The girl got a facelift.....no not me....the house!!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been 9 days since I last posted.  I just love to share on my blog because as you know, this house brings out the "photographer" in me and is just my happy place, but I literally haven't had 5 seconds to write.  We have been on the go every minute of the day it seems.  That's what the nice weather does, makes you want to do everything because before you know it the snow will be here again.  

But, I am now sitting, with my cup of coffee and though I may be all over the place (what's new) here's what's been going on at The Old Tattered Flag.

As many of you know we live in a very old stone home.  We guesstimate that it was "born" around 1831.  We have seen several dates, so we just chose one.  That's our story and we are sticking to it.  Our home was built by Henry and Cora Countryman. He was a stagecoach repairman from Herkimer.  They traveled way up here and helped a traveler one day and decided that the town of Pamelia was as good as any place to settle, so they built the stone home and several generations of Countryman's lived here.  When we moved here back in 2006, we had such plans for this home and as I told you before, the Army had different plans for us and took us away for a little over a year so now that we are back we have dug right in.  We gave the old girl a much needed "facelift", or a new roof.......

Old Metal Roof

New Shingled roof.  I swear you could almost hear her sigh as the old metal roof and the thin wooden shingles underneath came off.  It was a 4 day, very messy job but we are very happy with the finished product...

Facelift from a different view....

There are several other stone homes in the area.  We were unsure of just what kind of roof we wanted so we drove around looking at the other homes and settled on the shingles.  The next thing up is to have all the chippy paint trim repainted and gutters put on, then soon after I'd like a stone chimney built around that ugly stove pipe....

 So, after that we had a nice visit from my Mother in Law for Mother's day.  What do you buy the Moms who have everything?  You do your best.  A handmade purse, hand stitched wool necklace, Life is good t-shirt and a good ol' Gertrude Hawk chocolate apple for Mother in law.....

Some gardening stuff, a life is good t-shirt, stitched wool necklace and her favorite smidgens for Mom..

...and two new rockers for me.  There is nothing better than porch time here in the summer....

Later in the week it was "open hooking" here at The Old Tattered Flag, but we changed it up a bit and I taught everyone how to make my Wool Basket...

The supplies....

Everyone is busy, busy, busy...

I also taught how to make the stiff flowers that go in the basket...(I will be adding a tutorial video to youtube for this very soon)

...those baskets are looking good ladies! Everyone promises to bring back their finished projects next time, I'll get a picture then..

Fran stitching a flower from some of our gorgeous spot dyed wool..

 It was in the 80's so we thought some may want to sit and hook on the porch, but, everyone wanted to do a basket, so the chairs remained empty.....this time....

Tamara brought over some of her beautiful pieces to show and tell...

Bev's finished Folk Art wool pennies table runner.  Great job Bev!!

And in between everything, little by little, progress is being made on the shop.  I just can't wait to get in there and with each little step we do I see the progress.  It is just so exciting seeing it all come together.  Hubby is doing a great job..

...and we continue to ship out goodies to you all everyday.  Here is the Antique Floral pocket that Teresa won all wrapped up and ready to go.  Both her and Jan were very happy with their prizes.  

 ...and here's some random shots from the past 9 days...

Our future "wool scrap bin" is doing duty right now as the garden staging area....

 ...pretty flags....

Is there anything better than a warm spring breeze coming through the window?? 

...or a little friend popping out to meet you as you walk down to get the mail?

...or your best little friend keeping his eye on you out in the yard??

I just love seeing everything come to life in the yard around this house in the spring time.  We usually have a birds nest or two on the porch, but this year we have 10, yes 10 nests being built.  Every time I go outside there is straw all over the porch.  I don't know if we have several birds or just one who is forgetful or indecisive....

 Here's a goody that my Mother and Sister found at Homegoods.  I've been wanting one of those great lamps from pottery barn.  This one is very similar but only 1/5 the cost.  Love that homegoods...

With the warm weather comes all our outside goodies.  Some of these have been packed away in the barn since before we moved to Missouri.  It was like seeing an old friend when we pulled them out.  So, here they are all waiting for their rightful place in the yard...

..and never to be idle at night in my chair, I have been punching our SUMMER design, in fact, it's almost done.  Mom has several rugs going right now, so keep watching for some new things very soon...

So, that's what's been going on here.  I hope you are all well and enjoying the beautiful weather as it comes your way.  Take the time to enjoy the green leaves and chirping birds.

Until next time....