I Did It...I REALLY Did It !

 I RETIRED!!! after 28 years at the same job I retired on April 1...yep April fools day LOL. It was a day full of tears as I said Good-By to wonderful co-workers and friends. I have so many special memories that I will hold close to my heart always.
28 years is a lot of life spent with  co-workers, you get used to seeing the same smiling faces everyday that greet you with a happy "Good Morning".
I have been so lucky and blessed to have worked so many years at the same place with so many sweet and amazing people.

A gift I received was this beautiful quilt wall hanging made by my friend Linda who is a talented quilter and who has inspired me and given me encouragement   to quilt. When the quilt was presented to me I could not hold back the tears, just look at the little bone Linda added for our little puppy Shiloh and she even used "Home is Where the Heart is".

 I can't believe I really retired, there has been so much to do! the paper work to move monies over to new retirement funds, meeting with our retirement investors and re-applying for medical....crazy I tell ya! I have been so busy with paper work. I think maybe its taking longer since I retired way before 62.
My dear husband is 8 years older than me and he retired 18 months ago, he really pushed me to retire so we could spend time together enjoying life. I must admit I have been very nervous about retiring younger than 62 but I think I might just be getting used to it...

 The month has just flown by with retiring and than we took a trip to Costa Rica, my sister n law and brother watched the "baby Shiloh" while we were away. Our little guy is growing up and getting into all kinds of mischief.

 He loves his toys and chewies. Shiloh is so quite when he walks Gary put a bell on him so we would know where he was. Its so hard to be mad at him, he just looks  up at you with his sweet baby blues and we melt.

 Such a little rascal
The days have been busy with Shiloh and settling into retirement life. I'm sorry I have been MIA I have missed you all so much and now with retirement I will be able to read more and visit more!

Enjoy your week,
XO Elizabeth

Eight Pounds of Cuteness

 Here I am melting to peices, just look who stole my heart on Saturday and came home with Gary and me.. Meet Shilo a Miniature Australian Shepherd. Shilo is a Blue Merle, White and Copper adorable little boy with bright blue eyes. He is 10 weeks old and what a doll. Just a little ball of soft fluffy puppy fur. 
I know, I know I have always said no puppies on the sofa, "but" it was just for a few pictures and before I had run over to Pet-co to pick up a little bed for him.
Shilo likes his bed and is getting use to it already. Miniature Australian shepherds will grow up to 18 inches tall and weigh in around 17 to 30 pounds. It looks like Shilo might weigh around 24 pounds according to the breeder.

 Look at his sweet little nose it's shaped like a heart! Aw

 Gary has been wanting a puppy for a long time, I just couldn't agree. Our family dog Kona passed away around 4 years ago and I have not been ready to replace her. But then.......we went to see the pups on Saturday and that was all she wrote, I was done for, just one little cuddle from him under my neck and his sweet soft fur and blue eyes. Yep I done for I just melted into butter!

 Oh NO we are not spoiled..LOL LOL, just taken a nap on Gary's lap

 A little squinty eye looking up at the camera
 And a floppy ear

 Silly puppy!!!

Aw its a puppy world, all tired out from playing.

We are just proud new puppy parents. Wooing and Awing over 8 pounds of cuteness.
Gary is in L-O-V-E with this little guy, our family is too. Shilo is going to be so loved and so spoiled.


Have a sweet week everyone.

Hutch in the Entryway

 Happy first week of March everyone. Thank you so much for all your wonderfully sweet comments on our headboard and the lampshades. You all bring such joy to my heart.
Its time for spring cleaning and re-arranging the furniture.
 The hutch  top you are seeing was sitting out in the garage, I didn't know where to put it and then I thought why not try it in the entryway. I wasn't sure if would look to big for the space and at first we just had the bottom half of the hutch  in the entry. But then there was the hutch top just sitting out in the garage collecting dust and truly it was in the way for Gary in the garage.
 So while my sister n law and brother n law were visiting, my brother n law asked me what he could do to help me and  I said "do you think you and Gary could bring in the top half of the hutch so we could see what it would look like in the entry"
well I knew this baby was not light and would take some muscle to lift it. But he said sure he would help so the guys brought the top in  and us girls even lent a hand lifting it up high.
I think I like it, and even if I didn't I don't think the boys would want to lift it down again LOL LOL.

 Around the corner from the entry is our kitchen it faces the street. Does your kitchen face the street? It took me a while to get use the kitchen facing out to the street, but I really like it now. I can see all the pretty neighborhood trees blooming. Gary loves looking out at the trees and what is going on up front and sits down for his breakfast everyday for a view of the world.

 In the corner we have a vintage bucket that was used for holding chicken seed for feeding the birds. We are using it to hold walking sticks and umbrella's when its been raining.

 Inside the hutch we have a few sentimental pieces that we enjoying using.

Now the front entry has been spring cleaned, I can now move on to the next room. Have you began any spring cleaning?.

Today is a very dear friends birthday....you might her Ana from A Petite Cottage  
Happy Happy Birthday Ana, the world became a sweeter palace the day you were born.

Enjoy your week everyone, the weekends sure do fly by and then its back to work. I need more time in my days, I bet you do too.  I hope your week is blessed with everthing that makes you happy.

