A Southern Belle with Northern Roots/Junkflirt

 Thank you to all that signed up for a chance to win the Cottage Giveaway!! I am so thankful for every new follower and for all of you that faithfully check in and leave such wonderful comments of encouragement.
 So a big congratulations to Mzterry of mzterry'sworld !!

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Take time to thank God and those who serve for our freedom to celebrate.

PS Southern belle Northern roots now has it's own facebook page...send a friend request if you like!







blessings and thanks for visiting

 I did it, all by myself! I redid the bathroom, no major renovation but a fresh new look all the same.
Going from the blue walls with the ....noisy border.
(walls that used to be pink, bright regurgitated pepto bismol pink)

 Yep I did that....I thought at least pink was better than the original silver green swirly leaf pattern that came with the 1970's model mobile home we are in. The pink grew tired real fast and now the blue was wearing out it's welcome......and that border....uffda!

before

after

 Because this room is directly off our bedroom  which is white, I went to the classic look, after all the years living in an apartment wishing for something other that white walls... here I am craving them.





 So I stripped the border and covered the hideous pink with Kilz.
Kilz is horrible runny stuff that when spilled on the carpet, does not come out-  this is some good to know information to have before hand.
I had to do a little replacing of the slats that keep mobile home walls together. Pressed board and staples....nothing makes ya feel quite as safe as that!
 So paint on the floor, paint in my hair, 10 minutes of staring at the chop saw trying to figure out how to unlock it and some very cold cups of forgotten coffee....I was making progress.


 Now on to the fun stuff!   After the paint, Some vintage mirrors, the first mounted directly on the wall.








 The next mounted onto an old cupboard door found curbside earlier this Spring! Score!!





 A rake handle and some feminine charm.........























A quilt and some linens draping on a ladder,



















 A pretty candle chandelier with a splash of pearls








 (lights were still being painted sorry for the glare!)










 It's done, without my husbands help, advice or "council"

 Now...time to soak in the tub with a little tea.




See a Vintage Bath Update HERE


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I have been wanting a vintage look sign in the kitchen/dining room for a while. I found an old piece of wood curbside, it is pretty rickety and very weathered, just right for this project.
Instead of doing a good coat of paint and then sanding I simply did a poor coat of paint. Leaving wood grain showing through, letting the coverage be uneven to give a worn paint look.



For stencils, instead of purchasing them I printed out in large font the letters on regular paper, once placed properly, I drew them on and then hand painted.







I added a couple of the wonderful do hickeys from a sale find a couple weeks ago.

 and placed it on the wall!  Simple enough











I also refinished the buffet, it was fine the way it was but I just wanted it to have more of an old farm feel. The kind of look that would have been in my Aunt Julia's kitchen in Hanks.
She had red hair, always wore a house dress and apron, and she was the first woman I saw that while cooking for a good sized crowd......
 stirred the big pot, tasted from the large stirring spoon and I mean slurped it....and put it right back in and kept a stirring!
I was amazed! I knew my grandma would have pitched a fit if she ever saw that!

  They lived in an old farmhouse with the steep narrow staircase, so steep I never dared climb it.
Al, her husband, always wore overalls. He walked with a cane and had a leg brace from polio as a child. I am pretty sure he never climbed those awful stairs either.
He would on occasion utter a phrase or two in Norwegian just to annoy me, at least that is how I saw it.
I would visit there, usually on Sundays with other family members,
I remember strolling in the big North Dakota hills picking wild crocus
 Seeing the farm animals 
               the fields of wheat in the Fall

                       the simplicity is a fond memory
I guess it's why I love the vintage look







update-
I have recently covered the chicken boarder with wood. Because it was adhered directly to other wall paper it wasn't easy to remove without damage, I continued the white board around the room.

see here



 





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 Well here it is
            our daughter turns 22 in a few days
                      and our son graduates
   Weren't they just 3 and 6?
Didn't he run around in one sock on with his blanket?
      and hide inside the fridge door sucking on the Hershey's syrup bottle.

Wasn't she just carting around Raggedy Ann and Andy wrapped with her blanket?
     Collecting stickers and Polly Pockets?





 He used to hold the door for her,
        She used to clean up after him
             They used to share a happy meal.









