Thankful...

Mary Katherine made us a new "Thankful Tree"

this year and everyone was happy to write

what they were thankful for on individual leaves.

This leaf tells part of the story...

showing names of family members

we are very thankful for...

Jack IV was VERY thankful Aunt Stephanie let him

play with her I-Touch. He LOVED drinking milk

from it:) His smile says it all....too cute!

3 Jacks and Ali rode Segway's

while the weather was so nice..
..Jackpaw took Jack IV for several rides...

...Korky and Jack IV drinking together from

the I-Touch drinks...

....Ali & Jack IV with their Mom making sure

he didn't fall from the wagon!

So very much to be thankful for...

but this year more than ever

I was so very thankful for everything

HE has provided for our family...

food, a roof over our heads

& a healthy family.

Praying your family had a wonderfully blessed

Thanksgiving.

Blessings today and always,

Kaye

Matthew 21:22

Beauty only He can provide

Wonderful rain has certainly turned the grass
green once again.The rainbow & the Moon as the skies begin to clear.You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock"

Welcome and thanks for visiting from
Kelly's Home Tours!

This engraved tile in our entry signifies
the Scripture that first came to mind to
my brother when he drove up our driveway
after traveling with my sister
from Mississippi after hearing we'd lost our home
in a fire. It has been a favorite of mine since
2005 and because of its significance, I engraved
the date we moved into our new home
in the bottom right hand corner of this tile.
We moved in exactly 2 years to the day
after losing our home.
Revelation 21:5

This photo shows the entry from the
main room in our home.

The empty frames are significant of
the loss of photos. Prayerfully these
will hold treasured photos once again
in the future.
Loved the corbels we found at our
favorite auction spot!

..and more empty frames in every
shape and form found at various estate sales,
auctions and garage sales.
Notice once again there is no lack of lamps,
one of my terrible weaknesses. LOVE them!

The simple old small table in the
center of our entry was the
first piece of furniture
we purchased for our new home.

This light fixture was the
first one I bought for our home.
I loved its simplicity and I found it at the same place
I found our first furniture purchase.

Our contractor wanted to do what he called,
"a special ceiling treatment" for us in the
center of the foyer. We purchased the beams
from a local man who does demolition work and
these beams came out of the first hospital built
here in town.

Another photo of the tile in the entry
and a special framed print I found which
is a picture of Jesus knocking, with the
Scripture, "Behold, I stand at the door
and knock."

More auction furniture finds...
the corner cabinets reminded me
of a piece of furniture
I inherited from my Grandmother,
and yet another piano that I wish I could play!
The Cross on this piano was the first of many
given to us after the fire by friends.

..more auction wins, more lamps,
and another special Cross given to us on our
25th Wedding Anniversary...

..the other corner cabinet
won at the auction and a painting
I found at Goodwill...

Thanks so much for stopping by
and please visit Kelly's Korner
to 'entry way' hop this weekend.
Thanks so much sweet Kelly for hosting
the home tours.

Blessings to everyone for a safe
and enjoyable weekend,
Kaye
Surely your goodness and unfailing love
will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the
Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6 NLT

Kelly's Tour...Master Bedroom

This is where we rest...

...and our master bedroom is located where it is
solely because of this view out our back window...

...this piece of engraved tile has been glued
back together.
It was found by a dear friend of mine, Kay,
the morning after we lost our home.
She brought this to me
in pieces and I remember thinking His word
would be what, if anything, could get us through such
a disaster. It has since that day been beside my bed.
Before it was on an easel in my kitchen window and
I'd engraved this entire Scripture on a tile as a constant
reminder to myself and others to 'Be Still.....'
...a very precious 'piece' from our former home...

...we really enjoy the openness of this beaded ceiling...

...Maddie, our adopted Grand-Dog
and I share this side of the bedroom..

...and Jack opted to be closer to the 'boys' room...

..showing numerous photos of the kids and grandkids
on more of the furnishings we found at the
antique auction...

...and two Antique prints I was thrilled
to bid on and win at the auction...

...both properties we've owned in Texas
were formerly owned
by a Texas Oil & Ranch family, The Stephenson's.

This same family owned an old
downtown hotel named 'The Stephenson Hotel"
which operated here for numerous years and later
was demolished to add parking spaces downtown.

Several years ago I was in an antique store in
Mt. Vernon, Texas and saw this light fixture.
The store owner told me it came out of the
Old Stephenson Hotel and I thought for 'history'
sake surely it could be used somewhere
in our home, and at $25.00 I couldn't pass it up.

