Roses, Depression, and Snails

Happy Friday, blog friends! I hope you have all had a happy and productive week and have some fun things planned for the weekend!

Before I begin my show & tell, I would like to introduce a new blogger! My daughter Julie has just created a darling blog, The Princess Diaries. So...if any of you happen to be surfing along in blog land with no particular place to stop...





Forgive me, but is she not precious???

Ok, sorry about that, I'll move on!








Now for today's Friday Show & Tell, hosted by Kelli at There's No Place Like Home:

I bought these sweet salt and pepper shakers at an antique mall a couple of years ago. I love the pink roses but even more, I loved the backs. There is a sweet poem on the back of each shaker.

The summer my husband and I were celebrating our 30th anniversary we were visiting my parents in Tennessee when we found this green Depression Glass punch bowl with 12 cups and a matching biscuit jar. At that time, when my parents were a little younger, one of our favorite things to do together was to shop for antiques. It was at our favorite antique store in Tennessee that we found the green Depression Glass. My husband bought it for me as a 30th anniversary gift. It's in perfect condition. I use it year round - at Christmas with green or red punch and sometimes floating candles. In the summer I make fruit punch with fresh fruit floating in it. The set lives on top of my china cabinet and is one of my favorite treasures!

I just love this cute little snail candle holder. My wonderful sister-in-law just gave it to me. It's a little different than roses and Depression Glass, but I thought it was so cute it deserved a spot!

Wordless Wednesday - The Joy of Granddaughters!

Summer Memories

I thought you all might enjoy seeing a little bit of the sweet little town we live in!

Here's our little theater. It's a fun place to see movies. The charge is $3.00 now, up from $1.00! Inflation hits small town landmarks too!

This huge old house is gorgeous, even in it's state of disrepair. I think it would be a fabulous bed and breakfast. It's right off the park and it would be a sure money maker. People come from all over the state to visit our town and the various festivals that are held here, such as Fall Festival, and Ice Sculpture Spectacular, Art In the Park, Chili Cook Off, and Farmers Market. If I had a few million dollars to buy and renovate that lovely old house there would be a new bed and breakfast for all those visitors to stay in!

Every Friday evening from June through August many in our town fill up the park for "Music In the Park". Hundreds of people, young and old, fill the park with blankets, lawn chairs, dogs, and boxed dinners. A different live band plays music from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. each Friday. These special evenings provide an opportunity for families, neighbors, and friends to get together for a wholesome evening of music and fun. Over the years we have created some wonderful memories with our family and treasured friends.

The fountain in the park is just lovely. We've seen weddings by the fountain several times over the years. It's a long time gathering spot for all of us who live in and love our little town.

And finally, even the tiniest in the crowd enjoy those memorable small town evenings! Isabelle loved her first ear of home grown corn - grilled right there in the park and smeared with garlic butter no less!!

May each of you make memories this summer to cherish for a lifetime!

Pink Saturday

When I saw that Beverly at howsweetthesound had begun hosting Pink Saturday, I was tickled pink! You see, I am the original pink girl! I have a houseful of pink stuff!

A cute new kitchen apron covered in pink strawberries! I'm a messy girl in the kitchen!

I got this short black and pink nightie today. I love the ruffled edging!

These pink floral heart shaped dessert plates are some of my favorites. I found 6 at Marshall's.

I love this sweet little soft pink porcelain angel. She opens up like a little trinket box. I bought one for myself and one for my granddaughter a few years ago.

I know this picture looks odd...it is a potted "tree" I made for my daughters wedding seven years ago. My husband and I spent may hours cutting appropriate limbs, cementing them in white containers, spray painting them all white, wrapping them in white lights, and then wrapping the bases in white tulle & tying with a wide satin rose colored sash! We made 28 of them! They did look gorgeous both in the church sanctuary and at the country club for the reception! I saved two for our living room. You can see that the walls in the living room are painted a soft rose color. I told you I am the original pink girl!

This metal pink container is filled with faded pink roses and it hangs on the door to my painting room. It's very simple but I love the change from a wreath.

