That Time I Became A Doom's Day Prepper

Needless to say this election cycle has been more than difficult. 

I spent about two weeks watching Hallmark Channel and Poldark in attempt to escape the bad news. 

Bill watched Poldark with me but, bless his heart, he decided that it was going to be a looooong Christmas movie season. 

He attempted to discern the plot of one movie and I gave him a look that is now seared into his sub-conscience. 

Doesn't he know that all Hallmark movies have the same plot? That's why they are perfect for not thinking. 

He put on his big boy pants and dealt with it the best way he knows how. The sci-fi channel is now playing on the television upstairs. 

(She shivers) 

I don't know about you but I was traumatized watching Star Trek as a child. 

Five brothers and only one T.V. will do that to a girl. 

Sci-fi show are scarier to me than events that have taken place in real life. 

Back to my story. 

Texas, my adopted homeland, plays mean tricks on me during the fall. 

Every year I get some sort of stuffy nose and cough. 

This year was no exception and the day of the election, I lost my voice. 

My precious class mistook my whisper as an indication that I'd gone deaf. To compensate they began talking louder. After three hours, I was spent and my team sent me home for a nap. 

With pins and needles, I checked the election returns around 6:15. Polls had been closed 15 minutes so they should be calling the election soon. 

They had Clinton ahead in Florida with a scant 3% of the vote in. It was over. Hillary Clinton was out new president. 

I turned the T.V. off. 

Bill came home, we shared a late dinner and I debated Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries or the returns. 

With trepidation, the returns won out. 

Bill was being a channel hopper. (More of my looks are seared into his sub-conscience, by the way.) We were able to get a glimpse of what was happening on all channels. 

The utter shock and disbelief of the media was something to behold. 

After getting over the humor of it all, the magnitude by which the American people had be duped sunk in. The ramifications that the all "trusting", ever powerful media was deceived, manipulated or duplicitous was something to contemplate.  

When I wasn't checking Facebook or Twitter, I ruminated over what just happened. 

Were we living in some sort of George Orwellian dystopia? 

The idea that the media may have tried to propagate a winner sent me to YouTube. 

Cold medicine, YouTube and propaganda is not a good combination. 

Just ask Bill. This past weekend was one by which he will be forever traumatized. 

He spent the weekend reading C.S. Lewis to combat my growing gloom and doom. 

Here is the thing, if you watch one video, there is a long list of others on the side bar. 

There are some doozy theories floating around the w.w.w. which turned sideways is 333. 333 times 2 is 666. 

We all know that isn't good. 

Would you like a list of doomsday scenarios? 

Walmart is code for Martial Law and the closed stores are going to be FEMA camps. 

The government is tunneling underground. (I do hear strange things late at night.) Bill says it is fracking but what if fracking read backwards is something sinister? 

Obama is still planning on stealing the election and therefore will have a third term. Hillary was Obama's third term. We all know that if Obama gets a third term he is the "you know who".

Trump means trumpet and the coming of Jesus but it could also mean trump card. 

Planet X and its huge meteor belt is now in our orbit. It has thrown the weather all out of kilter. (I'm still wearing flip flops in November.) Obama knows that Planet X or Nibiru is headed this way and therefore we need all of the underground bunkers that I'm hearing being built. 

After three days of cold medicine and YouTube, I've decided to become a prepper. 

I'm just not very good at it. 

I have one case of water, plenty of rice and about 10 cans of soup. It should last us the length of 10 Hallmark movies if the coming electrical grid failure brought about by the Russians doesn't happen. 

The fog has lifted, my head is almost clear and I can once again be confident that no matter what the future holds, the God of the universe has it all under control. Bill is rejoicing. I'm rejoicing that he won't confiscate my laptop.  

Have a blessed day! 

Katie 

Bill Was Right

It pains me to say it but Bill was right. 

We have too many pillows.

I love pillows.

I change out the pillows for the seasons and the holidays. 

I have pillows, fabric and pillow batting filling the closets and armoirs.

At any moment a new look can be created with just a quick run through the sewing machine. 

