Water Pump Plant Stand

Dan's father created this combination water pump plant stand for his mother a long time ago.  It's a combination of salvaged metal parts that he always had laying about and the water pump may well have been from his mother's childhood home.  I'm estimating he put it together for her in the mid to late 70's.  It moved around in their home many times with various plants and the last time we visited her at the farm she insisted I take it with me.

The dark green wasn't going to work for me so Dan wanted to clean it before it got a new paint job.  He found a total of 7 different colors on it.  We have a small sandblaster that he did some of the clean up with and sanded the rest.  I wanted to be able to read the wording on the pump again.

Barnes Mfg. Co. Mansfield Ohio

1900-1929

After it was painted we gave it a few days to harden off before bringing it in.

Dan estimates the water pump to be 80 to 100 years old.

I really didn't think I wanted it when his mom offered it but I'm glad I took it and gave it a new life with us.  She's having issues because of dementia now and has to be in assisted living.  I'll always think of her as the years go by because of it.

I set the plant on top and it fits right in the top saucer area perfectly but I am nervous the plant is going to get knocked over so I moved the plant stand over near the other door.  This plant has always done well here so I put it back on a shorter stand for now.

Joining:

Dishing It &. Digging It 

Autumn at the Entryway and Kitchen Dining Area

I'm slowly catching up to where I left off last week before we went to greet our new Grandson.

Keeping it simple I added an arrangement to the chest by the entry door.

Sunflowers always seem like the perfect touch for autumn decorating!

Opening the door you'll see I have the same woven basket I've had on here since the spring of 2015.  I had some imitation cattails in my supplies so I spread them along the back.  I added this woven leaf shaped piece I got last year at Michael's and used on the mantel as seen "here" and below.  I removed the bow at the bottom and added it to the front of the basket.  I only have about 3 inches of space between the storm door and the main door so I have to be creative with what I put there.

Fall 2015 

 I've moved the plant stand Dan just refinished for me over here 

(which I will be doing a post about next).  I had picked up this cute scarecrow in August at Hobby Lobby.  My initial intention was to put him outside on a display but I'm not sure I want to now.  He's perched on a cute little stool I found there too. 

I previously showed this little wheel barrow I found at T.J. Maxx and here it is below all decked out for the season!

 I added some moss, pumpkins and a trailing vine all from Michael's.

 This is from last year and also a T.J. Maxx find.  I set it on a sunflower plate also from T.J.'s last year.

You can see the post from last year of this same area "here".

Same pumpkin plates from Pottery Barn last year with the Cracker Barrel dinner plates that I've had several years.

I like having little touches of farm animals around so I keep my little piggy salt and pepper shakers out and I moved the milk cow creamer over here to the plate rack.  I stuffed some leaves with berries in the glass vase and put my potted sunflower (bought long ago at Pottery Barn) up there too.

I didn't do a lot here except to swap out some fall colored napkins, add some sunflower stemware and the apples to the wired basket.

 The sunflower stemware was from Pier 1 last year.  The napkins are by Park Design.

 The kids gifted me with this rooster wine bottle holder earlier this year so I decided to give him a spot on the Étagère since he has some good autumn colors.

 My little owl arrangement that I showed before "here".

The morning sun floods the dining area which is especially welcome since it's been very rainy lately!  

So that's it for my entryway and kitchen dining area!

Joining:

Thoughts of Home on Thursday

Tablescape Thursday

Dishing It & Digging It 

Timing Is Everything!

Last Wednesday morning around 8 a.m. we got the word that our daughter in law was in labor.  

We quickly packed and hit the road within two hours.  This is our first grandchild and we really wanted to be there for the kids.

We had a 12+ hr trip ahead of us to Pennsylvania and we figured we'd land at our hotel and see the kids the next day.

As it turned out the baby hadn't come yet so we went directly to the hospital arriving around 12:35 at night.  We were greeted by her parents and sat down in the waiting room.  

Baby came just 10 minutes later!  Talk about good timing!

 His name is Joseph and of course we're in love with him!

I hate sharing pics of me but here I am exhausted (complete with bags under my eyes) holding our new bundle of joy!

Dan and I couldn't be more proud!

A photographer came by the day they were going to be discharged and took some fabulous photos.  I will get yelled at if I show too much but I thought I'd share this one! 

~Part Two of our trip~

After several days of being with them we headed back to Michigan and stopped at my mother's for the night.  The next morning while showering I heard some gurgling in the bathroom sink that I thought was odd.  After I was dressed I went out to the kitchen where Dan was on the phone with our son.  I looked down at the floor in the utility room and noticed water coming up from the floor drain.  Oh boy- what a mess!   We stopped using any water and for the next 2 1/2 hrs stood vigilant in that area trying to contain the mess.

