American's are so Rich They are Throwing Away the Good Stuff Too!

Have you ever thought that when you were in a resale shop?

Here is a breakdown of what I bought:

A lidded butter dish with a glass insert.

A salt and pepper shaker.

A sugar scoop.

A cherry bowl.

A sugar bowl.

Weekend Finds

This weekend I learned that my favorite resale shop had a second location. I was so excited and could not wait to get over there. Once I arrived, I noticed that they had more clothes, less books, but about the same amount of household items...which is my favorite hunting ground. I especially love silver because there is such a huge difference in what you buy and what you get once it is polished. Today, to my surprise, I did not only find some wonderful silver pieces, but was thrilled to discover that one of my little treasures was STERLING! The most expensive piece was $4.00, the least was .25c and guess which was sterling???

My Daddy's 81st birthday!

Well - he sure does not look 81 does he!...nor does he act it. May I introduce you to my Father, Dr. Milam Leavens. He is holding his first Great Grand Child, Madison.

How did we bring in his 81st birthday you ask? Well, Dad accompanied me to the Emergency Room the night before. He spent much of the time reading the short stories of Oh Henry out loud, while I laid on the gurney and we were waiting for many test results to come in. As it turns out, I had an ovarian cyst. As we were filling out the release paper work, I asked him what time it was.

"Seven minutes after midnight" He replied.

"Happy Birthday Dad. I am sorry you rang it in, in the ER with me." I said.

"I am not." He said with a gentle look in his eyes and the slightest smile.

My Knight in Shinning Armor!

A Visitor?

Sure... all of you ladies get visits from cute little bunnies, squirrels and beautiful birds at your homes. Look who comes to visit me!

Inspiration Thursday??

Don't you feel better when things are organized? I do!

Exciting News!!

We are getting the lambs!!! Here is a picture of the little Ram Lamb. I should have a contest to see who can name my little girl and boy Lambs...but I don't think too many people are reading my blog yet! Ha ha.. Anyway - here is my little Romeo or Samson or Fred or should it be Rhett????

Cheviot Lambs

Over the last year, we came to the realization that we had too many horses! At one point, we had 9 of our own and several boarder horses as well. All of that equaled a lot of extra work and if those horses did not get along, triple the cost and the amount of fencing repairs! I have always been in love with lambs and for the first time, we are looking into raising sheep; miniature sheep. The specific breed we are studying is called Cheviot (pronounced Che-voy) Lambs. They are a miniature breed and are the most beautiful lambs I have ever seen. What do you think? I am going to ask Santa to put 2 in my stocking!

The Chocolate Pot

I have so many wonderful things left to me by my Mother and my Grandmother's, I cannot possibly choose a favorite. This one is special because it first belonged to my "Gammie" and then to my Mother and now me. To me, it is the essence of feminine!

New Paint Finished.

Here is the new color in our Family Room, Kitchen and Hallway. I love the contrast between it and the white trim. I also love the warmth it brings into these rooms. The framed metal picture is something I found at Garden Ridge Pottery years ago and repainted. I made the curtains and the cornice boards. Can you see the horse bits added for decoration to each cornice board?

Deal of the Century!

Anyone who has not tried to find a needed item off of Craig's List is really missing out on some good deals. Twenty five years ago, I bought a kitchen table that I was in love with...and still am to this day. It is one of those big oak tables with a pedestal bottom that extends into 4 big lion claws, only this table also had the lions heads above the claws. With the table, I purchased 6 pressed back chairs. Over the years, one by one chairs have been broken. Here is what I found on Craig's List. 4 Pressed back solid oak chairs for the tiny price of only $90.00! 4 chairs for only $90.00. I am sure I paid more than that for EACH chair I purchased 25 years ago.

Some Great Finds!

In search for a nice Thrifty Shop, I came across a resale store called NAM. It is a non-profit store and everything they sell has been donated. Not looking for anything in particular, I came across some beautiful silver items. The salt and peper shakers were all of $4.00 and the silver plated dish was only .50 cents! They had 2 very large bins full of an assortment of things and each was either $1.00 or .50 cents. I think I will need to go back on a weekly basis!

Exterior of the Cabana

This is still a work in progress, but this is what I have done up to now. The statue was given to me by my Father. We used to have it at the home I grew up in. Around her feet are river rocks and some small gold glass pebbles like the ones you would put into a fish bowl. Those pebbles really pick up the light and catch your eye. The plants I chose to use are a combination of new ones and cuttings of plants already on the farm. In the back there are purple iris, the red flowers in front of the iris is a tropical vine that may turn into an annual whose name escapes me at the moment! In front of that are miniature Lily of the Valley. Over to the right is a Crinum Lily that was dug up from my Maternal Grandmothers flower bed in Chicago years ago and both my brother and I have plants from that one transplanted Lily. I love to share plants and my favorites are the ones that I have received from others gardens. There is a very small miniature ginger plant on the far right, but you cannot see it in the pictures.

