perfectly {imperfect}

Love at first sight...

Some would look at this table 

and see junk...

I saw it as a desk 

positioned perfectly 

in the center of a cozy  little office

{for me!}

with a white and burlap french chair 

pulled up to it, ready for business.

hmmm...

One wall, a black chalkboard,

and the other walls washed in an aged 

gray and taupe chippy patina...

The back wall would house the vintage hutch

that I've admired for years at my sister's house.

{that she asked if I wanted since she was moving}

yay!

After the hutch's treatment of a color change,

{it's red, like but not love}

it will hold books and 'ingredients' 

for further inspiration.

Burlap curtains to shield unsightly supplies

on the existing shelves,

a warm fuzzy rug,

{I have the perfect one in storage!}

and to top it all off,

a chandelier.

{sigh}

Can't wait!

I am surprised at my own giddiness over 

this little project and have realized...

I've never had

 my own room.

Except for the nursery at the hospital...

likely not even then.

{It was a very, very small town}

This adorable table was just collecting dust

over in the quiet corner 

of an abandoned little shack

on my father's farm.

Instant {imperfectly} perfect inspiration.

Usually, when I do projects like this

I just dive in and get it done.

Then think 

"I should have taken before pictures."

This time I am.

I'll post them when I'm finished.

I'll be back.

{Clara's Pathway}

Photo taken at the end of our street.

Hope you can 

get out and enjoy 

this beautiful time of year!

blessings,

deborah

un adorned

{un adorned}

Grey, gray, greige.

Some think of this color as drab.

Like a day void of sunshine.

Plain and blah.

Not me!

I love grey.

I'm not grey.

{hair}

And I'm certainly not neutral. {convictions}

But I am intrigued with this color's

low profile and ability to bring ease to a room.

{ahhh}

Take a look for yourself.

I have a family room that is needing a fresh outlook.

 Maybe something simple.

 And unadorned.

 Primitive and relaxed. 

{currently red. not so calm}

 And I heard that there is a huge sale at Sherwin Williams through the 8th of July... Hmmm.
 And I have a teenager who owes me household tasks as payback for the HUGE fee 

that our cell phone company charged us, even with insurance,

 to get her a replacement phone after hers got wet while volunteering at Vacation Bible School. :]

 I'd better get going. Un adorned is awaiting.

 {images Anthropology}. love. 

 deborah

pure vintage

Vintage by Nina

Simplicity 

is the ultimate sophistication.

Albert Einstein 

 In thinking about these words

 of Mr. Einstein this morning,

I thought I'd take a minute and simply post the quote 

with a fittingly proper photograph.

A quick post and then move on with the morning, right?

In my search though, I came across a beautiful book 

that was being promoted in a recent giveaway

and want to take a minute and show you a few pages.

Vintage by Nina

simple.

purposeful.

comfortable.

conversational.

functional.

pure.

resourceful.

welcoming.

inspirational.

treasured.

Ahhh... love!

Sandy over at My Shabby Streamside Studio

{Here's a map to her place:} myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com

has all the information that you need

to find out more about this resource from Sweden.

Have a beautiful week!

deborah

{simple joys}

{Simple Joys}

I ran acrossed this photo

the other day

and finding it was like a mega-dose of

good medicine.

I could just sit and stare.

Such sweet joy on her face.

This little peanut

is now a junior in highschool!

I was gathering photos

because I was asked to teach

  100 little girls

about how they they were

 made special.

So FuN!

{sneek peek}

If your father is a real King

that makes you a real princess.

"God is the King of all the earth."

Psalm 47:7

While teaching the lesson

I got to read to them 

Psalm 139

"...all the days ordained for me

were written in your book

 before one of them came to be."

Love that.

In this crazy world

it is reassuring to this

mother's heart

to know that

Someone is always there.

What little things are bringing you joy?

Xo deborah 

confessions of a paint-a-holic...

Ok...

Today I was scrolling through

'A Bowl Full of Lemons' blog

{great info by the way}

and saw that in a recent post there was

 one of those link parties going on.

I noticed one entry called

"Who paints this?"

They asked readers to not think of them
as crazy.



Then these two creative women explained
that the hot pink sofa was a prop
for a daughters birthday party.

{they admitted that it's stiff and crunchy}


They asked the question

"who paints this?"

Here's the confession:
And I answered
"I did."

Really.

I did.

I painted my sofa and love seat!

A soft creamy, leather like white.

Before you think I'm crazy
{maybe I am!}

and click out of this post,

please give me a second to explain:

We have 6 often messy kids.

We have 2 hairy drooling dogs.

We have 1 perfect cat.

And we feed our local high school's

varsity football team

{largest school in the state}

messy, drippy, Italian feasts weekly 

all season long.

{usually around 12 weeks with play-offs}

And there are about 65 guys
plus parent volunteers.
That's 780+ plates of food
consumed in the dining room, family rec room,
living room, den, back deck,
screened in area under deck
every fall.

{That's crazy!}

We have a sofa and love seat
that was covered in a
celery green micro suede.
I loved it when it was clean.
But several years later
it was getting harder and harder
to get clean.


"Maybe I'll just donate the furniture
and start over."
But that didn't make any sense:
*The kids aren't grown
*The football team was returning
for a new season.
*And my slip covers were tired.
Very tired.

Then an idea.


It came from my sister.
 
She painted a set of GW chairs
that she had in a
covered outdoor seating area.

She used a semi-gloss dark gray paint
and they looked like
vintage leather chairs!
Not crunchy or stiff.
Just leather-like.
Hmm.