I have a problem and Bill knows it.

Now, I know it too.

The other morning I was fixing my hair. 

After blow drying, my fluffy locks usually need to "rest" in a 

hair tie otherwise my mane gets huge during the day. 

I pulled an elastic band out of the drawer of my vanity. 

There was some pillow stuffing stuck on the elastic band. 

I went to bite it off but at the same time, I breathed in. 

Stuffing went into my mouth and got stuck on the roof of my mouth at the gag reflex. 

 Nice!

My old dentist labeled me a "gagger".

I was gagging and coughing to get it off. 

I wasn't choking because I could still breathe.

I kept reminding myself that I could breathe - just breathe.

It's a good thing I hadn't done my mascara because black gunk would have been running down my cheeks. 

I debated swallowing the fuzz but I didn't know the long-term ramifications of pillow ingestion. 

Was I going to have to call in sick because of a blogging hazard?

Is there blogging disability insurance?

 I decided to keep coughing to see if it would fly out as it had flown in. 

 It did. 

 

WHEW! I don't have to worry about batting in my bowels.

Here is my public service announcement. 

Beware of having too many pillows and too much pillow stuffing.

Too many pillows can be hazardous to your health. 

Bill always knew it. 

I know it too. 

Have a wonderful Sunday.

 Katie 

Unexpected Find at an Unexpected Place

Mr. Bill asked me to go by the repair shop and pick up some screens he was having repaired. It is not open on Saturday. I don't know about you, but there are some places that I have a firm line that are girl vs. guy places. If you have read any of my older posts you know that I am not afraid to tackle the tough stuff i.e. tiling, upholstery. I have even done roofing, plumbing, electrical and more. But for some reason auto shops and certain other repair shops give me the creeps!
But... there was really no choice because it's not open when he is available, so I had to put on my big girl tool belt, hop in the truck and head over after work. This is terrible, but Friday I got a reprieve because one of my students had a mini medical situation and I couldn't get away from work in time. (Oh too bad.) 
She was fine, but it put off the trip. However, I still needed to go on Monday. 
Bill warned me that it was like stepping back in time. ?? I had no clue what he meant by that.
Well. I drove up after work. Yup, typical old, messy and...
PILED WITH JUNK!!!

It was like one of those renovation places that have architectural salvage only without the hoity toity price tag. I immediately spied some old windows and this wonderful, rusty, worn, chippy, green, screen from a window. It was beautiful and in exactly the color I want for my room! Immediately my heart starts to beat as if I have met my one true love. (Chocolate) 
You know I am just kidding. (Coffee) No. 
Of course Mr. Bill.
But... what if this gem is not for sale? What if it has a hefty price tag?
I venture inside without impaling my foot on all the glass that is strewn all over this parking lot. (I had reason to be afraid.)
The place looks like something out of the 50's and there is a black and white movie on one of the oldest T.V.'s I have seen in ages. (no flat screen here)
I tell him who I am and get the total for the work. 
Umm, uhh, (insert sweet girl, don't know nothing voice) "I saw some old windows outside. Are those for sale?"
Now, I am not from the south, but I have lived here long enough that the southern accent just pops out at times.
Well...he says. "Depends on what ya want?"
So I take him outside hoping that I can sweet talk him into selling me the screen.
How about this window and this screen? (beautiful prize that it is.)
" I guess about a dollar."
Have you ever jumped up and down on the inside, while playing it cool on the outside? That is what I was doing. 
I plopped my screen and window in the back of my truck. Paid the total and happily drove away so pleased I had cinched my big girl tool belt. I sent Bill a text. "Ha,Ha,Ha."

Here she is without decor.

Here she is gussied up for spring. 

I used upholstery tacks to attach some ribbon. 

I am crazy about the old painted spring. 

I got this adorable botanical at a craft mall that also sells new decor items. It was $21.00 which was a little more than I wanted to pay to decorate a screen that cost me a buck, but I have eyeballed these for a year. They finally were reduced from $28.00. 

