A Weight Loss Journey

Ever feel like this??? I have for years.....I talked about my "Lifestyle" change a couple of weeks ago...so much has changed....not so much by the "Lifestyle" change (but that has made a huge difference) but the change I am talking about is much deeper than that.

Several people emailed me thinking it would be good to have a weight loss addition each week, one to offer support, ideas, recipes etc....because I am so orgainzed...Oh, if you only knew..... I knew in order to do that, it would take a lot of courage on my part....and where to begin??.....that was another issue for me.

So, one night, I wrote and I wrote and I wrote.....the longest darn post this side of the Rockies....and the words that jumped onto the page rocked my world. In an effort to understand how I got to the point I was at with my weight, it was more important for ME to understand why I got there. These are the things that are hard to face, hard to deal with, and certainly hard to read on print when they are about your own life. But with that being said, it is about understanding, forgiveness, acknowledgment, and desire to move beyond all the junk that litters up our lives and throws us off balance. There is hope....

So.....Starting Sunday I will post my first segment. These writings are so important for ME,to stay focused and serve as a reminder to forge ahead. So before I start posting the actual weight loss progress and support and recipes....this is a must.....I warn you.....these next few segments ( I think 6/7) are dark, stormy, depressing and real......and if there is anyone who thinks that no one in the world understands how they feel.....well I am here to tell you someone does....believe me.

So, Sundays and Tuesdays will be the updates until I take this to the present.....I hope I have the courage Sunday to push "Publish Post". This has not been easy, and I am very apprehensive about putting all of this out there.....and please understand none of what you will read is really an excuse for letting ones self over the years, get so off balance, overweight and miserable...but more of an understanding about how events, emotions and struggles can certainly contribute to one spiraling out of control. When we lose control.....we lose hope. Thankfully, I have found my hope...and am gaining control....that is what is important........

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: 1948 Vintage Apron Pattern

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

This week, I am excited to show you this fabulous find from the same garage sale of my elderly neighbor I told you about last week. As I was digging in the box of fabrics, I found a sack and inside was the fabric and this ADORABLE pattern for Buttons and Bows Apron. My heart started racing a mile a minute.......look how sweet the fabric is....it is about 3 yards...love it!!

Now, the cover is in bad shape, but all the pattern pieces are there, and the instruction sheet is still in great shape.....I was super excited to find this.....


This is a shot of the back cover....now upon doing a little research about this pattern, I found a wonderful site that has this exact pattern shown, and it dates to 1948.

This was made by Advance Patterns of New York which was the house brand of J C Penny Company from 1933 until it was purchased by Puritan Fashions in 1966. This is from the website:

One of the companies most popular patterns was the Buttons and Bows apron used as a give away promotion in 1948 for the Movie "Pale Face" staring Jane Russell and Bob Hope.

Well, as you can imagine...I am thrilled to have this....and if any of you would like a copy of the pattern and instructions, I would be happy to send it to you..."IF YOU DON'T MIND WAITING UNTIL I GET THE TIME TO DO IT"....But, I promise I will do it!! You can email me and let me know...OK?!?

Now, on Tuesday, my mom emailed me this email...and it was so perfect to include in this post...hope you enjoy it!

The History of Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath,
because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses.
And they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing
hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tear, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding
Places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around
her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent
over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in
that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was
surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the
porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to
dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.

Her Granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron, today.

* I don't think anyone ever caught anything from an apron.......
Of course not, they were washed and starched, ironed and put on clean every day.

Have a great weekend everyone!! And a Happy Vintage Thingies Thursday to every one of you! See ya' next week....same place and time!

Fall Giveaway....Calling all Quilters and Lovers of Fabrics

Just look at this stack of wonderful fabrics.....this is a wonderful giveaway hosted by Pumpkin Patch Primitive Quilt Shop. And boy, oh boy would I love to win.....You still have time to enter the contest before October 31st.


What would you do with a stack of these lovely fabrics? Crafts or a new quilt...I can just imagine the fun this would be to win this stack of goodies.....and not only that, one lucky winner will receive a $100.00 gift certificate.....WOW!!

Hope on over to Pumpkin Patch Primitive Quilt Shop and enter for yourself....be sure to tell her Coloradolady sent you......good luck......

