A Home for the Homeless

Now that title may be misleading at first.  No, we don't get many hobos in this part of town.  Maybe a few goat nappers from time to time, but thankfully, everyone in our neck of the woods seems to have a home, no matter how small or grandiose.

I'm a purchaser.  A shopper.  A picker.  I find things I absolutely love, and I buy them, even if I have no clue where they would ever fit into my life or my home.  It's my weakest link, or possibly my greatest talent (depending on who you ask).  This means I have lots of 'things' sometimes with no actual home.  They just come into the house, wander around, and find themselves an unobtrusive corner to live out their days, until I either remember them and find them a good place, or forget them until they're old and grey, upon which time I release them into the world (read:  throw away or rehome).

You could call me a pack rat.

Anyhoo.  I made a great trip to TJMaxx the other day.  I purchased lots of fantastic things:

New Queen Size Quilt - $39.99
Two Matching Shams - $12.99 each
Two Tan Matching Pillows - $16.99 (on clearance)
One Rather Dashing Watercolor Pillow - $19.99
One Fetching Decorative Pillow - $16.99
Some unfortunate Not Potpourri - $3.99 for two
Another cylindrical glass vase - $3.99 (really if you want great vases, there's no where better to go than TJMaxx)

Picture below are the new homes everything has found.  I also included a photo of Beau's brand new Sealy Posturpedic pet bed we got from Sam's Club last night... $29.99.  He lurves it.  Remember, I said "Beau's".  Pepper typically refuses all dog beds.  Her fat body prefers hard floor, for whatever reason.

The new bedding:

The Pillows for our Summer Sofa:

The Fetching little Bird Pillow I think I'll put on the guest bed:

The Dog Bed in front of the Hearth:

And the little Ralph Lauren Lumbar Pillow I couldn't leave behind at TJMaxx last fall.  It was $12.99.  It has now, finally, found the most perfect home!

Summah Time! And the Livin's Easy!

Well, I know it's been almost a year since my last blog.  A lot has changed at the Red House.  And really, very little.  This will be a photo heavy blog.  Let's start our with our last vintage shopping trip.  We went to the store:  Olives and Grapes in Prairie Grove, and we found these fun letters:

And later, we had a shower for Lauren.  My mom found some excellent bundles of tulips at Sam's Club:  

Here was the table scape for Lauren's first wedding shower.  According to my mother, everything looks better fanned out, and I believe her.  See how elegant the fanned out silverware looks?  We have a veggie platter, meatballs provided by Farm Rich, pinwheels, gluten free crackers and dip, and then our amazing Fro Yo Bar.  My favorite purchase for this shower?  The two beverage dispenser from BB&B, as seen on the left.

A side view of the tablescape, with the drink dispenser.

And the famous Fro Yo Bar :) Lauren and Cory's favorite date night includes a local frozen yogurt bar, so we gathered 15 different fro yo toppings, and three fro yo flavors, to simulate their favorite place!  It was a big hit!

Justin and I found a root bound Japanese Maple for $70 at Home Depot.  Amazing find, and it fills this corner of the house perfectly!

For Valentine's Day, I made some awesome food, via Pinterest.  I made a shrimp dish, with salad, and then finished it with a Mississippi Mud Pie, pictured below!

Mud Pie by the slice :) It was rich and flavorful.  It had a little coffee in it, so it had a hint of coffee flavor.

And dinner was a Tuscan shrimp dish, with tomatoes and spinach.  So delicious!  I should have served it with rice or pasta.  It was saucy and delicious.  I served it with a thick bread to sop up all the deliciousness.

Come April I had decided to plant a raised bed garden.  We had some extra wood, so we made the sides, and added a top to keep the sides straight.  I purchased some weed liner, and lined the whole thing, about 8'x5'.

I added about 15 bags of dirt from Lowe's.  Then I planted (on the front end) 3 tomato plants, 4 squash plants, and 4 cucumber plants.  On the back half, I planted 3 bell pepper plants (red and green), 3 watermelon plants, 4 different spices (thyme, 2 sages, and parsley), and then two rows of beans and lettuce.  

One month later, and the squash is over taking the tomato plants :)

You'll see the four spices on the bottom row.  Then the peppers on the next two.  The bald spot was the lettuces.  The cats had a field day pottying in their 'new potty' the first day I planted, and they essentially raked up the nice rows I had planted.  So there are beans/lettuces in a weaving pattern in there.  At the back are watermelon plants, but I'm not holding out hope for them.

Our friends finally got married!!!  Lauren and Cory look awesome!

And while the rest of you were having a debaucherous Cinco de Mayo, I awoke to a cock in my yard...

Ok ok, my inlaws brought this with them, as a gift to me.  They know I like cocks.