The same craft mall has these velvet flowers. I love them because they remind me of old milliner's flowers. Again with my mini clothes pins. I can't seem to get enough of them.

Here are some my vintage postcards. Read about my love for clover here.

Love, love this little antique child's stocking. 

I had no idea that my little chore would turn into a treasure find. 
Katie 

P.S. I hope you like my new look. It is totally more me!

linking with: 
Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays-56
&Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage
Beyond The Picket Fence 100 under 100. 
& Vintage Inspiration @ Common Ground &
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Take some time to hop on over and check out this fabulous blog. 

Pumpkins For St. Patty's Day

What in the world is the deal with people and their pumpkins? 

I keep seeing pumpkins on my way to work and it is almost St. Patrick's Day. Is there some tradition I don't know about involving a spring pumpkin? Maybe he who keeps the pumpkin the longest gets a prize? I don't think there can be any prize involved with a rotten pumpkin sitting on your porch. I don't usually carve mine and they are past their prime at Thanksgiving.
 Pet Peeve Alert!  
Seriously, when you get your Christmas decor out, out goes the pumpkin in the trash. I have seen people set the snowman next to the pumpkin. Is this just me? Does it bug you too?
 I took some pictures as I was whizzing by some houses around town.

Above is a wheel barrow full of fall produce. It was really cute but.... now it is getting moldy. 

I understand that pumpkins cost good money. I  mean I am frugal, but I would not attempt to save a pumpkin. It really is one of those decorating elements that doesn't transition to another season. Sorry people the pumpkin is no pinecone. 

A few years ago I saw a cute pumpkin display in a yard. There were several sitting on a bale of hay. I saw it for months and months and months. It sat there so long that the hay started to sprout.  The pumpkin rotted until it was just a puddle of mush. Ironically enough, I drove by the next spring and there was a pumpkin vine sprouting out of the now black and moldy hale bale. The bale of hay finally just disintegrated into the yard. I don't think they have attempted this type of display again. 

I hope at least they got a pumpkin from that vine. 

=)

I have thought about starting a society. The Society for Responsible Seasonal Decorating. 

S.R.S.D. We would have a slogan which I will share at the end of the post. 

There would have to be tenants to this society. 

The Christmas wreath should come down before the first snow drop blooms.

The Resurection Sunday adversisement should not really still be there in June, July and August. (I have seen this.) It's probably still there.

The scarecrow is not really a year round decorating element, (at least not as far as I know?) My neighbors wanted me to run across the street and push it over so we would not have to see the shabby (and not in a good way) scarecrow. I didn't want to get arrested for a run by scarecrowing. They finally moved, so no more scarecrow!

And the big giant Easter eggs must be removed before you have your first pool party of summer. 

For those of you who are old enough, do you remember the old Glamour magazine? It had a do's and don'ts section. They took pictures of women wearing fashion don'ts.  For some reason I was always afraid that I would find myself in that magazine. =/
I thought about that today as I snapped another out of season pumpkin photo. So... throw your pumpkins away! 
Don't let this be you.

  I don't know why I notice these things as I am driving. I wish I didn't.  I am very visual so maybe it is just part of that. 
I hope you know that I am kidding.
But as I go, the slogan for my society.
Please Decorate Responsibly!

Katie

Linking with nobody.... just for fun! 

Have a wonderful Thursday. Hope you enjoyed your leap day.

Garden Room Redo Pictures

I promised you more pictures of my garden room spruce up.
Read about it here.

I can't really call it a makeover. Nothing really changed except the paint color and a few accents. These small changes however, have made a big impact in how I feel in the room. It's light and bright, a wonderful place to sit in the afternoon after I get home from work. The light comes in from the southwest and casts beautiful shadows. I have done my best with the photos considering my camera.

Enough chatting. Let's get to the pictures.
Here is what it looked like before.

Here it is today.

I have collected black and white checked fabric since we started the room. 

I love needlepoint pillows with a black ground. I got this one years ago. They have since morphed to other rooms as well. I may put them away for a while but, every so often they have to emerge again. I especially love them at Christmas.