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Vintage Fabrics and Sewing Items

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

This past weekend, my elderly neighbor and her daughter had a garage sale. Early Saturday morning, I walked over and picked up a couple of vintage Christmas items, that I HAD to have, and these will be saved for another day...I will say this, they took me back to my childhood....and they were still in the original packaging.....woohoo!

As the day progressed, I noticed she was still bringing boxes of stuff outside, so like all good nosy-neighbors I ventured back across the street...my husband tried his best to stop me, I think he was embarrassed....but I marched on like a solider....LOL And was I ever glad I did.....

I discovered in these boxes were VINTAGE fabrics. Some from the 70's some earlier...THIS is my favorite, just look at this sweet fabric print. I wish I had a larger piece of this, but it is a small piece, so it will be saved and worked into a most special quilt. I love this piece!

Now, look at all this wonderful vintage fabrics. Some of these pieces were 4 plus yards...never cut....I love the deep blue and purple piece, it has hearts and flowers and I think it would go wonderful with the current fabrics in the quilt shops. This had a tag tucked inside the folds and it said 4 1/2 yards. That is a lot of fabric. And look at the beautiful piece with the orange and yellow fall maple leaves...it is beautiful.

But this stack....Oh, Be still my heart! You girls know I am a nut over vintage fabrics, and that I used reproductions for my first quilt....LOOK at this stack....I just love it! most of these are pretty good size, at least a yard or more. Now, as you can imagine, with these vintage goodies came a "vintage-y" smell from the fabric being stored for years. I was so thankful for a sunny, breezy day because I marched home, and promptly added these vintage goodies in the washer....and after most of the afternoon spent in my laundry room and in front of my clothes line, they washed up wonderfully..

And in case you are wondering what I paid for this stack...ALL of this fabric....my sweet neighbor told me she wanted $1.00 for it.....we argued and argued...well as much as you risk arguing with an 80 something year old lady. Finally she took $3.00...for all of it.....she thought that was too much, she wanted 15 cents a piece....and reluctantly took the $3.00. She thought she had OVERCHARGED me and I felt like I had ROBBED her.......I think I will bake her a treat or possibly make her a lap quilt out of some of these fabrics (after all they were hers) to ease my guilty conscious.....just sayin'

I had to have this little pin cushion too, so sweet. It is a velvety feel to it and lots of bead work.
Just look at these pinking sheers.....with the original box.....

Here is another set.....love the box. Oh, see that little cowboy fabric? Well, that was in the stash too but it was still on the line drying when I photographed the others. I still have a couple of large pieces of vintage flannel, a large piece of possibly a kitchen curtain, and a cut up vintage tablecloth, that need to be cleaned. Those are going to have to be dipped in my vintage cleaning solution and soaked. I just have not done that yet......I will show you once I have those cleaned up....they are so sweet!

I scored one more DREAM item for me at this sale, a VINTAGE pattern with fabric for the project....I am saving that for next week. I am going to try and do a little research on that piece...it is a dream, trust me!!

Hope you enjoyed my new sewing treasures....I think they will be worked into some scrappy quilt design in the future, or just sitting on the shelf looking cute, as it makes me happy to just look at the stack!! Have a great week everyone! Hope you have a wonderful fall weekend.

facebook has brought a few smiles to replace the tears......

I know most of you remember my post about facebook....and the flood of emotions signing up for that started a few weeks ago. Boy, was that an experience dealing with all of that at one time for me. I thought I would share my thoughts now and sorta give you an update...because I know you are worried about that...haha....after all drama is drama no matter how you look at it and well....it makes for a good read....usually!


My best friend from school and her sister, whom I was close to as well have reconnected on a "safe" level. I say safe because neither of us has really extended an invitation to make it any thing more. None of us, has offered a phone number, or invitation to meet up.....not really, nothing really definite. I thought about that the other day, and wondered why I had not given my phone number or anything more....I came up with all kinds of excuses why I have not suggested a meeting in person.....

1 . Need to lose weight
2. Their lives are too busy
3. My life is busy
4. Need to lose weight
5.What would my husband think?
6. What if I changed so much, they would not like me today?
7. What if it is too awkward?
8. Nee to lose weight

I think you get the picture.....I have made every excuse in the book....and yet, I feel scared to make that effort....of what I don't know. I don't know if scared is the word but definitely insecure.

