Decorating 101: "LIVING ROOM"

Thursday, March 4, 2010


I know, I know.........I never finished the Home Tour.......I was reminded of this the other day by a friend at lunch.  So hopefully I won't bore you too much today as we step into the Living Room....

You know, when we first moved to the lake house, the one thing we really wanted to change was the fact that it looked more like a City House than a Lake House.  The folks we purchased it from lived here full time (as opposed to most "City-Lakers" who lived at the lake only on weekends), so they had it fixed up to fit their "full time" needs.

The first thing we changed was the fireplace.  As you can see in the picture, it was a plain fireplace that was begging to be stoned (I think I just made a funny there....)  So I hired some rock dudes we had used in Dallas to come stay at the house for a few days, rock the fireplace and do a little fishing on the side.  This was single handedly the best investment we could have made with regards to the Living Room.  It changed the whole tone of the room as you can see.  A very easy and inexpensive makeover that more than paid for itself investment-wise.  We later removed the carpet  and replaced with distressed hardwood flooring throughout.

I tend to error on the side of "too much" stuff and this is so apparent to me when I look at these pictures. I have found that anytime you really want to "see" your room as others might see it, take pictures of it.  You will see it from a completely different set of eyes.  My new set of eyes is saying, "You got too much stuff, Girlfriend!"......

I then wanted to "frame" the windows but not lose any of the lake view, so I located some fabric I liked, hemmed it and attached some clips to the top of the panels.  I wanted something a little more interesting than a rod to hang them from, so I purchased some rustic looking coat hooks from Hobby Lobby (I think I paid about $1.50 each for them), and hooked the clips on them.  A super inexpensive and unique way to frame a window and I love the way it turned out...

I saw in a magazine once where someone had taken pages out of an old hymnal from a church and framed them.  I'm a sucker for all hymns and have been known to cry just hearing them sung at church, so I found an old hymnal (no....I didn't "steal" it from church....shame on you for thinking that!); soaked the pages in coffee; layed them out to dry and then taped them to some cardboard and framed them.  This is one of my favorite framed pictures in the house and was the easiest and cheapest one in the house.  It makes me smile each time I walk past it.

I also enjoy taking pictures of kids, whether its our grandchildren or our friends' kids, using some photoshop techniques, cropping the pictures at odd angles and framing them.  The bottom picture is of our granddaughter Bella.  I wanted to show off her HUGE blue eyes, so I simply cropped most everything out of the picture except her eyes.  I love this picture and anyone can do this on their computer.

So, that's about it.....I've got to go have a garage sale for all that "stuff" I'm going to be minimalizing from the Living Room......

It's Unanimous: Liz Is NO Nurse.........

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Spent the day with my Mom today......as some of you may know, she is living in an Assisted Living Center called Mayberry Gardens.  I love that its called Mayberry....just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that she may run into Opie or Andy Taylor at any time.  It makes me nervous that she might run into Barney, tho.......

At one point today, I was helping her out of her wheelchair when she got to chuckling........which got me chuckling....and then the aide started chuckling.  At some point during the chuckling, I asked her what we were chuckling about....... She said my helping her out of her wheelchair reminded her of the time several years ago when I was helping our friend Hazel out of her wheelchair and into her nursing home bed.  She then turned to the aide and said, "My Liz is NO nurse, you know".........and then proceeded  to tell me I needed to Blog about this.......soooooooooo, here ya go, Mom.....I'm so proud my Mom knows what a Blog is........

About 12 years ago, I used to have lunch each Friday with a sweet old lady named Hazel Howard from our church who was in a local nursing home.  Now, Hazel and her husband Lee were the teachers of the Primary age class when I was about 7-8 years old and the coolest teachers ever.  They didn't have any kids of their own, so that automatically made them cooler.....but I remember Lee had made this super awesome airplane that flew across the room each time you brought a mission offering.  Hazel was about 4'10", smile permanently attached to her face (again....could it be cause she had no children??  I'm just saying......) and had a nice round belly that kinda made her look pregnant.  Lee had died several years before Hazel entered the nursing home and I know she had to be lonely, but she never showed it.  She had a quick wit about her that always kept you on your toes and her mind was as sharp as a tack.

