Winter Decor at Grandma's House

Do Y'all ever watch HGTV or peruse blogs written by people who show their beautifully decorated homes? What about Pinterest where there are more decorating ideas than grains of sand on one tiny beach? So many ideas. So much pretty. But, Y'all probably remember I do not have a Pinterest house (and please don't get me started on 'Pinterest teachers' because I have TONS to say about them and the parents who fall for the falsehood that decorated classrooms means great teachers are inside. Dang tangents, I can never escape them.)

Everything looks so neat and clean and tidy and organized and all those good things I wish my house looked like and I do covet some of the designs and displays at least until I realized something but . These talented, creative people do not have children or grandchildren. No, they don't and I will argue this point to the death because if you have children or grandchildren you can't have gorgeous, seasonal displays and you certainly do not have the time to create these lovely things unless you have someone else raising those children for you or you never let your grandchildren in your house.

I like the ideas Carol at The Red Painted Cottage has for winter displays 
but there is no way I could use any of her ideas with the grands around. 
Everything in that basket is a ball waiting to be thrown by a child 
and chased by Tucker. 

My house looks like I have grandchildren and it looked like I had children when the lovelies were growing up. It's not a dirty house because this mama/grandma doesn't do dirty but it looks like the people who live here actually live here. You can tell we are a family of readers and are fostering future readers. You can tell the adults care more about interacting with children than worrying about cleaning up every second of the day. Our home is lived in. It is cozy. It is kid friendly. And there's a pup here who has free reign of the house.

Brett and Kelly at North Country Nest made this lovely entry display
in their home. So many breakables for the grands to knock over. 

Yes, I do enjoy looking at all the pretty decorating ideas people post or put on HGTV but I do not see how it's feasible when there are little kids around. Seriously, do they have one room in which they put these displays and not show the sign on the door to the room that reads: NO CHILDREN ALLOWED? Do they put it up just long enough to snap the picture? No, I think they simply do not have children living in or visiting their homes.

Love the filled galvenized buckets and the crate and the
Mason jars set up by Taryn at Taryn Whiteaker!
However, with the grands those pine cones are balls, the logs
would be bammed on every piece of furniture and person, the jars
knocked over and the tins dragged all over the house and filled with
whatever Bug considers a treasure on any given day. Anyway, who knew
old wash tubs would be trendy one day? I am looking for some to hold
the bazillion toys in my house. 

I had just begun to be curious about setting up a few decorative displays when the upcoming birth of Bug was announced on Thanksgiving Day, 2016. That curiosity was halted PDQ because I don't believe it's a good idea to have decorative displays when there will be children around. I want Bug and Baby R to feel comfortable at my house.

Hahahaha. NO. First, I'll be the one to break the glass under those
sweater sleeve covers because Y'all know it's going to slip right
off those containers. And WTH is the fascination with antlers?
No. Antlers belong on animals who grow antlers not in my house
as winter decor not to mention the destruction to self, others, and
home a toddler would cause with those things. The little pumpkins
are cute, though.

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit that I have just enough of the lazy trait to not be bothered by not putting out seasonal decor. I mean, you do have to put that stuff away and take out the new stuff and set it up. That just seems like a bit too much effort for things that are going to be thrown around and broken. Can Y'all imagine saying telling a toddler not to touch something about 7 gazillion times/day? We use redirection here and it's EX. HAUST. ING. so there is no way I'm going to decorated with something that increases the number of times I have to redirect Bug. Plus, she climbs.

Again, looks great but they have zero children Did I mention
Bug likes to climb? Just use your imagination. 

Meanwhile, I hope the creative, talented types will continue to post their decorative display ideas. The kids won't be little forever and if I'm not totally exhausted I may just display something besides books and toys in my cozy little house one day.

Or maybe not.

Do Y'all have beautiful winter decor in your homes?

Chainsaw On A Stick

Yep. You read that right. There is such a thing as a chainsaw on a pole. And I got one for Mother's Day.

Some of you may remember the fact that I am having fifty fits/day over the limbs in the oaks that NEED to be taken down. You may also remember that getting the father of the lovelies to do anything around the house is, virutally, impossible. I've been told that, if I want them cut, I should go out there and cut them.

Right. A couple of issues.

First, I've never cut limbs.

Second, I'm terrified of chainsaws.

I'm one of those people who avoids all things that I foresee as causing harm. And pain. I'm not a fan of pain. Never have been.

But then, while watching my addiction channel (HGTV), I saw Chip Gaines (Fixer Upper is my absolute favorite) trimming tree limbs with a chainsaw that was attached to a pole. WHAT?! I had NO IDEA they made chainsaws like that.

So I wanted one. My thought process is this: if that chainsaw is far enough away from my face, I won't chop my head off. AND, I can get those dead limbs down and have some stress relief. Worth it.

And so, friends, my second Mother's Day gift was one of these:

I took to the front yard Monday evening to give it a test drive. It. Was. AWESOME.

It's empowering to be a chainsaw usin', limb removal mama taking on a job that she no longer has to wait on someone to get around to it. If this keeps up, I can easily purge myself of a living thing or two as well as the junk in the house. Just sayin'.

All this power and the limb removal is fantastic but, there's an even better use that I never even thought of when dreaming of owning a chainsaw on a stick.

It may very well make an extremely effective neighbor repellant tool. WHAT?! Yes indeed. Remember those sisters of Satan across the street and the drunks on one side? Well, they had better watch out now. I will not only be sitting on my front porch in my new rocker, but I'll also be enjoying running people off who try to steal my porch sittin' time.

I'm serious about my porch. I've written about it and, now that's it finally cleared off, I plan to do some major rocking out there. In peace.

Do I recommend getting a chainsaw on a stick? Hell to the Y.E.S.

Did y'all know about these?

Summertime Addiction

It's happened. I never thought it would but it did. I've become addicted to HGTV. In particular, Property Brothers and Love It Or List It Too. 

But, mostly, it's Jonathan and Drew Scott that I enjoy watching. Daily. For hours at a time. 

And, no, it's not just for the visual appeal. Although I'd be lying if I said they were hard to look at. LOL

I just enjoy their enthusiasm and the way they come across as truly caring about their clients. And then there's the way they do things right and to completion. I don't think I've ever seen men do that. Except for my dad who always gets the job done before it becomes a huge, expensive issue. 

I also enjoy the good-natured banter between the brothers and their expertise provides a learning experience. For example, I've learned that I would love for them to come fix my house. Ha!

Yes, this is the way I have spent my first week and two days of summer break. My house is not clean or organized. The yard is a hot mess. And I have guests coming this weekend.

And PLEASE don't give me any suggestions as to other really good programs on this network. I HAVE to sleep sometimes. And eat. Though I can do the latter while watching....hmmm...

Perhaps, HGTV, you could put those programs I'm not that fond of (House Hunters, House Hunters International) on for the next few days. Just so I can get ready for the visitors.

OR, and even better, just send Jonathan and Drew over for a quick reno! OR, we could just list it. :)

**All the photos were borrowed from their Facebook page- and all are linked to their page!