Sweetness

The girls and their Mama and Dad came for a cookout on Memorial Day. The only out part was the cooking. It was so hot out and unbearable. Remember I am the one who loves winter and not the heat.

Goose looks a bit onery in this picture, while K. Bug is trying to pose for me.

I love these blue mason jars. I don't know what it is.........I think it is the beautiful color. What do you think of this tablecloth. My friend has curtains made out of this fabric. I admire those curtains every time I see them. She had a couple of panels that must have been her "oops" sooooo she gave them to me.
Not sure what I will do with them. They won't work as curtains for me.......I like this one as a table cloth.

Four more days of school....yippee.

This afternoon I had a blow out. I remember a ssssssss sound and I hit the curb.
Not sure what was first. I put a huge whole in the tire. I drove a little ways and pulled over at the college.
A couple of trucks cursed at me because I had stopped.
Nice, huh, One guy got out unwillingly and decided he didn't want to change it. My boss did come and get me so I wouldn't be late for work. Since I work at the same school my son teaches at, I asked him to help. He did. He changed it in all the heat with both of these little girls in tow. So nice to have some family close.
I thought back to five years ago that the same son was in the hospital with kidney failure (he is fine now) and his wife and newborn had a flat in 90 degree heat. Hubby and I went to the rescue. Hubby was so red faced for hours after changing that tire.

Okay moving on and chillin out in the A.C. and all is well.

Thanking those that serve here and abroad

This is a canvas that I did some time ago. The picture is of my son home on leave. He went to his nephews school to talk to the children.
Afterwards one of his nephews asked him to teach him to salute. I loved this picture. It was just a candid shot of a real moment.

As for the canvas. I layered three sheets of paper. On the right side are three little tags. They have little stamps words....love, family and hope. The tag on the left is where I journaled. (short and sweet, the picture tells the story) The flag is a Jolee. (sorry not sure of the sp.)
Above that is the coin that my son gave me when he returned from
Afghanistan.

It is so hard to have a son/daughter in the military esp. when they are in the Middle East. Mine did two tours. Each one lasting a year. It seemed like my world shut down during those times. So much to worry about. I know several of my blogging friends have loved ones overseas. I wish I could reach through the screen and give you a big (((((HUG))))) but I can't. I will pray for you and your soldier.

Happy Memorial Day.

Giveaway Winner

And the winner is:
MeMeSue. Her blog is Lil of This Lil of That. . Congratulations Sue. Sue also has 6 grandchildren (with one on the way) just like me (minus the one on the way). This is what she said........
Cottage Charm to me is that feeling when you walk into your house.....look around and say.....oh.....this is my home. It's like a hug! Warm and inviting.
She coulsn't have described it better. I know that my home isn't a mansion and is very lived in.
But it does feel like a ((((((HUG))))) when I walk in.
Thanks to all that entered. Love hearing what cottage means to you. Please stop over to see Sue. Sue please send me your mailing address. grammypetals@yahoo.com

Happy Birthday Little Fellow

Happy Birthday to my sweet grandson.
And is he ever a sweet boy. His Dad calls him Little Fellow. I have been calling him that on my blog. I think I will have to change that as he is now five years old. We now have 3 five year old grandchildren. So much fun.....they were all born six weeks apart.

These pictures were taken at his first flag football practice in the early Spring in Colorado. I was so excited to get to see him play. He loves sports. Twice during his practice he ran all the way over to give me a hug. Is that special or what. This Grammy loved that.

Hope you are all having a great week-end. We are being somewhat lazy, but that's okay, right. I think we are headed out to see a movie and have lunch out.

I am drawing for my giveway later today.
Not too late to enter.

Make this a happy day.

Cottage Charm Giveaway

We are suposed to pick winners for our giveways on May 29. With all the blogger problems, I am wondering if anyone has had trouble posting on mine. If so, here is my email address so you can sign up that way. grammypetals@yahoo.com I know I can post on other blogs only once in awhile. Most of the time Google won't let me sign in to post. I am hoping that's why I haven't had as many comments. Or maybe not many like my giveaway, sob. Thanks to all that have posted and signed up to follow. I hope you all have exciting plans for the Memorial Day Week-end. I had a student tell me today that we are having all day SACC (School Age Child Care) on Monday. No way.......and by the way there are only 5 more days of school left. Hurray.