One day after having a nice nursing home lunch, we did our normal "tour" around the home, visiting with her friends and racing down the hall in her wheelchair and returned back to her room.  She was tired and needing a nap, so she asked me to help her out of her wheelchair and into the bed.  Well folks, like my Mom always says, "I am NO nurse".....and this was WAY WAY WAY out of my comfort zone....I just knew I would drop her, so I begged her to let me get a nurse.  She said, "Nahhh.....we don't need a nurse.....I'll tell you exactly what to do and it'll be easy".  You know that little bug in your head that yells instructions to you like "DON'T TO IT" or "YOU'RE MAKING A MISTAKE" or "YOU'RE NO NURSE.....", well, I was hearing the Bug screaming at me full force.  But Hazel insisted and obviously had more confidence in me than the bug, so I agreed.

I got her out of the wheelchair, turned her around and lay her gently on the bed.  I was so proud that I hadn't dropped her and actually made it from Point A to Point B successfully that I was thinking "Well, HUH, maybe I could be a nurse!"  That was until I noticed her head was in the middle of the bed and her feet were hanging off the end.  She was no where near the top of the bed.   Geezzzzz.....well, my little 4'10" friend looked so ridiculous laying on the bottom half of the bed that she and I both got to laughing so hard we about got the hiccups.  I believe she then said, "Ok Liz, you're NO nurse.....call the aide."

My Hazel lived a few more months before passing away there.  She was loved by so many many people and will always have a piece of my heart.  She is sleeping peacefully now and I will never forget one of the last things she ever said to me.  A couple days before she died, she told me, "They have new nurses here now, Liz....I think they are from Australia......and they are so beautiful and attentive to me."

Funny thing, though; there were no new nurses..........

Sleep tight, dear Hazel.....

'Law of the Garbage Truck...With A Twist of Liz"

Saturday, February 27, 2010

I received a Blog today from Charlie's cousin, David, who writes a daily blog called RealTexasBlog.com in which he had a story called "Law of the Garbage Truck".  Great story; and caused me to think how helpful something I've been doing for years might be for you.

Years ago, when I was having to drive an hour to work each day in Dallas traffic, I saw myself transform from a female version of Dr. David Banner to the Incredible Hulk each day as I fought rude drivers who would cut me off, make me angry, cause me to shake my fists and yell......by the time I got to work, I was so worked up and angry it actually helped me sell more insurance!

UNTIL......one day, a guy cut me off, causing me to slam on the brakes to narrowly miss him which, in turn, caused me to make the transformation into my Incredible Hulk mode............but then he lifted his hand to show me he had a gun.   Oh ya, pretty much stopped me in my angry tracks and taught me a lesson.  The lesson being, is it "really" worth getting worked up, angry and possibly shot over??   So, I came up with a solution that has worked ever since.......Feel free to use this strategy in your own situations...

I found that when someone cuts you off in traffic; drives too slow in the fast lane or stays glued to your bumper, that if you'll follow these few easy steps, not only will you laugh your way home, but they will actually "Thank You" for inconveniencing them.  Here's how it works....

1)  The landscape truck full of illegals enters the highway, never looking to see that you occupied that lane first.  This forces you to "move over" or get "run over"....Now, your fighting mad.....

2)  Don't get mad.....get even.  Pull up even with the driver of the landscape truck and stay even with him until you successfully get his attention.  Once you have his attention, get a horrified, shocked and scared look on your face (you know....hands on your cheeks....eyes wide open....) and frantically point to the rear of his truck/trailer.   Key word here is "frantically"!!  Don't do it in a mean or angry way, cause he'll just dismiss you, but one that says "I genuinely care about you and something REALLY bad is happening at the rear of your vehicle" type look.

3)  At this point, he will immediately look in his rearview mirror to see what you are seeing, but won't see anything.  He will start slowing down, pulling his vehicle over to the side of the road, all the while waving a "THANK YOU" to YOU!  Oh ya, that's my FAVORITE part!

You have now successfully gotten the jerk off the road, caused him some down time as he tries his best to determine what it was you saw falling off his truck, allowed yourself time to get WAY ahead of him and, the icing on the cake, you laugh yourself home instead of increasing your blood pressure.   This works EVERY TIME!!!

Use of this strategy works on truckers (fire in the rear of the trailer??); on the highway race car driver (flat tire???); the SUV soccer mom (something just fell out of the rear window of your Tahoe??)....well, you get the idea.  I find myself actually getting  excited when someone does me wrong on the highway; the anticipation of whats to come........

Now go; drive the highways and byways and get angry NO MORE.......

Who Is This Guy Called My Brother??

