Simple Pleasures

It's been a crazy week for us with out of town guests, a late Father's Day celebration, 8.5 hours of driving for me on Wednesday . . .

But even on busy days, I take time to look around and enjoy life's simple pleasures.

I am loving the canna lilies

that are slowly blooming all over the garden.

Steve and I escaped the heat and hit the water in our kayaks.

That long drive on Wednesday (4 hours each way) for a reunion planning meeting led to me spotting a gorgeous garden.

I moved a little table onto the back porch - 

it needs to be painted, but for now it's dressed up with a patriotic display.

Out shopping the other day, I came across these little pieces of wood in one of my favorite shops

and that led to me writing words on a piece of driftwood.

I gathered shells, sea glass and starfish

to create a summer centerpiece for the dining room table.

Along with shells and starfish, my beach bucket collection is on display for summer.

While tackling the jungle the other day, I propped a shovel against the house - that gave me the idea of displaying my father's old garden tools all over the garden.

My final pleasure was actually Steve's - while I was driving in LA traffic, he spotted our resident bluebird hanging out on the most recent addition to the garden.

What were your simple pleasures this week?

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Join me at Poofing the Pillows for Thoughts of Home Thursday

Fluffing on a rainy day . . .

With spring almost here, it's time for spring cleaning.

and I interspersed my cleaning with a bit of fluffing on this rainy day.

Flowers are my favorite way to fluff, but until the garden is in full bloom, I need the help of Trader Joe's.

One bouquet of asters went far - a few on the mantel,

a few in a bucket and

a big bouquet in the entry.

The bouquet is part of my Easter vignette

complete with chalk eggs in a wire chicken I bought in Tijuana 40 years ago.

Snips of flowers grace old spoons that have been passed down several generations.

 They are engraved with Carl and Bates - quite close to my maiden name - Carol Bates.

I stretch the life of flowers by drying them - the bunny salt and pepper shakers I just received from an Instagram friend Kim of @kimih801 keep the Easter theme going in the entry.

A few wooden and ceramic eggs found their way into the dining room - dried roses and hydrangeas add color to the shelves.

Flowers are all over the living room like these pink flowers I spotted at a vacant house - I just had to snip off a drooping branch .

Daffodils adorn the mantel

 and a bit of greenery

sitting on a scale adds color to a bare corner.

Yesterday, our walk was at Rincon (referred to in Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys) and all the shells and sea glass were found on the beach.

It's pouring down rain as I type this late at night and more rain is expected so it looks like I will be fluffing on a rainy day again tomorrow.

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Join me at

Poofing the Pillows for Thoughts of Home 

Goin' Beachy

Just before we left on vacation, I created a beach theme in the living room.

 It all started when Steve found this old Tic Tac Toe board in the garage - I painted it years ago and it obviously has seen better days.

And, who would think that this old board would trigger changes in the living room.

A quick paint job changed the Tic Tac Toe board from Americana to nautical.

We have tons of "found" sand dollars from our beach, but a bicycle ride to the harbor was necessary to buy tiny starfish.

With the Tic Tac Toe Board sitting on the cedar chest/coffee table, the entire room seemed to need a beach motif.

First up was to decorate the mantel with favorite seaside treasures to accompany a painting Steve did last year of Hanalei Bay, Kauai.

The seaglass is particularly special because every piece is a find from our beach and we treasure the few blue pieces we have collected.

Across the room, a special display of shells from the Maldives adorns a chest next to Steve's chair - we should probably swap out the cityscape for a beach themed painting, but I love the colors in the buildings in downtown Los Angeles.

I moved a metal stand from my craft room to the living room

and added shell touches to each tier.

I had planned to write this post while we were on vacation, but my son's computer died the day we arrived on Kauai and he needed mine because unfortunately he had to work a little each day.

Instead, I took photos of the scenery,

and flowers in every color of the rainbow.

 I also looked for shells on the beach

which I promptly put on display in the dining room.

It's good to be home from vacation, "playing house" and keeping the beach theme going.

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In addition to trying to catch up with 10 days of reading your blog posts and responding to comments, I will be partying at:

Our Home Away From Home - Tuesdays @ Our Home

Cozy Little House - Tweak It Tuesday

Dwellings - the Heart of Your Home - Amaze Me Monday

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday