Old Fashioned Christmas Craft Show

SAVE THE DATE!  November 11th, 12th, and 13th

http://oldroadprimitives.blogspot.com/2011/09/getting-readyy-for-our-old-fashioned.html


Hello Friends!

I will be participating in an online " Old Fashioned" Christmas Craft Show  November 11, 12 and 13.
I would love to have you join us on those dates. There will be many participants in this show. If you would like to join the show click on the link above for more information.

|I will post a list of participants on October 16. Everything will be handmade and I'm sure you will be able to find some fabulous Christmas gifts! This will be something new for me, so wish me luck! My biggest challenge will be adding items to the blog. ( I am not a computer genius!) I did add a Christmas  playlist to the bottom of the blog. Not sure I will keep it. I'm not a big fan of music on blogs. They are Christmas songs however, and who doesn't love Christmas!

Stay tuned ! We will see how this works out!
Wanda

I've been away too long!

Hello Friends!

I have been a very bad blogger! I haven't posted for a month and a half! I have finally got caught up on reading all the blogs I suscribe to and posted on several. I see I have some new followers! Thank you for following my blog and to all my followers for not unsubscribing for my being such a bad blogger!

Things have been crazy here for the last month. We have had terrible weather here in central PA. Tropical storm Lee rolled through here and left behind horrible flooding! We only had a roof leak, power outage, and no cable. That was nothing compared to some families around here. They have had their homes literally float away. The flooding here was much worse than in 1972 when Agnes hit our area. Here are a couple of pics I got from WNEP 16 website.

This a a view of Knoebles amusement park. There is a huge craft show here every year (Covered Bridge Festival) I think they have things cleaned up enough to have it this year, at least I hope so. I haven't checked to see if it is still on, but it should be next weekend (Oct 7,8,9)It is a fantastic craft show, great crafts and food. My friends Lisa and Phyllis and I did this show for years, but I just can't get enough things made for a 3 day show anymore.

This one blew me away! I travel this road  all the time. It's RT 147  in Northumberland. 

I had a terrible time coming home from work when all this rain started. I normaly travel the back roads home. We live in a rural area and there are creeks and streams everywhere around here. Every road I was on was closed due to flooding. I finally had to backtrack and drive about 15 miles back to the interstate to get home.

We have had more rain this week and more flooding .I feel so sorry for those that have been flooded out. The river is supposed to crest today right at flood level.

 On to some more pleasant news....I "WON" several goodies for commenting on your blogs!The first one was from Olde Country Cupboard. I won one of the Christmas in July giveaways. These gingerbread men are just too cute!

Check out Sandy's blog here http://oldecountrycupboard.blogspot.com I love her blog and she has terrific patterns. They are very easy to make.

Next I won this from a giveaway on http://thecountryprimitiveshoppe.blogspot.com

This angel is so fantastic! It's much larger than it appears in the photo. It also smells soooooo good!

It was one of several items donated by the artisans on the  site. This angel was from Old Primitive Peddlers shop. She has an Etsy shop too. You can find her here http://www.etsy.com/shop/primgirl62

Next I won this giveaway

 Can you belive this giveaway! It was from Mary at http://gettysburghomestead.blogspot.com 

she is way too generous( I'm not giving anything back though! lol) I love her blog too. She is very talented and if you haven't visited her blog, you need to check it out!

Last but not least I just won this the other day! I was in total shock when I read her blog and found that I was one of the winners!

It's a steampunk charm pin from Roni at http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com I love steampunk anything! |I used to own a rubber stamp store and I really love all the mixed media, altered art, and all the artsy fartsy stuff that you can do.Check out her blog. She does way cool stuff. I taught classes on making all these things for years. Sadly, I haven't done anything artsy since I closed my store, but I am really getting in the mood to pull out all my "stuff" and make some of these things again! Roni's blog is very inspiring.

|I think I may have to come up with something for a giveaway here .I am working on things for a craft show in November. After I have that out of the way, I'll have a giveaway ....... Stay tuned!

Hubby and I and two of the girls and the grandbaby went to the beach in August. We had a great time, the weather couldn't have been better if I had special ordered it!Little nuggie learned how to sit up and start to crawl while we were there. He also got his first tooth! Mom-mom got to witness all of those firsts with him. He is such a cutie.

Hubby and I also got away to the beach again a couple of weeks ago.( Just the two of us) I love that place (Rehoboth Beach DE ) It is so nice there in September! I was surprised, everyone there was hummmm.."more mature" lol  , no kids screaming on the boardwalk, no kids crying in the restaurant at the next table, no kids throwing sand all over you on the beach, no college students, no rednecks and you could actually sit on the beach without wall to wall umbrellas around you! It was WONDERFUL! Don;t get me wrong I love being there in August too with all of the above, but this was really a restful week.