I have enjoyed the emails back and forth, and getting to know about their families, it is progressing slow...but I think that is OK too. It is a start and without a start, nothing can begin. A lot of time in our lives have passed, they have their own friends, and good friends at that. I also have thought about this time that has passed, and truthfully,I could have done something a long time ago and chose not to.

So it is no one fault or another...and I seem to really feel that my friends are still the same as always...and find that it is ME who has changed over the years....honestly, I am not sure I like admitting that...it is a hard pill to swallow for me. I guess the message I would like to get across is it is not too late to find childhood friends that meant so much to you in the past, things may be different now, but it still brings a warm sense of comfort from long ago to reconnect on any level.......it takes a lot of courage....and I know that.


Now....on a positive note.....my husband's family on his paternal grandmothers side of the family were originally from Sweden. Friday, his distant cousin contacted both of my children and myself....he is my husband's cousin from Sweden and found us through facebook. AMAZING. I still can't really keep the story straight who was related to who, but he was here in the 70's at my husband's Great Aunt's home and sent a picture he had taken of my father in law at that time....it was unreal.

I told my husband, that there was no reason not to plan a trip to Sweden soon and meet his cousin in person, and get this...the cousin lives in the ORIGINAL family home in Sweden. The home the siblings lived in before some of them made their way to the United States never to return to the homeland.....what a story, I know.

So I am amazed at the things facebook does, on all levels. I never would have believed what a difference signing up for a on-line network sight would make in such a short amount of time. I never would have believed that this experience has caused me to take a long pause at my own life, and the things I have chosen to believe were true for all these years...a real eye opener.....to say the least.

I will let you know when I find some courage to step off into uncharted waters with my new found friends from long ago....I am trying to look deep into myself and write about things that are sometimes not so comfortable to talk about....I feel it is something I need to do, and hope it will help someone else.

Next new thing.....a weight loss or weight problem topic once a week.......I'm still looking for the courage and am having trouble finding it to start that topic just yet....but it is close!

Have a great week......I hope it will be the best it can be for us all!

Before and After : Laundry Room Remodel

When I tell you it takes a lot of courage to post before and after pictures of my laundry room, that is the truth. Several of you have commented on how small your laundry rooms are, and well, mine is really small too. So fear of what you will think of the before pictures set aside.....here is the before and after shots I promised you..... the laundry room walls were a cream and brown as you see in the photo. I did not buy paint for this room. I used left over paint from when I painted my sewing room, so the new paint cost me zero for this room......

This is an utter mess...a catch all for anything that is not or has not been put away...I had all I could stand. Some of this stuff was moved around a bit before I took the photo, but honestly, not enough to make a darn bit of difference. Removing the shelves, and clearing out the clutter resulted in this......

A perfect place to put my plate rack that was practically in the middle of the floor of this small room before, and totally blocked the window. Amazing what a difference this made...I did have to lightly texture the walls from where the shelving unit was removed, but I know how to do that and did it myself.....if any one wants a tutorial on that, just let me know...it is not hard at all. I took a class a few years ago and paid a hefty sum to learn how to do this....not hard....

Here is the shot towards the washer and dryer. I almost forgot to take these two pictures, but I am glad I did now. All I had was shelving at the top of the walls and it wrapped around the wall to the right of the washer, and the shelves housed a lot of treasures and junk if I am being honest here.

Here is the after shot. My son put up a ready made cabinet from Home Depot. This was $99.00 and as far as I am concerned, the best money spent. We added the shelf (using the shelf materials we took off the wall to begin with. Installed it with some brackets I had after I painted it pink using some "opps" paint from Home Depot for $1.00. Not bad for $100.00.

Now my vintage plate rack looks right at home sitting on my uncluttered dryer. Best part is I get to see all my lovely plates...almost daily as I do use this room a lot.

This is the wall to the right of the washer, the long upper shelving system was removed and replaced with all of these vintage goodies.

This is what you see when you walk straight into the room from the hallway. I have had this old vintage ironing board painted with these adorable animals for about 20 years. This was a gift from my mom one year for Christmas, and I just love it.

Here is the window....now I really did a no-no with the window treatments on this....I had a vintage tablecloth that had the exact colors that was the wall color, and thankfully it was not in too good of shape, I cut it, lined it and made a window topper with this vintage treasure....shame on me I know.....however, I really do love looking at this when I walk in the room. I have a window blind that is ordered from Lowe's and it will be installed as soon as it comes in. The window blind is an exchange on a blind I had originally purchased and they cut the wrong size, so again, not charge for the new blind....YEA! So that is my big remodel project in a nutshell...all for about $105.00...the labor was my son and myself and that cost me a nice dinner....best help I could ever ask for.