 Now here we are at the old train station











 taking photos of our lovely daughter
   in one of her favorite fedoras
           her Polly Pockets loaded in the car to give away to some new little girls




 Here he is  getting ready to graduate
     going to the prom
       still sucking on the Hershey's syrup bottle when no one is looking






 A chapter ends but the book is still being written



 I thank God for these two beautiful children, the love of our lives.
Precious
I am thankful I was able to stay home and raise them
 to home school them
to see them become the best of friends
How the time flies......that is what they say.
Funny thing is, it never stops flying.
 Love those around you today
          Give them a hug
 Share a happy meal with them.




Mosaic Monday


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 I am oh so honored to have been featured on New England Cheese Making's blog. The lovely Miss Jeri interviewed me via email and did an absolutely fantastic job!
I thought it was simply going to be on my North Dakota Kitchen blog and about one of my cheese making expeditions. But wow! It was a little more like a bona fide celebrity interview, OK so maybe not celebrity......but hey
 thank You Jeri!
 I would love it if you had the time to stop by and check it out!

http://cheesemakinghelp.blogspot.com/2011/05/shannon-olson-making-buttermilk-cheese.html
blessings and thanks for visiting

 oh today....I will begin planting! How I have waited
Nothing like a trip to the greenhouse to buy those new annuals
      Nothing like feeling the dirt between your toes, yes I garden barefoot.
Nothing like a great find at a garage sale either....which this week was this adorable cart.



 It was cold, raining and yucky out but I the numbskull I am set to find treasure......
wearing white!
so I find this lovely and HEAVY cart for only $8.00 and I had to have it. It had remaining dirt and gravel inside, and a layer of earthy goodness on the outside.
I also had to load it myself......wearing white.
Then I had to come home and change.




 But....hey it is going to look great with flowers in it.
So will these, a find from the day it was 29 degrees with fresh snow and I was out looking for treasure in my little black flats. ( somewhere there must be a post for proper sale attire)
I saw mailboxes with flowers in them in the last flea market style magazine and thought I would love to do that, I was beyond excited when these 3 beauties were at one sale! Total $6 for all 3





 Now these are the...... I have no idea what they are

 but there was a whole tote of them for $2 and they are rusty metal, I mean how can I not get them? The lady that sold them thought they had something to do with laying concrete? Anyone know?
 I have a couple ideas for a few of them, what would you use them for?
I am waiting for Barbara Jean to give me her opinion, since she is a great treasure hunter!




 so off to planting. To breathe the fresh air,
     to soak up some sun
       to dig in the dirt
         to relish in God's creation! Praise and glory for the beauty!





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(This was posted yesterday and after the Blogger glitch it disappeared, this is done from memory and may yet turn up again. Sorry that means all comments on it were lost too.)




Does your husband understand? Does he get it? Mine doesn't, but...
another man did!
This weekend at a garage sale.....I spotted these! OH MY!!!
I was holding them picking one up putting the other down......trying to decide how I would use them and where I would put them.  They have a light coat of grease, just enough dust and a smell of must and metal. Perfect!
A man I knew (that was hosting the garage sale) asked if they were for my husband. No! I love this stuff I replied.
Then I heard him, a man behind me.
In his 60's, hearty and  a little heavy wearing bib overalls, he said,
"It's shabby chic, that's why she likes it."












 He came over and looked at them with me, I told him I liked junk style, he nodded, he understood just what I meant.
We had a moment.
Bliss between two junkers.
His wife was loading up her finds in the truck, she never knew.

I told him I was leaning toward this one (directly above) he said, "oh but this one is older and look at how it is worn, it was used a lot," as he caressed the handle.
"My husband will have a fit if I even bring one home"
"They are cheap! Tell him you bought one and they gave you the other."

Now his wife pipes in....."So that is what you do?"
We all laugh, I bought both for only $3.00. 
I brought them home, and as my husband approached he looked down at them and looked at me as though I was a cat that had dragged in a dead mouse. He just doesn't get it.




 He couldn't see the beauty.....






 or the purpose.






 He doesn't understand why we have fence on the wall,





 or why I needed another old suitcase.




He doesn't get this old ladder




 And he sure doesn't understand why we had to stop the car and dig this out of the trash.



 Poor guy, he puts up with a lot!

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