delay posting photos

Verizon has graciously shut off my internet and turned it on at the new house a week early! No computer there yet, so that's not helping me any. :(
I'm on my mom's computer just for a few minutes and can't post photos cause I don't have the camera with me. I've got some new photos, but it will be a day or so before I get them online.
Stay tuned!

Day 1 of the remodel~unwanted surprises!

I was at my store until 5:00, so I didn't have much time at the house today. The contractor found some unwanted surprises. I expected some since it's an older house, built in 1962. The previous owner died a year ago and I'm pretty sure it was respiratory problems. After uncovering all the mold, I am not surprised that he had problems. I am SOOOOOO glad that we had to tear out the carpet or we wouldn't have found the mold.
Tonight my son and I tore out carpet and took up some of the carpet tacking. The smell in the house is very bad.

Tomorrow night I'll finish taking up the carpet tacking and shovel up the black stuff in the bedrooms. And, tomorrow we're wearing masks!

big day is finally here!

The long awaited day is finally here~I am now a homeowner once again!!!

Two years ago I sold my house and moved into a rental that was supposed to be for 6 months while I looked for another house. That was 2 years ago and we're just now buying another house.

This morning was the closing. I left the lawyer's office 5 minutes before I had to open my store, so I haven't even been to the house yet. But, my contractor is there and already starting on the remodel. That's important since we have to move next week and there is LOTS of work to be done before we move in.

I've posted a few photos for you to see what the "before" looks like and I'll post photos as we move along with the much needed improvements! We'll start tonight with ripping out the smelly shag carpet. :) It's being replaced with laminate.

Stay tuned for prim updates!

Olde Farmhouse Gathering Holiday Celebration!

I'm part of a great group of gals on etsy and we've started our Holiday Celebration. An offering of some great Christmas handmade crafts to help you decorate for the holiday season. Click on the photo and enjoy your visit to the Olde Farmhouse Gathering Holiday Celebration!

hate packing, hate moving, love decorating!

Thought I'd share with you the mountain of boxes in the corner of my living room! I had the flash off, so the picture's a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea. :)

And of course, I am always needing something that is packed. I think that's my least favorite part of moving. As soon as I pack it, I need it.

Today I was needing some weaver's cloth for a pattern order, and I hunted and hunted for it. Then I needed my rotary cutter to cut it. It's packed too. Envelope to put the pattern in, it's packed too. I did manage to get the pattern packed up and mailed out. I didn't pack anything else today. I think I'll wait till last minute. That way I know where everything is! Only 3 more days till we get the keys, but we won't be moving in until sometime next week. Got work to do first! Wanna help paint?!?

New prim accents for my house!

I'm getting ready for the remodel of my "dated" house. If you need new faucets, look on ebay. I saved tons of money and got some really cool faucets! These are my two favorites. One goes in the kitchen and one goes in my bathroom.
This is just the beginning of all the fun decorating! I get the keys on Thursday and I'll be sure to keep ya'll posted with updated photos as the remodel progresses.

Here's some photos of the newest additions to my etsy store. I love making Christmas stuff and it's almost here, so I've gotten started!

Waynesville Apple Festival

Here's some photos of my booth at the Waynesville show. I've included a photo of the portable propane heater that saved the day! It was a cold and rainy day. Next year we're taking two of the heaters so we can aim one at each of us! People were warming their hands over the candles. That tells ya how cold it was! The emcee promised that next year it will be 75 degrees and sunny. Let's hope he's right!

If you see anything in the photo that you'd like, just send me an email.

Me & my brother

Waynesville Apple Festival is a bittersweet show for me. It has been my highest money making show, but 2 years ago, I was packing up after the show when my oldest brother passed away at the young age of 53. It was October 20, 2007.


Billy and I were the only redheads of 5 children. We were very close while growing up. He had the heart of a child when the holidays came. He lived a hard life, but enjoyed life.


One of the photos below, shows me with Billy in the summer of 2005. Before Billy had his first bout with cancer. The other photo shows Billy after cancer which was about a year after the first photo. Billy is the one in the black t-shirt. He fought the cancer with chemo, but it came back. He continued to smoke throughout, which I'm sure didn't help any. He had throat cancer.


Billy lived in PA and I live in NC. We drove to PA to visit him in the hospital 1-2 weeks before he died. The doctors said he had 8-12 months to live. They were wrong. He never left the hospital.