Please know you do not have to have a large space to make a large difference in the space you have. With a little imagination, thought and planning and you can really update a space with very little money spent. I tried to use what I had, and only purchase what I absolutely had to.

The only thing I am wanting to get now.....and PLEASE don't laugh.....is a vintage screen door, painted white and installed on the door that goes into this room. You know the kind...one's like what used to be on your grandma's house....oh, how I wish I had her old door. I think that will the be crowning jewel of this room...not only that.....I can put my pups in there and they will have to stay if they misbehave...... not that that ever happens around here.....incidentally, I did take the door off the hinges to this room because it took up too much space in the small room....so yes...I need a screen door!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this project...now check out the spaces you have in your homes and see what a difference you can make with just a little imagination.

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Vintage Goodies - Laundry Room Continued

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

Well, girls, I know I said I was going to show you the finished room, but when I uploaded the pictures today, I had WAY too many photos, and decided to spare you that....I will do a follow up post on Friday with the before, during and after shots....promise....for those who really want to see it!


This week I will continue with the vintage treasures that live in my newly updated laundry room.....


I am sure you remember this little lamb salt and pepper from a few weeks ago, he sits by the vintage jars that hold my homemade laundry soap and dryer sheets.

This grease tin belonged to my mom, I remember as a kid frying bacon and saving the grease in this pot. In fact, I remember she saved most all of the oils used...funny, how we do not do that now....anyone know why???

I had several of these little bird planters, but in the midst of my purging mood, I kept only three and my favorites. (three still makes a collection!) I really love the colors. The framed vintage post card is one I have had for a very long time. I purchased it somewhere with the intention of hanging it in my laundry room, once I could get in there....it finally has a home (click to make photo larger)...I think it is so cute.

Here is just some of my favorites. The crystal vase thingy I found at Goodwill. I have several child's kitchen utensils and this holds them rather well. Vintage door knob and some little salt and pepper shakers top it off. I guess you notice 3 of the little bowl I have picked up here and there.... The framed prints, were just something I printed myself with the computer, sprayed Goodwill frames black and added embellishments of vintage buttons...I love how they turned out....and CHEAP!!

This monkey cookie jar belonged to my mom, and she had it for as far back as I can remember as a little girl. I have never seen another like it, and I just cherish it. I think he is so very cute.

I found this little adorable pin cushion at an estate sale and had to have him. He looks like my dachshund girls. Of course a few vintage linens make the grouping complete.

Thanks for stopping by today....and be sure to check on Friday if you want to see the rest of the pictures....Have a great weekend everyone!!

Diet: No Longer A Four Letter Word....now it is a 15 letter phrase!

It seems the new "phrase" for losing weight is "It's not a diet, it is a l-i-f-e-s-t-y-l-e C-h-a-n-g-e"
....Well first off...I was happy with my lifestyle, thank you very much. I just want to lose a few pounds.


This is my mood today.....chocolate, a taco, a hamburger, a Pepsi or some Halloween candy would make me feel a lot better....just sayin'.

But, I AM NOT on a DIET...NOPE....it is a Lifestyle Change....Yippy... makes me feel better.....NOT!

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Laundry Room Remodel Part 2

Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday. Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone. If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
To participate, all you have to do is:

* * * * * * * Please everyone, follow these guidelines!

(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the link at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in.

I had these pictures ready to go for this weeks post...the continuation of my laundry room remodel. I will have one more post about the vintage items in this room, it will be next week. So for now....here we go....

These are some of my vintage linens, I just love the colors and the cute little chickens. These were all estate sale finds.

This salt and pepper shaker set belonged to my grandmother. I have kept these safe in a drawer for many, many years. I decided to bring them out and enjoy them, I put vintage buttons in each, and it sits on the shelf....now, I can enjoy them.

This is a real gem. I have had this ever since I was a little girl. My Aunt Joyce had one similar to this, it was the same type of thing...a Weather Forecaster. After a visit with my Aunt, I looked for one myself...and found this one. (At least, I think that is how I aquired this...my Aunt may have given it to me, but honestly, it has been so long...I can not remember) OH MY.......I guess that is a sign I am getting OLD! Nonetheless, it still works, and I have treasured it for many years...and girls...it is ALWAYS right!

