Finding Balance

It's difficult to achieve balance in my life - there is so much I want to do - but lately, I feel like I might have it right.

I spend a little time each day keeping up with the house

and working in the garden -

today the garden was full of little cabbage white butterflies.

I've been going through my stash of linens

keeping only those that I really love

and updating the look in the hallway.

I am doing a little sewing each night as I work on long forgotten projects - the tea towel and pot holders have been sitting in a cabinet for more than a year.

Yesterday I made 3 pillows - all started over a year ago when my sewing machine died.

But as of last week, I have a new sewing machine and I am loving it.

This baby quilt was delivered today - I met the mama-to-be when she was an infant.

Walks on the beach

are mixed with projects like the cottage sign I just painted

and setting the table for Steve's fabulous creations - last night it was a delicious fish soup with lobster.

We usually take one long drive each week - this is the view at Firestone Vineyards in Los Olivos.

We ride our bikes a lot and take a 20 mile every week that usually leads us to another beach in our area.

I take a Zumba class 3 times a week - you will never, ever, see a pic of me dancing!

And, I find some time each day to take 1 photo to post on Instagram.

How do you achieve balance in your life?

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I'm sharing with

Poofing the Pillows Thoughts of Home Thursday

Have a Daily Cup - Share Your Cup 

At Loose Ends

A morning walk along the beach is part of our daily routine, but the rest of each day is up to me.

This week I have been "at loose ends" and after lots of company earlier in the month, that feels pretty good.

I never have difficulty finding little projects around the house to keep me busy.

I think it goes back to my childhood of always playing with my mother's tchotchkes.

I love this enamel April Cornell bowl that gets used all over the house in vignettes.

When Steve hung this painting in the guest room, it really changed the color scheme.

Red pillows looked out of place so I stenciled a fabric scrap and made a pillow for the bed - I think I have an idea for another pillow to go along with it.

My neighbor's tree has little purple puff balls this time of year so I cut a bunch that were hanging on our side of the fence to create a pretty a lunch time centerpiece.

When I made this sign the other day, I used rub on letters and I neglected to put everything away,

but that turned out to be a good thing because Steve was tossing a clear wine bottle into the recycle bin when he realized I might want it.

I thought it might be fun to add numbers to the bottle.

I was no longer at loose ends because I grabbed various bottles from cupboards and started decorating them - words decorate another tall bottle.

A little bottle that held Lemon Curd last week now has a cute little label defining Home.

A simple grid adorns another bottle and if you look closely, you'll see numbers at the bottom.

I put all the bottles together for a photo and decided I liked them on the shelf, so there they sit for now.

I'm not rushing the holidays, but I had to use up those "scary" letters.

I leave you with a picture that might give you a clue to my next project - I finished it this morning, but I still have to take pics.

All in all, I am pleased with how I used my time when I was "at loose ends".

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Join me at Poofing the Pillows for Thoughts of Home Thursday

change . . . always change

A couple of years ago we bought 2 chaises at IKEA

with plain old black cushions.

The first thing I did was make covers for the chaises out of a pretty striped fabric that I had on hand.

I loved the colorful stripes, but they faded quickly.

I replaced the striped covers with new covers made from an old duvet.

I really love these covers, but I thought it might be nice to have a fresh look for summer.

I found my old childhood chenille bedspread in the attic and cut it in half to make new slip-on covers for the chaises.

All the pillows were borrowed from a garden bench and

the nice thing about the white covers is that I can use just almost any of the plethora of pillow covers I have cluttering the attic.

These pillows covers will be what I use next on chaises if I can just find the second red floral pillow in the attic.

A sad change in the garden is the clearing of the jungle.

The Matilija poppy plant that was nearly as tall as the windows had to be trimmed back, but things are slowly growing back.

Last week I showed you how I used my father's old pitchfork in the garden.

This morning I dug out more of my father's old tools, stuck them in the flower bed and decorated them with last year's beach toys.

I know it's silly, but we look at the wall of studio when we sit by the fire pit at night

and the colorful toys combined with the vintage tools make me smile.

You might be surprised to hear that I like this little change in the garden - I asked Steve for a tall, skinny painting for the living room.

He brought his easel and paints into the yard to do a bit of plein air painting of the view from his favorite bench.

This change is only temporary for the garden, but it will trigger some changes in the living room soon.

The one constant in our house is CHANGE!
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