If you don't have big plans I hope you have restful plans. That's where I fall in. I have been struggling with ear infections, pain and dizziness from that.

My grandson will turn 5 in 2 days.
And I will get to see him in 2 weeks. Yippee. It's a family trip, our first ever.
All my g.babies will be in the same house so I can hug and kiss them all at the same time. So excited.

So Happy Memorial Day and feel free to email me to enter my giveway.

(((((HUGS)))))

Hey There

Just peeking in on you. I was wondering if you have signed up for my Cottage Charm Giveaway.
All you have to do is be a follower and tell me what you think of when you think of Cottage Charm in your home. You can go back to my last post to see the pictures of my giveway.
A name will be chosen on May 29th......that is coming up fast. Check out the other things being given away. Good luck.
So what's been happening here at Cozy Blanket......... well there is only 8 days of school left, but who is counting. Today a first grader had to get stitches right when he lined up to go to his class room. He sure was a brave one. Then this afternoon we had a visit from the state inspector. The inspection went well except for the fact one of the kids had something to tell the inspector. He told her that the teachers needed to wear hair nets as all the food we serve had hairs in it. Really? She thought it was so funny.....I did not.
Yesterday I took my Mom back to the surgeon. What should have been three hours of driving was at least 6. When a major outerbelt closes down it sure messes up a whole city. (Columbus, Ohio) I felt like I circled the city all day long.
Anyhow the doctor told my Mom that she was healing twice as fast as normal. He had worried about her leukemia cells showing up in her bone biopsy......he shook his head and said guess that isn't a problem.
Amazing isn't she.
These terrible storms.........praying for all these displaced families. So awful. Our TV just showed a live tornado as it was on the ground in Oklahoma. I have never seem that before. I hope that all of you are safe and that your loved ones are as well.
Okay enough news on my front........and it's only Tuesday.
Stay safe.

Cottage Charm Giveaway

Cottage charm to me is what you put into your home to make your life comfortable and cozy. It can be old and new, collections and everything you love. Your style reflects your personality. Soooooooo...........

I am joining the Cottage Charm Giveway. The last I looked there were 42 bloggers giving away some really beautiful items. You don't have to have a blog to enter these giveaways. You can check out the other blog giveaways at http://twiceremembered.blogspot.com/2011/04/annual-cottage-charm-giveaway-event-may.html

Still lots of time to enter to win. Winners will be chosen the end of May.

I am offering the quilted table runner I bought at the
Amish
Auction last week-end. It's hard to see because the color is such a light pink. I think it would make a cute wallhanging.
Also there is a sweet little bird in a clay pot. It has a little place to clip something on. I put a script butterfly on this one.
Also there are some decorated clothespins and some French bottle cap magnets.

All you have to do to enter is tell me cottage charm means to you when you comment. The only other requirement is that you are a follower. You can be a new follower.

Thanks for entering and go check out the others for some great giveways.

Spending the day with the Amish

A good friend of mine invited me to spend the day with her at a sale in Holmes County (Ohio). The sale was being held at a school for multi-handicap children in this Amish county. She had worked at this school many years ago. They have this sale once a year and it is quite big. I am sure that there were 400 Amish there and maybe more. There were very few Non-Amish. They had yummy food, activities for the children and an auction.

The first picture I snapped quickly. There was another area that there were many horse and buggies. I snapped the next picture as I steped out of the car also very quickly. Yes, it is blurry but I think you can still see the little children having fun with the steering wheels on the barrel ride. Okay, now in case you don't know this, the Amish do not like their picture taken. I knew this and my friend reminded me not to take any more pictures. She knew that was going to kill me and it did. Such cute little families. I wanted to sueeze those little babies. Their life is so simple but their work is so hard. They all know each other. Lots of Millers and Yoders. There were several children there that had Down syndrome and several others with disabilities.
After all this sale was for them. They wanted to raise money for a school bus that had a wheelchair lift.

