Christmas in July Swap

Good Evening, friends....I have to tell

ya that we are having swaps

over on the Prim Pals Forum, and

they are a lot of fun!  Besides getting

to know our friends a little better, we

are getting some fantastic things in the

mail!  This month we did a "Christmas

in July" swap, and I received a box full

of wonderful goodies from Donna of

One Simple Country Girl blog!

First of all, she wrote me a poem about

Santa arriving on a jet ski, one hot night

in July....It is such a cute card, I did take

a close up picture of it, but the print was

a little fuzzy and I used the last picture in

the camera.

She sent me this wonderful, prim Santa,

that a friend of her's made....I just love

him!  Also, in the box, there was a

red/green checked garland, that Donna

made, along with a wooden bowl of
gingerbread men that she made and
dipped in vanilla scented wax...
Oh my, they smell

soooo delish....and I can tell ya the
candle that she included, smells even
better!  It's from

"Our Own Candle Company" and

is "Holiday Wreath"......And

it is made in the USA!  She had to

send some chocolate, too.....So, she

sent a little tin full of Tootsie Rolls.....

.....mmmm...Several are missing from

the tin....  ;)    I have been having  so 

much fun getting to know the gals on

Prim Pals Forum!  And Donna is one of

 my favorites....A big Thank you, Donna,

I love, love, love it all!

I have made so many friends since

I started blogging!   I have had to live away

from my family, for a lot of years and let me

tell ya that it really helps to have lots of

friends, that you can count on!  I even had

to leave my friends in Texas, but I talk to

them and I get to see them, so that makes

it easier. 

Our next swap is a Autumn Harvest Swap

and I know it is going to be another great

one!  I have done 3 of them now, and I can

tell ya, I have been thrilled with

everything that I have gotten!  These gals

are so talented and creative!

I would also like to thank everyone that
stopped by, and took the time to
say, "Happy Anniversary".....It means
a lot to me, that you took the time to leave
me comments....Thanks so much!  I had
a great day and then went out to eat.

Until next time~

Bear Hugs~Karen

Meet a Bear Monday and Our Anniversary

Hello friends....

I swear that Mondays are coming

 around so fast, that we must be

missing a day, here and there, out

 of the week!  I have another Boyd's

bear to show you, her name is

"Rosemarie Bearsley" and she is

about 12" tall.  She is wearing a

lavender gingham checked dress

and bloomers, along with a

matching hair ribbon.

Her dress has a satin ribbon along

the hem and at the waist, (which is

adorned with satin roses)....She has

a rose on her on her headband, also.

It is very hard to remember everything

about all the bears, I wish I had written

it all down....She has a "Boyds Bear

Country" and "Exclusive Edition" on

her right foot, so she must have been

sold at the Big Ol' Barn, only.  She also

has a lavender watering can on her left

foot, for what reason, I do not know.

I have several bears in the computer/

craft room, that are dressed in lavender.

Well, today is our anniversary, we got

married the weekend they walked on

the moon!  Tomorrow is the anniversary

for that event!  It sure doesn't seem like

it has been that long!  Time flies when

you are having fun!

On my next post, I will show you all

what I got for my Christmas in July

swap, from Donna of One Simple

Country Girl.....She sent me some

awesome stuff!  She won my give

away, so she got a box of goodies

from me, too....These swaps are so

much fun!

We went to a little fleamarket on

Saturday morning and I got a cute

little chair and stitchery....We didn't

stay long, it was HOT....It said that

the heat index was going to be 110

degrees, and I believe it was! Every

one has been complaining about the

heat, this summer.....It is like this

every summer for us in the South,

from May~September!  I hate it, I

would love to be in Oregon, right now,

my niece said it was in the 60's today

and it was 44 degrees around 3 AM,

this morning!  I think we all could use

a little of that cold air!  We can only

dream about it, for a few months!

I hope you all are having a great start

to your week....

Thanks for stopping by~

Bear Hugs~Karen

Treasure Hunting

Hello everyone....I have been

sorting, cleaning and organizing

 my craft room and closet.  I guess

I forgot just how much stuff I

stashed here and there!  I bought

some more of those plastic drawers.

I got a 3 drawer set like the wide

ones I already had and I snapped

them together to make it a 6 drawer

set.  I also got two sets of the pink ones

that they have on sale now, for college

students and I snapped them together.

I went through the boxes in the closet

and put a lot of it, in the drawers, so

maybe I can find something when I

want it!

I got a lot of treasures last weekend

and also about a month ago, that I

didn't get around to post, so I have

a few pictures to show ya.

I have really gotten into collecting

wood things lately, it seems. The big

bucket in the back was a sewing basket

at one time, it has holes where the legs

were taken off.  I got it at a sale, and a

couple other things there, and the rest

of it, I got in an antique mall in

Arkansas.  The little tea set in the box,

is from Boyds, so I got that.  I will paint

the hanging baskets and I want to start

cross stitching, so I bought all this floss

and aida cloth.

 

I got this chenille bedspread there, to

cut up and make things with.  It has a

couple holes in it, but that doesn't matter

when you are going to use it crafting.

A closer view of the flowers....

I bought all this stuff about a month

ago....I bought the christmas material

at one sale and the rest at another sale.

All the cross stitch kits and aida cloth

was crammed in the plastic storage bag.

I got a lot at that sale!  I even bought a

sewing machine for $15.00!  Let me see

if I can find a picture of it, so you can

see it.  It's a Kenmore and she said that

she didn't have a book for it or any of

the attachments.  I bought it anyway,

thinking that I could use it if my other

one is in the shop.  Which I have had to

have fixed before.

