A Little Something

If you are visiting from the party

France Simply Irresistible at 

Castles Crowns and Cottages

click here.

    

Recently I received an e-mail from Kris at Junk Cottage Chic saying I would be receiving a package containing "a little something" soon.

The end of the school year is always was crazy crazy crazy with no time to myself and I literally stored her e-mail in the back of my crowded brain.

Last Friday, I got home from work and saw a BIG box on the table.

I remembered Kris was sending "a little something",  but the box was so big.

I guess a midwest "little something" is different than a west coast "little something."

We were rushing out to an art show (that turned out to be a surprise retirement party) so I set it aside until later that night.

When we got home, I excitedly opened the box and found . . .

There is only one thing wrong with being friends with Kris.

According to google, she lives 2,082 miles from my house.

It would take 1 day and 6 hours to reach Kris's house.

Probably a little far to just pop in for a visit.

I will continue to pop in at Junk Chick Cottage to visit the sweet lady who made my weekend.

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I'll be partying at

Savvy Southern Style  - WOW Us Wednesdays                  

Elizabeth and Co. - Be Inspired 

Holly's Stamping Addiction - Whatever Wednesday

in the garden . . .

Oh, the excitement just reading about the party at

Castles Crowns and Cottages -France Simply Irresistible.

France - Simply Irresistible - isn't it just!

I knew exactly what I would share.

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I'm big on lists - To Dos, I Want, Favorite Books, etc.

One of my favorite, incomplete, lists is my TOP 10 DAYS.

There are days, and then there are DAYS.

I don't include the obviously special "big ticket" days.

I focus on days that were out of the ordinary that happened for no special reason

Such as:

 horseback riding in the rain forest of Costa Rica - monkeys eating from my hands

sitting on the top of a pyramid at Chichen Itza - scared to death to climb back down

moving into our own beach house - 30 years in the planning stage

kayaking in Summerland - the dolphins jumping so close to our boats that we could hear them 'talking'

My #1 day was not with Steve and it happened with little thought or planning.

July 15, 1999.

I was in Paris with my daughter, my sister and my niece.

Below is the story I wrote and submitted to Victoria Magazine - it was rejected.

It was really written as a gift to my sister who gave us the gift of Europe -

 she did not reject my story.

. . . in the garden . . .

We all have special days in our lives - graduation, marriage, the birth of our children.  But most special are those stolen moments which happen unexpectedly that we savor forever.

My sister and I were taking our daughters on their "Grand Tour" of Europe. Marcia, who is  a frequent business traveler, had indulged us through seven countries viewing museums and monuments she had visited on numerous occasions.  She wanted to do something new to her. When we arrived in France, she suggested a trip to Giverny - Monet's house and gardens. The girls were quite unenthusiastic about relinquishing a minute of shopping time in Paris. We decided that it would be their loss. 1200 francs apiece and metro passes satisfied the girls for a day. We, on the other hand, grabbed our rail passes and packed our art supplies for a day of leisure in the French countryside.

A relatively quick train ride - compared to the 22 hour ride from Oslo to our relatives' homes in Northern Norway - brought us to the quaint French village of Vernon. We strolled about admiring the houses and flowers and picked up the requisite loaf of French bread for sustenance.

Bicycles were a tempting offer, but due to limited time, we opted for a taxi ride to Giverny. We were unprepared for the bus loads of school children and tour groups that rivaled the crowds at the Louvre. Undaunted, we lined up for the wait. Marcia got out her sketch pad and I my journal to pass the time.

Once inside the gardens, we were stunned by the beauty, a new color and scent greeting us at every turn.   Each new view was breathtaking. We located a stone bench with a view of the house peeking through the pinks, purples, oranges and reds.  As a dabbler, I merely sketched the abundant array  of flowers in each direction.  Marcia took out her water colors and began to paint Monet's home. 

Light sprinkles and the sense that we were hoarding the bench sent us off to see the lily pond.  We located a new bench with a charming view of the water lilies and a bridge tucked behind a weeping willow tree.

