thoughts on a garden . . .

I'm so glad you're here because

it's time for the Garden Party.

I love to have people drop by for a visit especially when we can spend time in the garden.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am NEVER at a loss for words,

but today, I am relying on the thoughts of others as you visit my garden.

Thanks for dropping by my garden -  now it's time to link up your garden post.

Enjoy visiting all the beautiful gardens at the Garden Party hosted by

Jann of Have a Daily Cup, Jemma of At Home With Jemma, Laura of White Spray Paint, Stacey of Poofing the Pillows and Laura of Decor to Adore.

An InLinkz Link-up

Life doesn't have to be perfect . . .

I don't make New Year's resolutions and I don't choose a word for the year,

but when I came across the quote, "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful", I thought it would make a good motto for 2016.

So, what have I been up to in this imperfect, but WONDERFUL life I lead?

Mainly, I have been changing everything around from Christmas to everyday decor.

The dining room shelf turned white.

I stole a bunch of quilts from a cabinet in the living room and added them to the guest room ladder.

And of course one moves triggers another so new vignettes adorn the shelves in this skinny cabinet

and I spruced it up with a little ivy wreath.

My little shopping cart is now in the living room filled with a portion of my letter collection ( I have an addiction) and I discovered that an old wire crate fits on the bottom as a second shelf.

The ivy wreath didn't last long in the living room - the tall white cabinet in the entry needed a little color.

Everyone wondered why I would move my new red cart from it's spot in the entry, but it was just a tad too big.

My grandpa's rocker, spruced it up with some hearts I made the other day, takes up very little space.

Steve's kitchen got an update with a tall metal stool and then an unplanned change this afternoon.

I yanked a cord that got twisted around one of the shelves and then CRASH!

Not much survived, but I only lost 2 old treasures.

Even with the disaster in the kitchen (definitely not perfect) it's still a wonderful world.

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Join me at

Share Your Cup

French Country Cottage - Feathered Nest Friday

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans..."

John Lennon's lyrics to "Beautiful Boy" seem to fit my life lately.

I have been wanting to read blogs, write posts of my own, and a million other things, but LIFE just seems to be getting in the way - a tiny health blip cut into my time - everything is fine now, but I haven't done a lot of the things I had planned.

Added to that, while we were in Kauai, I got an email saying that we were hosting the "soup course" on our lane's annual New Year's Eve Progressive Dinner - you'll note that we are not a late night crowd!

The good news there is that I had an excuse to leave up my Christmas decorations - in year's past, guests have asked me why the house was stripped of all Christmas.

This year there is still plenty of "Christmas",

but I wanted a little New Year decor.

A burlap bag on the Dutch door will greet guests with a simple message - It's Party Time.

A quick and easy banner made out of book pages (stenciled and colored in) hangs across the dining room windows.

My number collection was raided for a  0, 1, 2 & 6.

Everything except the 1 was found, but for some reason I had two 4's and Steve kindly made a 1 out of a 4.

My first thought was to have the numbers as a centerpiece on the table, but with three different soups and condiments on the table, I decided to put the numbers in the window,

The side windows needed a little something so I found inspirational quotes.

I simply printed them on colorful paper, cut them into flags, taped skewers to the back and stuck them into mason jars.

Despite the cold weather we are experiencing, there will be overflow into the garden.

The garden window went from Christmas to New Year's simply by adding a few stickers.

I don't know if anyone will actually eat their soup outside, but the patio table is ready and we will have a fire in the fire pit for people to stay warm.

The dining room is ready for guests.

Nothing matches, but I think everyone can work it out.

So I will wrap up my last post of 2015

with a simple message -

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Join me at

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday