Coldwell Banker cracks the top 10 of Real Estate Websites

Coldwell Banker cracks the top 10 of Real Estate Websites

Coldwell Banker Ocean Beach Propierties is the only brokerage in the Ocean Shores area to have it's corporate website www.coldwellbanker.com ranked in the Top 10 Real Estate Websites nationally.

The article in full is in the link below.
Hitwise Sept. 2008 Real Estate Web Site Rankings

Sept. '08 rank Web site
1 www.realtor.com
2 www.realestate.yahoo.com
3 www.zillow.com
4 www.ziprealty.com
5 www.rent.com
6 www.remax.com
7 www.servicemagic.com
8 www.coldwellbanker.com
9 www.hud.gov
10 www.homegain.com

Coldwell Banker climbs real estate Web rankings by Inman_News
Coldwell Banker Real Estate's ColdwellBanker.com Web site soared to eighth place in a monthly ranking of real estate sites by online metrics company Hitwise -- the site had sat at 18th on the list for several months.

~* Free Gooseberry Patch Books *~

I was surfing the web and found out that you can receive these books free! Last year I got the Family Favorites Recipes and now they are offering Fall Favorites. Click Here to sign up for your free books. On the form you have the option of getting both books or just one.

If it's free it's for me!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Have a great weekend, dear friends.

Amber Alert: Las Vegas Boy

There's been very little update on the 6-year-old boy named Cole Puffinburger since it was announced that he'd been taken from his home yesterday morning. Police are getting tons of calls but nothing has panned out.Here is what is coming out:Relative of Boy Kidnapped by Police Impostors Reportedly Ran Drug CartelPolice seek 'person of interest' in kidnappingAs you can see by the titles they do

The NC State Fair - October 16-26

If it's fall, it's Fair time! The North Carolina State Fair is just fun! The Fair is open October 16-26.

First, let's talk "Fair Food" that includes all things you ordinarily avoid. You start off with elephant ears. These aren't your garden's colocasia! These elephant ears are basically big, flat pads of fried dough with a topping. If you want to eat something lighter, then you want a funnel cake that is basically fried dough drizzled into the oil so that it has a pretty, lacy look. Dump plenty of powder sugar on there and you're good to go. Don't wear black. My dark jeans were covered by the sugar. Share this with a friend or spouse so that you can enjoy some of the other concoctions at the Fair.

After sharing our funnel cake, my husband and I took a break from the food to check out the flowers. Our Fair has a gardening section that includes competitions for individual flowers and themed gardens. While I was taking photos, my husband wandered off to hear bluegrass music and came back with hand churned ice cream from the folks outside the Village of Yesteryear. I tried a few bites of the ice cream and it was so good!


Back to the flowers...we were unable to see the individual flowers as the building was closed for judging. However, we met lots of nice gardeners who had participated in the themed gardens. We had so much fun hearing about the creation of the gardens and a bit of history from one particular gardener.

Yes, there are lots of photos and articles coming in the next week! Stay tuned.

We wandered through the Village of Yesteryear where weavers, potters, carvers, broom makers and all other kinds of craftsmen and women were demonstrating and selling their wares. This is where you see the best handicrafts around.

When it was time for dinner (vegans stop reading now) we headed for the NC Pork Association's restaurant tent to get real NC chopped BBQ sandwiches. We sat down at the long tables and enjoyed our sandwiches, got our drink refills and headed for Al's French Fries. Al's little trailer is always at the NC State Fair. The large fries come right out of the oil for enjoyment. Satisfied that we'd filled our fried food requirement for this Fair trip, we walked past the deep fried Twinkies®, Oreos® Snickers® and such. Yes, they fry every food imaginable at the Fair. They can make artery-cloggers out of healthy green beans!

By this time, we headed for the livestock barns to see the cattle, goats, pigs, chickens...but, we couldn't find the rabbits. In the livestock area, we encountered a famous celebrity, Smithfield, The Painting Pig! Unfortunately, we had just missed Smithfield's final performance of the day. This painting pig has been on TV shows and you can buy his art.

After seeing a exhibits with honeybees and honey, prize winning 612 pound pumpkins, gorgeous gourds, plenty of potatoes and loads of apples, we decided to catch a bit more bluegrass music before heading home.