I brought it home and placed it under a table in
the shop and had never used it in our home.
While rebuilding we decided we'd use it
in our bedroom.
Jack says it is the ugliest fixture he's ever seen..
but I love it and am very proud to still have it.

...various pictures, some new & some old.
The old ones of course, cherished photo memories
we never thought we'd see again...

...hard to describe how thankful I was the day
Mary Katherine called to tell me she found some
surprises at her Mom's...this picture of her from our
wedding day had always been a fixture beside my bed,
and now it is there once again.
....HE restores....

...and even though we seldom use it, we have a TV in
the armoire in our bedroom...and rocking chairs
just in case there is ever some 'down' time.....

...and the large carved chest at the foot
of the bed is a great
place for extra pillows at night....

Night...hope you enjoy sweet
Kelly's Tours this week...
Blessings always,
Kaye

We may boldly say:
"The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?"
Hebrews 13:6

Door(s)...and Mudroom

The laundry room is never a favorite room
in a home, but for me, ours is special because of
'a door'.

This door was once the front door for a home
in South Mississippi.
The history of this home in our family goes back to it
being built in the early 1900's.
I've heard stories from people who remember
the beams being brought in with horse & buggy..
and hopefully the 'history' as I remember it being
told is accurate...
My sister-in-law's Great-Grandparents
originally built the home.
Later she lived in this home with her parents,
then a first cousin of ours owned this home.
Then my parents bought this home from my Dad's nephew
and while living there,
my younger (only/favorite:))
brother lived in the same bedroom
that his 'wife to be' lived in when she was younger.

Her Grandmother lived next door and that is how
she and my brother first met.

We lost my Grandmother, Dad and Mother in this home,
in that order. There were times when my Mother
didn't know if she could stay there, but thankfully she did
as we LOVED this 'old home'.
This place always felt like "Home" p.e.r.i.o.d.

When we lost my Mom in 1998, one of our main concerns
was, "how in this world would we ever find GOOD
neighbors for our sister-in-laws very special Grandmother?"
As we pondered several scenarios we asked my
brother and his wife if they'd like to have the home.
They finally agreed!
My sister, Stephanie's Grandmother
and I were VERY thankful!

They remodeled the home, removing all windows and doors,
and added a bathroom which had always been needed.
When they decided to take on this project, I told
them I'd LOVE to have the windows and doors
that were removed from the home.

These were brought to Texas and placed in our
warehouse not knowing how-when-if we'd ever
find a way to use them.

After losing our home in 2005,
I wanted "the door" in our new home.
We finally decided to use it on the utility room
closet door. A friend took the door and later
told me he could not count the layers of paint
he removed while sanding it.
After he sanded it to its original color,
we whitewashed it, then sanded more,
revealing almost a 'crackled' finish.

Needless to say, I LOVE this door
and all that it stands for.

..a framed cross stitch piece given to me by
Tripp and his family...that I have hanging next to
"the door"...

...and loving red once again...had these cabinets
in the utility room 'roughed up' a bit..

..and had the cabinet guy build in drawers
under the washer and dryer to hold hangers...

..and have thoroughly enjoyed the
sink in the utility room for watering plants,
washing off 'very' dirty shoes, etc....

...found these old ammunition boxes that
I've used around the house to hold books...

...engraved MUDROOM on a cabinet door,
then faux painted it and filled in the engraving
with black paint....

I engraved cabinet doors naming a few rooms
in the house and we joked about it at the time
saying these were made for Jack, so he'd always
know 'where' he was in the house:)
Needless to say, I've yet to 'finish' the others
to hang throughout the house...
maybe one day!

...and one of my favorite Scriptures engraved
on a tile...I previously had cross stitched this
Scripture and had it in our entry way in our
previous home....

..this cabinet is in our mudroom/mud hall area.
It was built to hold 'electrical stuff'..
a pet peeve of mine is hating to see cords.
I had a lot of electrical plugs installed
inside these cabinets to hold cell phone chargers,
weather radio, camera battery chargers,
answering machine, etc.....

..and bins, coat racks, hat racks,
umbrella holders,
baskets in bins for gloves, flashlights, etc...
in this hallway/mud hall...

HOPE
..a wonderful reminder hanging in the hallway,
given to us by Mary Katherine & her family...

..a framed embroidered piece...
and a decoupaged Scripture to
hang in the hallway...
both found at Goodwill...
Philippians 4:7

...a young man who works for us a couple of hours
each afternoon was in the midst of remodeling his
home while we were building.
He brought this door
he removed from his home for us
after he learned about the
door from my parents' home...
so we used it in Jack's TV room...