To raise money they have an auction every year at this sale. They auctioned a couple of ponies, some farm equipment, beautiful handmade furnitures, some of this and that, organic plants for the garden, flowers and the biggie QUILTS. We took a seat for the quilts. The room was huge, hot and full of people. We found front row seats...........no wonder they were empty.........right next to the auctioneer and his workers.
A bit loud. There must have been 200 quilts. Some wall hangings and some table runners were added to the bunch. We kept track of what the quilts went for. My friend, who is a quilter, thought that the quilts went really really low. Mostly $200 to $400. One went for $800. We wondered if someone was buying some of the quilts to resale. The problem with sitting in the front, you couldn't see who was bidding. The families all sat there through the auction even if they weren't bidding. I am guessing to see what their hard work meant to those bidding. Beautiful works of art. They took great care displaying the quilts when they were being bidded on. I saw one person take a picture of one of the quilts on stage. That is the only picture I saw taken the whole day.

Anyhow my friend bought some organic lettuce.....I told her to tell her husband that she brought salad home for dinner, hah. I bought a tiny table runner. We did bid on other things. I'm not too experienced with auctions so I was a bit scared to bid alot. If I get to go again next year.....things will be different.

Probably the most fun I had was just being with my friend. Lots of time to talk about anything we wanted to. You know how she became my friend. She was my college instructor in Early Childhood. We are the same age and our husbands get along really well.

So there you have it, the story of my day with the Amish. Oh I wish I could share more pictures with you but I am respectful.

Hope you all had a wonderful week-end and I hope that our blogs are all back up and running.

First annual rural antiques and garden show

This wonderful sale is being held today and tomorrow (Saturday) in Mt. Vernon, Ohio off of Wells Road. Well worth the trip. These are my purchases. I love these bus rolls ( is that what they are called). It isn't handmade but I love the saying. I am so inspired after seeing a post by The Lettered Cottage this week to redo my bedroom. I want to use this sign there. I loved this little spaniel planter, so cute.
Also, I found another large blue mason jar. Okay, now I need to stop buying them. The little giraffees were to remind me of the fun our family had feeding the giraffes at the zoo in Colorado..........OKAY ON WITH THE SHOW...........THE VERY BEST PART WAS THIS OLD TINY FARMHOUSE. I think I want to live there.

This was the Milkhouse Cafe where they were serving drinks and food. These chairs remind me of my Grandmothers porch. I loved sitting and rocking in these chairs on her porch at night. My house and my grandparents house were next door to each other. I loved running back and forth.
And yes, I always ran. Sometimes I ran in my bare feet getting cedar stickers in my feet.

I love this mantel, bench and planter.
After downsizing two years ago, I don't need anything big. Sometimes I wish I could start all over with furniture and etc. but can't do that.

This is a picture of a display of White Cottage. They have a new store in downtown
Newark. Great finds. The next picture is a display for The Urban Farmhouse. They also have a store in Hebron. Great things there as well.

Ooops another shot of the Milkhouse.
No I didn't eat there. I bet there was some real goodies though.

Sorry about the spacing thing going on..........it isn't how I post it. It just seems to happen.
Alot happening on Google
Blog Spots this week. Very flustrating.

This is the side of the little farmhouse. The next picture is from the front of the house.

Not sure what this is called.....maybe a summer porch. There is a stream that runs right along the side of this. The plantings were beautiful. Wish we were able to tour inside. There were also other more modern houses/barns on the property.

Okay, that's it folks. I am sure this show will grow from year to year. There were lots of people there at 10:00 a.m. So glad I made the trip.

Look what I got

The first picture is what I won from Vicki Chrisman's blog. Her blog is a scrapbooking blog. Her works of art are so creative. Her blog is This Art Makes Me Happy. Can you believe all these goodies. Scrapbooking adhesives are my favorite anyway SO this was a great win for me.

The next picture is what I came home with from Custom Comforts.....a bloggers spring sale. Love these blue mason jars and pink depression glass.

The next couple of pictures of things I got at The French Hen barn sale. This is a burlap bag that is lined so you can put real flowers in or these cute artificial ones.
Also a couple more little plates for my wall collection. The little paper things are butterflies. I have some plans for these that hopefully I will get to this summer. Only 15 days more of school, but who is counting.

