1

1

August 29, 2011

I Survived!

I just want to let everyone know that I survived Irene without any damage to my home.  I had lots of limbs, leaves and debris to pick up yesterday, but nothing major.  My electricity is still out as of 10:30 a.m. (since 9:00 Saturday night) Monday.   The winds subsided around 12:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  It was a very long evening! There are so many homes in my area with trees fallen on their roofs, etc. that I certainly can live with the inconvenience of my power being off without complaining.

August 27, 2011

Waiting for Irene

I've stocked up on water, dog food, cat food and people food.  After some persuading, Lily (my garden lady) is safe in the dining room.  Flash lights and lanterns are sporting new batteries.  So, now we wait!  My area is under "tropical storm watch" which is less severe than "hurricane watch".  We're expecting 4 to 6 inches of rain and heavy winds in Central Virginia.   I fear fallen trees on my house after the ground is saturated with rain.  I wish we could fast forward to Sunday, but we can't, so I'll make myself busy and say a prayer for everyone up the East Coast!

August 25, 2011

300th Post Giveaway!

I'm getting very  close to my 300th post and it's time to  have a giveaway.  I haven't decided what the gift will be, but I promise you'll like it.  I do know it will include a bird's nest pendant.


Anyone who leaves a comment on this post before August 30th will be included.


August 24, 2011

Button Necklace


You all know about my love affair with buttons.  Well, I recently found a great tutorial for a button necklace on a blog called Lilly Pilly.   Jo, who writes this wonderful blog, lives in Australia. 


Even though I rarely wear jewelry, it was fun making these necklaces.  What do you think?




The buttons for the necklace below are made from  old  iredescent mother-of-pearl.




By the way, Ellena Elizabeth, from another beautiful Australian blog, commented that Lilly Pilly is a native Australian  plant used for hedges in their country.


Lilly Pilly

August 23, 2011

Sarah's Key


I read  Sarah's Key last winter and went to see the film yesterday.  It was excellent!  Even though the book is fictional, it is based on a sad, dark time in Paris in the 1940's.  The story is very moving and the acting is superb!  Be sure you take your tissues!

And, I had quite a once in a lifetime (I hope) experience today.  The state of Virginia experienced the largest earthquake since the 1800's.  I was dusting  in my dining room and every piece of china in the cabinet started to rattle.  At first I thought it was a large plane since I'm not  far from a major airport.  But I soon realized what was happening.  It actually felt like my house was moving.  There were no injuries or major damages in my area. However. the epicenter was about 50 miles away and there were damages reported in that county but no major injuries.  Several historic brick structures were damaged significantly.

August 22, 2011

Lily Has a New Dress


If you're visiting my blog for the first time, Lily is a wooden lady who stands in my garden to greet visitors and watch over the fairies.  She's very elegant and loves getting a new outfit about once a month from the "Boutique of Goodwill"



There's not much blooming in my yard right now but I thought you'd enjoy these pics of my little cowboy boots  running over with "hens and baby chickens".  Aren't they  adorable?




August 19, 2011

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA


I hope you'll enjoy these photos my friend took this week when he and his beautiful granddaughters visited Meadowlark Gardens.




This giant hornets' nest was attached to a tree limb hanging over the lake.



















August 18, 2011

Teacups Anonymous

Today I visited my wonderful friend at the assisted living center.  She is 87 years old, very beautiful, and her mind is sharper than mine. Sometimes I take Hanna with me but it was too hot today. 

After our visit, I stopped at the cutest church-sponsored thrift store called "Annie's Attic".  I looked around and was almost out the door when I spotted this beautiful teacup.  It was one of the Flower of the Month series made in England by Royal Albert  in 1970.  I couldn't resist, after all my birthday is in July.  The tiny blue flowers are forget-me-nots with yellow centers.  I am trying very hard to overcome my teacup obsession and have even thought of looking for a local chapter of Teacups Anonymous!

August 14, 2011

Treasures from the Yard Crawl

My friend and I left on Friday morning and drove to Harrisonburg, VA, to spend the night.  We needed to be there early Saturday morning to get an early start on the 43 mile "Yard Crawl" on Route 11.  We were up and out of our motel by 7:30 and headed north.  There's no way you'd ever be able to stop at all the sales along the highway, so we randomly picked a four or five between each small town.   The vendors are in little clusters and there was at least 10 or 20 at each sale.

These are some of my finds:

This beautiful old hanging lamp was $5.  My friend is going to rewire it for me and I have just the place for it in my hallway.


I found these two Brown Bag cookie molds to add to my collection for $1 each.
This beautiful bench was $8.  It has lots of scratches but Old English scratch cover will take care of that.  I have some beautiful toile fabric to recover it.




I paid 50 cents each for the cute little vintage dresser lamps.

And last, these four ceramic napkin rings were $1.  They look like a ribbon tied in a bow on top.

We had such a fun day!  It started to rain around 2:30 and the vendors started packing up.  This was perfect for us because we were exhausted and probably wouldn't have stopped otherwise.  We're thinking we should only do to half of the "crawl" next year.  It's just too much for one day and we're getting too old!

August 11, 2011

Yard Crawl

Tomorrow I'll be headed off to the Route 11 Yard Crawl.  I can't wait to show you "the treasures" I find at this 43 mile long yard sale.

Also, I have a very special out-of-town guest coming for the weekend so I probably won't be posting before Monday.  I hope you  have a great weekend and I can't wait to read about it when I catch up on my blog reading the first of next week.


August 10, 2011

"The Help" Movie

I saw the movie The Help today  and it was one of the best movies I have seen EVER!  I enjoyed the book but I enjoyed the movie even more.  The whole cast was extraordinary.  Two of the main characters were Miss Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard's daughter) and Skeeter (Emma Stone).  There's doubt that several of the actors will be nominated for awards.  

You might want to take some tissues, I found I needed them a few times.  If you see it, let me know what you think.

August 8, 2011

Great Day At The Beach

Today a friend and I spent the day at Virginia Beach.  We ate lunch at one of the oceanfront restaurants and then rented this double bike to ride on the boardwalk.  It was a beautiful day and there was a pleasant breeze off the ocean!





The flowers were beautiful!  I think they thrive in the ocean air.




This statue of Neptune was enormous and the detail was amazing. 

Is there a place that you go that feeds your soul? That's how I feel when I see the ocean.  I love the sound of the waves and the smell of the salt air.  There's something so peaceful about it.

We had a fun day but it will be interesting to see if I can get out of bed in the morning after peddling  that cute bike.

August 7, 2011

Relaxing Weekend!

This was a relatively quiet weekend for me.  Saturday I went to the flea market and came home with a few great finds.  One was this Laura Ashley dress for $2  that has never been worn.  I have a friend who loves these dresses and I'll give it to her if she wants it, otherwise "Lily" in the garden will be wearing it.


I also found three beautiful teacups made by Tuscan in the Dovedale pattern.  I love the rose inside the cup.  




I've had lots of quality time with the furgirls (maybe too much).  Last night Arabelle came inside and her mouth was completely closed.  She looked up at me and spit a cicada out on the floor.  She had the entire bug in her mouth, wings and all!  He seemed unharmed so I put him outside.  That girl is such a clown.  She makes me laugh everyday!


ME????

THIS???

August 5, 2011

Neptune Festival



My niece and her husband went to the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach, VA,  last September and she shared these pictures of the sand sculptures with me.  Aren't they incredible?