Chocolate Tree Leave Lampshade

 Happy Monday to you the last Monday of the Month. Where did February go! 
Thank you so much everyone for all your kind and sweet comments on our headboard. It was overwhelming and really touched my heart.
This week I would like to share our new lampshades with you. While browsing one of our favorite lighting stores in town, Gary and I saw these green lampshades that caught our eye, the green was so beautiful to us.
While reading the tag we saw that the shade was made my hand with real cocoa (chocolate tree) leaves and was eco-friendly.
Wow! we had never seen anything like it before.  So what do I do?, well I smell the shade of course, the tag did say made with real cocoa. LOL, LOL.
We had been wanting to find new colorful lampshades and when we saw these well you know (we had to buy them) and here they are in all their glory.

 Light bulb off.

 The lampshades that came with the lamp base were a basic white shade, nice but not us. We bought the lamps knowing that one day we would re-placed the shades.

 You can see the cocoa leaves, I love the texture of the shade and the way it changes color with the light on and at night. I took these pictures this morning when the light was good.

 Closer look at the lamp base.

 Light bulb on.

 We purchased two shades, look way in corner where the second lamp is.

 We had a lovely day today, the house was filled with light!

Enjoy your week everyone, may it bring  peace to your heart and joy in your smile. 

Joining in with the following blog parties.

Mary-Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday

Kathryn-The Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday

Susan-Between Naps on the Porch metamorphosis Monday

Alderberry Hill Make the Scene Monday

Judy-DIY by Design Winter Blues Wednesday

Kim-Savvy Southern Style WOW us Wednesday

Jan-Have Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson Share you Cup Thursday

Courtney- French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday

Sherry-The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home Party Fridays

~Something New in the Bedroom~

 Happy Monday! I am so excited to share with you  my Christmas Present from hubby Gary and daughter Desire' boyfriend Paul. The first time I saw this hardboard was on Jennifer Gray's blog The Old Painted Cottage. I fell in love with it and have dreamed of one day re-creating it for our bedroom.
We have a California King and finding the right headboard was always a hard thing for me, since I'm a cottage kind of girl and everything I saw was just to modern for me.
I knew we would have to have something hand crafted and designed. I have talked about Paul before and how he has designed all  the wood moulding's in our home and  our kitchen banquet. Paul is a master wood-crafter.
I showed him Jennifer's blog and photo's of what I wanted and had pictured in my mind. Gary told me he had spoken to Paul and he was going to build the headboard for me as a Christmas gift.   I was so delighted! and could hardly wait.
I love my new headboard  the look is exactly what I had hoped and dreamed of.  Thank you Paul xo and Gary xo. My heart is so happy because of you. I adore my gift made with love.

 We had the padded headboard made by our local upholstering shop. I had the perfect piece of fabric left over from a chair project I had worked on a few years ago. Thank goodness I had kept the leftover fabric it just happened to match the pleated blinds perfectly and there was just enough to use on the headboard. A little savings here and there is always a good thing. Right.

 I ordered the appliques from do it yourself Chic.

 We recently added the pleated blinds to the french doors that lead out of our bedroom to the back yard pool. They have also added some warmth to the room. Remember the quilt I showed you that I was working on I posted about here, its done and I am so pleased how it turned out.

 We had the headboard painted in swiss coffee from Kelly Moore, swiss coffee is always my go to color for trim and moulding's.

 A few week's ago while driving back from shopping I spied a huge sign that read Estate Sale, my car makes fast and quick U-Turns when ever I see an Estate Sale sign. So anyway like any curious antique and anything vintage lover I parked my car and run ok, I walked inside and found this sliver bowl. Well you know the rest of the story this little sliver bowl was calling my name "Elizabeth buy me, take me home". I brought it home and shined her up and  put one of my sweet little teacups inside and covered her with a little glass dome. My Brother and Sister N law bought this little tea cup for me at an Estate Sale and surprised me with it.

 The quilt ~ I love the two star patterns and had so much fun playing with color and design for this quilt. Gary was such a sweetheart he took it over to my quilter while I was at work and he chose the design that was stitched on top. I think he did a great job choosing the perfect design.

 The back, such a fun pattern and so cheerful. The Fabric is called Turn of the Centry by Exclusively Quilters.

 Home made goodness, you know I adore anything home made, blankets to cuddle under and a home made headboard I couldn't be happier and I feel like a Queen sleeping in my big bed with the beautiful headboard "designed by Paul". Thank you Jennifer for your inspiration and the amazing headboard you made, that is what I love so much about blogging its the sharing of design and having someone take your idea and make it their own.
 The little sitting room in our bedroom also received a new window treatment. I think things are coming along splendidly. Only a couple more little things to do in this room. We have a new light fixture on order for over the bed. I will show you all just as soon as its installed.

Enjoy your week, may the week bring you happy memories that warm your heart.

Sharing today with the following Blog Parties;

Mary-Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday


Susan-Between Naps on the Porch metamorphosis Monday

Kathryn-The Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday

Alderberry Hill Make the Scene Monday

Heather & Megan Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday

Judy DIY by Design Winter Blues Wednesday

Kim-Savvy Southern Style WOW us Wednesday

Jan-Have Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson Share you Cup Thursday

Courtney- French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday

Sherry-The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home Party Fridays