I think this was intended to be a bird feeder but I love it in our living room. It is rose glazed clay and the rim is covered with roses and two sweet little birds. I usually fill it with dried rose buds and/or shells.

My husband bought me this pretty in pink porcelain "society" lady years ago in an antique shop which has long since closed. The bottom is dated 1956 and is signed by the artist.

I have a weakness for cake plates! I have developed a pretty large collection of both new and antique cake plates and pedestals over the years. I love this pale pink pedestal, which my husband bought for me on a trip several years ago to a town in northern Michigan where we have a cottage.

Finally, what girl can resist Cinderella's Castle, especially when lit up in pink?! I took this picture at Disney World last month.

Show & Tell Friday

Happy Friday, Blog Land Friends!
I am so grateful to have my blog page finally back in proper order! I guess I don't deal well with disorganization - my husband and kids could tell you a thing or two about that!! Thanks to the ladies at thecutestblogontheblock.com all is well in my tiny little blog world once again!

Now on to my Friday Show & Tell, which is hosted by Kelli at There's No Place Like Home, kellishouse.blogspot.com. I thought I would show you a few more things in my house.

Have a perfect weekend, everyone!



My kitchen has a recessed ceiling. The walls are painted antique white and the little ceiling alcove is a rosy pink. I painted these vines, flowers, and bird nests around the alcove.

These are the shower curtains and window in my bathroom. The walls are painted raspberry.

I love shells! I can hardly wait to get them out in the spring and I can hardly stand to put them away in the fall. The cloche sits on my living room cocktail table with a large conch shell inside. The mantle is decorated for spring/summer with shells and candles. I adore the print, Children Playing On The Beach by Mary Cassatt. I always use some of the shells from my collection along the mantle too.

These pictures are of a small bathroom in our kitchen. The walls are a soft sage green and I painted these vines and flowers.

Wednesday Frustrations & Rants...

Oh, friends of the blog world, could anything be more frustrating than an argument with your computer? You know upfront who's going to win!

I love my new background and the company who designed it. However, there has been a good bit of trouble this week in techno-land with download times and page size code issues. Yikes! I know nothing about any of it and I am enormously impressed by anyone who does, but I am frankly exasperated! First, the new code was released for downloading, then it was retracted because the size of the backgrounds were then incorrect. So I waited all day for the moment of the final code release and after carefully downloading the new code and frenetically zipping back to my blog page...awe, NUTS! The size of the two column blog background is totally wrong. Now, I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, because these lovely backgrounds are absolutely free. And I highly recommend you consider taking a look at the stuff these ladies offer on their site, thecutestblogontheblock.com, both free and for purchase. But, gosh, I am awfully frustrated that my page still doesn't look right. I went back and downloaded the background of the same design but is intended for a three column page. I will continue to use it until the ladies come up with another new code to correct the size. I'm going to stick with them because they seem to be working like banshees to make things right and they really don't have to do that for free services. I just love everything they offer and their prices seem reasonable to me too. This whole problem with download speed and so forth really seems to have evolved simply because they are so popular and they offer so many cute blog perk ups! I think their many admirers and users simply overwhelmed their website.

So, all of that to say this. Sorry I've been so discombobulated this week. I really haven't posted anything of interest in quite a while and so many of you have still very kindly stopped in to say hello and leave comments anyway. Thanks!

May all of you have a wonderful Wednesday...I'm off to the Detroit Art Museum with my husband!

Tagged...You're It!

I was tagged for this meme by Muum at muumsmusings! Here are the rules and my answers:

Rules:

Each player answers the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.

Finish these five:

Five to ten years ago…10 years ago-happy in a spiritually nourishing new church; 8 years ago-planning for my sons graduation and my daughters wedding; 5 years ago-anticipating becoming a grandmother for the first time, what I was born for!

Five things on today’s “to do” list…If it stops raining, plant the new perennials I bought on Friday; take granddaughter Sydney to see Space Chimps; make dinner - quiche for gramps and me, pasta and white sauce for Sydney; primping up my guest room for Sydney to spend the night in (she calls it the "princess room"; finish a novel I put down after returning from vacation.

