Pumpkin Carving At The Cottage!

On Friday JD's two youngest daughters came over and brought pumpkins with them for all of us to carve. We had ham sandwiches first and then it was on, what a fun time!

JD sometimes refers to the girls as one, two, three and four. The photo above is of number four, hard at work with her carving.

Here's number three, scooping out the 'guts' as they call it. 

JD masterfully creating...

I thought it was funny that they chose to place the pumpkins on the hood of their car. All four of JD's girls are just plain fun and we missed numbers one and two joining in on this!

Number three's masterpiece...

Number four's piece de resistance...

JD's punkin'...

What was I doing while they were carving? Taking pics of course. I did clean the 'guts' out of one and scooped them clean on the inside though. Did you know that a plastic ice cream scoop works great for that chore? It does! It's sharp and makes it easy to scoop all the junk out. Just sayin'...

After the carving was over number three napped on the sofa with JD. And number four who is taking cosmetology classes at the local vocational school curled my hair and styled it. I wish I had taken a photo of it before I messed it up. She really has a knack for the styling thing. I love getting my hair curled! Thanks to JD and the girls for a fun filled afternoon!

Cute Shed Inspiration...

Happy Friday! What are your plans for the weekend? Whatever they are I hope you all have a fun safe and peaceful one! I'll be here at the cottage working on the blasted lovely little shed out back. JD got it wired yesterday so now I can vacuum more easily than before. Until now I had to run an extension cord when ever electricity was required. Thank you JD! He'll be installing a window next week and I can hardly wait for that, mostly so that I'll get a cross breeze...

As I work along tackling the paint on the walls, removing the ten thousand nails from the wood work that were used by the previous owner to hang things and praying yellow jackets stay outside where they belong, I try to keep these cute sheds in my mind to keep me inspired and motivated...

I keep telling myself that hopefully someday soon my little place will resemble these adorable places....

Love the painted floor on this one. I know it's coming, I'm going to have to paint the floor of the shed to get the look I'm after. It's never ending I tell ya...

Notice the doors and the bunting on the one above. JD, can you make these doors? He isn't listening now. I am going to have to do something about a screen or glass door, yesterday a bird flew just inside but gratefully changed it's mind. A scared bird could wreak havoc in a matter of seconds...

Precious! I would love to have a tiny place like this to hide sew. With heat. And air. And a tiny fridge filled with my favorite snacks. And a television. And a sofa.

And no one could find me, except JD. He's quiet so he would be allowed...

Have a weekend filled with sweetness! DJ

New Herb Beds!

Finally I have one of the herb beds, dug, composted and planted. Lucky for me I found the herbs for one dollar each at the Hendersonville Tailgate Market. That's at least one third of what I normally pay for them and I really appreciate getting them for that. By the way if you live in or around this area, the Balson family will be at the market for one more Saturday and they had a nice selection of herbs to choose from. I got tarragon, thyme, sage and some new mints.

The mint pictured above it lavender mint and it does not disappoint. It truly smells like lavender!

This is Scotch mint and I adore it, it's much brighter smelling than most mints. I also got some apple mint at Padula's plants near Greer, SC last week. I'm planning on finishing up painting and finally decorating the shed this coming week. I'll keep you up to date with photos. \

Hope you're all having a blessed, relaxing and peaceful weekend!

Fabulous Home Made Soaps!

I have to tell you that I've never found anything that will remove onion odors from my hands until now. Remember the little soap that Danielle gave me from her Palmetto Bloggers meet up? The one from GoodDaySunshineStore.com? It does the trick, no kidding. Last night I chunked up some onions for fajitas and eyed the little soap as I was washing up and decided to use it instead of just picking it up and taking in the divine fragrance. I had already washed with regular dish detergent but the onion persisted. After washing with the soap one time the odor was gone. Folks please take a look at their website. I adore the scent of the soap and plan on ordering some and candles from them soon. I want my house to smell like that soap. I want everything to smell like that soap!

Scrap Metal And Whitewashing...

Happy Friday! I'm still working away on the shed. More painting is what's on deck for me today. I wouldn't mind it so much if it were making a huge difference, but it's looking more like whitewashing than painting. Sheesh...