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES!  Yep, it's my brothers birthday today!  It would be rude of me to tell you how old he is, but I will say that that I'll be 50 this year and he's 17 months older than me......  Anyway, I want to tell you a little bit about my bro, James.

He's been blessed, thus far, to avoid being Blogged about (my family cringes each time I blog...) but today is a very special day, so lucky him; it's his day!!

You know, I used to always say "Our family had two too many kids in it" seeing as my parents had three kids.......but not any more.   He has grown into a man that I am so very very proud and appreciative of.  When we were growing up, James (he was known by Eddie then...) never talked.  I mean, NEVER talked.  Matter of fact, he may have had 17 months on me, but Mom told me I taught HIM how to talk.  He's continud to be a man of few words and MY mouth has never stopped, but that's beside the point.  I will say that when he did utter a few words, people listened.  Entire rooms would go silent just to hear what he had to say.  Used to drive me CRAZY cause no one ever listened to me.......(that's right; it's ALL about Liz......)

A lot has happened between the time we were children wrestling on the living room floor on Friday nights with Dad saying, "Someone's Going To Get Hurt!" to having him drive me to school in downtown Dallas with only a gallon of gas in his car at a time (how many times did we run out of gas??); to witnessing a brand new expression never before seen on his face when his son, Lance was born; to watching his devotion, tenderness and love towards my Mom as he helps her do things that once came simple for her.  He has turned into a man I greatly respect; a man who loves his family and loves God.

And I love you, James.......

"Nightmare on Eagle Cove"

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

This morning......early.....I awoke to the sound of a loud meowing cat......holy toledo, not "just" meowing....but like a "frantic cat in heat" cry! I jumped out of bed, first thinking we must have left Kruger the 1-claw cat outside last night, but upon getting to the foot of the bed and seeing the cat laying in her bed, I knew it wasn't Kruger. I tried following the "cries" but just couldn't figure out from what direction they were coming from.....it was early, folks........I went to the front door; nothing. I went to the back door; nothing.....yet I could still hear the desperate cries of this invisible cat.

I put my "good" ear out and walked around the house desperately trying to find where the distressed meowing "I'M IN HEAT" cry was coming from.......As I walked around, I noticed it seemed to get louder as I got closer to the bedroom.......followed the sound right to........yep, you guessed it.......my beloved Chuck!

Bless his heart; he's had sinus lately (which he rarely has.....unlike Liz) and geeeeezzzz.....it was HIM making these distressed and desperate cat cries from his nose.

I am relieved, however, to know that it wasn't Kruger the 1-claw cat; she was suppose to have been fixed 3 years ago.......just like she was suppose to have been totally declawed 3 years ago, but the vet mistakenly left one claw....thus the name....Kruger (remember the movie, "Nightmare on Elm Street".....Freddie Kruger....he had sharp claws??)

I guess you could say I had a "Nightmare on Eagle Cove" this morning......

(FYI for Chuck's Fan Club: I did have his permission to write this.....so don't send me any hate mail, please)

H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y

ANT ELLIE!!

We Had To Waterboard Murphy Today......

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Now Chuck and I neither one are advocates for drastic punishment; much less to our beloved son, Murphy, but sometimes, just sometimes, a parent must take extreme measures when their child goes off the deep end....... yes, it's true.......as much as I hate to admit it, we had to resort to "waterboarding" Murphy today.  Sad...sad....sad.....  

This morning the whole family (that would be Chuck, Liz, Murphy, Callie the deaf and partially blind 150 year old dog and Kruger the 1-claw cat) were out on the driveway talking with our neighbor, Steve.  Suddenly, we see Kruger the 1-claw Cat running past us with a bird in its mouth heading to the backyard.  Before we can stop her, Murphy takes off chasing her around the house.  In no time at all, here comes Murphy around the corner with "part" of the bird in his mouth......ughhhhh......the HEAD.  Feathers hanging out of his mouth; guilty look written all over his face.  Chuck is tugging at Murphy trying to get him to drop the "head"; I'm yelling "Bad Boy....Really Bad Boy.....Murphy....YOU ARE A BAD BAD BOY".........Chuck finally gets him to drop the "head"; feathers still hanging out the side of his mouth..... That's when the decision to "waterboard" was first thought of.  I plunked that boy in the pantry sink, turned the water on, opened his filthy, feathery mouth and filled it with faucet water until it was adequately cleaned out of feathers and "stuff".