Five Snacks I enjoy…popcorn, fresh fruit like peaches or strawberries, strawberry smoothies, ice cream, white cake!

Five Things I would do if I was a millionaire…buy our dream beach house, take all my family and friends on a fabulous cruise together, pay for college and specific needs for my family and friends, bring my dear friend Anne over from South Africa for a super long visit, support effective aid groups.

Five Places I have lived…Maryville Tennessee, Indian Village Tennessee, Madison Heights Michigan, Royal Oak Michigan, Plymouth Michigan

I tag:
Ro at ahintofhome, who has the loveliest home!

Rhonda at scooterbluswhimsy, who just has the most delightful blog!

Kathy at shockingpinkthread, who has family oriented posts!

Sharon at technonana, who always has well written, meaningful things to say!

Mary Jane at thebeehivecottage because she has an adorable blog with lots of pink!

If any of you have not met these ladies yet, scoot right over to see their charming blogs!

Can You Guess What This Is?

Technically, this is not a Show and Tell item but I couldn't resist sharing this with you because it is unique and totally cool. We were enjoying our back deck when we noticed something buzzing around one of the pots of flowers. We do have hummingbirds from time to time but this looked more like a very tiny, stripped hummingbird. Kind of a cross between a hummingbird and a bumblebee. Naturally, I ran to get my camera and this is the little guy close up. He didn't seem afraid of us and we watched it for a long time. We decided it was a baby hummingbird. Later that night my sister-in-law and I started doing some Internet searching to find out what kind of hummingbird it was, if that indeed was what it was. As it turns out, as far as we can find, it was a Hummingbird Moth! I have never even heard of such a thing before but the picture in the article did look just like our own little friend. The are frequently mistaken for baby hummingbirds because of their size, but they are not particularly afraid of people. They flit around fragrant flowers like hummers and their wings move at that same amazing rate of speed. Gosh, just when you think all the fun is over for the summer God sends along a little surprise to delight you!

My Beach Days Are Gone Too Soon!

Well, I am regretfully back from my vacation in Florida. We were actually gone for a long time - three weeks, so I should be more grateful, but it's never long enough for me! There simply could not be too much beach!! We all had a great time. Our son and future daughter-in-law came for a week and our daughter and her family came for two weeks. We went to Disney World for three days first, then on to the beach. We had such a fun time at Disney. Sydney, our 4 year old granddaughter was the perfect age to really get into it. She had a blast and we did too, just watching her. Isabelle, the 11 month old, was pretty interested in everything too, but she was confined to a stroller most of the time. She seemed happy enough to have a little distance between herself and huge furry creatures! We had pretty decent weather at Disney too, other than one torrential rainfall. If you've ever been caught in a storm at Disney World you know that they are fast but fierce! We all survived and had a great time.

After three days in Orlando we drove to the beach, Gulf side. At first sight of the old beachfront resort we feel like we're home. We've stayed at the same place, in the same room for about 30 years. Better yet, 23 rooms out of 30 at the resort are filled with families just like us. We've all spent the same weeks of the summer there all these years. We got to know each other when we had little children and now those children are mostly married and have children of their own. Most of them come for the same weeks too. So it's old home to us.

My husband and I walked and walked on the beach morning to night, enjoying the sounds, birds, playing children, and of course the shells. We stopped at surfs edge one evening and I snapped this pic of the feet (that are looking older every day!) which have been side by side for 38 years!

We've always wanted to live on the beach. We walk miles each day looking at the homes along the beach, dreaming about buying one. This year we looked at one. I fell in love with it. This is the pool and you can see the ocean in front of those lawn chairs. I don't think it's going to happen, but a girl can dream can't she?!

There really is nothing like a sunset at the beach. We enjoyed a generous number of perfect sunsets this year. Here are a few...

Well, now that we're home from our long awaited annual trip to Florida I have to find something to keep spirits up. Hmmm...the hall needs painting, I really want to take the wallpaper off the bedroom walls, the kitchen could use a little spiffing up. Something tells me I'll manage to stay busy and happy until next June and time to visit our beloved beach again!