I'm also going to take a ladder out there and try to drag that steel post or whatever it is down from the shelf. After that I plan on dragging it and the box springs to the front yard and placing a sign on them for someone to please take. Thankfully there is a scrap metal buyer just down the road and truckloads of metal go by here frequently. Hopefully someone will take advantage of them. Of course if I didn't want anyone to take it they would've stolen them already. Don't know why it works that way but it often does...

After sitting here writing about it, I'm suddenly depleted of the energy it will require to drag box springs and big steel hunk around the house. Maybe I'll just put a sign in the yard and let the folks who want the stuff do the dragging? Yep, I think so...

Okay, enough about me and the lunacies that run through my mind. What are y'all doing this weekend? Tell me what your plans are! Spook houses? Planting mums? There are so many fun things to do this time of year!

I hope what ever you do that you'll have a blessed weekend filled with joy. I'll be here. In the shed. 

Painting whitewashing...

Getting Closer...

Well it's a tiny bit closer to looking like a little something, but I still have a long way to go on the shed. On the days we've had good weather, I've been out there cleaning and going through Christmas decor from years past. Most of it has only been used one time and was still in the original packaging. Some of it was never used. 

It really isn't clear what's on this shelf so I'll explain. It's my son's Lionel train set. I've loved that thing as much if not more than he ever did and hope to use it for display in the shoppe. Hope I can get it figured out, I'm not really good at putting things together... I'm also not good at lifting huge iron bars down from the shelf either. I can't help but wonder what in the world that thing was doing up there in the first place. I inherited it with the cottage. I'll take a pic of it when/if I get it down. 

I got one of the trees out and started putting it together. Looking forward to having it lit and decorated. Love the old sled and planning on using it for display. I've had that thing forever!

Wonder how I can use the old iron bed? 

And yes, I have finally started painting. This is what two coats did, looks more like a white wash than paint. I definitely have my work cut out for me but I can do it. I just need at least two more of me....

Think Pink!

Hey guys, it's me again Margaret (remember that song?) Well, I'm over the Shania thing today and trying to act grown up and all. I said trying...

I'm doing a deeeescount for everything that has pink on it over at The Country Belle and wanted to let all of you know about it. It's twenty percent off, as I said above on any and everything that has pink on it. Just enter the code, 'pink power' in the little box. And there's free shipping on all US orders!

The twenty percent discount will then be donated by me to The Spartanburg and Cherokee Country Cancer Association. Those folks do good things for cancer victims and I wanted to do a little sumpin in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month! Shop for the cure!

When I Grow Up...

You'd think by now that I would indeed know what I want to be. Heaven knows I'm way past the point of being grown up. Recently someone was explaining her career path that she had planned out and I have to tell you that I was totally impressed, especially given the fact the she's still in her early twenties. It sparked a bit of rethinking my own life's pattern which looks like a zig zag pathway. This is how it's gone so far:
After high school I went to a technical college to be a dental assistant. Finished at the top of the class, got a job and poof, wouldn't you know that I detested the job!
Fast forward to being a young mother and off to work I go in the cosmetics department at Belk. I have to say that to date I stayed there longer than anywhere else. It was "okay".
On to front desk receptionist for a medical group. OMG, please stop the torture or shoot me. One or the other, you pick...
Kept children in my home. The torture continued...
Worked through a temp service as secretary at a chemical plant. Loved that job though I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing. The head foreman asked me to stay on as his secretary. Huh! I only type about 70 wam and that's the extent of office skills I possess...
Let me think here, oh yes bank teller. Have you ever dealt with people? And their money? They can get mean. Hug your teller next time you see her, or better yet, just take her something nice.
Produce stand manager. Loved doing that except when you only weigh about 120, it gets tough to lift 100 pound bags of corn, cabbage etc. Still my favorite job outside the home yet! Loved being outside all day, well minus the bees, snakes, etc...
Then last year I took classes and got certified as a nurses assistant. Now what was I thinking? Do I really want someone else's life in my hands? Uh, no. I'm just too nervous for that. Heck the classes themselves made me want to run for the hills. But I did graduate at the top of the class. Toot toot!
These aren't all of my jobs, just the one's I stayed on the longest. I was a stay at home mom which I enjoyed immensely, it was my favorite thing I ever did. I loved it so much that I stayed at home for years after he went off to college. That's how I was able to hone my skills a gardener, decorator and cook.
I'm busy now trying to open my shed into a shoppe. I spell it that way just 'cause I think it looks nicer:)
I'm hoping that I can make a go of this thing, that remains to be seen. But if it doesn't take off I have a back up plan...

