Hope you are staying dry this rainy weekend

I HOPE MY FAMILY IS REALLY HUNGRY......

.....Because I am going to make EVERY DISH in this cook book!  Have you gotten yours yet?

 Ree Drummond has a great blog called 'Confessions of a Pioneer Woman' and she just authored this fabulous cook book. 'The Pioneer Woman Cooks'. This book has it all; gorgeous photos taken by Ree herself including step by step photos of each dish making them easy to prepare. And what a wonderful sence of humor!  You will enjoy every page, I promise. Oh and she tells us about her life living on a ranch, how she met her husband and on and on.  You need this book! I have already decided to buy it for Christmas gifts.

 Now, I already have a 'few' recipe books but let me tell you that this one is my absolute FAVORITE!!!

 I need to get my grocery list ready because today I am going to make chicken-fried steak. MMMm MMMm I'm in Heaven..........

Till next time........
~Debra

UNEXPECTED CHANGE OF PLANS

Sometimes a girl just has to change her plans.

Don and I went to a barn sale on Sunday.  I found this gorgeous carved chair.  My mind started turning as soon as I saw it.  I will paint it white, sand it a little and recover it with a delicious vintage piece of floral fabric I had bought from the flea market and saved for the perfect project.  It is just what I was looking for to use with the desk I brought down stairs. The carving on it is devine!

Then my son, Deg, stopped by and I showed it too him.  He knows how much I like painted furniture.  The first thing he said was "Mom, you aren't going to paint this are you?????" giving me that side look.  I said "Oh NO of course not." I thought, what did I just say and why did I say it? He continued " Because it's nice just the way it is" and proceded to see how sturdy it was. So I kissed him goodbye and wished him a nice rest of the afternoon and off he went.  I, however stood there looking at my chair thinking now what. So this is what I came up with.

I recovered it in a dark burlap that I am also using for a antique settee I will be redoing.  I added a crocheted trim instead of gimp and a vintage doily to the front. And look what I found I can do with the bottom.

The bottom of the chair has a runner that allows me to put a tweed box of papers on it. Nice storage. I am still going to sew an extra down filled cushion for the seat so it will be higher at my desk.

And you know what?  I like it better like this than I would if I had painted it.   THANK YOU MY FAVORITE SON IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!

Till next time........

~Debra

I HAVE JOINED WHITE WEDNESDAY!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to Kathleen at Faded Charm for letting me join her 'White Wednesday'. I have enjoyed other blogs that have joined and it looked like so much fun I thought I would tag along. I am not sure of any rules so if I need to add or substract something please let me know.  Here goes!

This is one of my favorite busts. She proudly wears strands of beads and sits in front of my antique lamp collection.

A great old tin tile.

Cherubs hold my Rosary Beads and white necklaces.

A cherub picture with wedding veil.

One of my two pretty doves.  Love them!

Hope you enjoyed my little version of white.

Till next time.....

~Debra

Thrifting in PA

If you are ever in Denver,PA, be sure and make this adorable thrift shop one of the places you stop at. It is my favorite thrift shop ever! It is located in an old log building with a wonderful huge fireplace and three rooms just packed with goodies. It is so very nicely decorated. One room is filled with new items. I picked up a brand new Chicos jacket for only $23.00!!!!!!!That is 'Chicos' ...The very stylish Chicos. Along with a scarf, baby clothes, garden frogs.......They sell everything from clothes to furniture to gorgeous homemade ribbon roses. The other two rooms are gently used items. The staff is awesome and if you go once you will go time after time again. Let me know what you find! Have fun!!!

Second Street, 2222 N. Reading Road, Denver, PA 17517

Phone 717-336-4104

IT'S HERE!!!!!!IT'S HERE!!!!!!

I received Rachel Ashwell's newest book 'SHABBY CHIC INTERIORS' and it is soooo beautiful! I had pre-ordered it as soon as I heard it was being published and was so excited to finally see it in my mail box. I read every page and studied every photo like a child with a new toy. It is actually larger than her other books and, in Rachel Ashwell style and photographer Amy Neunsinger, full of delicious photos of her home as well as others. I love how she describes her rooms - she is truly a treasure. I think the Shabby Chic style will be around for a very long time, don't you? If you haven't gotten yours yet, you can order it on Amazon.com. This is one of those books that you will look at over and over again.

Till next time.............

~Debra

Shades of white........and a bit of color

A collection of white pitchers.

Meet Fergie. ...guard dog, baby sitter, bug killer, cat chaser, voted "worst gas ever", gardener, most loveable lap dog. She is pretty great.

