Spring Blooms & Gifts

Today was full of pretty surprises. Walking into the back garden I was able to pick daffodils to bring into the house. They were hiding around bends and in corners by the fence, bright yellow King Alfred and creamy Ice Follies. I planted more daffodils than tulips in late Autumn. Usually I do the reverse, planting up huge pots of tulips, my favorite flower. Knowing that we would be on strict water restrictions all Winter, there was concern that, without rain, we wouldn't be able to water quick drying pots. So I planted daffodils in the ground wherever I could find soft earth..................and here they are, brightening up this wind chilled February day. We are now under a complete outdoor watering ban. This means garden centers and landscape companies are letting employees go, some will have to close down their businesses, Spring planting will be negligible in our area. Nature is beautiful but cruel at times.

No, not late with my Valentine post. In fact, lucky me is celebrating another day of love and kindness! Several weeks ago I was so fortunate to win a wonderful Valentine giveaway from Lynda at Hedgerow Hollow. Do visit Lynda at her lovely blog. The deep snows of Ontario, Canada prevented Lynda from blazing a trail to her post office early on, and then the mail delivery was very slow. No matter, the anticipation was part of the fun and here today, waiting in the mailbox, were these lovely gifts. A delightful book, VICTORIAN SWEETS introduced as follows ~

The last dish of a good dinner should be light and elegant, and convey the greatest amount of pleasure to the taste, with the least possible nourishment.

The illustrations are adorable and the delicious recipes include such offerings as ~ Citron Heart Cakes ~ Deliciose (Victorian Brownies) ~ Transparent Pie (Lemony Custard) ~ and many of my personal favorites which include ginger, such as ~Soft Ginger Cake ~ Fairy Gingerbread ~ Hard Gingerbread.

Lynda - I'll be busy in the kitchen trying out these!

Lynda made me a sweet floral heart trimmed with lace and ribbon ~ this will make a great pincushion. I can see she's 'tag gal' just like me ~ hers are gorgeous! The heart and cameo buttons are lovely, I know I'll use them in an art project, along with the pretty Susan Branch 'love' stickers. All these gifts were accompanied by Lynda's handmade card. Thank you so much for these generous presents ~ I'm thrilled with everything.

Anniversary Giveaway!

Today, while stopping to look for Spring..................it's out there, hiding under dry oak leaves, small bulbs pushing slowly and gently, readying themselves to shoot through the earth............I suddenly remembered that February 27 is not far off!

Where has the time gone? Almost an entire year has passed by while I've been busy blogging! I've made so many new and wonderful friends around the world. I'm grateful for all the comments left, personal stories shared, decorating and art tutorials generously given...........and the pleasure of just getting to know you, wherever you may live.

**** Time for a Giveaway ****

To celebrate this past year and the start of another, I am sharing some gifts with you.

A copy of Rachel Ashwell's beautiful book Shabby Chic. Full of wonderful photos of her home in California, flea market hunting, her decorating projects, and the story of how she built her successful business, anyone who loves to decorate their home using flea market finds and turning them into elegant painted treasures will love this book.

The cover of a lovely journal will inspire you to dream of Tuscany and perhaps plan a trip to Italy ~ you will love it there. Along with these books will be a folder crammed with Italian writing papers, scrapbooking odds and ends, elegant cards of John William Waterhouse romantic paintings.......and perhaps some extra surprises if I can squeeze them into the mailing box!

To enter the drawing for the gift package please leave a comment on this post only. I will draw the winner the evening of February 27, my anniversary date.

Again, thank you for stopping by ~ it really is such a pleasure knowing you, and Good Luck, anyone can be the winner here!

Dreaming around the Color Wheel

Remember my great love for old shutters since visiting my family's fabulous home in the South of France? This love, which really started when in Tuscany several years before, filled my dreams and caused me to hang shutters in my master bedroom when redecorating a year or so ago. When I wake in the morning and see those shutters through my sleepy, squinty eyes, the day takes on a new meaning as I first have memories of village life, roosters crowing; vignerons starting up their noisy tractors as they head to their vineyards; my family far away bustling around the house, their footsteps echoing on the tiled floors; mouthwatering cappucino and croissant smells wafting up the stairs. Yesterday, after cleaning off the pair of shutters hanging out patiently all Winter in my potting shed, I called French (well of course he's really English) brother to wish him a happy Valentine's Day. Talk about serendipity - HE was actually in the middle of painting his well over 100 year old exterior shutters also! So, my next painting project will begin any day now - I'm ready, willing and armed!