I think I have filled you in on the whole month of September, so till next time....

Take care!

Wanda

Samplermakers Stash Swap

Hello Friends!

I hope you are all keeping cool! I am loving this weather!

I wanted to share the items I received in a couple of swaps with you .I participated in a Stash Swap on the Samplermakers forum www.samplermakers.ning.com  Kriss from Kountry Porch Primitives  was my swap partner. I was so lucky to have Kriss as a partner! She has designed her first cross stitch pattern and I was honored to receive the first one! She is one talented gal! The new pattern is Simple Peacock Sampler Pillow. LOVE IT!  She also sent me the sweetest notions box (that she handmade) with a stitched sampler top and inside was the fabric and floss to complete the pillow and a darling pinkeep and a needle holder. She also sent a beautiful handmade card with the cutest prim girl on the front! I have the notions box sitting on my table next to my stitching chair...it looks perfect there! You can check out her blog here www.kountryporchprimitives.blogspot.com

I don't know why the bottom photo is not horizontal! I can't get it to flip...guess you will have to look at it side- ways! lol

The next swap I participated in was the Red and White Swap on the Sew Many Ways blog www.sewmanyways.blogspot.com We had to send 125 , 5 inch square blocks of  fabric ( had to be red and white|) and we received back 125 different red and white blocks! There were 125 participants from the US and several other countries and I was thrilled with the blocks I got back. I have looked through them several times and there are only a couple of duplicates. I can't believe how many red and white fabrics are out there! I was in Lancaster and went to several quilt shops before I found a truly red and white fabric!I finally found one I like at The Old Country Store in  Intercourse. www.theoldcountrystore.com If you are ever in Lancaster, this shop is well worth stopping in! I have spent a small fortune in there, I love their fabrics! Now the real headache comes when I have to decide what quilt top to make using them!
Anyway here is what they look like.

 I am really glad I participated in these swaps. I was a little hesitant at first. I haven't done an online swap for about 8 years. I got burned several times by bad swap partners. But not this time! WHOO HOO! I may just participate in some more!

Well that's all I have for today. I will share my junking trip with my BFF'S from last weekend maybe tomorrow. Then I will start sharing some Cades Cove photos. I am still trying to get them organized.

Have a great evening!

Wanda

Remember This ?

Hello Friends!

Hey, anyone remember this?

This is one of the last snows we had in February.....YUK! All my co-workers are whinning about the heat and humidity, "NOT ME"! I'll take the heat any day over this snow and cold!I am  a summer lover! I know there are a ton of people who love the snow and cold, so just wait...you will get your turn soon enough! Meanwhile  I am enjoying... as our local weather man says "the air you can wear"!lol I'm heading to the beach the end of the month and I truly will be in heaven then.

 I promised some pics of our trip to the Smokies in May so I will share a few now and more later. I think I told you before that we have not been to the Smokies for about 30 years. I was really shocked when we arrived in Gatlinburg at our hotel.What I remembered of Pigeon Forge (the little town before you get into Gatlinburg) was a little two lane road  with lots of junk , I mean souvenir shops  and tourist type things like a black bear that drank Dr. Pepper. Now, the road is under construction and it will be 6 lanes of traffic with a red light every 50 feet! It took forever to get through there and on to Gatlinburg. Once we were settled into our room, we took a walk through town.What a major disappointment! Nothing but T-shirt shops, knife and hookah pipe shops .(they were bongs in my day!)When we were there years ago, they still had tons of souvenir shops, but they also had some unique shops with local handmade items. Indian jewelry and quilts and handmade baskets etc.The one shop that did have "handmade" quilts and gift items ....all "handmade" in CHINA!  Needless to say, I didn't spend any money in Gatlinburg, and I had no desire to stop in Pigeon Forge for anything either!The only thing I bought the whole trip was a Cades Cove t-shirt at the visitor center.

There was a new aquarium  in Gatlinburg. This thing was absolutely wonderful! If you have kids, they would love it! Hubby and I were in there for about 4 hours. We have been to the aquarium in Baltimore, and I tell you this one puts it to shame! It is beautiful, clean and the soothing music they play is fantastic!  It has an amazing people mover that winds around forever through glass tunnels with all the fish swimming aound over your head.I took about a million pictures there, I won't bore you with all of them ...only a couple!

This thing looked like a piece of seaweed. It is actually a creature related to a seahorse. It was from the coast of Australia.I was facinated with the whole display these things were in.

Some Jellyfish. Another very interesting display.. I could go on and on about the aquarium, but you would be bored to tears.Lets just say that it was well worth the admission price. I think it was about $22.00 for each of us.

Well I think I will continue with Cades Cove next time. I took tons of pictures of the cabins and I am in love with that area! I think you may enjoy seeing some really prim cabins.