***Gardeners Tip***

Barter your services for plant cuttings. I usually offer to help elderly people weed their gardens in exchange for plant cuttings. What they have in their yards are almost always naturalizing plants that will do very well in my area! Usually I get way more cuttings and small plants than I can even manage from just one days work. It is hard work, but I always feel good about doing this.

Interior of the Hot Tub Cabana

Here is the interior of my newest project - the hot tub cabana. I used 3 small exterior rugs and screwed them to the wood floor so they will not slip or curl up and become a tripping hazard. The antique chest was picked up at my favorite antique shop. It has 2 drawers and 2 doors which gives us enough room for all of our towels and the spa chemicals. The bamboo chairs used to belong to my Grandparents and they had them on their sun porch. I repainted them black, made slip covers for the cushions, and purchased pillows from Walmart. The small metal and glass table was also picked up at Walmart. I made the wood arrangements from some supplies purchased at Marshall's and I already owned the black containers. The biggest splurge for decorating was the ceiling fan. I love it because it is not something that is normally my taste, but works perfectly for this cabana. There are 2 side lights that accent the cabana as well. Misc. items include fabric, candles, spa towels, wood arrangement items, a fish and fish bowl.
Cost list:
Each 5.5x7 foot rug $ 50.00
Ceiling fan $200.00
Each side light $ 65.00
Metal and glass table $ 90.00
Antique chest $ 90.00
Misc. $ 150.00

Meet Emily, Daren and another photo of Madison. Emily is our oldest gorgeous daughter and Mother to dear Miss Maddie! Her husband Daren is serving our country in the United States Air Force. They are currently stationed at Luke Air Force Base in AZ.

This is Joy. Joy is our youngest daughter who lives in Houston, TX. She graduated from college a year and a half ago and has been working for Goodman Manufacturing ever since. Joy is one of the prettiest riders I have ever seen and although she does not get the chance to ride much anymore, I hope that one day she will have time enough in her schedule to enjoy it once again.

This is Miss Madison Nicole Snyder, our first Granddaughter! She is about to turn 1 year old and has just started to walk....heaven help us! She is the happiest baby girl and so much fun to be around. I can't wait to see her.

Meet Chrissy. This is my girl. She is only 1 of 5 Pembroke Welsh Corgi's that we own, but she is the Queen. She is the smartest Corgi (or dog for that matter!) that I have ever owned and I swear she can understand every single word I say. In this picture, she was helping me raise money for Saddlebred Rescue at the Pin Oak Charity Horse show last year. What a good and patient girl she was!

This is my oldest horse, Blondie. She is now 20, but is still one hot hot girl. I showed her last December in the fast racking class at the Texas American Saddle Horse Assoc. show in Katy, TX. and we took home the blue. Although this is not me riding her, it gives you a good idea of the motion this mare has!

Meet some of the animals!

This is Brittany and one of her foals, a filly named Equusit. Brittany is our best broodmare and she was a rescue I bought from a county auction in Mansville, KY. a couple years ago. Can you imagine this beautiful mare almost died of starvation along with about 40 other horses! She is currently on a broodmare lease up in TN. and we miss her, but she will be back next summer.

Welcome to Equus Villa

Welcome to Equus Villa. Equus Villa is Latin for Horse Home. Hi. My name is Julie Size and My husband, Don of 16 years and I own a quaint little 26 acre horse farm in Plantersville, TX. We currently own only American Saddlebred horses - 7 of them. We also have 5 Pembroke Welsh Corgi Dogs and a hand full of barn cats. Yes - we are animal lovers! Our farm is a work in progress as we purchased the virgin land 7 years ago and continue to develope it in a way that preserves the natural beauty of it as well.

Late in 2000, we started by mapping out our dreams. We put in a water well, had electricity brought onto the property and started to fence. As we were fencing the contractor started to build our 'barndominum' as some have called it. I hate that term though and just prefer to call it my home.

Yes, as you can see, we currenty live above our barn. It is much more elegant than it sounds as I chose to decorate it in a French Country Estate motif. The color scheme is black, cream and taupe with rich dark red accents and the farm colors are black and white. Please come in and stay for a while!