My Lillies

June Bride

awww June weddings - Love is in the air! Did you know that June is typically the month of choice for brides? It is the month that promises good luck to the bride and groom on their marriage. I thought I would share a picture of us at our reception, not one of me tripping over my dress, coming down the aisle :) Happy Anniversary to all of you married in the beautiful month of June! I am making a mental note to myself to pick up a card for my honey... xox

Apple Tree, Birds and SNAKE!

It started out as a normal day, what "normal" is for us anyway... My daughter was out brushing our dog in the shade of the apple tree out back. I walked out to enjoy some fresh air and to watch her and noticed a black snake in the tree. The robins were chirping and flying frantically around, but she had assumed it was because she was near the nest... She had taken pics of the little birds a couple of days prior to yesterday. Upon seeing the slithering snake, I immediately did what any other red neck gal in WV would do and I ran to get my favorite bb gun. I preferred the 9 mm, however, didn't want to waste a bullet on the black snake. LOL!! After shooting it several times, it was annoyed enough to creep out onto the outer limb and drop 6 feet out of the tree. By the time we got the shovel, it had slithered into the hydrangea bush and out of sight. I tried hitting it with the fat bat, but the plastic bat was just enough to tick him off and make him want to crawl away faster. About 1/2 hour later, the dog dropped his favorite hamburger toy and ran to the garage. He found the snake and I took the shovel and tried to pull him out from under the azaleas. It chose to wrap itself around the shovel and I in turn acted like the girl that I am and screamed, dropping the shovel. After gathering my wits and courage, I picked up the shovel and he let go. I pinned him to the ground while my daughter got another shovel and sawed its head off... Now, I have heard that black snakes keep away copperheads, but I have seen too many copperheads to believe it. I hope I have not offended any black snake lovers out there, but with a little one running around chasing bubbles and the other family members running in and out of the house, I prefer not to have any snakes lying round to be accidentally stepped on... 3 days after surgery and I am fighting a snake. Is it time to go camping yet?? The worst part about it is we sit and watch the mommy robin come to the nest with a worm, only to leave the nest with the worm still in her mouth...

Gallbladder GONE

Wow... that was easy enough! They wheeled me in the operating room, made 4 small incisions and wheeled me into recovery and sent me home the same day... Now, the only pain I truly am experiencing is after lying down, getting up feels like I am tearing my insides apart, so I have to be careful getting out of bed. Other than that, I am so thankful that I won't have to worry about anymore attacks. Those were way more painful than this recovery has been and is. Some people take medicine for gallstones, but I am not sure why they made that decision. I feel so much better already and was living with nausea that I didn't even realize I had! Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. Your friendship means the world to me! xox

Ordered More Flag Bunting ~

These are so nice... can't get any more Americana than these-- They are tea stained and made to look vintage. They are available on my website while supplies last.

BACK to the ER...

Back to the ER... I woke up again around 3 am and was having pain... waited until 530 and woke up hubby to please take me to the ER. We went in and my blood test results showed slight elevation of numbers for my liver and they did a scan and ultrasound to find several stones in my gallbladder. According to the scan, it looked like a large pecan seed sized stone, but on the ultrasound, you could see several in there and the walls have thickened, which from what I have read on the Mayo Clinic site, sometimes comes from being infected. Wonderful. Next step? Calling the surgeon on Monday to schedule surgery. This can be done as outpatient surgery, however, due to the thickened walls, they may have to make an incision, which for me would mean a much longer recovery period. It was a rainy day here, which sure fit my mood... We needed the rain, as the garden was getting dry...

Time to Mulch

It's inevitable if you have gardens... time to mulch your flower beds! I am removing two large low growing shrubs in the front of the house. They are approximately 12' x 12'. One is out and the other is partially gone. I can't believe the amount of dampness they hold. I have 5 barberry bushes in the front that are so pretty, but they have tons of thorns on them. I have rosey glow and the dwarf variety, which by the way, are just as large as the rosey glows are. I went to WalMart yesterday and purchased Cypress mulch... never again! That is the worst mulch I have ever used in my life! It is full of splinters, no consistency and is really only good to put in a garden of veggies or berries. It is not attractive at all... it is light brown/tan in color. So, off to WalMart I go today and will definitely look at the mulch before I prepay for it. They were out of the pine bark mulch chips that I usually purchase. The picture of the flower shown is my buttercup picture. They are in bloom now with the stella d'oro daylillies. Happy gardening!

