Wood Floors, A Spooky Story

Oldest daughter Jenn lives clear out in San Diego.

Her co-worker Shannon just bought an old house,

tore out the yucky carpet, and is now trying to

determine how to refinish the old wood floors.

At work Friday, Jenn's co-workers were discussing

the wood floor issue. Another girl, Anna, jumped on

Google and brought up wood floors (pictures only)

and checked out a few finishes.

When Anna found the one she liked, she told

Shannon, "here's the finish you should do".

Our daughter Jenn glanced over from her desk,

took one look at Anna's computer screen and said,

"That's my mother's kitchen!"

The girls weren't on my blog, they were on a Google

site where Anna just typed in some search words for

wood floors. 

They're in San Diego, we're in Texas.

The other girls didn't even know I have a blog.

I posted about our wood floors 2 years ago.

What are the chances?

These pictures are the ones I posted in a couple
of blog posts in November 2012. I took these
poor quality pics with my first little point-and-
shoot camera.

I thought they were good back then,
forgive me.

We still love those hand-distressed floors.
Best decision we made for the house.

Now tell me, have you ever experienced a
spooky coincidence like that?

They say there is no such thing as a coincidence.
Do you believe that?

Blogs I Party At:

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2014/10/home-sweet-home-193.html?

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/2014/10/amaze-me-monday-82.html



Lazy Girl Cooks Chocolate Cake

I tend to take shortcuts, especially with cooking.

Here is the best chocolate loaf cake you can

make with just two or three ingredients.

I like chocolate so that's what I used today,

but you can use ANY flavor of cake mix...

and mix it up with a small can of pure pumpkin.

Be sure to use the plain puree kind marked
 "100 % PURE"
and not the one with spices in it.

That's all the ingredients you need!

Dump the cake mix and the can of pumpkin

puree into a bowl and mix it together. 

 I used a large spoon here too lazy to get out the mixer 

to show you it is so easy to mix this up.

 Oil a loaf pan with whatever you have to keep

it from sticking. I used Bakers Joy, which has an

oil and flour mixture in one quick spray.

I know I said just two ingredients, but --
there's always a but, right? --
I topped the cake off with semi-sweet choc chips.

Like it wasn't chocolate enough to begin with!

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, then start

checking the center by sticking a butter knife into

the center to see if it comes out too sticky.

You don't want it too done,
but it shouldn't be too gooey either.

You can also use other size pans like muffin tins,

mini loafs, cupcakes or an 8 x 8, but you'll have to

figure how to adjust the length of time accordingly.

I sliced the loaf in thin slices due to the richness of

the flavor. No judgement here if you want to cut

yours thicker!

I couldn't get a good picture of the sliced cake.

I'll just blame it on my kitchen, which has no

windows and dark counter tops.

Health Note Here:

Just read in the Oct 20th issue of Woman's World

magazine that pumpkin helps lower blood sugar and

may even reverse diabetes. It has lots of fiber and

nutrients that makes it so good for you.

Other Flavor Ideas:

Spice cake mix, pumpkin puree and

add dried cranberries, nuts, etc.

Carrot cake mix, pumpkin puree, nuts.

Vanilla cake mix, pumpkin puree,

drop blackberries on the top

As always, no one paid me to say this.
The brands I used were what I had on hand.
You can use any brand of cake mix, pumpkin, etc.


Thanks for dropping by!
Let me know if you think of other
combinations you think might be good.

How To Win The Contest

I was thinking of a Halloween from 31 years

ago in 1983, when the youngest was 3 and we had just

adopted my best pal, Ginger, from an event called

"Adopt A Pet In The Park"

I learned that year that it isn't always the

costume that wins the contest, it's the attitude.

We were going to a Halloween party and the

littlest wanted to be a bride -- or, more likely,

I just had stuff on hand that I thought I could

use for a bride outfit and talked her into it.

So we dressed her up.

I put her sister's old flower girl dress on her

and made her a veil out of some cheese cloth,

which I held in place in her hair with some little

fake flowers and clips. All three girls picked

some flowers and we tied them together with

some ribbon to make her a bouquet.

The only picture I have of her is after the costume 

party we attended, when she was eating her cupcake.

I had taken the veil off and tried it out on

the dog...

Now she won 1st prize in the costume contest,

but I don't think it was my dazzling outfit that 

did the trick. 