The green and black fabric came from Walmart last spring. 

Love, love the pop of green.

I brought in some of my antique quilts.

My cute shelf from my weekend antiquing.

Revamped with new beadboard on the back and new paint.
Getting the scotch tape off of the side was a challenge!
I love the galvanized bucket.

Faux paperwhites. The cute snail came from Hobby Lobby last spring.

Our coffee corner. The little antique chairs came from my 

grandparent's lake house.

I have had them forever in the attic. 

I love lamp light. I really do not like overhead lighting. 

(I would  have lamps all over my classroom, if they would let me;)

Mr. Bill thinks I am part mole.

The other corner with the recliner I recovered for Mr. Bill.

I told you I wanted to do pears because Dear Daughter did some pear art work in school. I am so blessed to have an artist in the family.

I ran to the thrift store and got gold frames. I spent $8.00 for both. The mats were a good background for these. 

I am crazy about them. 

I also felt a little white china was in order so I got a plate rack the same day. It was only a dollar. I spray painted it white and popped in some bread and butter plates I had on hand. I love having an assortment of spray paint colors around. That way I can paint on a whim.

New green valances from Lowes. $9.95 each. 

I love the ceiling. 

The view from one of the windows during the day.

I'm wild about my sweet fountain. Don't you love the sound of water in a garden? 

It makes a hot day feel cooler. 

(Unless of course it is over 100 degrees for 72 days in a row! I'm not bitter.)

The same view at night. 

I put a picture of my winter plant stand in the collage, so you can see we really live here and not all is photo perfect. I've tried to tidy it up. But...

I found these cuties when I came home from work today. I can see them from the garden room window.

I hope the dog has matured and this year she won't bite off the blooms!

Who me? I'm just chewing on this sprinkler I found in the yard.

Sprinkled with spring green,

Katie

Linking up with Feathered Nest Friday @ frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
&Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage
& Vintage Inspiration @ Common Ground
&Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence
&Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
&Funky Junk Interiors SNS Link Party
Check out these fun blogs!

The Blog!

The blog is a little over a month old. I am tickled that I have had almost 500 people look at my site. I'm annoyed by the people from Russia who are probably trying to find out information about me so they can scam me, but to them I say. "I am just a lowly preschool teacher, I deal with poop and pee almost on a daily basis. My identity is not really one you want to steal unless of course I fulfill my dream of winning or just being on "Dancing With The Stars."" I am one step closer to that dream if I become famous for this blog or I win the reality show I have created called "Last Pre-School Teacher Standing."
As a contestant on my reality show, early childhood teachers  have to win series of challenges. Like the "juice box challenge" where they have to open 10 juice boxes in the shortest amount of time. Or how about the mandarin orange challenge where teachers have to open those little cups of mandarin oranges without spilling a single drop. (Try it, those things are tough to open.)  Today was the "Gogurt Challenge." If you twist those little sucky tubes of yogurt they will open if twisted hard enough. Can you tell most of the challenges involve opening food for a table of hungry, not quite self sufficient little ones?
There are oodles of other challenges and obstacles, but most of them involve bodily fluids so I don't think you want to hear about those. It would be a "Fear Factor" meets "Survivor" kind of thing. It has potential, right?
But enough about that. I just love blogging. I should have been doing this years ago. The things I write about for you are every day occurrences around here. What I have realized by chronicling this past 6 weeks is that this is how Bill and I really live. We are always in the midst of projects. I love it when I find before pictures on my computer for one of my posts. Most of the time I'm so excited about my projects I forget to photograph them. And Rebekah says that I always say "It will be awesome." about something I am working on.
So in the days to come, I can't wait to show you what else we have been up to at the manor. My profile states that we are DIYers. But we are also proponents of "don't do it yourself" "DDIY" I will be honest about projects that are just better left to the professionals. I am excited about doing a post about the 5 best and 5 worst decorating mistakes we have made. Oh, and I can't wait for gardening season.

Have a blessed day,
Sprinkled with humor,
Katie