Marcia was engrossed in her artistic endeavors. I spent more time admiring my surroundings and people watching than actually sketching.  Her efforts came to the notice of most people who passed. Some simply smiled, others were intrigued with her work.  Many stopped to chat.  We met a family from Toronto who winters near us in California, a London couple who gave Marcia their son's address since he was job hunting in her field, and a Blackpool couple over to see the tall ships in Normandy. My favorite was the little French girl so in awe of Marcia's art that she lost track of time and her family. She yelled, "Mama" and ran away, but soon returned with her mother.  

Our feelings about the day were summed up by a precious little English boy holding his mother's hand.  As he passed by, he looked at his surroundings and spoke quietly, "we are so lucky to see this."

July 15, 1999 has been added to my "List of Days".  

No bells and whistles, no ceremony - I was simply sitting in a garden, with my sister.

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I'm (figuratively) on the road, bound for France, with many others at

Castles, Crowns and Cottages

REJUVENATION

I love visiting my daughter in San Francisco.

 What KC and I do together is SHOP.

We stopped on Fourth Street in Berkeley before heading into the city on Saturday.

We found a new store - REJUVENATION

and were lured into the store by these signs.

EVERYTHING in the store was great.

It is a good thing I was flying and was traveling only with a backpack - no luggage to stuff full of fun finds.

An old camp ground table beautifully aged reminded me family vacations.

Oh, those jadeite dishes!

And, hanging lamps - perhaps the yellow over my dining room table.

A bottle rack filled with old bottles made into drinking glasses.

Beakers wired together, old tools, vintage stamps.

Vintage baskets full of twine spools, stools and another table aged to perfection.

An oversized ice cream and rusty old fencing for my garden.

Industrial carts and tables filled with vintage odds and ends.


I could spend a fortune in Rejuvenation.

I do not have a fortune and I don't have space.

I settled for a funny little metal bottle opener that looks like a ruler.

KC does not possess a fortune either.

She does have the space.

She chose one of the glasses made from old pop bottles, the CHEERS sign and a red book

and kept her fortune by allowing me to pay.

When I got home, Steve showed me some old rusty metal that we will be rejuvenating.

That's a project for this weekend - can't wait!

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I am partying at

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

Ivy and Elephants - What's It Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style - WOW Us Wednesday

Tradition and Serendipity

My daughter loves living in San Francisco.

But, she hates that we don't live close enough for  "drop-in" visits.

Four years ago, we started a tradition.

I fly to San Francisco on the Saturday morning before Mother's Day and enjoy breakfast with KC and fly home for dinner with Steve.

This year, KC had a celebration at Santa Clara University for a mentoring program in which she volunteers.

She was busy until noon, so this year, I flew up for lunch and spent the night.

Yesterday, we did some fun and serious shopping for her apartment.

Today we slept in ( I NEVER sleep in) and had a late al fresco brunch at Rose's cafe.

We sat looking at KC's apartment building - her's is the third story bay window.

After brunch, we headed to Corte Madera to shop - Anthropologie, JCrew and a brick and mortar Sundance store.

We really didn't buy much and actually spent more time enjoying the gardens and pathways in the outdoor mall.

I have very bad allergies and for the past 10 years, my sense of smell has been non-existent.

In the past month, for some reason, my sense of smell has returned.

I spent the day taking in the aroma of fresh flowers,

enjoying the sun in my face and visiting with my daughter.

It doesn't get much better than that!

Or so I thought.

As KC and I were walking to the car, I received a text from my cousin saying "Happy Mother's Day - it is a beautiful day in the bay area."

I texted back with "I know, we're in Corte Madera."

With a few more texts back and forth, we realized our flights home were 20 minutes apart and 5 gates away from one another.

After a great 26 hours with my daughter, I got to spend an hour visiting with one of my favorite people.

A little tradition and a little serendipity made for a great weekend.

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Find me at

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

My Romantic Home  - Show and Tell Friday 

Heart and Hand

I've been in a changing frenzy for the last few weeks.