Try to say cool!

Wanda

Where Have I Been?

Hello Bloggers!

I see there are some new followers added! Thank you so much for signing up to follow my little blog. I really appreciate all of you that have signed up!

Hummmmm...Where have I been?

Well, to start with, my second daughter graduated with honors in May with her Masters in Special Education!  We are so proud of her!She has plans to now start working on her Doctorate.

Next my hubby and I went on a short trip to the Smokies in Tennessee. We haven't been there for over 30 years. WOW! what a change! I will share photos in another post...I have absolutely tons! We toured Cades Cove....LOVED IT!

Lastly , I have been babysitting my 6 month old grandson for the last three weeks. Two weeks to go!
My 28 year old single mother daughter (a whole other story!) is taking two night classes this summer and there was no one to keep the baby while she took the classes. She lives 4 hours away and is attending college. She is a Geology major with a minor in Chemistry. So Mom-Mom and Papa volunteered to keep him.He is just the sweetest baby! He is so good I can hardly believe it. Although, I must say,.....I am TIRED! It sure is different taking care of an infant when you are 62 than when you are in your 20's or 30's.He is used to being held most of the time so I am exhaused by the end of the day.Thank goodness Papa is retired and can help too! He is just a little angel and it will be hard to not have him here when her classes are over for the summer. We have tried to talk her into moving back home to  finish college around here, but no luck yet. (Then I would get to spoil him all the time)

Look at that smile! He just melts my heart! 

This is his beach look! Love the hat!


Well, until I have some more time to post, this will have to be it for a little while. I'm anxious to share the pictures from Cades Cove, so hopefully I can get those posted soon!
Have a wonderful evening!
Wanda

Inkstains 500,000 Follower Giveaway!

Hello Bloggers!

Just a quick note to tell you about the giveaway over on Inkstains blog! It's a biggie worth $250.00.
If you are into scrapbooking or rubber stamping ...your are going to"LOVE IT"!  So hop over there and check it out! Here's the link:  http://www.inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com

I used to own a rubber stamp store, so I know all the wonderful things you can do with rubber stamps. I taught classes every week , and I so love all the creative things you can make. I especially like to make handmade books and embellish them with rubber stamp images, lots of embellishments, ink and fibers! YUM! I'm sorry I don't have any pics to show you. They are all stored in my old computer and I haven't ever taken the time to transfer them to the new computer. I will post some for all of you in a future post.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening!
Wanda

Happy Easter!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you have had a very blessed day! It's very quiet at my house since there are no family living close enough to share the day. I really miss those big family dinners.

It is finally a little warmer here, although it is still cloudy with some rain!

I would like to welcome and thank all the new followers! I am glad that you stop by to see what's going on here in central Pennsylvania. I have been trying to catch up on reading some of the blogs I follow. Wow. some of you really lead busy,interesting lives!

My hubby and I had a chance to get away for a few days last week. My favorite place in the whole world is the beach! Rehoboth Beach Delaware to be exact! I would move there in a heartbeat. It was much more quiet than when we go for our summer vacation. I was surprised to see so many people on the beach Wednesday. It was very warm. but too cold to swim. There were lots of people in the water though!

Here are a few pics!

Looking north on the boardwalk. Most of the shops on the boardwalk were closed.

This view is looking south on the beach.

The Bandshell on Rehoboth Avenue. They have absolutely fantastic free concerts every weekend during the summer.

We are planning another trip to Rehoboth some time in May........I can't wait! Well. it's time for me to start getting ready for bed, I have to get up really early for work tomorrow.
 Have a great evening.
Wanda

My "Baby's" Birthday!

Hello Bloggers!

I hope you have had a wonderful day! I am still waiting for Spring to arrive! Cold and rainy here today.Oh well, it can't be too much longer till warmer weather can it?

Today is my baby's birthday! He is 20!!! I can't believe it. Where did those 20 years go? He has been such a joy. I tell him all the time that he is my favorite son! (He is an only son!) I must admit, when I found out I was pregnant I was less than thrilled!  I was 42, my hubby left a job of 25 years for a new one. We were in the middle of selling our home, building a new home in a new town and here I am...pregnant!Whew, not only am I pregnant...my oldest child  was 25 and my youngest was 7! We have three daughters and I was convinced that the baby was another girl! I had girls names picked out too. Well, let me tell you, when the doctor said "it's a boy" I was in shock!  Oh, and the kicker... my second daughter that was 22 at the time was also pregnant! So my grandson was born two months after my son! So now we had a son and a grandson!

I have so enjoyed having a son finally! Raising a boy was a whole new experience for my husband and me. We were used to dolls and all the girly stuff. Now we had to shift gears and figure out  what little boys actually are made of! He has turned out to be a fine young man and we are so proud of him.