I want to be Shania Twain!

Still Kickin'...And Photos Of The Country Side!

White Oak Mountain, above Columbus, NC

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so long in fact I didn't think it was going to let me get into the new post thingie. But I'm still kickin' just as the title says, it's just been one of those weeks where anything that might possibly happen has. But I'm thankful to be here and hope to work on the shed/shoppe today and tomorrow. 

The very tip-top. Not sure of the name of this mountain though...

Not long ago JD and I took a little drive around the country side and I took some pics as he drove. He's real sweet that way, it was even his suggestion that we take the drive. He's also really good about "stop here, I want the pic from this spot." He stops, asks if I'm sure and waits while I get out snap the shot and get back in. Not many men would do this and wait in quiet patience. He's definitely one of a kind and I'm a very lucky lady!

You can't tell it from the shot I took, but there were hay rolls that went on forevah!

I thought I would share some of the photos with you. We were only about fifteen to twenty minutes from home and as you can see, we're blessed to live in such an amazing and beautiful area of South Carolina!

Can you see what I see?

JD spotted these two deers while he was driving out of the corner of his eye. He's real good that way. It took me only like five minutes to find them with eyes squinted and straining. I'm slow...

The Bessie Jackson House of Jackson Grove

I don't know who Bessie Jackson was, but her place is gorgeous! The whole Jackson Grove is pretty amazing and is often where I get my pics from. I'll try to find out about Mrs. Jackson and let you know...

Horseback Riding!

These two were so far away that I had to zoom out to the max to even get them in the shot. I didn't think I got them but here they are! Hope they don't mind...

Bringing up the rear...

Last shot of the day, the hind side of two horses. I know they didn't mind, they never even bothered to stop eating and turn around. I love horses but I have to tell you, in all of my 51 31 years, I've never been on one. Scaredy cat... But if I ever decide to get on one, you can bet your bippy that I'll have JD get it on video, that would be something I'd watch over and over. Because I KNOW just how funny that would be! Y'all have a blessed weekend!

I Won! Fairy Tales Do Come True!

Last week I was the winner of Danielle's Fairy Tale contest and since I never win anything I was beyond excited and surprised. Just click on her name above to hop over to her blog and read about it there! I thought I would share the goodies with you! All were fairy tale inspired, how fun is that!

Planning on sitting down with this tonight. I'm looking so forward to it!

"Painting The Roses Red" Earrings made by Danielle from Wired Essentials. Take a look at her new items for Autumn by clicking on the link. Gorgeous!

I just popped out to the mailbox and yay! The "Once Upon A Time" necklace had arrived from Sara at Pink Clay Monkey. I will be wearing this and the earrings today! Every girl can use a little fairy tale sometimes! Be sure to visit Sara's online store. Love it!

Thanks Danielle and Sara, this was so much fun!

More Goodies...

If you're a blogger living in South Carolina, you can join Danielle's Palmetto Blogger's group on Facebook. Just click here to see the group's page. Recently Danielle and some other SC bloggers got together in Columbia for an afternoon of painting and sharing. I wasn't able to attend but she was nice enough to share the goody bags they received with any of us that wanted one after the meet up. So I'm sharing some information on those goodies too!

This koozie is from I Heart SC . Just click on the link to visit the Etsy store. So cute!

Love, love, love these note cards from Dawn, please take a look at her shop on Etsy by following the link! 

And I wish you could smell this hand made soap. I want my whole house to smell just like this! It's from Soap For Your Soul. I will be liking them on Facebook to keep up with all of the wonderful products they offer!

We really have some great talent in this wonderful state! Thanks to all of you for sharing!