We removed as much from the floor as we could before it was contaminated and I called RotoRooter.  To make a long story short it turns our there was a blockage between the house and the sewer pipe.  If Dan and I hadn't been there it would have flooded everywhere.  My 94 yr. old mom was still asleep and didn't even know what was going on.  It was hard to get her to understand the problem once she was awake (she has some dementia).  Thankfully two of my sister's eventually arrived and helped with my Mom.  

Unfortunately the water also backed up in the master bathroom shower and then made a mess on the bedroom carpet. 

I had also called a company called ServPro (which we had seen tv ads for) to come clean up.  As it turned out they arrived within minutes of the RotoRooter man leaving.  Perfect timing!

Water moves fast and it traveled further than we thought.  They extracted and steam cleaned using some additional materials to kill bacteria but the carpet is going to have to be replaced.  They left these big fans and de-humidifying units that will be there for a few days.

So once again timing is (was) everything!

Phew! It's good to be back home!

I picked up some pumpkins in PA and it's chilled off here so the colors will be coming on soon!

Autumn Touches On The Mantel

Here's my autumn on the mantel for this year!  

Keeping it simple yet a bit elegant.

 I used the cloche that has been showing up in various spots in my living room and stuffed it with some gourds and velvet pumpkins as well as dried berries and leaves.   I used a magnolia leaf candle ring I picked up last year at Pier 1 at the base.

 The pumpkins and stands are new from Pier 1 this year.  I will find various ways to use the stands which make them a good investment.  

I loved how they made these natural style leaf covered pumpkins including a touch of feathers on the top!

It's begun to feel like autumn here and I'm enjoying it.  I especially love how the nights cool down and the days are moderate in temp.  

Can't help it- tomorrow is the first day of Autumn and I am embracing it!!

Owls and Pumpkins

I love the rich harvest colors of autumn.  Dried berries, pumpkins, apples and colorful leaves really create a warm and engaging look.

I found my little owl from last year (Michael's) and set him on this berry branch (which I folded and bent to fit in here) and tucked in some natural excelsior for a filler.  Just something small and cute for the table! 

This little owl is also from last year (Pier 1) and it holds a tea light candle.  I used this wood and wire crate last year (Michael's) for a whole different look with dishes as seen "here".  Apples are a must for my "harvest" type accents!  Again I try to use things I already have and mix them up.  Sometimes I add a new item to offer more variety.

Keeping a "harvest" theme going I put together a collection of my faux pumpkins.  I decided to load the basket in these rustic orange tones.  These are the colors that truly say fall to me!  

The gold accented ones were new this year (Michael's) which I grabbed for some added elegance!  The smaller seeded ones were used on the mantel last year as seen "here".  As you can see I'm still keeping it simple!  Less to put away!

I've got a few more things for fall but I'm not 100% done so I'll share them soon!

Joining:
 Metamorphosis Monday 

This and That This Week #10

Though fall is nearing by the calendar we are still enjoying summer like weather.  Some plants have begun to break down a bit but the trees are still very green.

While sitting out back by the fountain area in the evening the sun was shining on the Red Japanese Maple tree causing the leaves to glow and look very fall like.

Inside the house I'm driving myself crazy with carpet samples.  

Some of these are ruled out but I made a mosaic with the samples to better determine the color I want.  As you can see the old carpet has a very golden tone and it is my desire to change to a lighter more neutral color.  A friend of ours thinks the old carpet will work well for one of his kids bedrooms so that will be nice for it to live on a bit longer since it's in great shape for 10 year old carpet.

Because I've had carpet on my mind and have made several trips to three stores I only had one post this week about my Welcome Fall Wreath as seen "here"

I got out my electric sheers and cut these Ninebark shrubs way back.  They didn't do all that well this summer and were very messy looking so I hope next year they'll improve.  Don't worry it's all cleaned up now but I forgot to take a picture and now it's raining.

I spotted these baskets with mums at one of our large grocery stores called Meijers.  They are like a Wegmans if you're from the East you know what I'm talking about.  I picked one that wasn't fully blooming so it will last a while.

Dan got a chance to start cleaning up the old water pump plant stand that I showed you in the post This and That This Week #7.  

We wanted to be able to read the manufacturers name on it so he did some minor sand blasting on it to clean it up to raw metal.  It was forest green and as he discovered it had at least 7 layers of paint.  I'll show it to you when it's in the house with the plant on it.  It's curing for now.  

My sweet kitties Carmen and Teddy watch the squirrels, chipmunks and birds go by.  It's a daily routine even in the winter except the chipmunks are hibernating then.  We're enjoying 70's during the day and 50's at night so Autumn is on it's way!

So that's it for This and That This Week #10!