...and this framed print hangs in Jack's TV room.
This was a 'gem' of a find for me at the auction!
My Dad's parents had this same print in their home
and when I saw it, I knew it was a 'must buy'.

I learned Auction's #1 Rule that night.
It was our first time there and when this came
up for auction I raised my number and left it up!
It DID NOT MATTER who else wanted it,
I was going to win this auction at all costs!
The people around me, my husband included,
scolded me, telling me,
"DO NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"

I was lucky, it didn't cost an arm and a leg,
but never again did I raise my number and
KEEP IT RAISED
while an item was being auctioned off.
To be honest,
there were times I wanted to. I kept reminding
myself of Auction's #1 Rule.....
Of course, the auctioneer got a
kick out of watching this
as it transpired and told me later
I did 'exactly' the right thing.
But having heard otherwise from so
many people there, I decided they were right
and he was wrong, or he was LOVING my
'auction way', and why shouldn't he,
since that is the business he is in!

Later I learned the framed print had belonged
to a personal friend. He came up to me that evening
and asked, "why did you want that SO bad?"
He totally understood...once I explained to him,
it was a very sentimental print.
Thanks Jeff for offering your print in the auction!

And no,
they don't allow me to go to the auction anymore:(
...which in all honesty,
is probably a 'good' thing...

Thanks to sweet Kelly for allowing
the 'show us where you live' tours...

...enjoy browsing through others homes...

Thanks for stopping by &
blessings to all for a safe and wonderful weekend,
Kaye
Matthew 21:22
Revelation 21:5

For everything that was written in the past
was written to teach us,
so that through endurance and the encouragement
of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Romans 15:4 NIV

The Necessary Rooms

Encouraging sentiments hanging in various
bathrooms...

One of our guest baths, this one we
call the red-white-blue bath...

....and in this guest bath Jack planed hickory
from old pallets and we used it as a wainscot...
This photo shows a dresser we bid on and won
at our favorite spot for several months...
The Sulphur Springs Antique Auction...

...in these baths I used more of the old
60's-70's fixtures...
some antique sconces bought at the
auction and on Ebay...

..not a great picture, sorry for the shadows,
but this is our 1/2 bath where we used
more of the teak wood...
old sconces from the auction,
and the mirror was an auction purchase too...

...and in our Master Bath I engraved
tumbled marble, then found decorative tile
pieces for the tile installer to place however
he chose.
The tumbled marble engraves
white instead of dark like most of the tiles
I engrave, because of its 'chalky' texture....

I located the columns at a local 'junk' store
and asked the contractor to use them in
this bath...

The grand kids get a kick out of us having a
girls & boys potty room. When the boys are here
they think they HAVE to use the 'boys room'!

This shows one of the decorative glass windows
found at the auction. I didn't want window treatments
in the bath to hide our view of the outdoors so we
used this in the window instead....

The 'girls' potty room...

An antique armoire which is a great addition to
this bath, for holding lots of 'necessary' items....

The quilt on top of this armoire was the first
quilt my Mother ever made.
When my sister and brother rushed here after
they heard about the fire, she grabbed this and
brought it to me that night....
I remember helping my Mother choose
coordinating fabrics for her first quilt...
...oh what great memories!
I am forever grateful to have 'pieces' of her here
....since we lost so many of my
Mother's and Grandmother's quilts
that dreaded day....

...and thinking I'd have time to soak in the bath
and watch TV at the same time....wishful thinking....
...maybe one day!

Love the Cross sconce ordered from a local
furniture store...one of very few 'new'
fixtures in our home....
and we have thoroughly enjoyed the vaulted,
white-washed beaded ceiling in our bath...

...and this is the view from 'His' end of the bathroom,
showing his wraparound shower...

Thanks so much to precious Kelly
for hosting...

Enjoy browsing bathrooms this weekend.

UPCOMING GIVEAWAY
Please check back soon....I have a new
gift set to show and will be giving one away
in perfect time for Father's Day.
It involves wood & grilling utensils.....
& will make the perfect Father's Day gift
that you can design yourself....
I hope to take pictures and have the
giveaway posted later this afternoon...
Stay tuned...as this giveaway will end
on Sunday in order for me to engrave
and ship the winning set in time for
Father's Day next weekend!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully
blessed weekend,
Kaye
Revelation 21:5
Matthew 21:22

Whoever believes in HIM should not
perish but have eternal life.
John 3:15 NKJV