On My 41st

Today is my 41st birthday. There I said it! BLAH!
It is also daylight savings so I get a whole other HOUR of it!
And apparently there was also a solar eclipse today!
I am spending it in comfy clothes just lazing around!
I figured it would be best if my birthday passed by quiet as a mouse
BUT........ when I got some pretty flowers & chocolate from the hubs,
and my wonderful home made birthday cards from the kids,
AND my teenage son offered to cook me breakfast
I realized celebrating my 41st maybe wasn't such a bad idea after all! ;)

I had some bacon & fresh eggs from the coop for breaky! 

Just a peek around the house

So happy for LAZY DAYS!
Hope you are all enjoying your Sunday! 

It's been a while!

Just thought I would share a little since IT'S BEEN A WHILE since I have been in blog world!
I bet I have been missing out on some amazing stuff here!
I have this nifty old office wall cupboard for sale along with several other items
wishing I had a small shop from home! :(

It's a little rough on the outside but some people really like that

Wish I knew what exactly it had been used for!

It's just sitting here for now.....

A photo I took yesterday, I removed all the curtains because I am adding the final coats of paint on the trim!

I did a pantry make over!
Freshened it up with a coat (or two...or three) of paint! 

It is SO much brighter & looks cleaner!

Here is the before & after shots. It was dark & gloomy and dingy looking before!

We've been eating a LOT of eggs lately! Pretty soon it will be time to add a few chickens to the freezer though! 

My facebook page reached 7,000 LIKES! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Hope you all are doing wonderful!
~Melanie~ 

I am so very fortunate to have so many kindred spirits ~here on my blog AND on my facebook page
where I now have 6800 LIKES!
Thanks everyone!

Country Sampler feature..........

Donna, the editor of Country Sampler Magazine PHONED me today
She said she never really phones people regarding their homes she leaves it up to the photographer to deal with the client but she wanted to talk with me 
She said she REALLY wants to feature our home
BUT now our photo shoot will be in the SPRING 
She said she knows I have my Rustic Farmhouse fans who were waiting to hear about the shoot and 
She said I could put the blame on her (LOL) 
She has NO time to put together the shoot list even if we were ready next week
Donna had previously stated she wanted our home decorated for Spring in the 2014 Home Tour Edition and was also worried that some of the FALL trees around the farm would show through the windows
She PROMISED we would do the shoot in the spring-we threw some ideas around possibly Easter eggs, baby chicks, orchard blossoms, a family shot and the girls room will definitely be included (that's all I really cared about)
She also said that our home may be featured in more than ONE issue AND possibly in a new magazine they are putting together
I just dont like that it will only be in a 2015 issue now!!!  SOOOOO long to wait!!!! 
 So I cried a little but I am relieved too 
Now we can slowly finish up painting and trimwork and decorate more areas of the house
Now I can sip my wine not gulp it! LOL 
I am very thankful for ALL of my supportive Rustic Farmhouse friends! :)

Our farmhouse style

And ANOTHER!!

Here is our Hello Kitty with.......

our new little guy!

He is a tiny little fluffball!

Cuddles!

You may have read my last post-if not-you should read it to better understand this one.
Can you believe we brought home ANOTHER little kitten!? We can't! lol
but we DID!
Our Hello Kitty is doing well....now
Her first week with us-she actually wasn't well-we spent over $230 at the vet clinic!! YES! within the first week!
She is feeling much better and I hope she continues to do well.
Our little boy is a blue point himalayan-the sweetest little guy ever!!
and he still doesn't have a NAME!
So we would appreciate some ideas!


UPDATE!!!! My husband has named him Smeagol (Lord of the Rings)
and it's sort of suits him!
he is a little funny looking (in a cute way!)
and has big blue eyes! ;)

A Loss~A Gain

This is our Willow-we brought her home MAY 2012
I cannot believe the joy I felt!
I had always wanted a cat like her~since I was a young girl myself
and she was just the cutest little thing!

She was so fun to take photos of! 

It took a while for Milo to warm up to her

She made herself right at home 

the 2 became best buds

here she is when she was super tiny

the kids love her so much

I just love taking my cute photos!

cuddles

more cuddles!
 so much of time just being LOVED!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

always together!

yum yum!! zzzzzz

BUT SADLY
Willow became very sick
her medicine did not help her at all
and she had to be put down on August 23rd.
It was very upsetting for our whole family!
I was with my 4 year old at the vets and very unprepared
for the the sudden realization of what was about to happen
 I had to explain it to her
I wished I had never brought her
It was pretty much devastating
she cried her eyes out-well we BOTH cried our eyes out
there I was frantically texting my husband and my oldest son
while trying to downplay it as much as possible
for my daughters sake
There was a process that we all had to go through with the shock
and we CONTINUE to go through the grieving process.
And then there was Milo........he was very depressed!
We 'ALL' lost a family member.
He lost the only one of his kind.
So I decided to bring home another kitty for our family.
We could never replace our Willow-but our family can always begin to love another.

So here she is HELLO KITTY
(my 4 year old says she is hers and first named her Sugar but now she is HELLO KITTY)

she is a dollface persian himalayan

She is a real sweetheart!

Playful little girl!

my 4 year old is so happy!

she's just a sweetie!

super cuddly soft!

so another adventure begins
I admit it feels a little strange
I guess it will take some time
It will take Milo a while to warm up to HELLO KITTY but when he does
I will have so many wonderful photos to share.
RIP our Willow~our Angel.

I thought I would add a few photos of HELLO KITTY'S family
She was the last white one-she hadn't been chosen yet I believe because she
has some yellowing around her eyes- mostly one eye
I was hoping to bring her brother home with us as well
he is the dark one in these photos
he is a TOTAL fluff ball!
twice as fluffy as her! ;)