Here is the back of the little weather forecaster. I would guess I got this in the mid 1970's. I wish I could remember how I got this...but for the life of me...I can't. So if my Aunt or mom reads this...Leave a comment if you remember!!! Don't you just love it??? Have you ever seen one like this, that actually works? Do you have one similar??

Here is a snapshot of the wall all my goodies are displayed on. The little shelf was purchased at an estate sale, I asked the guy, "how much?" he said "$1.00", I said "sold". It was brown and ugly, but I saw how sweet this would be painted a fresh coat of white paint. I think it holds all of these vintage treasures rather nicely.

Here is the whole wall. The vintage wall picture was purchased at an estate sale. I love the colors of the flowers and the mountains in the background. The little plates on the top of the shelf came from Goodwill. I liked the size of them, they were small and had really nice scenes painted on them.

Well, that is it for the show and tell this week. I will finish up next week and show the whole thing...with the before shot......Have a great week everyone..... I hope you enjoyed looking at some of these vintage goodies...some you may have seen before, but I think most of them are new.....

Fall Favorite: Not Your Ordinary Potato Soup

This is not your ordinary potato soup, but with the cooler fall days ahead, it is perfect for a yummy meal and just add some cornbread on the side... and well...there you go. It is really one of the best potato soup recipes I have ever made. Several years ago, I worked at my daughters elementary school, and once a month when we had a teacher work day, the teachers took turns providing lunch. This was one of the dishes we had during the fall months, and I have enjoyed it very much ever since. I know you will too.



Recipe List:

6-8 medium potatoes
enough water to cover potatoes in pot
4 chicken bullion cubes
small onion chopped
4-5 carrots diced
broccoli chopped fine - (in a pinch I have used frozen chopped broccoli and it works fine too.)
2 Tablespoons parsley
Dash garlic salt and pepper
Ham cubes (optional)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk with 1 Tablespoon flour

The How to:

Boil potatoes, water, chicken bullion and carrots until almost tender. Add parsley, onions and broccoli and boil until broccoli is almost tender. Add milk with flour and continue to boil until thick, about 4-5 minutes, tops. Add cheese and ham and boil until cheese is melted. If you are not going to add the ham, just add cheese and melt. Garnish with shredded cheese.

* I have used left over mashed potatoes with the milk and flour to thicken the soup up just a bit. It works well, and my husband likes a thicker, more heartier soup, so this option works well. I usually just mix, and not measure.

This is as wonderful as it looks!!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, it is very good and great for a nice fall day. Like I said, it is not your usual potato soup, but it is just as wonderful and full of flavor.

Good Advice...From The Dogs!

I had to consult with my four legged friends this week on a subject that needed to be discussed. After all, Steve is still out of town, and I did not really want to bring up a question about money over the phone....trust me, I did not.

So, one afternoon this week, I made several phone calls inquiring about a price to have a gift made for someone....now, I know I could do this myself, no problem, but.....time is a key factor here....so I got all my information together and had a good talk with first, Sophie and Dora.....


I very calmly explained to them, the cost....a little over $425.00....guaranteed to be finished by the date I needed it....guaranteed to be top notch....and a real treasure.....no stress for me......on the flip side....I explained that I was very capable of creating the same treasure....at a fraction of the cost....under $100.00 I was sure....They sorta stopped me right there.......Both of them looked at me like I was crazy....can you tell.....they did not get it at all....

Sophie even reminded me what would happen when I told this tale to Steve....not good.....she decided to play dead...and hope I got the message...I think I did....get the message that is....

I decided I needed a third opinion....so I recited the same spill to Bailey.......

She let me know right away she had not been here long enough to get involved...but assured me that the money I saved would buy lots of peanut butter treats that she has discovered she is most fond of...and gave me a look like...... "please listen to the older girls" that way, everyone is happy....except for me....who is strapped for time these days, and thought I could get this done by someone else around my budget....not going to happen.

I'm glad most of the girls around here have a good head on their shoulders and talked some sense into me.....now, I wonder which one of them is going to offer help with the planning, executing and delivering of this project.....



Ummmmm.......Yea.....that is what I thought..... Thanks Girls.....




I'll let you three know when I need some advice again......