I got it Covered….

Catchy little title don’t you think?  Lampshades would be the topic…covering the ole’ dreaded lampshade….I covered the two in my dining room….and it was time….high time….that they get an updated little do over.

Alas, the before…

Isn’t that a lovely before shot?   I totally suck at this…..let me see if I can find another one….

LOL  That is as good as it’s gonna get folks…..now for the AFTER (I did better on this)

Better yes?

 

You know I am a gingham freak!  I made a shower curtain and window treatments for my bathroom….more gingham used in there….it is a sickness….

It wasn’t hard….just tedious….SORRY!  No tutorial!  I just get something on my mind and am a woman possessed!  No photos….no pauses….just full speed ahead!!  I do know that I used Fabric-Tac to do this…that stuff ins AMAZING!!  These seams are glued….no sewing machine was used in the covering of these lampshades…

LOVED this fabric!!

See that trim?  It’s going around the bottom of the shade…..stay tuned…

I still have to paint the lamps….maybe heirloom white….distress them a little…..

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a FABULOUS week :)

Complete…..almost….

As you know, I have been plugging away on a redo of my bedroom….for quite some time now…

QUITE some time….soooo I have managed to ALMOST get it complete…..emphasis on ALMOST…

I do not have a before….this is after….but during….

I did the bed skirt first….

then curtains…..

made pillows….

my favorite pillow…

before lamp….

after….I recovered it…

There you have it…..this is where I am thus far….I’m still not finished….I still have to find art to hang on the right side of the bed, and a new skirt for my vanity….I am really kicking it up with my sewing skills!  Not NEAR as much fussing and cussing as I used to do…..I made the pillows on my bed without uttering one single ugly word…..Praise the Lord!!!  I’m on a roll!

Hope you are all having a Marvelous Monday!

Lou Cinda :)

 

Contrary to Popular Belief…

I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth entirely…..still clinging by a fingernail…

As an update on my precious Bella, we have not found her…I have been looking for her for two and a half weeks and done everything I know to do….flyers, newspaper, Craigslist, Facebook, foot searches, searches by car….I am going to have to just tell myself that she is living with another family somewhere and they are taking wonderful care of her….I can’t let myself think otherwise….

Then…..Friday…..Seth brought me this…

I know!  I have to admit, I didn’t think I was ready for another cat…my heart is still so raw…but I have to admit, she has been a breath of fresh air around our house!  My old cats just rolled their eyes when they saw her and said, here we go again! lol  But she is fitting in quite nicely….she was a rescue kitten from the pound….a life saved….always a good thing :)  Her name is Sadie….she looks like a Sadie don’t you think?

And for the first time in weeks, I started piddling around my house and changing things up and moving them around…..

 

 

 

I ordered the tiny cloche from Hive for the Home…..so cute!  The little clay pot too….

 

 

 

The little wheel barrow too….she has wonderful things and SO reasonable….check her out!

 

I want to thank each and every one of you who sent me such sweet, understanding comments on my post regarding Bella….the encouragement and prayers I received has kept me going as I have shed many, many tears….you women are beyond Wonderful and I appreciate it so much more than I could ever EVER tell you….from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!   And Carol in Va….a special thank you :)  Such a sweetheart!

I hope you all have a wonderful day….

My Bella is Missing….

And my heart is breaking…..

Bella is a roamer….she does not like to stay in the house all the time, but she comes in and out all day long….Saturday night I let her out at about 8:00 and went back to call her in about an hour later….and couldn’t find her….if you have pets that are like members of your family, then you understand what I, along with the rest of my family are feeling….it is horrible!  I looked for her all day long yesterday….ALL DAY LONG!  I tromped through the woods and the neighborhood and the shrubbery….I looked for her in the rain, I was in my neighbors back yards and front yards….driving through the neighborhood….calling for my Bella…

If you have been reading my blog, you know that my son Cameron found Bella when she was 4 weeks old in the street, sick and dying…he picked her up and took her to the vet where it was discovered that she was dehydrated, had an upper respiratory infection and covered in fleas….she lay in a shoe box for three days….we hand fed her and gave her medicine and then on the 4th day she opened her eyes….blue eyes….and she was in our hearts…..Her personality is larger than life…she always makes us laugh…she came into a house with three other OLD cats and she just insisted that they accept her….and they did…

And today our hearts are broken….I have cried and cried and cried…because you see…I am the one who let her out, so I blame myself….

We have taken out an ad in the paper and printed flyers in an effort to find her…please, if you have a moment, please say a prayer for me….I would so appreciate it….

 

Hello??? Anybody there??

It has been awhile since my last post!  Just a lot going on between losing my friend in the storm to Cameron’s graduation from high school and then a week at the beach….which was sooooooo needed.  It just soothed my  bruised soul….

Thank you so much for checking on me and making sure that I was alright….you have no idea how much it meant to me to open my e-mail and see a message from one of my precious blog friends wanting to make sure that I was okay….that also soothed my soul :)  My girlfriends do not understand the whole blog thing and that we actually know what is going on in each other’s lives and we care and pray for each other….but I understand and I am SO blessed and grateful for it!

I did manage to complete a project that I started weeks and weeks ago!  I know, I know, it truly is a miracle!!  Especially since this particular project involved the dreaded sewing machine….good Lord that thing HATES me!  But, alas, I did persevere…there were times when I thought I would succumb, but no, no I kept going and got those flippin curtains done in my bedroom!  Now, keep in mind it is only two panels….don’t’ judge!  If I could have made those hummers with hot glue, I would have!