Off to the ER!

I woke up in the middle of the night again, feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Hubby gave me a couple of tums and I went back to sleep, trying to find a comfortable position. Around 5:30, the dog was barking and I woke up, feeling that awful pain. I got up and could not shake it. I took tums and then took a baby aspirin because I was scared I may be having a heart attack. I woke up my teenager and had her drive me to the ER. I called 911 from my cell and the dispatcher had a squad meet us at a restaurant in town. They were so kind to us and my daughter rode in the front with the driver. They drew blood and gave me nitro just in case I was having a heart attack. The pain stayed. Long story short, after the blood tests came back fine and the chest xray was okay, I was diagnosed with gastritis. OH my gosh that is kind of embarrassing, but my mom in law seems to think that I am having gall bladder issues, as this is the second time this has happened to me. Both times I have eaten my hubby's bbq spare ribs for dinner, so guess what I'm not having for dinner anymore :)

Pumpkins already??

With temps in the high 90s and heat index over 100, it's hard to think about fall being here before we know it, but it will be... Fall items are already selling on eBay, as people are getting ready for their craft shows and stocking up, knowing soon enough there will be Christmas items and snowmen listed. These pumpkins are a great seller for me. They are rag stuffed and poly stuffed and are sprayed with scrumptuous smelling linen spray. Please click on my eBay link to the right to see this and other items in my store...

Betsy Ross Flag Listed

This nice Betsy Ross flag is now listed on eBay. It measures approximately 17" x 28". I still have a few flag buntings left as well. They have all been tea stained. Check them out by clicking on my eBay link to the right.

School's Out....

School's out for the summer! It's hot here on the mountain today, so we've been inside watching The Illusionist. It is a great romance movie and what a surprise ending! We are Netflix members and love it. We receive two movies at a time and they are fast to ship. What a great convenience having them sent directly to our home, especially with today's gas prices. We'll be going outside shortly when it cools off to see if there are any strawberries ripe enough to eat and our other berries are not yet ripe enough to munch on... No more school until fall... yeah!!

New eBay Listings

I just got these gorgeous tea stained flag buntings in and absolutely LOVE them! I have one on auction and the others are in my eBay store. These Americana, primitive firecrackers were handmade by me... Please visit my eBay store to purchase them...

eBay Groups ~

If you have sold on eBay, you know that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of eBay groups that you can join. About 3 years ago, I joined a group called CPKC... and then later a group called APCG. I learned so many things while being a moderator in APCG. Our leader had the best ideas in marketing and advertising out there. She was the first to have a group website and was very driven to give us the best in advertising, while spending many hours sitting at the computer to do so. Today, there are blogs, which everyone truly enjoys and the price is right :) Aside from blogs, group members on eBay are asked to use the abbreviated letters in their title searches to "promote" their group, use group templates and use various logos that have the group's name or initials on them. Aside from using group initials, blogs and websites, many groups are venturing into wonderful country magazines such as Country Sampler. These are all wonderful ways to promote groups, especially craft groups, that are trying to make a little extra money and at the same time, doing what they love. I am a leader of a wonderful group of gals called Primitive Folkart and Candle Crafters aka PFACC. We have a small, close knit, private group of ladies that share tips and ideas and are free to discuss anything they want... from children, family life, crafting, to gardening... whatever comes up through our day, we know that we are there for each other. You may click on my PFACC link to see our group's listings and wonderful products!

STORMY DAY...

Today we mowed the grass and came back inside JUST in time to hear the thunder coming closer. We turned on the weather channel and a tornado was headed our way. We all ran to the laundry room and huddled together, looking at the cell phone time, rushing it forward to pass the open window for the tornado to come. Thankfully, it went around us. I simply do not know how the people in the west live with so many tornados rolling over them and near them. It was one of the most frightening things I had experienced and prayed the whole time. -Sending prayers to those in need from storm devastation and those to come-

Country Quilts and Treasures

The weather is gorgeous here... We spent much of the evening outside. Hubby put shelves in the camper pantry and now we are watching the Pittsburgh Penguins play hockey. As always, it is a tough and one of the Penguins just came back out with a gauze stuffed nose... he got hit by a puck earlier... OUCH! Going back to watch the game... just wanted to pop in and say hello ~