My brother's ancient shutters in France.

I love this room, sophisticated European with rustic touches ~ it has become the inspiration for my current decorating project as many of you know. In the first picture I showed you a few weeks back, I didn't let you get a peek at the shutter! This is how I plan to paint a pair of old exterior slatted wood shutters ~ rescued from SuzAnna's Antiques of course ~ to hang inside at the one window in the room!

This guest room makeover is coming along slowly. I'm not rushing because I'm having so much fun digging and delving for treasure to complete the look and feel I want. The background is bright and clean with new ceiling and walls, and less stained woodwork, but a little cold looking, so I'm now bringing in some colors to make it cozy and comfortable.

Below is the color palette I'm working with. The three chips bottom right are the paint colors I've bought to use on the shutters - Belle Grove Brass for the base, La Fonda Teal and Pine Forest (med. and dark shades next to each other on the chip card on the left) all Valspar. Is this brave or what? I'm hoping it will work - using these colors in a rustic way and sanding down to expose the brass shade in places to give an aged feeling. As no direct sunlight will shine on the shutters I'm thinking this bold color will not be too overpowering. If it's not the way to go I'll be back at Lowe's choosing again - that's the glory of paint, you can always paint over!

My secretary is still on vacation! I'm just gathering bits and bobs to leave on her desk and shelves until the right look comes together, then I'll put her to work. The gold/cream toile fabric is going to line the inside of the doors ~ I plan to make padded inserts, perhaps crisscrossed with grosgrain ribbon and vintage nailheads to display special photos, postcards, notes, inspiration pictures etc.

This is the little chair I bought last year at Karen's gorgeous shop FETCH in Hillsborough, NC shown at the bottom of my sidebar. This will be perfect to use at the desk when writing my memoirs, ha! ha! The floral painting on the back has just a touch of the blue-green shutter color. The complementary color is 'geranium red' (looks darker on this color card) which is that old red of French tickings and kitchens linens. This is a piece of red/cream ticking I found to make a seat pad. Just a touch of this color will bring in more warmth. This linen pillowcase was packaging for a European sham from Anthropologie ~ sewn on embroidered labels, and the pearl buttons, made it too precious to discard and with a pillow insert added it's now recycled ~ way to go!