Look at me go!!  I had to sew two DIFFERENT fabrics together AND add trim…..yeah, I know!

Steve cut and hung the rods….that was way outside my area of expertise!  You have to measure that and rumor has it that it needs to be “accurate” measurements…..Lou Cinda out!  Can’t measure worth a flip!  I am a big fan of the “round up” method….all those little lines on the measuring tape…..who needs those?

This project all started with two pillow cases out of this fabric that I found at TJ Maxx.  LOVED the fabric!

This fabric is Ralph Lauren and I actually found it by the yard CHEAP on eBay so I ordered yards of it.  I got one piece 100x100 for $35 and then I got another piece that was just a bit smaller for $27.  I know! Really good!

(Bella is very helpful)…

The largest piece I used as a throw at the end of the bed….I still need to add some trim to that….

Sharon and I found the ticking fabric for like $4 a yard and we loved it with the floral, so I did the bed skirt and bottom of the curtains out of that….

That tacky little blue pillow is gone….I have fabric to make pillows (pray for me) and that is next on the list…also on the search for new lamps or maybe just shades….or maybe cover those shades…..the list never ends…..

I got the window over the bed at a shop I love and Seth gave me the wreath for Christmas…I have to watch Bella or she will just reach up there and pull her off a mouthful of feathers!

The required puddling…..

So……what do you think??  I tell ya’ I’m just so happy to be done with them!!  I did one panel and then stopped….I hate it when I do that!!!  I am notorious for it!  Make my ownself nuts!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for being so wonderful and saying prayers for me….it means so much!

Hope you have a WONDERFUL day!! :)

Loss…

As some of you may know, I live in Alabama…the beautiful mountainous gorgeous State of Alabama….last Wednesday was the most horrific day this state has ever seen as multiple F4 and F5 tornados ripped across our state…changing the landscape forever….changing our lives forever…

My family was very blessed….the terrible storms were all around us, but we had no damage, no tornados…we didn’t even lose power…so very blessed….many many others were not so fortunate..

Beginning last week, the weather forecasters had been warning us that this weather was coming…to be prepared…to have a plan in place….one forecaster said there was a 110% chance of severe tornados across the State of Alabama on Wednesday…but you know, we have heard about storms and tornados before and that kind of thing always happens somewhere else…to someone else….

Not this time….

I was so anxious over the weather….storms and warnings have always made me nervous, but this time was different….the air felt dangerous…it was hot…humid….I said prayers all day long while I was at work….I was just so antsy….the wonderful girls that I work with and I discussed it at lunch…in fact Tina had had some storms pass through her area Wednesday morning and she had no power….she came to the office with wet hair and her hair dryer in her hand….

We closed our offices early Wednesday and as we were leaving we were all telling each other to “Be Safe”, take cover….be careful….I went home and cooked supper and was just tense….Cameron was at a friend’s house and they didn’t have a basement so I called him and told him to come home….we don’t have a basement either….I was watching the weather on the news and saw the massive monster ripping across Tuscaloosa and then Birmingham which is about 40 miles from me….

That was it….I told my family, “We are OUT of here”…we took our cats and went to some friends who live close to us, only a few houses away, and we got in their basement….and we watched….it was scary…I was hearing the towns Argo, Springville, Hokes Bluff, Ohatchee, Glencoe, Gadsden….take cover!  So terrifying….and we prayed….

After the threat had passed we went back home and I started calling and checking on all of my loved ones….my sweet precious friend Sharon, whom you have heard me talk about on my blog many times….my partner in shopping crime, was the first one I called….she lives in Ohatchee and I heard a tornado  had “touched down” there….she did not answer her cell, but she did answer her land line and I was SO happy to hear her voice….they were fine…no damage….power out….thank God…I had talked to Janice when I was in Peggi’s basement, so I knew she was fine…Cameron had talked to Malory, she was fine…Debbie was good….but I couldn’t get in touch with Tina….I assumed the power was out, cell phones down, because Tina only lives about a mile from Sharon…..so she must be okay…

When I got to work the next morning, Debbie said she still had not been able to reach Tina.  We called Tina’s boss and asked her if she had heard from Tina…she said no….Gina sent her husband to Tina’s house to check on them…..the picture above is where Tina’s house used to be….She and her husband were both killed in the tornado….they were huddled in their bathroom with their two dogs when the house took a direct hit….there was nothing left but a concrete slab….we are devastated….

This is Tina and Mike and their son Blake, who was deployed to Afghanistan….he had been gone 9 months and was due home Mother’s Day weekend….I can’t tell you how excited Tina and Mike were!  They were all going to North Carolina to be there when he got off the plane…..he came home a week early because he had lost both of his parents…I cannot even begin to imagine what he is going through….They also had a daughter Jessica, a son-in-law, James and a precious 5 year old granddaughter, Ariel, who was the apple of their eye….Tina was only 49 years old…

This was a beautiful Godly couple…Mike’s last post to his family as they huddled in their bathtub was…”Angels will protect us or, Angel’s will usher us home”…Heaven is a much brighter place….Tina was beautiful and funny and fun and always laughing….we will miss her so very much….

I will see her again….of that I am sure….but please remember those that are left behind to mourn their loss and to deal with the terrible void that has been left in their lives…..

One of their dogs, “Cuz” who belonged to Blake, survived the storm and has been reunited with the family…

All of the photos above were taken in the county I live in….about 12 miles from my house…my neighborhood….there but by the Grace of God, go I…

Tell those you love….that you love them….often….