DISGUSTING.......meanwhile, I see Kruger the Cat burying what's left of the poor bird in the front flower bed with the help of Callie, the deaf and partially blind 150 year old dog.  Cannibals all of them!

You know, we did find a bright side to this tragedy.  We, as parents, were amazed to see our pets all getting along, not fighting and working as a "team" on something....anything.....

"Chuck DOES Remember Names.......Sordof"

Monday, February 16, 2010

Happy Post Valentines Day!!

WE HAVE ELECTRICITY!!!  This is such good news cause we were starting to "smell" and needed a shower.....

This is going to be a quick Blog today cause I'm heading into town to surprise my Mom with a Girls Day Out......these things have a way of backfiring on me (surprises, that is...), so here's hoping I'm not the one who gets the surprise......

Ok, now for those of you who know my Chuck real well, know he's not so good with names..... people come up to him all the time at the grocery store, at church, at restaurants that know his name, yet he can never, ever remember their names or their faces.  Now, most of us have this problem, myself included, however, his is a little worse than most....matter of fact, the first thing I say to him each morning is, "Good morning, my name is Liz....I am your wife."   Sometimes I tell him I'm his girlfriend and he better get going before my husband gets home, but thats only if he made me get up in the middle of the night to take the dog out and I want to get even with him.  ANYWAY, he's telling me tonight about running into the pharmacy clerk in the produce section of the grocery store today and how she came up to him and said, "Hi Chuck, how's it going?"  He knew she was the pharmacy clerk, but just couldn't remember her name, so he just used his old standby phrase, "Hey Good Lookin', how's it going?"......that usually works pretty well for him, but today, she said to him, "You don't remember my name, do you?".  Now, he's not used to people actually "calling" him on his poor memory and he had that moment of panic when the few hairs on his head stand on end and his mind is racing a thousand miles a minute....and then it hit him.......her name was Sheila!  So, he said, "Sure I remember your name, SHEILA".   I got to tell ya; my man was proud of himself......very very proud of himself.......So, I, of course always trying to burst that bubble of his, said to him, "Are you sure her name was Sheila and she wasn't just letting you get by with calling her Sheila?"  He, very proudly, said, "Nope, I'm sure that was her name......that was the name on her name tag!".........And there you have it........

Darn that Global Warming.......We are still C-O-L-D......

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Well, we are now heading into 36 hours without electricity.  But it's not all in vain.  I have learned all about Global Warming the last couple days.  I've learned......

1)  That when you are freezing cold, you give a great deal of thought about going to the restroom.  Do I really need to go that bad?  Can it wait?  Maybe I can just wait a while longer and consolidate my bathroom visits.....you actually spend time on these thoughts.....Plus, you know you need to give yourself a good 10 minute head start just to peel the layers of clothes off.......

2)  That if we have 50 gallons of diesel fuel in the RV and it takes an average of 1-2 gallons of fuel every hour to run the Generator, you don't have long before your brain freezes......

3)  That if Al Gore invented the internet and also invented Global Warming; why can't he invent a way to use the internet during the Global Warming Snowstorm of 2010??

4)  Would someone please thump Al Gore on the forehead??

5)  That one pair of jeans, one set of thermal underwear, two pairs of socks, two thermal shirts on top of the thermal underwear top, thick scarf, ear muffler, mittens still don't keep me warm in a house that is 45 degrees....

6)  That a DQ Cheeseburger never tasted SOOOOO good.......

Did you notice that yesterday's Blog, "I'm COLD....No Blog Today" was a Blog??  I just noticed that....my brain and fingers was frozen when I typed that....

Is it just me, or does he appear to be blowing a lot of hot air lately?

BUT......here's what I'm thankful for.......

* I'm thankful that Chuck & the salesman talked me into buying the RV last year......I slept toasty warm last night because of it...

* That we have wonderful neighbors to share this very C-O-L-D experience with....

* That Al Gore is missing right now...

* That I'm drinking a strong hot cup of  coffee right now.....and my fingers have thawed.....

* And that I'm getting 3 bars on my Sprint Internet Card.....it's not Wifi, but its communication with the outside world!

Pray for Power.......

I'm COLD......No Blog Today!

Friday, February 12, 2010

We have been without electricity for about 18 hours now and the house is getting C-O-L-D.........Fortunately we have the motorhome with a generator and our neighbors have a generator, so at least we can fix coffee......but the view with the snow is spectacular......would be even prettier if I were WARM and looking at it, but hey, makes us appreciate the nice warmth that we usually take for granted!

