MOOOOve on Over!

 I am getting darn near close to having a whole herd in my den!

 And that's okay with me! 

 For Mother's Day, my mother gave to me $50.  Yes, you read that correctly, I got a Mother's Day gift from my own mother! (Yes, I did give her a gift too!) (Yes, she does this every year. Isn't that wonderful?)

I used my money to buy another cow to add to my collection. 

 After all, I had that long empty spot in the corner. The canvas was long. It seemed a perfect match. I am a little bothered by the fact that the newest member of the herd is a lot brighter than the rest of the herd. The colors still match my room, so I am hoping it grows on me!

 I have loved cows/cattle for as long as I can remember. I loved them before they were popular in the late 80's/early 90's and I loved them when they went out of style in the early 2000's. I STILL love them as they become popular again. They have never waned in my eyes. My love is true! 

 I think it is because I grew up raising cattle. My family has been in the cattle business for years. We had a large herd on the family farm, while we lived in town. My mother would take my brother, sister and I out to feed the cattle every day. She frequently pulled up to school in the pickup loaded down with feed and/or hay. If it was winter, we had to hike to make sure the ice was broken on the river and the cattle could get water. It never occurred to me to be embarrassed that my mom pulled up to the school in a work truck. I guess because so many people I knew also raised cattle. 

Hand carved from Switzerland.

 Once we were old enough to drive, we were expected to carry on the tradition of feeding and watering the cattle each day. I learned to drive the work truck with the gearshift on the steering wheel. I was the only one of us that could drive the standard, so it was my responsibility to get us out to the farm. It only took a couple of times getting stuck in the mud (or snow) and having to walk forever  (before cell phones of course!) to call for help, that I learned how to stay in the ruts and when to "give it gas"!  

 Those cattle were good to us. My parents (so wisely) reinvested our profits in more cattle and put away the remaining profits in a college fund for each of us. Those hours of driving, feeding, watering and counting our herd were well worth it when we got to college. 

I still love going out to the farms, walking the well-worn paths and seeing all the cattle. I guess that's why whether the cows are "in-style" or "out-of-style", for me they'll always be in my heart! I always have room for one more in the herd!

When being "a little shady" is a good thing!

 55!!!!!!  Really, 55!!!!!  That is how many windows I have in my house. Then you also need to add to that six doors, all with windows. And please take note. These are not your average little windows. These are wide and very long. 

When we moved in to the house last summer, there was not a single shade or curtain anywhere. It was also the hottest summer on record for Oklahoma. In fact I think we (Oklahoma) "won" some kind of record for the hottest summer on record period. Anywhere in the U.S. We had 100 days of 100 degrees or over. We had many, many days of 110 or over. All the while, we lived in a house with 55 big, huge windows.  Well to be fair, we had four blinds we had bought when we first moved in. So we had 51 uncovered windows and 6 doors.

Home office/study--four windows

As you can imagine, getting shades for 55 windows could be pretty expensive. I am happy to say though, that one year after moving in, we have blinds on 53 of the 55 windows and all 55 were bought on sale. At various times! 

Laundry room (with 8 windows!)..and a door with window

We have mahogany bamboo shades on all the first floor windows except the living room. Every single time we were out and about at Lowe's or Home Depot, we would check the shade aisle to see if they were on sale. 

Kitchen with 5 windows..and a door with window

I was adamant about the fact I wanted the shades all to be bamboo and mahogany colored. (Although sometimes Home Depot calls them "coffee".) The only room we have left to put shades in is the dining room. We are still looking! I can't break down and buy full price at this point!!

Den..with the four window shades we first purchased

Although it is hard to tell from these pictures, the bamboo shades do keep out an amazing amount of sunlight. To look at these pictures, it almost looks transparent, but I assure you, they work well. (I keep the shades up ever-so-slightly so my pups can look out the windows. I know, I know.... that is crazy spoiled!

stairway...two windows

The bamboo shades are not all the same brand, as you probably could tell. By buying them all the same color, I think it makes them all pretty uniform. At least I like it. 

Living room--four windows..and a door with window

In the "formal" living room, which faces the street, we have four huge windows. I could not find bamboo shades to even come close to fitting those windows, unless I got the roll up kind used outdoors frequently. They are not even bamboo, but plastic. So, instead I opted to get faux plantation shutters for those windows. I hope to have "real" plantation shutters for those windows someday.  Baby steps. Baby steps. 

Media room --5 windows and a door with window

Upstairs, I had planned on bamboo as well. Then I hit on a HUGE sale at Home Depot online. The sale was such that there was absolutely no way I could pass it up. So I bought the 2 inch blind-kinda-plantationy-looking-shade in the coffee color. They are great shades. I actually do not miss the fact that I did not get bamboo. Upstairs we have all the bedrooms and a media room. Getting these kinds of blinds allows for us to open them just a tad, all the way, or keep them shut. That is perfect for the upstairs. 

Once again we are embroiled in a broiling summer. Many 100 degree days.  But with 53 new shades one can only imagine the difference in our house this year compared to last. Oh my goodness...sometimes it pays to be a little shady!

