at how much they love Hannah and Rick. I have had the privilege of getting to see my daughter in her element. She has blossomed!

I have enjoyed watching Rick step into the Backstage Manager roll. In Jekyll and Hyde, he is on stage 3 or 4 times. To keep himself busy, he volunteered to do this. He has enjoyed it so much that I am sure he will be volunteering to do it in the future!

I would like to thank our director Lori Henson, her husband Troy and their daughter Madison for bringing this vision to life. We, in the Webb household, have had the time of our lives.

Have an awesome day!
Donnelly

Milk Glass set for Happy Cottage Quilter!

Happy Cottage Quilter posted her latest find on her http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/ blog.

I have this same set of milk glass salt and pepper shakers. Mine came as part of a condiment set. A friend of mine found them on her mother-in-law's property. She dug them out of the ground. Her former mother-in-law was a horder. Sheila knew that I collected milk glass, so she cleaned them up for me. The most amazing thing is that it is a complete set.

I am posting these photos for her.

Here is the little honey pot, complete with it's lid and dipper.

Sugar and creamer.

Oil cruette with it's stopper!

The tray with it's handle.

And as a finalle here is a photo of the whole set!


Thanks for letting me share with you!
Have a great day!
Donnelly

Oh My Gosh!

Our Magic Valley Little Theatre's production of Jekyll and Hyde is amazing. I have been at dress rehearsals last night and tonight and I am amazed. Final dress rehearsal is tomorrow night. I am working costume repairs as soon as I get there tomorrow and then I will be taking some more photos. The few that I have taken have been SO blurry. So tomorrow night, I will move a little closer to the stage and see if that helps because my tripod didn't help much tonight.

Tonight was also Hannah's Fall Choir concert. How bad of a mom am I that I didn't know until yesterday that she was in two choirs this year? I thought that the choir director was just sending me grade updates twice. "No mom!" (insert eye roll here) "I am in Madrigals AND Concert Choir this year!" (Insert another eye roll here.) Both choirs did awesome tonight. Hannah sang a solo in "Seasons of Love", from the musical "Rent", and did a fantastic job! When I get a little more time, I will download photos from both the concert and the rehearsals. Right now I am headed to bed. I don't know how Rick, Hannah, Keith, and the rest of the cast stay up this late. It is now 3 hours past my bedtime for the second night in a row and I am exhausted!

Have an awesome day!
Donnelly