Views in the Garden

Bear with me as I bombard you with picture after picture of my little garden house - you can read here about how it came to exist.

Visitors get just a peek of the garden house from the Dutch door, but a full view of the house from the living room windows.

Yesterday I went outside to take photographs of the interior, but it was a gorgeous day and I got distracted taking photos of the little house from every view in the garden.

Ever since we bought our house, I have hated this silk floss tree and last week I told Steve we needed to cut it down.

I used a little piece of picket fence to disguise the stump that remains of the tree and can't wait for the flowers to grow in the little patch of garden in front of the house.

The path to the little house is just a layer of sand topped with pea gravel.

My love of primary colors definitely shows in this photo of the house.

The little garden house is surrounded by a variety of trees.

This is one of my favorite views from the house.

The garden definitely has a coastal feel to it - Steve found some buoys on the beach and painted them to match the house.

I loved my garden as it is shown last summer all decorated for a tea party.

But, I love the little house too. 

And, I hope you'll come back later this week to see the inside. 

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Join me at 

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

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Rooted in Thyme for  Simple & Sweet Fridays

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

a picture is worth a thousand words

I am having difficulty with my right hand -  after 4 months of pain and 2 months of physical therapy, the x-rays show that I have injuries to the wrist- whatever that means.

Typing is getting more and more difficult (I don't see the hand specialist for 3 more weeks) so for today, few words accompany the pictures of fun sightings around town.

Pirates of the Caribbean . . .

where's my mommy? . . .

Lulu barked angrily at the people riding the big dogs . . .

a scramble up the rocks to avoid the low flying plane . .

I want . . .

no, maybe this one . . .

 croquet on the lawn? . . .

magical music on the jetty . . .

"sing us a song you're the piano man" . . .

and finally, my little garden house is ready for it's close-up.

I will be visiting you, but please forgive me for not leaving comments - my hand is killing me after typing these few words.

Simple Things

Steve loves music - all types of music - and the stereo is always playing either Steve's music (11,000 songs), Pandora or iTunes radio.

I don't always listen to the lyrics, but sometimes a line will stick with me.

I awoke on Saturday morning with nothing on the agenda until our walk which wouldn't be until 2:00 .p.m. - we plan our beach walks around the tides.

In the midst of my puttering, the song "Keep Me In Your Heart" by Warren Zevon came on.

I love the line "sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house".

 The leisure time to do "simple things around the house" is what I love most about retirement.

Creating a Valentine vignette in the living room . . .

the entryway . . . 

the dining room . . .

and even outside on the patio.

The next line, "maybe you'll think of me and smile" also resonates as the items I touch evoke memories.

The polka dot heart shaped dish in this photo makes me think of skiing - I bought it on a ski trip to Mammoth Mountain.

The red leather heart in this vignette makes me think of our old dog Dorje - she found my favorite heart and ate it, but luckily I was able to find another one.

I shared with Steve how much I like "Keep Me In Your Heart" and he explained the history of the song.

Warren Zevon wrote the song after he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and it is the final song he wrote and recorded - this link talks about the recording of the album and people's love of the song.

 It was a lovely day spent in my little cottage by the sea listening to a beautiful song while doing simple things.

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linking to

Cozy Little House - Tweak It Tuesday

Attitude

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday for the first time and I wanted to make a good impression.

I started cleaning and organizing the house on Wednesday - a good thing because I ran out of time on Saturday.

But, as I worked, I seemed to focus only on what is wrong with our house.

The bathroom needs major renovation - tricky when you live in a one bathroom house.

The entry and dining room look so fresh and crisp in new white paint, but the rest of the house needs an update too.

Our floors need refinishing, but JP is getting married in July so wedding costs take precedence over any work on the house.

I decided to take a break from my negative thoughts by responding to emails - reading this sweet comment from Anne of Design Dreams by Anne made me switch gears.

I grabbed the camera and walked around looking for beauty instead of problems in our 87 year old house.

It was a bright winter day and the sun lit up the garden.

The painting of the little garden house is finished

and now the fun part begins!

A neighbor gifted us this old bench - we need to decide where to put it, but for now it sits in the front yard.

I found this old typewriter JP left in the attic - it now sits on a dresser in the living room and I am having fun typing quotes (I use American typewriter font) to display each day.

So far, this is Steve's favorite.

Our evening was fun on Saturday night and our guests did not seem to notice that the bathroom is run down, the walls need painting or the floor needs refinishing - they did enjoy the dinner enough that they asked for a doggie bag to take home the leftovers of Steve's paella!

The difference between seeing problems or beauty in my home is attitude and thanks to Anne, I am focused on the beauty!