........and lastly, pretty storage boxes found at Homegoods ~ for the top of the armoire ~ the right old red color.
Wishing you a fabulous weekend. For those of you able to fling open your shutters and windows to let the almost Spring breezes in while painting, enjoy! The rest of you who will snuggle up while snowflakes still fall, your time will come!

~~~ St. Valentine's Day ~~~

May all the love you give away be returned to you today.

Wishing each of you a lovely day.......with roses, chocolate, and loving hearts surrounding you.

A Personal Secretary

Last Thursday I took a break and popped over to see my favorite gals at SuzAnna's Antiques - you can see owners Susie and Anna at the bottom of my sidebar. One of superwoman Anna's talents is the weekly newsletter which is informative regarding new merchandise, and hilarious as she writes so well. The big news........other than the new 'secretary'.........was that the shop is expanding in size and will be even more fabulous in a couple of months with space for much more wonderful stuff, yeah!!

.........................well back to the secretary, not a modern adminstrative assistant, a good old fashioned secretary which somebody shabbied up a bit and left at SuzAnna's in hopes she would be given a job...........I mean home!

Can you believe many decorating ladies came from near and far to look and perhaps buy this piece over the weekend - they read Anna's glowing description in the newsletter ~ "one of the prettiest pieces we've ever had in the shop". But guess what..................as I was there Thursday I got to buy it and on Sunday afternoon Susie's fabulous dh brought it to my house and helped my great dh get it up the stairs into the newly painted guest room.

Here she is in the shop.

This is the lovely Linda showing me the attributes of the secretary. I've always wanted a pretty desk to sit at, and cubbies like these to store my writing papers, journals etc. Three drawers and three shelves for lots of display and storage.

I must also tell you that Linda, who works diligently setting up displays, organizing and tempting us to buy SuzAnna's treasures, is also a designer and organizer who goes to homes and helps anyone who is challenged when it comes to those difficult choices such as picking paint colors, placing their furniture, and getting rid of all that unwanted stuff.

......................and am I lucky.........in the Valentine game at SuzAnna's I was picked as one of the winners...............and my prize is one hour of the lovely Linda's precious time. She will come to my house and help me with anything I want..............what a great gift ~ I know we'll have fun together.

Just a quick peek below at the secretary now in her new position......at my house. I'll show you more later when she has had time to get used to her new surroundings ~ I plan a busy and decorated life for her.

Past Imperfect

I have so enjoyed reading all your comments about the possibilities of the little house in my brother's French village. I know I made fun of it when sharing those photos but, in all honesty, I still have a feeling about that little house and how it could be restored into a comfortable vacation home. This weekend my brother and sister-in-law plan a stroll through the village to try to locate the property and report back. Until then - look what marvelous places these village houses have become once loved, renovated and cared for....................................

In the beautiful book 'Les Maisons Romantiques de France' by Barbara & Rene Stoeltie, the imperfections of the tiny village houses of France are shown lovingly restored. Sometimes from the outside they do not appear inviting, stark stone walls and creaking delapidated gates.

Colette wrote in My Mother's House ~ "A large solemn house, rather forbidding, with its shrill bell and its carriage entrance with a huge bolt like an ancient dungeon, a house that smiled only on its garden side."

What do you think? Do you agree that every house has the potential to become a true home if one has a vision and is prepared to take on the job? Money is a huge part of the equation of course. Some strong, hard working craftsmen would be needed...................and an understanding husband who owes his sweetheart a really special Valentine gift could make this dream come true.

Well one has to have a dream, right?

Chance to Win a 'Dawn Original'

Isn't this the most wonderful art piece................and wouldn't you love a chance to own it and display it in your home?

It was created by the talented Dawn at The Feathered Nest and she has entered it in a Valentine art contest at Charming Sam Studio.

If you go over to Charming Sam Studio blog and vote for Dawn she will drop your name in the hat to win this lovely vintage creation. After voting, visit Dawn and follow her instructions to be entered in the drawing.

Good luck in the contest Dawn ~ your artwork is beautiful.

Spring Arrives for Deena

Today Spring appeared in the garden. The first Summer Snowflakes (leucojum aestivum), similar to snowdrops, opened this morning in the front porch flower bed. I love this harbinger of Spring and my how they multiply! Last year I pulled many to share with friends and replanted some in the back garden. Looks like we have plenty there also poking up through the hard, dry earth despite the severe lack of rain in our area. I'm hoping those of you who are still buried under snow will enjoy this breath of early Spring........your turn will come soon.

Also today, as for the past few warm days, the robins have returned to eat supper on the lawn and then drink and bathe in the birdbaths. Those of you in the UK, and perhaps other countries, will note that the American Robin is much larger than your sweet little European Robin. Perhaps they are overeating here. Just kidding, this bird is naturally large and is actually a member of the thrush family.