I had a lot of other things that I had

been looking at and buying so I didn't

pay too close attention to it.  She said

she had never used it, her kids bought

it for her from someone.  Well, I got

it home and noticed that it was a free

arm on the front and it opened up....

And look what was inside!  Attachments,

needles, bobbins and more!  I got a great

deal on it, didn't I?  So, now that I am

organized, I have two sewing machines

and a place to sew and paint, I need to

get to crafting!  So, that is on the agenda

for next week.  Tomorrow I need to clean

house and do some laundry.  It's too hot

to do much outside, except water the

garden and the flowers.

We are doing swaps on Prim Pals Forum,

if any of you would like to come join in on

the fun!  We are doing a Christmas in July

and I will post what I get, probably in the

next few days.  I have met some wonderful

gals on the forum, I know they will be my

friends, forever more! Just click on the

PP Forum picture on the side bar and it

will take you there.

Well, that is all for tonight, I hope you

all have had a great week and thanks

for stopping by.

Until next time...

Bear Hugs

Meet a Bear Monday

Hello Bear Lovers...

It is late Monday night and

time to meet another bear. I

can't believe how fast Mondays

have been coming around!  It

won't be long and school will be

starting, here in the South.....Well,

on to the bear, this one is a Boyd's

 bear and his name is T. Dean

Newbeary.

He is 10" tall and is dressed in

blue denims, with suspenders

and  a muslin, button up the front,

shirt....He is also wearing a blue

 and white bow tie to match his

suspenders.  His shirt and pants

have patches on them, a red and

white one on his shirt and a blue

and white one on his denims. I

can't remember who he was

named after, somebody on Wall

Street, I think, but I am not

sure........I used to be able to

look them up on the site, but

I don't think they have info going

back to the 90's,  anymore.  I have

lots more to show ya, if I can keep

Chumlee out of them!  He is

finding more things in the house,

since he is about twice the size he

 was a month ago, when I brought

him home.

On my next post, I will show you

all some goodies that I got, while out

and about. I have some I got awhile

back and didn't post, plus what I got

over the weekend.

Well, I decided on a different color

for the hutch, so I went to get the

color mixed.....You guessed it, they

 couldn't mix it....I think it has been

almost 2 wks, now, and 4 trips to

get it, so I guess the next time I will

 go to Ace and get it mixed

there.....Oh well, we need to get

the beadboard for the back, anyway. 

And another project will be in the

works, we are going to make a ladder

for hanging under the light, in the

kitchen....I hope the wood

is wide enough....I have lots of kitchen

gadgets to hang from it. I got some

more of those plastic drawers at the

store and I have been going through

boxes in my computer/craft room

and I am trying to organize it some. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope

 you all are staying cool.  I am, because

I am staying in the house most of the

time!

Until next time...

Bear Hugs~Karen

Belted Galloway

Hello Friends, I try to post a

picture or a tip on Thursday, but

some times I forget....So, tonight I

have some pictures of some cattle,

that are different from the black

and white ones, that I have seen.

Hubby says they are called "Belted

Galloways"....I looked them up to 

learn a bit about them.  Most of them

on this ranch are black and white,

but there were a few that were brown

and white. There were a lot of them,

that you couldn't see in the pictures.

Black and white.

I got out of the van to take the pictures

and I spooked this little one, he took off

running right after I got the picture.

I read that they are a rare beef breed

of cattle which originated from

Galloway, SW Scotland!  Pedigree

and data records are kept to preserve

the purity of this breed.

This is the only place I have ever seen

them....I thought they were

really cool and that you all might

like to see them, too.

Until next time...

Bear Hugs~Karen

Hutch

Hello Blogging Buddies....

I hope you all are staying cool

in this awful heat!  I wanted to

show you all this little hutch I got

the other day.  It is kinda pink or

rose, over white with flowers

painted on it.  We put it here, as

you come in the door, from the

left.  I hurriedly put some things

on it before we left for TX.  It

looks to have luan on the back,

which I want to take off, I think

it will look better with beadboard

on it.  I have been to Walmart 3

times to get paint for it.

I picked out a reddish brown color,

called "Red Fox" for it after thinking

I would paint it black, with red over

top.  I had two reds that I liked, but

after seeing them in good light, one

 was too light and the other was too

maroon. Anyway, there have been

different reasons why they couldn't

 mix the quart.  So, I will have to have

it mixed in a gallon and I don't want

to buy that much, for just the

hutch....I might decide to do

some of the walls in the house, that

color....My niece did that to her

home, some walls are "Muted Gold"

and others are "Fire Fox" and it

really looks good. My walls are a

lighter color, than her's

but it will still look good, I think.

Well, I think I better Chumlee out

of the things, he is into, and get some

crafting done for the "Christmas

in July" swap on Prim Pals forum.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Bear Hugs~Karen

Meet a Bear Monday

Hello everyone....I have been

gone, we got back today and it

has messed me up on what day it

is....I kept thinking that it was

Sunday....I will be off a day, all

week.  Anyway, I have another

Boyd's bear to show you....His name

is "James Jodibear" and he is 9-10

inches tall and he is dressed in the cutest

little outfit!  He is one of my favorites,

probably because of his hat, it is made

like the kind that kids used to make

from newspaper.

I love his little striped pants, also.

He sits on his rocking horse all

the time.

Until next time...

Bear Hugs~Karen

I want to wish all my friends a

Happy 4th of July!

Bear Hugs~Karen