Antiquing Field Trip

Well, you know how it is. My friends and I like to go antiquing and especially to the monthly sale at Matilda's Mouse antiques. The May event was "Through The Garden Gates," appropriately named for the time of year.  Here's a taste of the goodies.

This beautiful display was disassembled right after I took this photo. Someone bought the HUGE counter it was sitting on and the absolutely stunning door. You can't tell by this photo, but that door was a One-of-a-Kind. I've never seen anything like it. Glass between spindles which had remnants of kelly green paint. I wish I'd taken a close up. If I was selling these antiques, I'd have such a hard time taking apart the displays. Although, a sale is always a good thing, especially a BIG sale. This happened at the beginning of the three day event. I hope they had a Plan "B".

This beautiful "cage" was very hard to photograph. It also sold first thing which is too bad. I would've grabbed it.  What an impact it would've made a big impact in a room.  Just lovely.  

Nancy posed for me.  She really wants that basin, but has no where to put it. 

The pealing gate was also a beautiful color.

 I have never seen anything like this side board before.  Look at the detail on the drawers below!

 It's too bad this beautiful lace top was T I N Y! 

 Isn't this a fun Vegas chandelier from the 1960's? 

Can you believe that all I went home with were two blue Ball jars with lids intact?  

ME EITHER!

Cheese, Fruit and Baubles

I hosted a fun jewelry party last night.  I was so busy getting prepared, that I didn't take one photo.  I'll tell you about it anyway and borrow a photo from here or there.  I decided to make a cheese and fruit platter and a little dessert platter.  I made some delicious flavored water from a recipe that Mary from Home is Where The Boat Is posted recently. If you've never been to her blog, check it out.  She does an amazing job with table decorations and recipes.  

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I used Ina Garten's advice on building a cheese platter. (Here's a fun video of how she makes an Antipasto platter). Although I didn't use the same cheese, I did get recommendations from my local cheese shop. I added green grapes, strawberries, salami, Proscuitto, crackers and baguette slices. I even bought lemon leaves to set the cheese on.  You CAN buy them from your florist.  Mine were $1 a stem. which had several leaves on it. I also added bunches of sage and thyme. The two cheeses I bought were Idiazabal a smoked sheep cheese from Spain that was a favorite. The softer cheese was Fromage D'Affinois, made in France from double cream cow's milk. Delicious!

I bought some chocolate chip cookies and made Tastefully Simple's Almond Pound Cake mix.  I embellished it with a drizzle frosting and sliced almonds on the top.  It was also a hit.  I have a similar recipe, but who wants to cook when there's an amazing mix available?  It was inhaled.  

The jewelry we played with is from Stella & Dot.  Have you been to a party yet?  They have really beautiful jewelry to fit every taste and budget.  It's a really low key, relaxed and fun atmosphere.  All in all, it was a lovely evening.  

Wish you could've been there!

Making It Mine

We had several of the rooms on our main floor painted last week. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but couldn't decide on a paint color. That's such a tricky decision, isn't it? Our home was entirely painted brown before we moved in. In some cases, and in some seasons, it was lovely. In the end, I decided to lighten things up. Making one change always affects something else and this is no exception. The entire main part of the house looks cohesive now, until you walk into the kitchen.  I won't be showing you that transition. Also, my photography isn't the best here, partially because of the light and partially because it's entirely on my iPhone.  My Canon and MAC laptop have decided to stop speaking.  I don't know who ticked off who, but I wish they'd figure it out soon.  

In progress.

Here is the Living Room area in brown.

Here it is in Revere Pewter. 

I've covered the piano to protect it from the sun, cuz I just like my window open, okay?

Brown

Pewter

(funny thing is, the wall over the stairs on the right, is a different color.  It's SW Kiliam Beige)

Living Room Mantle on Brown

Pewter

I think the family photo walls looks much better.  We had one fatality however off of the top shelf.  This entire arrangement is still a work in progress.  Maybe one day I'll be happy with it.

Entry area in Brown

Entry in Revere Pewter

Dining Room in Brown

(shhh, it looks really pretty in this photo)

Dining room in Revere Pewter

I think it's the light or angle, or photographer or all three.

Here are the colors of my Family Room and Living Room now.  

Much, much lighter.

ISN'T SHE LOVE-LY?

 If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen all of these pictures already.

 I thought I'd do a round-up.

It's taken awhile to finish this sampler because I had to stop working on it for about a month. I bought this "LOVE-LY" sampler from Charlotte Lyons during the Art-Of-Craft workshop at French General last January. At the same time, I bought this beautiful floral fabric, La Belle Fleur, from Kaari at French General and chose floss colors to coordinate with it. I couldn't find a green ball fringe that I liked, so I used this blue rickrack.  I think it's perfect in my guest room.  You can find all of Charlotte's pretty samplers in her Etsy store.  I have her newest design, "Homebodies" waiting in the wings.  

Happy Mother's Day

I have the best Mom. 

Happy Mother's Day

I love you!

I'm also proud of my own sweet girls. I need to get a newer photo. Love you both!

New Tweets

Have you tried Twitter?
I have.  Barely.
I just don't get it.
Give me a good photo anyway and I'm all over it.
Twitter, not so much.

There has been a lot of tweeting going on over here recently.  The pretty, amazing kind of tweeting.  I'm familiar with Finches, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Juncos and even a Tufted Titmouse.  But, there are some birds we've been seeing lately that are new to us.  I've shown you an occasional Egret, Quail or Roadrunner. 

Recently I've seen some gorgeous birds.  This Roadrunner was trying to get out of my way. 

I was walking SO FAST.  

This is a Spotted Towhee.  I had to get out the bird book.

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Last week HH and I saw an Oriole on our walk.

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Wednesday a beautiful bird flew in front of my car.
I had to go home and look him up too.  It ended up being a Western Tanager.
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

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See, there's been a lot of tweeting going on here lately!