I would like to dedicate this post to Deena at Can I Be Pretty in Pink. This beautiful lady is so brave and gracious as she battles breast cancer. Today, as I write, she is starting her chemo. Many of you already know Deena's story and are praying for her remission. Those of you yet to meet Deena will get to know this lovely, talented artist if you take time to visit her blog.

Deena, because you love living 'nestled in the singing woods', enjoying Nature, I wanted to share these pictures of Spring in the South.

We're all praying so hard for you Deena.

A 'fixer upper' in France!

You may have seen my posts last year about my brother's beautiful home in Southwest France. He and his family relocated to a small French village from London. They love their life in this village of 1100 people. They purchased a large 200 year old village house with lovely gardens and have spent over 4 years renovating a somewhat uncared for property into a gorgeous home.

Last week I found this house for sale in their village ~ if I was 20 years younger I might consider purchasing and renovating too! I would love a little house near my only sibling......near the incredible outdoor food markets.......the brocantes and antiques markets.......next to the olive groves and vineyards. This is hardly in the class of my brother's house, however with a little TLC and a whole lot of back breaking DIY, perhaps it could become a romantic little French home. What do you think?

Description by the owner reads as follows ~

This is a charming 500-year old stone village house that was upgraded with electricity, water and sewer several years ago. 13 klms NE of Carcassonne in the heart of the Languedoc wine country. The decor remains very rustic although I have added double pane windows and wall mounted electric heat to assist the wood stove for heating. The three floor house is located on a tiny rue and consists of 3 rooms in the basement that are now being renovated for the second bedroom, toilet and shower, and the wine cave. The second floor is the kitchen, eating room, and bath with claw foot tub and sink. There is a tiny terrace ample for eating and socializing. Upstairs is a bedroom, sitting room and toilet and soon a second terrace. The village of 1100 residents (which includes MY brother, sister-in-law and niece) contains an Abbey, hotel, bar, bakery and other services, and hosts a number of concerts and other activities each year.

This quaint little house is perfect for artists or writers, or those wanting to live a simple and authentic French lifestyle.

That last sentence says it all as far as I'm concerned. I will now make YOU want it too, all of you who long to live in France (thanks Peter Mayle - your books made it sound such fun), and all who bought and love Kari Meng's The French Inspired Home, Vicki Archer's My French Life, and numerous other decorating books and magazines depicting the glories of the French home from Versailles to.............well, to a little tiny rustic village house like this.....


I'm thinking this is the assigned parking space for the village house. It would require competence in backing up - that's 'reversing' in Europe. Perhaps a colorful armored car, as this appears to be, would be sensible as the houses are quite close together, and those 500 year old stone walls look a lot stronger than the materials most autos are built of these days.

The front entrance and foyer perhaps? Could make it welcoming - and of course we'd all paint that mirror frame white if the owner leaves it behind, wouldn't we?

If this is the sitting room - well there are chairs - I'm a bit concerned about the staircase to get there. This appears to be just like the opening to my top attic which means a ladder and then hoisting oneself up and over - let me tell you, this expends a week's worth of energy for we members of the AARP crowd!
The basement workshop don't you think? To become, owner's words, "second bedroom, toilet, shower and wine cave". Hey man, forget the bedroom, toilet and shower, after looking at all the DIY involved here let's just make it a really big wine cave - we're going to need to store a lot of bottles with which to drown our sorrows if we buy this house before YOU finish the renovation!

Nice armoire though, tall and definitely a French antique - would we, could we, paint this too?
I'm thinking this must be the second floor comprising of, quote, "kitchen, eating room and bath with claw foot tub and sink".

And here it is - recall he didn't say 'bathroom' so perhaps it's really vintage - like in ancient -where the tub was in front of the hearth and one bathed monthy after heating cauldrons of water over the coals!

I really love this area though - no need to faux finish the walls, already done and they're the real thing. The copper cookware is gorgeous, and I've always wanted open shelving so I can grab my EVOO, Balsamic vinegars and sel de mer without having to dig through cabinets with sticky fingers. Hope he throws in the little cupboard, and again I'll be painting the dark wood clock....................help me I think I'm falling, falling in love with a little village house in the South of France. There are craftsmen who build staircases, plumbers who run pipes to real walk-in showers in a room of their own.........bankers who give loans - big loans I fear. Then of course there are husbands - perhaps he'll agree to the chandelier for the bedroom if I promise not to move to France!!!

I'm away to the terrace (to ponder all this) where the owner says eating and socializing is possible - just keep the party small I say. Perhaps my brother would let me invite you all to a real party at his large house with the pool and the garden, the huge rooms and many bathrooms - then you could pop over here for a cuppa with me, one or two at a time. We could ooh and aah over the exposed beams, the stone and real plaster walls, the tile and brick floors.......and hoist each other up into the sitting room or, better still, just trot down to the 'cave' and clink several glasses of local wines - there are some good ones produced in the Languedoc I assure you.
