A Few New Jewels

Now that our remodeling is complete in our home, I am finally getting back to work and the enjoyment of my antiques and jewelry.  However, last week I wrenched my knee (bummer), and was really off my feet for a good part of the week.  This was difficult for me; I am used to jumping and running at the spur of the moment.  The good side:  I had time to sit down and work on some jewelry again.  I've posted a few pieces for your viewing, but you can see more at My Esty shop.

Long necklaces are in, and this one fills the bill.  With a large mother of pearl pendant, some sea-worn shells I found in Maui while visiting my son, and small double-stranded MOP squares, semi-precious stones, and sterling findings, this piece will hang midriff.

One of my favorite stones is turquoise, and I can hardly resist making a piece when I get to sit down to it.  This piece has turquoise button beads with a jasper pendant that matches.  The pendant is joined with sterling silver wire, and the accent beads are garnets, pink rhodochrosite, black pearls, and more Maui shells.  Clasp is beaded and buttons on a shell.  Perfect piece for summer t-tops/tanks.

I really enjoyed making this pendant cluster necklace.  This stones are all semi-precious faceted drop-beads all wrapped in sterling, and a piece of Maui sea glass.  While in Maui, my son took me on some sea glass hunts, and we hit it hard for a couple of days.  I found some nice pieces, but soon found that drilling it for jewelry is another bird.  It takes patience, water on the drill bit, and the right bit, and that is still no guarantee the piece won't break.  I broke several of my best pieces.  FYI...sea glass is antique bottles and ship wreck treasures broken by the sea, and rolled by the sand and waves.  Some pieces are well over 100 years old, and can be identified today with the colors of antique bottles and glassware.  I found pieces of vaseline glass, cobalt, aqua (a favorite), amber, clear, and shades of greens.  Fun to find antiques in the sea!

Another sea glass treasure.  Here I used two pieces of clear glass sandwiched with blue brazillian agate.  Wrapped in sterling wire and dangled from sterling hoops and wires, these little gems are a light and airy summer dainty. 

This stone pendant is petrified snail jasper druzy.  I wrapped it in sterling wire and mounted it on a strand using semiprescious stones and amber glass drop beads.  Pink and black freshwater pearls with natural agates are fastened with a sterling silver clasp.  strand is 18" and 2" added length with pendant.

These earring match the prior necklace, but are nuetral enough to go with many others.  Amber glass drop beads are sterling wrapped and dangle from pink freshwater pearls and sterling wires.

Another long necklace, this natural tones agate is banded in silver plate and hangs from a 32" strand of brazillian agate, kyanite (silvery blue rectangular stones), two pieces of amber sea glass, kiwi jasper (white with natural specks and hints of blue rectangular stones), and mahogany obsidian round stones.  Hangs below midriff.

I have these pieces and more listed at my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/countrycharisma

The Remodel Complete Part 1

This is our new dining room.  This room used to be our living room, but when we did the renovation, we decided to switch rooms.  In old houses, often the rooms can be multi-purpose, so we took advantage of the opportunity to make the swap.  Doing so, placed our living room on the front of the house by the front door and next to the foyer, and allowed our dining room to be immediately off the hall by our kitchen. It now backs  up to our sun porch where we spend most of our time.  We also have to walk through the dining room to get to the hall that goes to the bedrooms.  We like this arrangement, and find it is working quite well, even though I had to convince my husband that he would like it better.  He does.

The books shelves from the former living room now display a collection of ironstone and yellowware.  Even though I had some of this on the shelves previously, I now use the shelves entirely for this collection.  In order to keep it from being "too" busy, I tried to put just one or two pieces per shelf.  With my cupboards having display as well, I knew it could all quickly become overwhelming and lose effect and impact.  This little sideboard is one of my favorite pieces we brought with us from Kentucky.  It is a period walnut piece, and works so well to serve or display from. 

This view is the doorway to the hall leading from the sunroom to the kitchen.  This room was painted a new deeper gold tone, one of the new Nashville series paints by Sherwin Williams.  All of the rooms got new hardwood, "Saddle" 3/4" oak by Shaw Flooring.  My husband and I put down every last piece .  Some days I worked by myself while he was at work, just to keep making headway toward completion. 

This little vignette sits on top a cherry dresser which houses my table linens.  An antique spice box with individual metal boxes each marked with names of spices, was an estate find when we first moved here in 2000.  A miniature lamp sits in front, but it is really a vaporizer.  A little pan would sit above the chimney, where medicine, like Vics, was incerted and heated up by the oil lamp.   A little miniature oil painting was done by me many years ago depicting a primitive scene of my family playing together in the front yard of my childhood home in Wisconsin.