Thought you'd enjoy a picture of our view......

Hopefully, we'll have power tomorrow and be back to Blogging!!  Stay safe everyone.......I hear there are 48 states that have snow in them right now and that includes Florida.......Since Obama thinks there are 57 states, I guess that means there are 9 states free of snow right now.....

Make some snow angels!!

Decorating 101: "DINING ROOM"

Thursday, February 11, 2010


It's SNOWING!!!!!  (Just thought I'd pass that little tidbit on to ya......)




Although I don't cook, we've had many wonderful meals in this Dining Room.......fortunately for me, I married a man who does cook.  It was actually one of the requirements on my future husband list......

First thing that had to go when we bought this house was the bare white walls in the Dining Room.  Put a little Ralph Lauren Kauki color on the walls; tried a little technique on the lower portion of the walls that I'm growing tired of but still a cool idea......I purchased a pint of the same Kauki wall color, but in High Gloss instead of Flat.  I measured and penciled out equally spaced lines and painted every other section in the High Gloss.  This is a neat idea to do on any number of things........

I then had the problem of the HUGE empty wall......it needed something, but just couldn't decide what.  A picture wasn't big enough; then I saw this large 3-panel screen at Tuesday Morning one day and picked it up for $99.   Told Chuck what I had in mind; dismissed his rolling eyes and his "You do know this isn't meant for the wall??" looks, and told him we needed to find some studs in the dining room wall.   Chuck's learned over time to "just do it" and not argue with me, so he obediently got his stud finder and found this gal some studs.  Also grabbed a couple friends and everyone took a corner and we hung that puppy right up on the wall.  Looks pretty cool, huh?!

How much do you think I paid for this large artificial ficus tree?  A lot, right?  Think again.  I made that tree myself and so can you!  EASY!!  Simply went across the road and found some large dead trees laying around, dragged them home (Chuck was happy to see me doing this too.....NOT); purchased a $4 clay pot; poured quick dry concrete in it; stuck my dead tree trunk in it; stabilized it until the concrete dried; took Chuck's drill and drilled holes in the bark where I wanted branches; headed on down to Harry Hines Blvd. in Dallas (take a gun) and purchased a bunch of artificial branches from a wholesale chinese floral store and hot glued them into the holes I drilled into the bark.  Put the whole tree in a decorative planter and WHALLA......you have an expensive looking ficus tree for about $75.  EASY!!

Made the curtains, as usual, with my hot glue gun/hem tape........I found to give height to a window, take the curtain rod all the way to the ceiling if at all possible......at the very least, go at least 1-2 inches above the top of the window.

And as you've probably guessed by now, I love writing my favorite sayings on the wall.......

You Will Be Missed, Laguna.....

LAGUNA

2000 - 2010

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.  There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.  There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.  The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Laguna was our first grand-dog and unfortunately, passed away last week at the young age of 10.  Laguna was a beautiful white Lab and belonged to our son, Troy and his family.  There will be forever an empty spot in our hearts where Laguna used to reside......You Will Be Missed.

We've Got the Coolest Bed Ever - MASTER BEDROOM

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Geezzzz....I can't believe the day is better than half over already!   It finally stopped raining & I hardly recognize that big bright round thing up in the sky....I think they're calling it the "sun" or something like that.  Chuck is missing; I'm sure he's "somewhere".......I went to Bible Study this morning and came home and he's no where to be found....hummmm......his wheelchair is here; his truck is here; the dog is still here.....hum.....

Well, thought I'd take you on a tour of the Master Bedroom today.  You are so totally going to love our bed.....

Back years and years ago, Chuck told me about this "vision" he had of what our bed ought to look like.  I've got to admit, I just couldn't visualize what he was describing to me.....but low and behold, once he was finished with it, it was the coolest bed I've ever seen.  His idea was to make a canopy out of our exising 4 poster bed and put a TV in the "roof" of the canopy.  Now, I've got to tell ya, I still don't know what keeps that TV from falling out, but its still in there and we haven't been hurt by falling TV's, so he did something magical to it.

Here's what he did:  He purchased wood and molding to make the canopy, stained it to match the existing bed; made a hole at the foot of the "roof" to hold the TV; had me upholster the canopy part itself and WHALLA.....we had a canopy bed with a TV in it!  Twelve years later, its still the neatest bed I've ever seen....