My thought process:
I love the structure of the furniture.
It's the fabric that I have a problem with.
I could donate and $tart over...no.
What do I have to loose?

I got out my semi gloss white paint

I painted the loveseat
and hired one of our daughters
to paint the sofa.
She earned some cash.
No more cleaning furniture for hours for me.
We are all happy!

My 'confession.'

The pink couch is entry  #4

and my confession is #181

in the link party

over at

"A Bowl Full of Lemons."

 

Have a creative and happy weekend!

 

Xo deborah

abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com

for the love {like} of nature

{ good to know }

When I married my friend

23 years ago 

I thought I knew him

really well 

and I thought he knew me

the same.

And we have so much in common.

A few of our favorite things

to do together were:

go fishing

play tennis

play basketball

flag football

etc

or just watch the sun set

as we had a picnic dinner

on a hill or by a lake.

Well, years later here we are

{at my prompting}

fishing at dusk,

enjoying

{or so at least I was} 

the beautiful summer evening 

by the lake

 with several from our

little tribe of children

when I suddenly had an

'ah-ha' moment.

Here it is:

I LOVE the outdoors

during the summer

{and year round}

with camping, cookouts,

hikes, sunset watching, etc.

and my husband...

doesn't.

He likes to hunt

in the fall.

{there are no mosquitos} 

He loves to fish.

{when the mosquitos aren't biting}

And he is highly committed to

running and biking

especially in the afternoon

when the heat index is 112*.

{again, no mosquitos or flies that time of day}

But fishing by the lake at dusk...

Well, let's just say

 the Yard Guard 

wasn't doing it's job.

My kind and getting impatient

husband started stomping his feet

to get the mosquitos off.

{ 'Off' we used that, too}

He started to resemble a horse

in a stall stomping

and swatting at flies

with it's tail.

Guess I'd better get a

mosquito net...

xo deborah

In quietness and in trust

shall be your strength -God

When I create space for quietness

it always amazes me what I hear

 in the absence of visual and auditory clutter.

xo Deborah

wings...

{ Anna }

When our children were very young

I would sing them lullabies.

One of my favorites to sing

contained the words

"...Butterflies go up and down,

fluttering above the ground.

Butterflies soar through the sky.

Some day, baby, you will fly..."

Someone just got her driver's license.

She certainly seems to want to

exercise her wings 
even more now.

{ trust }

I'm always so surprised
at how fast 
a child's wings 
sprout...

 It amazes me.

deborah



.

 

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. -Cummings

Laughing at myself today...

I saw a picture

of bingo cards

and it reminded me of a time

when I was very, very bored as a child.

Now, as a mom I don't allow the 

"I'm bored" whine at our house

and the consequences for saying those words results in

laundry folding, sparkling toilets, or an extra walk

for the dogs, etc.

But I wasn't a mom yet and I was bored
at bingo. 

Very, very bored.

I would have rather

scooped out the horse barns

or pulled all the weeds in the garden

{which I had to do anyway}

rather than sit in a hard metal folding chair

in a stuffy, very stuffy 

150 year old building downtown.

{LOOK I found a photo of the actual building!}
 

And just sit and wait
as gray haired women

looked at their cards

for N 43 or B 11....

Sigh... 

I would ask mom for gum.

That lasted awhile.

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

Even kids can only use the restroom

just so much in public,

then it gets old.

"I'm hungry."
"Here, have more gum."

I had a way of creating my own entertainment
when I needed to.
Most parents and most adults call this
'getting into trouble'
but I called it creativity.
{at the time}
 

One of my first 'treasure hunting' trips

was in that building.

But I was not really supposed be wandering around

if you know what I mean.

My little brother and I just 'disappeared'

through an old creaky door and climbed up

an old dusty staircase into a very dark hallway.

We couldn't see anything

except for an old, very old portrait

of George Washington
hanging on the wall
in a huge gold frame

 

and dust,
lots and lots of dust.

{dust usually indicates treasures could be near}

{well, not always... my home has dust}

Wonder if that portrait is still there?

L.o.v.e. the mystery of treasure hunting.

Back to bingo...

While we sat and sat and sat 
in those hard bunchy chairs
and watched as the intensity would build
as each bingo-er anticipated that they
could be the next winner of
Mrs. Soandso's dozen fresh baked
cinnamon rolls
{instant carb diet}
or the prize of a free round of
more bingo!
{sounded more like a punishment to me}

I would hear a loud resounding
"BINGO!"
Then the whole room would moan in disappointment
{talk about poor sportsmanship!!!}  
And then they'd clear their cards
and start the routine all over again.

As the emotion in the room began to crescendo
 it happened.
I got a terrible, wonderful idea.

I waited until just the right time...
Everyone was staring with beady, glaring eyes
at their bingo cards 
and whole room was silent as they listened 
for their numbers to be called.


G 52...

B9... 

O 73...

BINGO!!!
{I yelled  in my 'old lady' voice...}

Then the moaning "awwwww..."
and the sound of the cards being cleared.

I think I was the only one
in the whole room

that thought it was funny...

And I still think it's funny... :]

I have been writing this post sitting beside

my husband while he has had surgery to remove

skin cancer.

We have been here for 5 hours.

It was deeper than they thought.

We are off to the plastic surgeon now to rebuild. 

Laughter is good medicine~ God.
added note: we finished at the surgeon's office.
He will be back to his handsome and healthy self soon. :] 

blessings

xoxo deborah