I really love my cherry stepback cupboard.  It too, is a period piece with nice chamford doors, and has excellent storage for glasswear and dishes.  It now houses my grandmother's red and white Crown Ducal.  I remember my aunt serving Christmas breakfast on it when I was a little girl.  Her home was also decorated with primitives, which I always admired, and believe that is where I developed my love for them. 

I often use my oval ironstone platters on the bottom shelf.  I have several very large ones, but they all have great uses from grilling out to plates of cookies for sandwiches.  The red and white transferware makes a nice contrast with the gold walls, while the white ironstone stays crisp and clean looking.  I have collected ironstone for many years before the popularity of recent years. 

The little dented up silver cup was mine when I was a baby.  According to my mother, I used to beat it on my high chair tray.  I must have beat it alot, because it is dented big time!

My husband built my dining room table when we first moved into the house.  It is 8 1/2' long and made with 2  very wide plank poplar boards with biscuit board ends.  It easily sits eight people, but we can pull up more chairs and pack them in!  

This was the light fixture that was in the house when we bought it.  We took it down to move it into the new dining room, and while it was down I painted it satin black.  I had wanted to do that for a long time, but finally got the go-ahead from my hubby.  We both like it so much better. 

We bought this pewter cupboard in northern Indiana while visiting my son and daughter-in-law.  I don't have much pewter, but it still has nice rimmed shelving and bottom.

The two dining room windows look out onto the back sunporch.

One windsor high chair holds a rack of milk bottles.  This still works great for the grandchildren too.
More pictures are on their way of the new livingroom, master bedroom, kitchen and master bath.  Thanks for cominb by!

Spring flowers from my garden.

I couldn't resist cutting some color to bring inside even though they may drive my husband outside! I'll try them for a day anyway. I started everything from seed over the years except the lilies and oakleaf hydryangea. This is the first bloom for the shasta daisies, but I've had echanaecia and feverfew for years. The feverfew came from my grandmother's garden, to my mother's, and to mine. I have carried it with me for 40 years, and will dig some to take with me if we ever move again. I am certain there is feverfew in heaven too.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What's left of my Dogwood

This is what is left of our dogwood tree which was in the path of the maple tree. It WAS full of blooming branches. It now has a trunk with a top and one branch. Maybe it will pull through.
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After the storm

Our current storms are reaping havoc on our old maple trees. This is the last of three that stood in our front yard. Hate to see them go, but even more, the damage and loss of lives across the Midwest and Eastern states. My prayers go out to those families.
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Easy Grilled Potatoes

Since tonight was our first grilling of the spring-like season we experienced this weekend, I thought I would take a few pictures of my husband's favorite potatoes.  This is my own version of grilled potatoes that my mother used to make. 

I started with 6 medium spuds (I always make extra so Mr. C has some left-overs for the next night). I wash them, then microwave on my vegetable setting just until done.  Next I spray a large sheet of heavy duty foil with Pam.  After slicing the hot potatoes on a cutting board (no more than 1/4" thick, the thinner the better), I place them on the foil and season with my favorites.  I ususally use sea salt, onion salt, fresh ground pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  When the garden spring onions come in, I often slice a handfull on the pototoes before grilling...delicious.

Opptional use of butter or margarine dotted on top creates added flavor.

After seasoning, bring the two longest sides of the foil up and fold it over twice to make a sealed pack.  Then fold or roll up the two ends. 

Now your packet is grill ready.  Often I put the pack on the grill when I light it, and let it warm up with the grill.  I will leave it on one side for 10 to 20 mins. depending on how hot I have the grill.  Then when I put the meat on, I flip the package with my grilling spatula, being careful not to tear the foil. 

I bring the potatoes in at the same time I bring the meat, and simply open and serve.  A dallop of sour cream is also good with these, but it doesn't take any special side sauces to make Mr. C happy. 

For those who like to use a George Foreman grill, I make these same potatoes making all slices 1/4" thick, and place a single layer on the grill.  I prepare them before the meat, and keep them in foil until the meat is done.  Try them and let me know how you like them!

Barn Storming

Traveling home last weekend, in the storms and pouring down rain, I took these photos out the passenger window, while my husband did the driving.  I decided to pick out old barns.  I missed numerous, as I watched for the next opportunity to catch a click.  All of these barns can be seen on I65 S from Louisville to Lewisburg, TN.  See if you recognize any.

I said it was pouring rain!  View out the windshield!

"See Ruby Falls" almost did not make it into my pix.  I love the barn advertising in the south. 

Lastly, a glimpse of our barn as we pull into the driveway.   The rain had stopped, the sun was trying to peek, and our barn gave me warm greetings of home.  Our barn is over a 100 years old, and has housed cattle, mules, and currently horses.  We have raised many colts, baby ducks, chicks, kittens, and puppies here, and with a loft the size of a basketball court, we have raised and stored hundreds of bales of hay.  Nothing like a good ol' country barn.