See, she got a little stage fright at the

last minute and started bawling and didn't

want to be in the contest. 

Her father (my ex) told her she had to go on

stage with her sisters and be in the parade or no

candy and treats. So, up on the stage she went

with her bouquet of flowers and round and

round in circles she walked with the other kids,

but she was bawling like crazy and acting

like she was going to her death, which made

her look just like a reluctant bride.

The audience loved it!

Everyone clapped for her, and she finally

started smiling, when they announced

that the contest winner was...

The Bawling Bride 

A Bowl Full Of Pumpkins

This bowl of pumpkins sits on the table
with a little string of lights from
last Christmas.

I filled up the bottom of the bowl with pinecones,
acorns, faux vines, and even three fake pears... 
basically anything in a shade of Fall brown.

This battery pack lasted all last December

and, so far, this past week. I buried the

battery pack down under the acorns

and pinecones.

Most nights I forget to turn it off and
still it runs day and night.

Last weekend, I saw these battery lights at Lowes.

They were in the Christmas section for $10 each.

Lowes has them with red or blue lights.

When I bought these last year at a home interiors

store, they had them in bright white (these) and

ones with a yellow cast. I wish I had bought

more of them when I had the chance.

They're great for putting on wreaths, vignettes,
or even in a bowls of pumpkins.


Thanks for dropping by!

Linking to:
http://homeremediesrx.com/2014/10/merry-monday-link-party-25/
http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/2014/10/amaze-me-monday-81.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHeartOfYourHome+%28The+Heart+of+Your+Home%29

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2014/10/feathered-nest-friday_16.html

My Kitchen Has A Hole In It

There's a hole in our kitchen...

See it?

Above the refrigerator, the builder planned

for a TV in the space. There is a plug-in

and cable outlet just waiting for a TV.

The inside of the cabinet was not finished

like the rest of the cabinets (see below)

and there are no doors like these.

Just a big hole.

We don't want to put a TV in our

kitchen. It's part of the great room and

there's already a TV across the room.

Wondering what would you do?

Bloggers always have such wonderful

ideas. Please share your best idea

with us and help us fix that hole.

Sharing at the following party:

http://missmustardseed.com/2014/10/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-link-party-41/

FALL AND OLD THINGS

I like dorky Fall decorations, especially ones that last.
You can only paint so many pumpkins white, right?

This lighted pumpkin is from 2003 or 2004 maybe...

I bought it at Walmart for around $3.99

Knock on wood...It still lights up!

Love this fabric scarecrow's goofy grin.

I bought him at Cracker Barrel restaurant about

8 years ago. He moves around during the season,

much like the furniture.

Last October, we took a trip through Northern

Georgia. I saw this cute collection of pumpkins

and scarecrows and took a picture so I could

recreate it on our lawn.

Hope it's cooling down where you are.
We're expecting a cold snap and more rain.
Yay!!!

Thanks for dropping by.

Sharing with the girls here:

http://jannolson.blogspot.com/2014/10/share-your-cup-thursday-121.html

Fall Banner And Pillows

I didn't win that banner over at

Art And Sand's blog,

but don't feel sorry for me --- 

Carol sent me a banner anyway!

 Here's a closer look...

 I guess you noticed I didn't climb back up

on top of the kitchen cabinets to put it up

there like I said I would if I won.

For now, I put it in the TV room I'm making

out of what was the dining room.

Here's a moody shot of the room to give it a

little drama. I really need to just pick a paint

color and paint this room a darker color.

 The "FALL" banner goes well with the Pottery Barn 

pillows I bought last year. They're back in the stores

and catalog this year.

 That's one of my new PB lampshades in the

corner there. I bought them for another room,

but tried them out in here to add some pattern.

I sure love the "Fall" banner.

Carol called her gift "passing on the blog love."

I love that, and I plan to pass some on myself.

If you weren't one of the five winners, you can

still make one of these banners for yourself.

Carol put the easy-to-follow directions for

making them on her blog.

Full disclosure...I love the banner and

Art And Sand's blog. She did send me one

of the banners, but the opinion is my own.


And, I wish I could tell you Pottery Barn pays
me to gush about their products, but they don't.


Check out Carol's blog, you'll enjoy it.

And maybe you're one of the five winners.

http://artandsand.blogspot.com

Linking up here this week:

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2014/10/feathered-nest-friday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FQoLtm+%28FRENCH+COUNTRY+COTTAGE%29