Dessert Carnival Day

Make sure you visit Cielo at The House in the Roses to take part in her fabulous dessert party scheduled for May 30. You can find the details on her blog. Hurry on over to visit this fabulous, romantic gal who always writes something very special to touch one's heart....and shares beautiful photos of all things lovely.

Hey, let's celebrate, come on.......................

Starting today with the drawing for my giveaway - such fun. So grateful to all of you who entered by leaving kind comments on my 100th post - hopefully I can keep going and share more interesting things with you. As many of you know - especially the Anglophiles out there - I'll be "crossing the pond" in October, first time since starting my blog, so will take plenty of photos of cottages and such to share with you.

So, a celebration is in order............................

I do love hats, especially vintage looking hats - here's a few of my Summer ones. The two gimp braid hats were custom made by a designer friend and I just love them. The tan one I wear a lot in Summer as it looks almost like a straw hat - the cream one comes in handy for weddings and such. The cinnamon color one with pretty roses is amazing - light as a feather fabric (stuffed with tissues for this pic) - found in a quaint little hat shop in Tiberon, CA when visiting a few years ago. All these hats flatten and pack easily - nice to tuck in luggage when traveling - never know when a wet or windy day of sightseeing may need a hat.

Oh my gosh, I'm digressing and making this a fashion post instead of a fanfare for the WINNER!

......................who is........................... Mary at http://isabellascloset.blogspot.com/

Congratulations dear Mary - hope you will enjoy the little gifts.

Please e-mail me with your mailing address. I'll get the parcel in the mail this week.

So, hats off to Mary. This is such fun and I won't wait for the 200th post, I'll plan another giveaway long before then - already have a new idea in mind for some special items to share. All you artistic "crafty" gals - you know who you are - will love it......... so keep watching.

Again, thanks for visiting me. I love hearing from my wonderful circle of friends and sharing in all your varied interests. Hope this will be a great week...........and don't forget your hat!

"Giveaway" reminder

LAST CALL for my giveaway!

If you go to my post of August 6 you will see the details of the giveaway celebrating my 100th post. If you would like a chance to win these little gifts but haven't entered yet, please leave a comment on that post so I can put your name in the hat for the drawing. I plan to do this on Monday, August 20 (edited - forgot have Grand Jury Monday so will do this on Sunday and will post the name of the winner that morning).

Meanwhile, do take time to stop and smell the roses ~ Summer will soon be ending but the roses are just beautiful now ~ they usually do well around here until early Fall.

I love this painting, The Soul of the Rose by John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) - her hair, the exquisite fabric, and of course the roses.

Here are the gifts I'm sharing - including the English rose fabric, rose painted dish and rose card.

Remember ~~~~~~

Let's Celebrate ~ and a gift to the winner!

Just realized, yesterday's post was my 100th.................definitely time for a little celebration!!!!!!!!

Where does time go? Just six months ago I had a great circle of friends, some from childhood and school days in England, some in other states who were once neighbors and now pen pals, some who have been my support group right here in Raleigh for the 30 years I've lived here. All my long time friends are precious but now I also have a second circle..........all of you, my great blog friends who have visited me often and left helpful, funny, and admiring comments. I am enjoying sharing my interests in decorating, gardening, cooking and traveling with each one of you. In turn, I'm thrilled to read about your interesting lives in so many different parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, S. America, British Isles, France, Germany, Holland, Australia, S. Africa, Morocco, and Scandinavia.

To celebrate, I would love to share these gifts with one of you. When you stop by this post leave me a comment and I'll put your name in the hat. Drawing will be held toward the end of August - kids will be in school, "dog days" will hopefully have cooled somewhat, thoughts of Fall will be starting, and new projects will beckon.

The parcel will include two October issues (1994/1996) of the original VICTORIA magazine to inspire you - a generous yard of an "almost vintage" English rose patterned polished cotton fabric (enough for a pillow) - a sweet little English bone china dish with painted roses - a dainty real vintage hankie - a vintage (1908) rose "penny post card" - some English tassel trim - and a French blank book to write down your inspirations for Fall decorating and art projects.

Will look forward to hearing from you and entering your name in the drawing.