I put the intermediate kids on the bus in the mornings at our SACC program. Their bus had a sub today that forgot them. When the elementary buses started pulling up we were still standing there. It was rather funny actually. They did get picked up but I am sure they were late.

Well, on to today's next project........(((((HUGS)))))

Take Time to Smell the Flowers

My sweet boy Piper smelling the pretty flowers that Doodle gave me.

Pay it forward......and Mothers Day

Look at all these cute things. Kimberly of Kimberly's Corner received a gift from Pay it Forward. She in turn picked someone that wanted to play along in this game of giving andying forward to someone else. She choose me.....yipee. She sent me this wonderful gifts of books, candy's flower napkins, garden gloves, birthday notes and recipe cards. I loved everything.
NOW..........
If you would like to receive a box of goodies from me all you have to do is leave a comment saying you would like to pay it forward as well. I will choose someone from the comments and send off your box of goodies. Don't be shy........just let me know you want to do this.

Okay a questions. When I go to my dashboard it comes up that I am not following any blogs. I can get to my blogs on Favorite Blogs I follow but I want my blogs back on the dashboard. What do I do.

Mothers Day......I love reading what everyone did on Mothers Day. Saturday I went to a National Scrapbook Day Crop. It was fun. I got to visit with a dear friend. I also got to spend time with my little friend Doodle. I got flowers from everyone.....so fun. Yesterday we got to be with my Mom and MIL, my cousin Jo's husband and her sister (my cousin). When we got home we got to visit with my son and his girls and our son that turned 25 yesterday. We squeezed alot in one day. But all in all it nice being with family.

Have a great week.

Happy Mothers Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day. (((((HUGS))))

French Hen Barn Sale

Today I went to the French Hen Barn Sale (Ohio). The weather was nippy and the ground a little soggy but other than it was really beautiful. I went to their Fall Barn Sale. The barn is new and chandys hanging everywhere. There is a mix of French items, primitives and vintage. Everything is beautifully displayed.
I snapped a few pictures while carrying my load and balancing a cup of coffee trying to keep warm. Multitasking, hah. This pretty little Silkie was dressed in her pink outfit.
Not my doggy but quite a sweetie.
This sale is still on tomorrow. Their blog name is The French Hen.
Going to bed early tonight as tomorrow it is National Scrapbook Day. I am going to an all day crop with a friend. A day for myself, I am excited.
Have a great week-end and Happy Mothers Day.
XO
(Keep scrolling there are more pictures)

This is what I feel like doing today. I am actually going to take a
NAP here soon. Piper looks comfy, doesn't he? It is so rainy and cold out today. We are about to start building an Ark soon. I know we are lucky with just the rain. Temps. tomorrow in the 30's. I know one day it will change it it will be so hot. That's what usually happens. My yard need some serious attention. I really mean serious. Hubby's knee isn't doing well. We need a yard boy for sure.

I tried to take a picture of the RAIN. That didn't work so well.

This is K. Bug on her CRUTCHES with two of her friends. The other two didn't show up today. K. Bug was slow moving on her crutches today. I think they need to be adjusted, she shouldn't be so hunchy. We took K. and Goose to see Rio on Sunday. K. was flying on those babies then. It was a cute movie. I haven't seen these two girls as much as usual with all the things going on. Things are returning to some kind of norm now that my MOM is back in her home. She is doing okay. She is tough. There still are some concerns but her leg is doing well.

What a whirlwind of news lately. So many TORNADOS. My family in Huntsville have had the power restored. They are so lucky. Just don't know how people recover from such devastation.

The royal WEDDING was so wonderful. The tweenies at school are still all bubbly about the whole thing.

I have mixed feelings about the whole PAKISTAN thing. It just stirs up so many emotions.....wow.

I am counting down the days left at SCHOOL. The kids are off the wall. I had a girl tell another girl that she looked like a hairless siamese cat. Are you kidding me. I am thinking that I need to go back to taking care of babies. Everyone should spend a year with schoolagers so they appreciate all the TEACHERS out there. Not talking about me......

My GIVEAWAY..........I only had four comments on that post. So, all four people will get a set of my French caps......also a couple other bloggers.

Off for my nap...........and then off for another shift of tweeines. If you have sunshine your way, please send it to Ohio.