Feeling Wythe Blue...

We have lived in our house nearly 4 years, and have done a lot of remodeling, painting, and over hauling.  I have been going back and forth for YEARS on how to do our master bedroom, and finally decided on a color palate that wasn't too "girly" for Shannon, and fit both of our styles.  The week following Christmas, I went to Lowe's, got paint, odds and ends, and started working.  With a great book playing on my iPod, I got the bedroom and bath painted in 2 days.  It was a time consuming task, as I not only had to tape off baseboards, cabinets, shower fittings, towel holders, but also crown molding all around both rooms.  Here are the before pics.  I forgot to take true before pics, but did remember in the nick of time!   

Our master bath...tiny, but efficient.

Our tiny little vanity.

Our bedroom isn't normally this messy.  Ok, I'm lying.  It is.  Please note how the treadmill is being used a towel holder.  Who else can relate???

Overall, it was just DARK.  And depressing.  Our entire home was painted this boring taupe color.  Now, just the hallway going upstairs is this drab color...

Color swatching to make sure this was a good idea! 

I decided on using the Benjamin Moore color: Wythe Blue.  I thought it ironic as we live in Wythe Co.  I think it goes so well with the dark colored wood., white trimmings, chocolate brown accents and white comforter I bought on Overstock. 

The dresser, with antique apothecary cabinet, my jewelery and pictures of our little family.

We have 10 foot ceilings, and our window required 120" window treatments.  I decided on stark white to go with the white comforter.  I love light blue with accents of white and chocolate brown...

Some cute pieces I found at TJ Maxx.

We added a bowed shower curtain rod, which added more room in the shower.  I went one shade lighter in the bathroom, Benjamin Moore's Pallidian Blue, since it's so small. 

Some art, new towels and fresh paint really made a difference in there!

Since our vanity is so small, Shannon had the great idea to add storage to our bathroom by adding shelving.  I found these corresponding baskets on clearance at Lowe's.  I really like how it turned out.

I painted our vanity white, replaced the hardware and added a roman shade to the window. 

All of the paint, linens, window treatments, pillows, accessories, hardware, and art work came in right at $500.  I don't think that was too shabby for a total renovation!  Oh, and the labor was free!  lol

Snow Crazy!

On Thursday, January 17, it went from bad to worse, or from ugly to beautiful.  I, personally, am a glass half full gal, and prefer to think it got pretty REALLY fast.  We had had so much rain, I was seriously wondering if we should build an ark.  Our creek flooded, washing away the gate that keeps our neighbor's cattle from coming into our yard.  The chicken coop had puddles in it, and the dogs STUNK!  So, on Thursday, I took this picture at 1:50 PM from the front porch.

 I went out to run some errands and booked it back home to find this at 3:30 PM.  One of my errands was to pick the dogs up from the groomers!  Bad timing, Aimee!

 Then by 5 PM our creek got the highest we have ever seen it!  Crazy!  We got 12 inches of snow in 4 hours!  CRAZY I tell you!

That night, I was on the computer and saw my friend from college, Sarina, post about how she was stuck on the interstate and how the snow had forced it to shut down.  Then she said she hadn't moved in HOURS and the next post said she was at a truck stop.  I had posted the above 3 pictures on Facebook and she commented that it looked like where she was.  I asked her where she was...she was only about 20 miles from us!  This may not seem to remarkable for those of you reading this, but Sarina and her family live in FLORIDA!  I immediately gave her my home #, told her to call me if she wanted to come here, and went to bed.  Not 15 minutes later, the home phone rings at 11:30 PM and it's my long lost friend, Sarina!  She and her three beautiful daughters were on their way to Charleston, WV to winterize their camper and got stuck in this mess (see picture below). 

 Sarina took this picture from her truck on interstate 77 North in Bland, Va.  I gave her directions to our home in Rural Retreat, and she turned around and booked it out of there.  She was in a truck stop planning on spending the night there because all the hotels had been booked due to the weather.  Holy Moley!  I don't know about you, but I would have been TERRRIFIED!  I'm so glad I saw her FB posts--see how social media can save your life?  Ha!  So, an hour after speaking to her on the phone and after not seeing her for 12 years, in pulls Sarina and her precious family.  It was so exciting to see her again!  We all settled down, and went to bed.  The next day, she was ready to hit the road again, but the roads were still too treacherous.  So, they stayed over until Saturday morning.  It was WONDERFUL!  Sarina is a force to be reckoned with, and so full of confidence and love.  She homeschools her girls, and I saw first hand what a remarkable job she has done.  They were so polite, so funny and very mature (but not in a secular-creepy way).  Her 10 year old was so well spoken that I had to remind myself that she was only 10!  Her other 2 daughters were hilarious, and Pyper and Raegan enjoyed our unexpected company.  Sarina's girls got to play in the snow which was a novelty for them.  I got to have some really great conversations with Sarina, about homeschooling, parenting, the importance of having Christian friends, holding people accountable for their actions and reflecting on our time at Lee University together.  Sarina and I went to Ecuador on a medical missions trip back in 1998 with a small group of students.  What would have made this past weekend even better?  Is if our friends Becky (now Sarina's sister in law!) and Sarah could have been snowed in with us!  I was just so thankful for God sending Sarina when I really needed her.  I had really been struggling with a lot of the issues we discussed and Sarina gave me the encouragement I needed to move forward with the plans Shannon and I have made.  Seeing her was an unexpected surprise, but God knew it would happen all along.  I was sad to see her leave Saturday morning, but so happy to have re-connected with an old friend. 

