And the winner is.......

There were lots of names in my blog drawing so I'm hoping they all read it. Judy did the drawing and the winner is Debbie Walker. Debbie if I don't reach you through your email, please send me your address and I'll get the candles in the mail. Thanks to everyone who played along.

This was my day to work and I am pooped. It seems the last few weeks have been a whirlwind with little time to take a break. Now I have to concentrate on my yard which is covered with leaves. The garden is full of frostbit veggies and weeds and the lawn guy announced he didn't do leaves. Kenda's son, Trenton, has helped before so he's coming to give some assistance. He's the best worker. We've been so lucky to have this great weather so maybe before the week is over, I'll have the yard cleaned. It would just be nice to sit one day and read a book. Maybe next week.

Hope everyone has a good week.

The season has started....

It all starts again.... We had a great opening night and the shop looked amazing. We have such a creative, hard-working bunch of women who killed themselves to totally transition the shop. The front was all twinkly & sparkly.

Judy's 15 year old g'daughter, Jordan, played beautiful Christmas music on her cello.

Here's Katie http://ragamuffingal.blogspot.com/ and Dulcy http://dulcysdoorstep.blogspot.com/ checking things out. They're always there to support us. They're good customers but best of all they're really good friends.

Two more good friends that came in for a visit were Debra http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/ and Mandy from http://wishonawhisker.blogspot.com/.

Pam has several new shirt and jacket designs and the cutest hats. I bought an arrangement to hang that she put together with fresh greens and put a red & black wool hat in the middle. It is so cute & going beside my front door. She makes the cutest bows out of old ties and vintage jewelry. She puts a pin on the back so you wear it like jewelry. She's so talented.

Tomorrow is my work day. Should be busy. It's suppose to be sunny and 72 degrees. Hope we have a busy day. The blog give-away is still open so come on in & sign up. I'll draw the winner on Mon.

Leola's Christmas Open House starts tonight....

Don't forget our Christmas Open House tonight. The shop looks amazing and lots of treasures to be had. See you!

Leola's open house blog prize.....

OK! Below is a picture of the prize for leaving your name & email when you come to Leola's open house this weekend. I'll have a big jar in my area (when you walk in the front door, go to your right & I'm the first space on the left). There will be pen and paper. If you have any questions, just ask. Don't forget.

The 2 candles are the greatest. They run on 2 AA batteries & are dipped in wax so they look real. They're the greatest candles & you don't have to worry about fire. Candleholders are not included but will be for sale.

We'll see what happens. Come and see us. It's going to be an amazing open house. Remember, we're having wine and appetizers and music on Thurs. night 5:00 - 8:00. Be there or be square.

Leola's Christmas Open House

Leola's will be closed this whole week, until Thurs. night, preparing for our Christmas Open House. We'll open on Thursday evening at 5:00 with wine and appetizers and cello music provided by Judy's granddaughter, Jordyn. It will be a beautiful evening full of fun, family, food, friends, music and amazing shopping so hope you can join us.



Please remember, for those of you who read my blog, there will be a special place for you to put your name and email address to enter my drawing. I just thought it would be fun to see if anyone actually reads it. I'll show what the giveaway will be tomorrow. So please join us.

The leaves are falling.....

The wind has blown so hard all day and the leaves are falling like snow. It's sunny but the wind is chilly. Tomorrow is suppose to be sunny and warm so hopefully, I can get back out in the garage & get things finished up for Christmas Open House. This is my house with it's new brown paint. As soon as I can get the shutters painted red, my B-I-L Mike will be down to hang them. Can't wait!!
This was taken right after they finished my hallway but wanted to show you how it looked. The whole room & hall are finished now and it looks so good. I went to the auction today to try & buy a rug but they were huge and so expensive. I want an old one so bad but may have to settle for a Lowe's rug for now. I'll just keep my eyes peeled & one day I'll find one.

Sorry, this isn't a great picture but wanted to show the necklaces that Kristy from Leola's made for me. Allison will be 39 on Mon. & I asked Kristy to make her a necklace out of and old watch of Mike's & some other pieces I had. Well, it turned out that she used some parts that were left and made one for me too. Allison is going to love this. Kristy brought in 20 new necklaces yesterday & they are incredible.

I've decided to see if anyone actually reads my blog and comes to Leola's so if you come to Leola's open house and say you read my blog, you can sign up for a special prize. I'll have a drawing on Monday and post the winner on Monday afternoon. Not quite certain what the prize will be but I'll post it soon. We'll see what happens.

Goodby ugly carpet....

Finally, today they are laying my new wood floor. I can't wait. This carpet has been down for almost 25 years and it has had it. Tomorrow there's a big antique auction in town and I'm hoping I can buy one of their oriental rugs without spending a fortune. I'm so excited to get this done right before the holidays. What a difference it will make.

Over the river & through the woods.....

Yesterday was Sage's day with Grandma so we decided to head to the woods. He's on the lookout right now for bugs and varmints so where better to look then our friends' place on the river. We sang "over the river & through the woods" as we headed to the Atteberry's beautiful place in the country. It was just the perfect day to take a long hike.

Jim gave Sage a ride on the scooter to the barn to get the motorized vehicle so they could ride down by the bluffs. Don't worry that they're not wearing helmets -- Jim's driving about 5 mph & they didn't go very far.
Aren't these bluffs amazing? I'm so grateful that the Atteberrys' own this land because they'll always protect it & see that it's not developed.

If you look real close, you can see the caves in the bluffs.

Here are Sage & Jim coming down the path. Jim & Jane have just had their 1st g'child born. What a place for a grandchild to grow up. This is one lucky boy to have these wonderful people for g'parents. By the way, his name is Jack. Sage is preparing Jim for what's ahead.

We've had lots of rain lately and the James River has flooded a couple times. This deer skin was washed up and is stuck to this tree. How many chances do you get to take a picture like this?

Many years ago there was a cabin on this property but long ago disappeared in the flood waters. The only thing that survived is the fireplace. They still use it when they have get-togethers & it's cool. Think I'll come down & hang a wreath on it before Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, would this not be a perfect place for a Christmas portrait?

By the way, Sage's friend is their dog Lily.

On the hunt for frogs.

We had the best day. We all talked about how seldom children can just go wander around anymore. Hope we made some memories that will last a lifetime. They sure will for me. Thanks Jane & Jim.