Here's a couple of inexpensive tricks to give the bedroom a rich look....

1)  Hot glue your monogram to a solid Euro Sham;

2) Make your own curtains (with hot glue, of course, or iron-on hem tape), make them a good 18" longer than you need so they will puddle on the floor and attach them to a curtain rod with clips....simple simple simple.

3) We had a long, blank wall that went from the bedroom to the Master Bath.  It needed something, but I just couldn't figure out what exactly.  One day while drooling around at Kirklands, I saw 3 empty frames back in the green tag "scratch & dent" clearance section for about $15 each.  I had no idea where to use them, but they were such a good price, I had to have them.  Then I saw a metal cone-shaped container......then a flower stem.....hummm......why not put all of these items together?  So headed home with my new treasures.  I first hung the frames (Tip: Always work in odd numbers); then hung the metal cone-shaped container inside the empty frame; put some styrofoam in the container and then put in a couple floral stems. Finished it up with some moss around the edges and had a real unique answer to the blank wall.  It was so easy and inexpensive...I bet I spent less than $70 on the whole thing.  The thing I always have to remind myself is there no rules and nothing says I have to use something for what it was originally intended, such as the frames in this case.

I'm glad you can't see where the cat threw up on the rug last night.........BTW, I found Chuck!  He's not lost anymore.......

Welcome to the Porch

Monday, February 8, 2010

Thought I'd take you outside to get a breath of fresh country lake air........Ahhhhhhhhh.....nice.....

When we purchased our lakehouse in 2001, there was a small, very narrow screened porch along the back of the house.  I threw as much furniture as the room would hold back there and we used the outside room each and every time we were at the lake.  We ate our meals out there; we read out there; Chuck trimmed his beard out there; it was the dogs' "time out" room; it was Chuck's "time out" room; it was seriously the most used room in the house.

Well, when we decided to add the new Guest Bedroom onto the house (the one you saw the other day), the architect we hired also suggested we make a mirror addition on the other side of the deck to balance the house out; to make the house a "U" shape basically.  After I quit hearing the "cha-ching; cha-ching" of $$ signs, that's when the lightbulb moment came with Chuck and I, and we just knew it had to be a screened porch.  It would be accessible from the Master Bedroom instead of the Living Room as well as from the Deck.  The more we thought and planned, the more excited we got about the new Porch, more so than the new Guest Bedroom!  We knew it just had to have a wood burning fireplace with lots of stone and cedar with large unobstructed screen windows.  We wanted some way to "close off" the wind in the wintertime, so we found some indoor/outdoor blinds that, when down, can keep the warmth from the fireplace on the Porch in the winter, yet raised, keep a nice breeze coming in all other times.

Here's what we got.  We found the chandelier at Habitat for Humanity in Garland for $75 (HEAVY....); Chuck being an exceptional woodworker, turned each and every one of the cedar posts surrounding the lower half of the porch himself as well as all the cedar work on the walls; we found a guy working out of his garage in Sulphur Springs to do the screens which were a terrific price.  We used stained concrete for the floor; added a Sam's Club Futon for overflow sleeping; we made the tile mosiac coffee table ourselves from broken tile we purchased at a discount tile store & a planter base from Forney; paid WAY too much for the dining table and chairs (Very disappointed with myself on that purchase.....); found the TV armoire at a tent sale off I-30 in Royse City; and picked up the cow hyde rug from Canton at a negotiated price (FYI; you always get your best prices on Sunday).

We placed an inexpensive TV in the armoire; found the ceiling fans at Lowe's on sale; nick naks were found at garage and estate sales.  The French Doors lead into the Master Bedroom.  Chuck found this bizarre stuffed fish sculpture at Canton that personally, I just think is well......bizarre....that he insisted on hanging on the wall by the table & chairs.  Sometimes, ladies, you just have to "give in" on some of the less tasteful stuff he drags home.....My initial plan for the fish sculpture was the wind was going to accidently blow it off the stand he made for it, but he was a step ahead of me on this and screwed it to the wall.  An earthquake wouldn't take that thing off the wall.......

    I do have to admit we don't use the Porch as much as I thought we would.  It's just not as convenient as our other porch was and we tend to forget about it, but I got to tell ya, there's nothing like a nice Spring day sitting on the screened porch with a sweet breeze blowing through, reading a book.  Nothing quite like it.......