The flea market is also a great place to buy flowers, fruits, and veggies. These roses are white with a green tint. So pretty.

This is my newest favorite vintage hat. It is packed with milinary flowers. It is absolutely gorgeous! Check back on Maisonstgermain.com for many new vintage hats, purses and gloves. We are going to have a huge sale in October! Sign up for our e-mails so you don't miss it.

Butterfly Bush was the perfect name for this plant. I have about a dozen of them in different colors. My yard is always full of butterflies and hummingbirds. And they make great cut flowers too.

Hope you enjoyed my little bit of white.

'Till next time.....

~Debra

BABY LOVE

We have a new baby in the family!!! Nicole and Manuel are the proud parents of Fibi Pearl. She was born on August 31st and is the cutest little love.

Stella is thrilled that she has another new baby sister. She has already been a big help. Yesterday Fibi was sleeping and dad told Stella to let her be for a while and he left the bedroom thinking she was behind him. By the time he reached the kitchen and turned around Stella had already taken Fibi out of the bassinet and was rocking her. That's our Stella.
Maci is also excited. She rubs Fibis head and kisses her cheek. It is so sweet to see little ones together. Such a house full of love and laughs (and a bit of craziness). Can you tell I am a proud Grammie?
Mama, Papa, Fibi and Doctor 'V' are all doing great. Dr. 'V' and the nurses at the hospital were awesome! They made the experience wonderful. Manuel and I coached Nicole to breath and push and Manual cut the cord. We kept the feeling very light, I mean who laughs while giving birth? This is my 3rd delivery and I think we are all set to deliver ourselves next time.....maybe.
I LOVE my family and am enjoying every second of this beautiful life.

Till next time........

~Debra

MADISON-BOUCKVILLE ANTIQUES SHOW 20

Don and I left CT at 4:30 A.M and headed off to the famous Madison-Bouckville Antiques Show. I was a little concerned about going so far away because Nicole is due to have the baby and I am to be in the delivery room again. I did not want to miss it. But Nicole assured me that she would wait and would not give birth without me. ( She is the best) So off we went.

This was the first time we had ever gone to this flea market. And we were not dissapointed. There were hundreds of dealers set up on both sides of the street. It looked so exciting and fun! Tents, treasures and people everywhere we looked. Then, in the large field there were 1000 selected dealers. I knew this was going to be one great day. We decided to start with the large field first. The people who ran it were the friendliest.

This was a fun booth. Cottagy and Shabby Chic. I just love that sign, don't you?

This was a curious piece. I like it.

Lots of vintage hats and clothes too. The hat I bought is so gorgeous. It is just packed with yummy colored millinary flowers, just prescious.
I just love these baskets. I bought two small ones. They are so adorable. This dealer had a nice selection. I put live plants, silk flowers and small pillows in mine.
Pretty painted furniture. And as always very interesting people. Yes...that is a pleated skirt with matching purse. Well it was very hot. There is just something about a man in a skirt, don't you think?

It was a fun, successful shopping day. Don was able to find 3 wonderful lanterns for his collection. We walked for miles and drank lots of water. We met some of our dealer friends who were st up. We ended with a great meal and headed home only to get up at 6:00A.M. to go to the Elephants Trunk Flea Market on Sunday morning. I hope you had a great weekend!

We LOVE Brimfield!



We LOVED meeting all of you who stopped by to say hello!!!

Our customers were fabulous and the dealers we met were awesome!!!!!!

We had so much fun. Lois of the Shelton Field and her staff were the best!!! (And you should see her beautiful gardens - just gorgeous)

We had a fun booth.

Don't you just love these shutters?

Vintage mens collars, frame, French tapestry,and adorable suitcase.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!

COME BY AND SAY HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!

We will be at Brimfield, MA on July 18th & 19th. We have lots of new fun things and would love to meet you! We will be at the Shelton Field. Look for the red and white striped tent. See you there.

A Garden Walk



Grab a cup of coffee and let us walk through the garden.
Up the brick steps through the arbor (designed and built by Don).

Oh look! A garden angel.

The edge of the pond. The pond is home to goldfish, koi and lots of frogs. There is also a tree frog near by that sings throughout the night.
This rose bush has hundreds of roses when it blooms and is home to the tree frog.
Around one of the small ponds.

Since the barn faces South, cacti and succulents were the perfect choice of plants to place by the front doors. I hope you enjoyed our little walk. I enjoyed having you!