So Happy Birthday son! Love you!

This is a picture from our trip to New York in November.We take all the kids every year...so much fun!

Well that's enough of my rambling, thanks for letting me share.

Have a terrific week!
Wanda

Almost Spring?

Hello Everyone!

So sorry that you haven't heard from me for so long. I promise to try to be a much better blogger.

I don't know about all of you, but I am really weary of winter. We have had a couple of nice days, and now we are supposed to have a few rainy,cold yukky days this week.  I am a warm weather girl . Give me 85 degrees and sun and I am a happy camper!

I am trying to get some things done around this house that really need some attention too. Hubster and I went to Lowes the other day to get some paint for the foyer, staircase and upstairs hall.  Should have left him at home! We have this ongoing battle over paint. He wants all white walls. I am sick to death of white walls. I want to warm them up a bit. I did manage to get him to paint my living room a really nice cream. I love it. After threatening to leave him at Lowes, I did manage to get my cream paint for the foyer and hallway. We did get WHITE for the spare bedroom! I guess that was fair.

We also went to my favorite shop in the world to order ottomans for the chairs I bought last year. If you are ever in the Central Pennsylvaina area you HAVE to visit this shop. AMERICAN HERITAGE CRAFTERS  in Milton PA. All I can say is you will be drooling the whole time you are there. It is in an old shoe factory. They have evolved over several years to what the shop is now and all I can say is WOW . It is so beautiful you won't want to leave. Brick walls, wood floors, huge space, beautiful furniture, Johnson Benchworks, Martins chairs, Irvins tin. Very rustic. They are owned by Kuhns Brothers log Homes. They also have a huge area of salvage building supplies. So If your hubby is a do it yourselfer, you could lose him in there for days! I am getting off track here... they have a buy one get one free sale on the Johnson Benchwork special orders twice a year. I bought my chairs last year and didn't think I wanted ottomans...... Well, I decided I really do want ottomans so I ordered them .  Here are my chairs

I love these chairs. I'll take more pictures of the living room now that it is finished. I am pleased with the way it turned out. I need to hang some samplers that I stitched but I'm not sure where to hang them yet.

I finished some other stitching and a hooked rug since Christmas. I am determined to finish up some UFO's that have been hanging around for way too long. Next project will be to finish up some of the quilts that I have started. Here are some of the stitching and the hooked table runner I finished.

The colors in the table runner are nicer in person. This was one of my first attempts at hooking!

Well , I have rambled on long enough. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Take care,
Wanda

Sweet Meadows Farm Giveaway!

Hello Bloggers!

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas! I have a few more things to do and I am done!  Wanted to let you know I am a new Grandma again! This makes #4. Little David Alexander was born Thursday at 11:25am.We are all excited since our youngest grandchild is 18!
We wern't sure we would actually have anything else except "grand dogs"!. No pictures yet. I only have cell phone pics and I haven't figured out how to upload them to the puter  :o( 

Now on to some more good stuff!  Maureen at Sweet Meadows Farm is giving away a pattern of your choice every month for 12 months for one lucky follower of her blog! I love, love her patterns!. I think I already have just about all of them, but I still want to WIN ! LOL. So hop over there and take a look!
That's all for now!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Wanda

45th Annual Marietta Candlelight Tour of Homes

Hello Bloggers!
Well as promised I have some pictures of the house tour I went on this past Sunday. I must tell you that if you live close enough to attend this tour, it is well worth the trip! You won't be disappointed! I have gone on this tour every year for about 10 years and I wouldn't miss it for anything! Marietta is located along the Susquehanna river just off RT 441 between Middletown and Columbia. (It's midway between Harrisburg and Lancaster) Marietta is a very old town(early 1700"s) there are some absolutely beautiful homes in the town and lots of Bed and Breakfast. Anyway here are a few pics. I always take a lot of pictures of the doors that are decorated.They have a contest in town for the best door decorations.

Love this railing planter.

This picture isn't great but I love this table!

Table display in one of the homes.

This home always has the nicest window boxes every year!

Love this door!

This is a home along Front Street, the oldest section of town. The doors are always decorated great!

This is the Union Meeting House  built in 1818. They have table displays inside that you can vote for the best one.

Table display I voted the best!Done by American Family Weavers.

Tombstones in the front of the Meeting house. The earliest one I could read was 1842.

Civil war Union Forces camping and recruitment in front of the Old Town Hall.

There are horse drawn carriage rides. There are also people walking around town in 1800's period dress.
That's it! I love this tour!
You can check out their web site .
http://www.mariettarestoration.org/

I am hoping to get to the Christkindl German Market in Mifflinburg PA on Saturday. This is the 22nd year for this event. Ther are over 100 vendors, great german food, lots of way cool activities. I will take photos if I get to go!
Stay warm!
Wanda