Grateful - and a giveaway.........................

And I am, indeed, really thankful

I knew when we sold the last place and bought this one that blogging participation was going to have to take a back seat................I knew I wouldn't have the time I'd like to have to visit you all - or even reply to the incredible comments I receive - what I didn't know - couldn't have possibly ever imagined - was that most of you would stick by my side - travel with me on this fixer upper journey I've embarked on -
( as George Jones famously sang " I must have been out of my mind " )  You've been an incredible source of inspiration throughout this process with words of wisdom and encouragement and undeserved praise constantly and there are many many days when you've lifted my spirits more than you can know.  Truly - more than you can ever know.

Now on to the fun part - I'm not sure if you know that Annie Sloan has developed a Reed Diffuser Scent line?
Caroline from PIORRA MAISON  brought me one as a house warming gift when she came by - and it's heavenly!  The nicest smelling diffuser I ever had - bar none.
So when she graciously offered one to help celebrate reaching a million views I was thrilled.
Although I don't ask anyone to follow me when hosting giveaways - if a product comes from someone other than me I DO ask that you follow them...................please leave Caroline a " like " on her Facebook page
HERE and of course leave me a comment !

And some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago I did a post on my Willow Tree Collection - at the end of the post I showed one I had just ordered - she was called Grateful and asked if you could guess what it was for.
Well - it was to include in this giveaway !
She's beautiful - 9 inches tall - and she was created as a way to express gratitude for friendship.

AND LASTLY:

PARIS IN COLOR

Take a journey through the world''s most romantic city, traveling from color to magnificent color with this beguiling book. An orange café chair, bright blue bicycles against a fence, a weathered white door-Nichole Robertson''s sumptuous photographs of the distinctive details of Paris, all arranged by color, evoke a sense of serendipitous discovery and celebrate the city as never before. At once a work of art and a window into the heart of the city, Paris in Color will surprise and delight those who love art, design, color, and, of course, Paris!

This beautiful  hard cover book will be one you'll find yourself looking at often I'm sure - I ordered one for myself too !!!

Here's a sample of some of the images

For Caroline - Piorra Maison's Annie Sloan Reed Diffuser - please remember to give her Facebook page a like HERE  - ( this is my request not her's )

You do not have to " like " me at all LOL - you just have to leave me a comment
Good luck everyone
And have the most wonderful weekend
Big Hugs and a grateful heart
( oops forgot to mention - open to EVERYONE - no matter where you are - to hell with postage costs I'll probably never see another million again LMHO )
With ( a million ) thanks  ♥

Adding Planks to a Kitchen Table

Good morning everyone -

It rained cats and dogs here yesterday - and when it does that - for some reason my brain starts getting a little creative...............( think of trying to entertain a child on a rainy day - ain't easy )

Smack in the middle of working on the plank wall - ( because I seem to have a huge problem with finishing anything lately ) another idea was born................what if I took my little farmhouse table ( which does in fact open up to double the size in the photo below - you can see that post HERE ) and added planks to the top to make it even bigger - a real " work station " type of top?

in our previous home

I quickly ran to get the left over planks - there were 5 left over - and would you believe it - 5 fit perfectly for what I wanted to do - ( if that's not a sign that it had to be done I don't know what is )  I'm not sure why it looks lower than the counter top in photos - they're almost the same height

Suzan says - OMG John - I just had such a fantastic idea
John says - Oh no............
Suzan says - I want to plank the antique farmhouse table in the kitchen
John says - ARE YOU INSANE?  THAT'S AN ANTIQUE - I'M NOT SCREWING ANYTHING INTO THE TOP OF THAT..................
Suzan says - But
John says - NO - N.O. - NO WAY - FORGET ABOUT IT

I have a thinking ( SHOWER ) cap that I keep in the linen closet - ( you can actually see me wearing it HERE ) I sometimes use it when I'm painting - seriously - especially if I'm painting a tall piece where paint may end up on my hair -  but it also works for thinking strangely enough - and within minutes I had a plan ( because I'm nothing - absolutely nothing - if not determined.

Suzan says - What if I had a way where the original top would not be affected at all?
John says - Well that's impossible - how are you going to stop the piece from sliding all over the place without screwing it into the wood?
Suzan says - LIKE THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First we put brackets underneath the planks to hold them all together

Next we flipped it over and ran a pencil along the underside where the " real " table ends

And put a piece of molding on either side to hold the plank top in place - like this

Ideally we would have put molding on all 4 sides - but I couldn't afford the space it would take to make the table larger in depth - only length - but a piece of anti slip rubber ( like you use under carpets ) will hold it perfectly.
This is how it looks underneath - locking it in

Next I painted the top with ASCP Pure White...............again imperfection is fine - this is only the first step

Once that was dry - I made a wash with French Linen ( I eyeball it at this point - but half water - half paint is usually a good rule of thumb )

This took very little paint - maybe 3 tablespoons - this little bit was all I needed

After brushing it on

Next - ( and I don't have a photo of this step ) I took a damp cloth and wiped the entire surface.
I'm a very fast painter - if you aren't - this last step should be done in sections because a " wash " dries very quickly.

When you're done you should have a piece that looks like sun aged driftwood

This piece is now large enough for me to have a small prep area

I feel like I should have my own cooking show now !!!

Suzan says - can you take a couple of photos for me?
John says - of what?
Suzan says - of me, in the kitchen, in front of the new table
John says - Okay

I hurriedly pulled together some accessories

John says - Oh for God's sakes, I don't have time for this nonsense
Suzan says - c'mon - it'll be funny

Suzan says - Wow - I thought I was the world's lousiest photographer
John says - Is it bad?
Suzan says - Well it's very blurry which I don't mind at all - but I don't look anything like Giada de Laurentiis
in this whatsover..................
John says - Who the hell is that?

Are you impressed with my planked table idea?
No?  How about if I told you I painted it and white washed it in my favorite  little black dress?
Yes I did - I most certainly did!  ( I like to live on the edge like that )  I used to go dancing till the wee hours when I felt like having fun.  Now I sometimes paint in " good " clothes instead.

John says - that's the last thing we're doing to that table, you understand?
Suzan says - yessir ( but only because I can't think of a single thing more I could do to it myself.

We added a shelf on the bottom HERE

and height to it HERE

and now we've added some " girth " lol
and it's removable if and when we choose to take it off
NOT A SINGLE DROP OF THE ORIGINAL WOOD WAS DAMAGED IN CREATING THIS POST...................

Have a wonderful day all !
I'm going to chop and dice up Corn Pops and have a bowl of cereal at the table now - and then I'm going to put polyurethane on it to protect it.  ( 4 coats - since it will be getting a lot of use )
In my little black dress.

If anyone from the Food Network wants to contact me please drop me a line here on the blog - we can discuss salary.
Have a wonderful day!
Much love,

Partying here !
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