Sarina in warmer weather this summer with her girls.  I was lazy that weekend and didn't take any pics of her and the girls.  I hope she forgives me for stealing these...

Pecking Order

A week after putting the chicken saddle on Mable I went out to the coop, and found her crouched in the corner shaking.  I bent down to find her neck a bloody mess.  The other chickens (I'm guessing it was a group of them) had pecked her neck and plucked her feathers out.  I immediately put her in a cat crate and brought her into my CICU (Chicken Intensive Care Unit).  I put a gauze with Furazone (an antibiotic) on her neck, fed her some warm oatmeal, and then left her alone to calm down a bit.  I had to calm down, too!

Shannon came home after picking up another heat lamp for her, and we doctored her up. 

I put a gauze with vet wrap on the wound, and we set her up in a vacant horse stall.  We put a bale of hay down, a heat lamp, food, water and some goodies.  She remained still for several days, and I continued to clean her wound.  After day 4 she started getting up and walking around.  I had taken the vet wrap off at this point so she could peck the ground comfortably.  I fed her a high protein feed, scrambled eggs (strange, but true!) and lots of fresh fruit.  I think she likes being the center of our attention!

 

After a week, I see that not only is her wound looking so much better (look at that nice scab!) but her feathers are starting to come back in on her back, wings and neck. 

 

Those dark grey things are the feather follicles coming through.  I will keep her quarantined until she is completely healed.  I'll keep you updated on our sweet Mable's recovery!

Christmas Dinner and a Saddle

I wanted my Dixie Chicks to have a wonderful Christmas Dinner as well, so I gave them a pan of homemade stuffing, peas, egg shells, bread, and whatever scraps were left over from prepping dinner.  

CrockPot calls his women to eat!

They dig in.

 Dad and I caught Mable, my sweet RIR hen to fit her with a chicken saddle.

 CrockPot gets a bit...aggressive...when he whispers sweet nothings into her ear, and coincidentally, she gets plucked and hurt.

 This sore is under her left wing.  I put some medicine on it, and then dad and I fitted the saddle on her. I got my pattern from this wonderful tutorial.  I added the ric-rac wanting her to be stylish in the coop.  

http://backtobasicliving.com/blog/make-a-chicken-saddle/

I think she looks sporty in it.  A chicken saddle is to protect a hen's back from a rooster's spurs.  It seemed to work well for awhile.  More on Mable in a few....

I'm a slacker...

I have not only been busy, but I've been too tired lately to post.  I had nearly 3 weeks off at Christmas, and although I got a lot accomplished, I did neglect my blog.  So, let's have a flashback to Christmas 2012 (It shouldn't be too hard to remember just a few weeks back!)

 Raegan getting ready to go to the Christmas Eve service at Shannon's family's church.

 Pyper gets a Barbie Jeep from Nana and PaPa.  It was originally Hannah and Emma's brought all the way from Nashville, and Nana replaced the battery for our girls.  Perfect!

 Emma and Pyper wait for Pyper's stage debut!

 Pyper was not shy at all to stand in front of the church (a packed church, mind you!) and say her lines, "I bring a little lamb, so white, to a baby born that night!"  I was so proud of her!

 Cousin Hannah holding Itty.

 Raegan loved the music the children sang, and sang in her own language.

 Christmas Eve before hitting the hay.  My dad made Pyper a washer and dryer, Santa brought her a new bike for potty training, and we got her a cute ironing board. 

 I love Itty's hair in this picture.  We call her fuzzy head in the morning. 

 We were so tired. 

 I made our stockings.  I wanted them to look like elf socks, and I like the way they turned out.  I then embroidered everyone's name on theirs. 

 Mom bought Raegan a dress up skirt and boa so she could participate in dress up.

 Pyper loves to dress up!