Pretty in cream, white, yellow, green....and of course pink!

My visit to SuzAnna's Antiques this week was so much fun. I met up with Vanessa who found me via my blog and said she would like to treasure hunt too!

Vanessa is originally from Brazil, a beautiful, charming young woman. She brought her sweet little girl Luna along. The three of us had a great time with Luna ending up with a cute child size chair and table to use on their patio.

Afterwards, they came home with me for tea and while I showed Vanessa around the cottage and garden, dh entertained Luna...............he's great with little girls and even dug out our granddaughter's stuffed animals for her to cuddle.

~~~ Some treasures spied at SuzAnna's this week~~~

Sam's Country Porch is next door to SuzAnna's.

This birdhouse came home with me - couldn't resist it with that vintage book used for the roof!

First attempt at this post I added more descriptions however it will not post and I lost it!

This time you just get the pics and must guess what I said about all these pretties.

Thursday evening I'll return for SuzAnna's ribbon cutting party to celebrate the new addition to the shop - sounds like a fun time.

....and the winner is..............

We were up bright and early this morning...........things were happening around the cottage which was washed with heavy rain last night. The garden looks fresh and shiny clean, the plants and shrubs have gulped down gallons of the 'good stuff' that only comes in the form of Nature's own elixir, water from the heavens!

But on to the fun stuff as promised................as dh sipped his big morning mug of coffee, and our granddaughter Jasmin woofed down oatmeal and waffles (she spent the night here), I presented my trusty garden hat filled with the names of those of you who entered the giveaway to celebrate my 300th post. Jasmin of course got to do the honors.

Drum roll please...........and the winner of this neat book is JANET at Housepeepers . If you don't know Janet be sure to visit her, she will have you laughing instantly!

Congratulations Janet - please e-mail me with your mailing address (and full name) - I'll get the book in the post next week.

After all that excitement, a huge truck arrived bearing the ten - yes 10 - cubic yards of cypress playground chips we'd ordered. They promised "the small truck" because we have trees overhanging the driveway and we dislike the free trimming a big truck does. Guess someone goofed there! Anyway, they were unloaded at the top of the driveway and the guy drove off with twigs and leaves waving from his truck - only one rather large branch was broken off thank goodness. Here's Jasmin getting ready to leave for school - you can see just a small portion of the chips.........................so guess what dh and I are doing now? More on that later.



Many thanks for taking time to enter the giveaway and for leaving your very kind comments. I enjoy sharing many aspects of my life with each of you. I hope to keep my blog interesting so you will return often - that way I, in turn, get to visit with you in so many exciting and beautiful places around the world.

Painted Beauties

Time for a little decorative dreaming as Spring cleaning progresses. Although I somewhat dislike the actual cleaning part (believe me it gets more painful and tedious as one ages!) I love to dream about pieces of furniture I might enjoy having move into my home. Luck has it that with a small cottage size house there is no more room for additional furniture. The only way is to replace a piece already here!

"Meubles peints ~ un style reviste"
"Painted furniture - revisiting a style"

According to recent issues of French decorating magazines - I sometimes treat myself to one now and then because they are always beautiful - painted furniture is regaining popularity in France. On this page I found the delicate toile effect on this painted chest really elegant. It would be perfect with my sofa fabric and toile pillows.

Below is another one, similar in color, less formal, can imagine it in a cottage home and would be perfect with these lovely roses I received for Mother's Day.

Love, love this one - the shape, the corners, artwork, colors and...........

..............can you believe this one below is actually mine, purchased several years ago for my dining room. I wanted to 'bring the outdoors in' as the large window looks out onto the front porch. I've found it to be such a great storage piece - guess it's now quite stylish according to the French!

Would love to see any painted beauties you enjoy in your home!

Celebrating Three Hundred Posts!

ometimes, when I come across something I really love, I like to buy two, one to keep and the other to give to a special person. Here is one of those little finds worth sharing. This wonderful book, written and beautifully illustrated by Abbie Zabar, allows one to share an entire gardening year on her New York city rooftop. She proves one doesn't always need acreage to grow a garden. Abbie also shares wonderful quotations, written in her own handwriting. This is a little gem both for dedicated gardeners and for lovers of gentle books and charming art.

This book can come to sit on your bookshelf or bedside table. Or, it can be gently tossed on the wicker chair or porch swing, ready to be picked up and a few pages read as you enjoy a cool drink on a hot, lazy Summer's day. To celebrate my three hundredth blog post, and the joy of knowing many of you for well over a year, I would love to read a comment from each of you, toss your name in my Spring gardening hat, then draw a winner.

Leave your comment on this post only please by this Thursday evening. I'll have dh pick a name on Friday morning.........he enjoys that part!

"As for rosemarie, I lette it runne all over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friends.

......................Thomas More, English Statesman, 16th. Century

Raindrops Falling on........................

......................everything!

Yesterday the rain fell like the crystals dangling from the front porch. It started gently then changed to 'cats and dogs' - the kind of rain that would be deafening if you were under a tin roof. The roses sagged, their petals sweeping the ground like a ballgown. The Jasmine's perfume was intoxicating making one want to stand still and just inhale........raindrops, scents, colors scrubbed clean and sparkly.

The garden on a wet but wonderful Mother's Day.

Mother's Day 2008

Always With You

Your Mother is always with you,

She's the whisper of the leaves

as you walk down the street.

She's the smell of bleach

in your freshly laundered socks.

She's the cool hand on your brow

when you're not well.

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.

She's crystallized in every teardrop.

She's the place you came from,

your first home.

She's the map you follow

with every step that you take.

She's your first love

and your first heartbreak.........

and nothing on earth can separate you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Author Unknown

Ruth Mary Hallock ~ 1919

Jessie Willcox Smith ~ 1921

James Francis Day ~ "Storytime" undated.

Jessie Willcox Smith 1923

Clara Olmstead ~ Undated

Jessie Willcox Smith ~ 1925

A Mother laughs our laughter

Sheds our tears,

Returns our love,

Fears our fears,

She lives our joys,

Cares our cares,

And hopes our hopes.

................Julia Summers

Caring Bloggers ROSE DAY

To celebrate Caring Bloggers ROSE DAY my favorite rose opened its first blooms earlier this week. With delicate yellow and pink blushed petals it is a magnificent flower in the Spring through Autumn garden.

The PEACE rose is the most famous and successful garden rose of all time. To read more about the history visit here.