We don't ride the ferris wheel, roller coasters or anything else. We go for the old-fashioned stuff...and the food!

Amber Alert: Las Vegas 6-year-old boy

A Las Vegas, 6-year-old little boy was grabbed this morning when his home was broke into by two hispanic men said they were police. These two "police" tied up the boys mother and her boyfriend and then kidnapped the boy and left. Cole Puffinburger (age 6)3 feet, 11 inches tallweighing 48 poundsblond hairblue eyes.He was wearing a black shirt, a black zip-up jacket, blue jeans and white shoes. If

Garden Inspiration: A Vignette Nestled among Grasses

Once again from zone 8 in southeastern Virginia, Vikki is sharing her gardens with us. Vikki anchors the grass bed with ornamental grasses, such as miscanthus and muhlenbergia. These robust, fountain-shaped grasses provide a pleasing backdrop to showcase the mix of smaller, colorful perennials and annuals.

If you look down the length of the grass bed from east to west, you can see the anchoring by the ornamental grasses. These grasses serve a purpose to give the viewer an idea of the length of the garden. When you place objects of the same size at the beginning and end of the path, it gives you a perspective about the distance. This connection draws your eye down the length of this border. All along the border, the foliage textures work well together and the color scheme is consistently connected. If you look west to east, the garden shed at the end provides a destination. When you walk down the border, you’re given the impression of a logical end to the garden.

If you look closely at the east-west and west-east long views, you’ll not see a special surprise along the way. As Vikki demonstrates in her grass garden vignette, you can juxtaposition smaller plantings and garden art among the larger grasses to add an element of surprise. This little vignette makes you stop and look at this scene. When you look at a vignette such as this miniature among the larger bed, what do you see?

In my mind I see a tranquil, tropical scene. The low-growing squiggles of lime green Sedum ‘Angelina’ flow around the stone Japanese lantern providing the imagery of a pond surrounding a pagoda. The emerald green, rounded ruffled foliage of the Gerbera daisy resemble a tropical plant at the edge of the pond. The orange of the coleus and impatiens echo the idea of a tropical flower garden. Surrounded by flowing arches of grass, the blades of irises and the society garlic, the vignette appears as those it is backed by a tropical forest. All of the elements in this vignette work together as there are no definitive borders to this scene; it flows and connects with the rest of the grass garden. There’s nothing to jar the eye. Nothing feels out of place.

~* The Living Room Tour - Part 2 *~

I decided to give you an up close and personal look at some of the items in our living room. All I can say is thank goodness for high speed internet or it would have taken days to upload these pictures. I hope you all enjoy the second part of the tour.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This coffee table was made by my dear husband when we were first married. Our dd loved walking around this coffee table when she was a baby. There are alot of marks on it from her, but I don't mind because she antiqued it!

This old suitecase belong to my dear dad. I have old photo albums stored in it.
I bought this house new at one of the little shops in Ligonier. The "Be Thankful" figurine is from my friend, Trish.
This is a picture of my dear husband and his three older brothers...it's one of my favorites...my dh is the littlest cowboy. I got this picture frame at the thrift store.

I bought these HOME tealights at Big Lots...they were very cheap!

Old bottles from my dear dad line my window sills.

I picked up this basket at our church's annual bazarr. I have my Country Living magazines and some of my Country Sampler magazines in it.

An old picture of my great grandma in front of her log house and a fall birdnest from another favorite store called "Collections by Marty".

A clock, old glasses, old books, and a pocket watch from my grandpap.

Candle holder from the thrift store...I paid $2.00 for it. I have two of them on my wall.

A not so old lamp with some old spurs.

Wooden candle holders from the thrift store. I paid 25 cents a piece for them. I was thinking about painting them black!

A wooden plate from another favorite store called the WOW Outlet. They have great items at great prices. An angel tea light from my dear friend, June, who is like a second mother.

Thanks for stopping by for the tour.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah wanted to know if I have a western theme in the living room. There are quite a few items that are "horse themed" in the room (I seriously could do another post on those items), several paintings and a number of horse figures from Montana Silversmith...my dh is a cowboy at heart!