Cutie Pies and Cupcakes

 I got up early on the morning of the 4th and I was a baking fool. I have no idea what got into me, but my mother asked me to bring a strawberry dessert to our 4th of July celebration. So I made 4 dozen mini (cutie) pies, dozens of red, white and blue cupcakes, a corn salad and two pork tenderloins! All before noon!

 The little pie crusts pictured above were rejects, but I thought they at least deserved a picture. Ha.

 I made a dozen each of blackberry pies, apple pies, banana cream pies and strawberry pies. (Hence I did get that strawberry dessert that my mother asked for.)

 I did use store bought crust and my Breville pie maker from Williams-Sonoma to make the crusts. But each of the fillings were cooked and "home-made" fillings. Nothing was out of a jar or pudding mix. I figured out after making four dozen of them that each mini (cutie) pie is actually probably smaller than a piece of regular pie. Perfect dessert!

 Then, because I love to make cakes and cupcakes, I decided to make some red, white and blue ones. Once I started I thought I should make some to share with my neighbors, so I kept making them. 

 I made about five dozen total cupcakes. Some I made were red, white and blue from the top down, and some were red, white and blue from the bottom up. I had to try both ways. I am weird like that. 

 I took plates of them to my neighbors, then the rest to our family gathering. Everybody loves a cupcake!...

Or a cutie pie!

Tell All Tuesday--with Leightyn

Last week Fielding met me with baby Leightyn at my parents house. We spent part of the afternoon in the pool. Leightyn loves the water and instantly starts kicking! 

She is blue-eyed and fair-headed so we kept her covered in sunblock and a cute little hat. (I thought I would throw that in there, because people that know me probably assume I just put her out to tan...like me!) Nope, never!! 

I have been getting to keep her about once or twice a week this summer. Leightyn's mama is an ER nurse and her daddy is a paramedic/firefighter. Kelly (her mama) has to work 12 hour shifts at the hospital. Fielding (her daddy) works 24 hour shifts at the fire-station. So a couple of times a week I drive to the hospital where Kelly works and pick up Miss Leightyn at  6:30 in the morning. Then I have to have her back at 7:30 that night. It makes for a wonderful day with the sweet baby.

The only negative is that the hospital where Kelly works is over an hour away!  But since I only get to keep her in the summer (or maybe school weekends????), it is no problem!  I bought her some "football" leggings at a craft show last week. Taylor and I were trying them on to see if they fit. I can't wait to see them on her this fall with some cute little

 Sooner outfit! 

At the Fourth of July at my parent's house, there was another baby girl, Reese. It was funny to watch the girls watch each other. Leightyn just jabbered away, like she was talking to Reese.

One day Luke drove with me to pick up Leightyn bright and early. Leightyn usually will sleep for an hour or so once we get home from picking her up. On this particular morning, the early-morning-wakeup-call was too much for Luke. He went to sleep when we got home and so did Miss Leightyn on Uncle Luke. Then Abe had to jump up on the back of the couch and sleep too. He put his paw on Luke's shoulder as he napped with them. I thought it was Abe's way of saying...."Hey, buddy, don't forget about me!!!"

And of course if I have Leightyn, I have to take pictures. I like dressing her up and surprising her mom and dad with the pictures I take. She is at the roly-poly stage and it is very hard to get pictures of her before she flips over! This summer has been so fun having Leightyn around. I can hardly wait till next summer when she will really be on the go!

Three Cheers for ....FREE(dom)

 I LOVE the month of July. I love everything about it. I love the long days and light-till-late evenings. I love the heat. Really. I love fireworks and watermelon and all the unbelievable garden produce that July presents to us. I LOVE the Fourth of July.

 Red, white and blue rank at the top of my favorite colors. I have those colors all over my house all year long, so it is not hard to pull the patriotic colors out during the summer. I am not one of those people that choose to be patriotic only on the 4th. I am a proud flag-waver all year long. I put my swags and banners out right before Memorial Day and I leave them out till the end of July. 

 The inside of the house is almost as bad. I play with red, white and blue arrangements all summer long. I arrange and rearrange. I pull stuff out and put stuff back. I enjoy every minute of it. Carefree summer....and that is how I decorate! 

 I found two old tops that once went on  newel posts. Someone was getting a new deck and they were throwing out all the old wooden pieces. So I got them for free!!  I had seen the similar flag holders in catalogs (for a lot of $$$), so I thought I'd try to make my own. 

 I did nothing besides drill five holes in the top of each piece. I then added dark wax to each post and sanded them down (just a little). 

 They were already very weathered, so I did not have to do much. I put five flags in each piece and they worked beautifully. I have had them all over the house this summer!!

 This arrangement on my dining room table features the great wooden box that Taylor found in the dumpster (and which we dubbed Dumpter Diva, because she is so darn beautiful now).  It also features the Chinese checker game board which I got for $1 and repainted over a year ago. Not only that, all the Blue Willow and red transferware are from auctions. Nothing on the table was purchased even remotely close to full price!

 That's why it is so much fun arranging during July. There are so many ways to display patriotic fun.

The only bad part about July..........................It goes by WAY too quickly!

I am linking to: Metamorphosis Monday 

Thrifty Treasures 
Wow Us Wednesday's