First I changed the Expedit in our guest bedroom.

I took things from all over the house leaving empty space wherever I "shopped".

Over the weekend, I finished organizing the guest room  leaving the mantel empty.

I raided my hand collection.

and my heart collection

to create this mantel.

It just wasn't doing it for me so I left it as is for a few days waiting for what I call my "aha" moment.

The moment came last night while reading  Poofing the Pillows.

A stack of books on Stacey's shelves gave me the inspiration to get me to a "happy place" with my mantel.

A newly painted red caddy sits center stage.

 Mary Emmerling's "Hearts and Flowers" and a heart photo album tie the "Heart and Hand" theme together.

I have given up trying to decorate around the painting over the mantel.

This is Steve's most recent painting and it is going to a show next week.

 Who know what will appear next?

It is less than a month until school is out ( Steve is counting) and my retirement party is exactly one month from today.

I have to finish four more pillows for the fire pit.

And two cushions for the patio chairs.

The changing frenzy must end.

Let the creating frenzy begin.

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I am joining everyone at the following parties

Lavender Garden Cottage - Cottage Style Party

Savvy Southern Style - WOW Us Wednesdays

Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesday

Pretty Things for You - Whatever You Want Wednesday

I'm loving what I am seeing . . .

Last week I joined Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

I wanted to join in again this week because of the amazing mosaics, wonderful blogs and bloggers I discovered and the challenge of creating mosaics.

But, what will I share?

Yesterday, I posted about sprucing up our guest room, but it doesn't seem Mosaic Monday worthy.

I redid the mantel, but I am not loving what I am seeing - it still needs tweaking and maybe even a complete redo.

Last week I shared my bike basket full of flowers after a ride along the beach, but the weather is not cooperating today.

We are expecting company and I spent the morning sprucing things up - replacing flowers throughout the house, changing the linens and planting flowers in the garden. . .  

As I took a look around before our guests arrived, I decided I was loving what I was seeing.

Sweet yellow flowers from my students.

Garden flowers in a long forgotten blue and white teacup.

More garden flowers in a heart shaped wire basket I won in a Giveaway from Primp.

Weeds I cut and added to a pitcher on my favorite green chair.

Red roses from the garden on the windowsill.

A blue teapot in the entryway cupboard.

My magnetic calendar set for May and marked with KC's birthday.

Flowers my former students presented to me at an awards night Wednesday

atop a sweet runner I purchased at the flea market last year.

Vintage beach pails filled with shells.

A fresh new vignette in the guest room.

Number sticks I brought in from the garage and added to a bottle.

More flowers from the garden to replace the lavender I planted.

Lots of fresh flowers.

Lots of color.

All ready for company.

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You can find me at 

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday

Little Red House  - Mosaic Monday

Boogieboard Cottage  - Masterpiece Monday

One Change ALWAYS Begets Another

Recently I redid the Expedit in our guest room.

I moved things from around the house to fill each box.

My little wire rack has been sitting empty ever since - due not to a lack of time, but a lack of creativity.

This morning, as I cleaned and straightened up the house, I had my "aha" moment.

First I swapped out the red corduroy slip covers for the original blue and white stripes.

Like the Expedit redo, the slipcover swap means another project.

I love all my hand painted pillows, but there are too many stripes.

I have some ideas for new pillows, but I am working on another pillow project right now.

New pillows will have to wait.

I filled the wire rack with shells and buoys from the mantel.

And that means a mantel redo.

I love the red slipcovers, but the stripes give the guest room a fresh, crisp look.

The guest room is done - if you don't count needing to replace the sofa pillows and the pillow on the wicker chair.

Which I guess means I am kidding myself that the guest room is done.

KC is coming for my retirement party in June, which means I have one month.

I still have to finish our bedroom shelves and redo the mantel.

Chances are each of those changes will beget other changes.

Such is life!

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I will be partying at

The Farmhouse Porch - The Scoop

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

My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday

The Dedicated House - Anything Blue Friday