France Calling

October days in France beckon. Paris will only been seen from the air this time as I fly from London to Toulouse. Hopefully, if a clear afternoon, I can look down and spot this wonderful sight. I last ascended in June 2006. A ninety degree day when the metal was too hot to touch, and the sun blazed down while awaiting the elevator. It's always worth it though, the glorious feeling when you 're actually standing at the top ~ Paris is spread before you in all her loveliness.

Framed art available at SuzAnna's Antiques.

A Dream Come True

Remember how I loved it?

The golden sconce with the forty plus crystal prisms. An aging French lady, or a reproduction from some years back, who knows, who cares. It is lovely. I've wanted to bring it home for several months. When I walked into SuzAnna's Antiques again yesterday it was still there. Even with the price reduced nobody had snapped it up. Guess what - those great gals managed to get it reduced again, for me. My knees went weak, my head spun a little in the 90 degree heat...............it was meant to be mine.

Soon I'll show you where it's hanging now.

Sometimes patience pays off...............if you're lucky, and wait for dreams to come true, they do!

Enchanting Windows

Cielo at The House In The Roses invited us to post a favorite window from our home for her

Enchanting Windows Party.

The party is being held today. Do stop by to visit Cielo and see all the pretty windows.

Just a few days ago I walked into my kitchen to start preparing dinner, and noticed how charming the room looked in the late afternoon sunlight. The amber light filtering through this window gave me a feeling of Autumn even though the trees are green and the lantana is still blooming in the window box. As I looked out a hummingbird came to the blossoms to feed.

I spend a lot of time looking through this window. I like what I see as I go about my kitchen chores. Larger windows at the other side of the kitchen, look out to lovely views of my back garden, however today this is my favorite.

A view of the same window from outside. I always have something seasonal in the window box ~ it's a cottage thing!

Below, the other lovely view from the kitchen.

All the windows of my heart I open to the day.

John Greenleaf Whittier ~ 1807-1892

Pink Saturday

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December."

...................J.M. Barrie, Scottish Author & Dramatist.

Remember Summer by the roses. Their blooms are precious. Their days aren't really numbered because they can continue to live, yes, even until December, once dried. Their colors change, sometimes for the better. Their texture becomes even more interesting, taking on the subtle crispness of vintage crepe paper.

I sometimes buy a bunch of pretty long stemmed roses from the florist ~ they have interesting colors when fresh but I know they will be even more beautiful once dried. After enjoying them in water in the house for a week or so, I tie them together and hang them upside down from the iron chandelier in the potting shed to dry. This can take several weeks depending on the weather and the temperature in the shed. I know there are fancy ways to preserve flowers, however this is my simple way and it works.

The roses of Summer can share their beauty year round. These retained their pinkness and are perfect standing on a tray decoupaged with more pink roses. This is my second post in a week on dried roses ~ guess you can now tell I love them!
Our fun Pink Saturday hostess Beverly at How Sweet the Sound grows beautiful roses in her own garden. If you stop by today she will definitely have a growing list of participants for this always fun day.

Friday's Favorite Family Foto

Sisters. Four sisters. Edith, Gladys (my mother), Madge and May. Gladys and Madge, the dressmakers, created the beautiful gowns. If only they had kept them. I can imagine them cutting out, stitching and fitting each dress. Excitement must have been high. Their workroom tables covered with fabric, scissors, lovely old wooden spools wrapped with thread, pins everywhere. Oh to have them back, to ask them about those days when they worked the treadles on the old Singer sewing machines. It was a lovely wedding I'm certain.

Edith's wedding day ~ mid-1940's


Do pay a visit to Deborah today at Pictures, Pots & Pens
for the list of participants in Friday's Favorite Family Foto.

A FIGment of My Imagination

A trip to Trader Joe's last weekend enabled me to buy fresh California FIGS and they didn't cost an arm and a leg like at my local grocery store. Recently I used blog friend Sara's recipe for fig preserves. My first minuscule batch turned out great using sweet little green figs gathered from a generous neighbor's tree. I didn't realize that there's apparently quite a difference between green and purplish-brown figs.

I cooked them the same way using sugar and fresh lemons.


But look how they turned out. The original preserves using green figs spread on my English muffin - sweet, smooth and full of lemon flavor. The new batch darker, much denser with many more seeds, and the fig flavor seems stronger. Both are good but I think I prefer the green ones with fewer seeds.



Fig Fact ~ Although considered a fruit, the fig is actually a flower that is inverted into itself. The seeds are drupes, or the real fruit. Figs are the only fruit to fully ripen and semi-dry on the tree.


Illustrations from the beautiful book

FRUIT ~ An Illustrated History

A Rose is a Rose

A bud on the rose Peace is about to unfurl its peachy yellow petals - I will take a picture soon. More rain today has brought life back to many garden treasures.

Some roses dry so beautifully it's hard to discard them until they crumble to petal dust. These I've had since Spring. Now and then a petal falls, blows across the floor in the air whirled by the ceiling fan. I love them when the colors fade and they appear like vintage crepe paper beauties.

More surprises coming. Remember the Endless Summer hydrangeas? It's true, they are. Just wait and see.