Hope this kind owner, who obviously has done much to start bringing this little house back to life, will leave these chairs. I'm sitting here wondering about him. Is he alone eating that little meal for one - did he have a dream - is the work too much - has he given up? There is potential here for the right person. This could be a home in France. This could be the place to live the simple and authentic French lifestyle.

An Amazing Photographer

OROTHY BLUM COOPER

On Saturday evening we drove North to the small college town of Louisburg, North Carolina. Here, at long last, I met my blog friend, Dorothy Blum Cooper who is just the most amazing photographer...............and a beautiful, charming lady. In the gallery of Louisburg College, Dorothy's outstanding b/w photos, taken in and around New Orleans just prior to Hurricane Katrina, were displayed in her Southern Exposure show. She and her renowned artist husband, Bobby, presented a wonderful slide show in the auditorium. You can view this if you go to her Oct. 27, 2007 blog post and click on Calm Before the Storm at the bottom. Be sure to turn up your sound as the accompanying jazz is wonderful too! You can also visit her web site Dorothy Blum Cooper to view more amazing photos of children she has photographed.

Above ~ One of Dorothy's photos taken in Louisiana before Katrina ~ The Marston House, Clinton

Dorothy, Bobby and their children relocated to North Carolina following Katrina and are renovating an historic home, built in 1890, in the heart of Louisburg. On passing it as we left the college, we immediately fell in love with such a stately Southern house complete with huge hanging gas lamp at the front entrance. I hope so much Dorothy will invite me back to Louisburg some day when she's less busy and allow me to tour her beautiful home.

By the way, Dorothy was not wearing ruby slippers, but she had on the most spectacular pair of high heeled boots!

A Clean Slate

Several friends have requested a step by step of the guest room makeover ~ on a shoestring of course ~ so I'm posting these pics showing the room, now a clean slate, and the rest is up to me ~ yes moi!!!! The job of turning this space into something really more elegant, but cozy, is now my baby!

Hang on a moment please............."bye dh"...................he's just leaving for the NCSU/Wake Forest basketball game, guess seeing desecration of his adored wood is making him run off and leave me to it, brave guy!

OK, before, shown below, there was just too much stained wood ~ or as I've heard recently named 'MANwood'. What a great description! Why do men love this wood treatment so much more than painted finishes? Actually I'm lucky that my wood is really nice for '80's construction, the builder didn't skimp on solid 6-panel doors, baseboards, crown moldings etc. Even the painter said what nice wood and stain was used. But these closet bi-fold doors, and the door to an attic storage space, was driving me nuts and had to go in order to create a more elegant boudoir and make the room look brighter.

So here are the doors now in a rich stone semi-gloss finish ~ the darkest color on the color card below. The walls are the lightest shade, and the medium sandstone color was used in the stairwell and on the landing leading to this room. Love how the doors look and have a plan in the back of my mind to do even more with them later perhaps!

Below is the door into the attic storage space ~ which at this point is crammed with the stuff from the room ~ a real mess. Again, the painted finish has made the door less conspicuous ~ percentage of MANwood dropping at long last!

Below, during Superman Bruce's ceiling makeover ! removing the 'cottage cheese' texture.

Now, the great smooooooooooth and clean ceiling, and freshly painted walls in this warm cream.The dangling things are of course the other 'man thing' in the room ~ the BIG WHITE ceiling fan/light fixture! This room, when finished, cannot have something so modern and ugly ~ it will be screaming for a romantic crystal chandelier. Tell him dear friends, tell him how beautiful it will look ~ never mind possible higher a/c bills in the Summer ~ or having to run a little portable fan if someone sleeping in there is too warm. Life is short, especially when as old as me! I want pretty and romantic, and I want it NOW!!!

~~~~~~~

This armoire goes behind the door to the room ~ such a tight fit and so hard to move in or out ~ and is only really seen if one is in the room with the door closed. It's on my list to paint ~ have decided not to tackle this right now as I needed to get it back into it's space so I have more room to lay out the queen headboard and footboard which definitely will be painted. What's stuck on the door? Another idea I'm playing with involving damask patterned wallpaper and French writing perhaps!!!!

I'm off now ~ primer has dried on the mirror frame I'm refurbishing so on with the paint. Probably won't bore you with more on this room makeover until it's truly made over.

Must plan supper and get a great red breathing and ready to sip....................hope dh's team (NC State Wolfpack) wins. Hope he returns in a good mood and I can win him over on the thought of dangling crystals replacing fan paddles....and romance!

P.S. Anyone else having a problem with 'check spelling' when posting? Mine has stopped working so apologies for any mistakes.

Edit: Just checked with Blogger and see there is a problem and they are working on it, great!

Edit 2: The Wolfpack won - will I get a chandelier????????

Edit 3: Oh no, he wants the Patriots to win the Super Bowl too - the odds are still stacked against me!