I will always miss my brother and will never forget him. I only regret that we didn't see or call each other more often. I have many memories to keep him in my heart. It seems to me like he's still in PA since I didn't see him very often. Then, I remember that he's gone.


Just before Billy passed away, he got saved by Jesus Christ, so we will meet again. Not everyone goes to Heaven. I always see obituaries saying, "went to be with the Lord". Everyone talks about their loved ones being in Heaven. Only through Jesus Christ will we get there. Not by dying, but by a personal relationship with The Lord. It's not automatic. Where will you go when you leave this earth?
John 3:16.

I've always liked this poem about "tomorrow". I thought this would be a good time to share it with you.


"If Tomorrow Never Comes"


If I knew it would be the last time
that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.


If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.


If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.


If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.


If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.


For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything right.


There will always be another day
to say our "I love you's",
And certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do's?"


But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget,


Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight..


So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,


That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.


So hold your loved ones close today,
whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear,


Take time to say "I'm sorry," "please forgive me,"
"thank you" or "it's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today


~anonymous~

Why I don't have a sports car!

I always wanted a cherry red Mitsubishi Eclipse. What I have a mom-mobile mini-van. It's what I need. Not what I want.

Tomorrow, I get up early, put on my long-johns and go out into the cold to do a craft show. The Apple Harvest Festival in Waynesville, NC. Waynesville is right next to Maggie Valley, NC.

The van is LOADED! Good thing no one is riding with me, cause there's no room!

If you get to come to the show, look for me in #16 between the Mast General Store and the main stage. I'll be right next to my portable propane heater!

The weatherman is calling for a "wintry mix" in the morning. I'm asking everyone to pray for warmth and sunshine. The show is from 10-5, Saturday, October 17th.

When I get back from this show, it will be time to get ready to move to my new house. After I get settled in there, I'll be making some primitive Christmas crafts for the store. Last year, some friends and I did "Handcrafted Christmas in the Cabin" in a quaint little mountain cabin that my father built. The cabin is rented now as a residence, so this year we'll have to do "Handcrafted Christmas on Main Street". I'll be decorating my little store on Main St. in Burnsville and we'll load up with handmade Christmas crafts and we'll stock up on fruitcakes and goodies from WHOW. They were a big hit last year, so we'll be carrying them again this year.

Come see me at the show if you're within driving distance. I'm sure someone will be selling hot chocolate to warm ya up. With whipped cream and itty bitty marshmallows even! And kettle korn, and funnel cakes! It's what's for lunch. :)

Swine Flu is in the house! :0(

My son has swine flu! He's been sick for a couple days, but not really bad until yesterday. He hasn't had a fever, but I took him to the doctor today anyway since he has asthma. They said he tested positive and was the first one to be tested positive without a fever!

So now we have to be real careful. I won't be babysitting this week and no visiting mom and dad. My mom's doing real well with her knee replacement. Good thing I got my visiting in on Sunday, cause I'm not allowed there now!

Please pray that I don't get sick. I don't have any employees, so I'd have to get friends to work for me and next weekend (17th) is my biggest show of the year.

At the doctors suggestion, I got some vitamin C and elderberry to take. She said it would help me to not get sick. Let's pray she's right!

Found this cute photo while googling. Hope it's ok to use it!

This week's primitive crafts~~~

It's definitely feeling like fall here in the NC mountains, so I've got started on my fall primitive crafting! Candle wraps are what I've been working on this week. I've got more in the works, but these are the ones I've got finished so far. Pumpkins, moons, leaves and one penny rug Americana for your apple pie candles!

All are for sale in my etsy shoppe and I'll also be listing the fabulous primitive crow pillow that you see in the background.

www.PriviesAndPrims.etsy.com

This is Bailey. She's two years old. I've been babysitting her off and on for two years and I can tell you, she is in the TERRIBLE twos right now!!! Everything is MINE! She's sitting in one of the cabinets I'm painting for my new house. This morning she wanted the cereal that I was eating, but she had her own dry cereal in a cup, so I told her to eat hers. She proceeded to dump her cereal in the trash, then came over and innocently said, "bite???" to have some of mine! She is a handful for sure. The worst thing is that she comes at 6:45am! The good thing is that she's not at my house very long. :) Very cute, but surely a challenge so early in the morning!

Don't forget to check out my etsy shoppe for the new goodies!