Oh Baby!

My niece is expecting, and you know what that means...sweet little knitted baby things! I'm working on a little dress and bonnet. I love knitting baby things. They are right up my alley...small, fun, pretty projects that don't take forever to finish. I'm making this from Mandarin Petit yarn. It's a wonderfully soft 100% cotton that's machine washable (a must with baby things).

At the End of the Rainbow....

The rainbow ends right over our family's cottage. That's always a good sign!

And the other end over the neighbors.

And a beautiful sunset.

Gardens that Make Me Smile

This one is ours...the swing is back up and it puts a smile on my face (that it's done, and that it's such a happy color!). That phlox always reminds me of my Grandmama's yard.

More...just some flowers outside our garage.

Now, on to some other flowers in town! This is some of the City of Pontiac's handwork! It makes walking or driving to town over the Mill Street bridge a pleasure.

As I'm walking over the bridge I always look over at this building. It has offices in the downstairs, and a home in the upstairs.  They have a beautiful garden overlooking the river.

It must be lovely to sit up there, watching the hummingbirds and catching the breeze. It puts a smile on my face whenever I pass, which is several times a day.

Chalkboard Paint at the Shop

Since I already have a black and white and taupe kind of thing going on at the shop, I was inspired by this article in Cloth, Paper, Scissor's Studios Magazine to paint my office door with chalkboard paint. This is the studio of Kristin Krause. Check out her blog by clicking on her name.

So I got busy and painted a couple of coats of chalkboard paint on the door, and then used artists acrylics to paint details. You can see in the little sign above, I used chalk (clever, I know) to draw some guidelines on the door.

 (as always, click on the pic to see it larger)

I think it turned out kind of neat, and now we can leave notes for each other right on the door, too. This is a good technique if you can't draw a straight line...because straight is not necessary!

Going green....

Well, not going green in the way we ususally think of now, but in the actual green. In my attempt to post every day from now until the end of the month, you are getting some shots taken right at dusk, so I apologize for the little bit of blur you might encounter.

This color has been popping up on our porch in the cushion cover stripes, this lantern, a little in the hammock.

Of course in those sweet potato vines...I love those things...they brighten up any pot. Sometimes I plant them right in a bed where they go crazy and make a huge bright green spread.

I just put the second coat on the swing that goes in the back yard...tomorrow we should get to hang it back up. I got the first coat of green on a bench that goes in the front yard, just outside the porch.  Then that, quite possibly, is enough bright green. I think I may be able to blame this on Colleen who adores this color. I've learned to appreciate it, probably because of her.

I know that dress looks like a softer green, but the blue and purple tulle is toning down the brightest neon green you can imagine. That was her senior prom dress. Such a sweetie.

Nook Book

I got an early birthday present today...Joe and the kids got me a Nook! I've been thinking about getting a Nook or a Kindle, and finally decided on a Nook. I always find this kind of stuff confusing at first....well, who am I kidding, I still don't really have the whole ipod thing figured out. Anyway, so far I've managed to get this thing registered, charged up, bought a book, and started reading. It's very easy on the eyes, and you can change the font size from tiny to huge and anything inbetween. That could be very handy if I ever get caught without my reading glasses.

I do love real books...I like the pages, the smell of the ink, and this will not replace an art book or any actual book where the illustrations are important. I think it will be great on trips though...load up books and take off with them all in this one little pad. Should make my tote bag a lot lighter! And if I manage to get caught up and need to buy more, I can do it through wifi connection or 3G. I'll be sure to let you know what I think as I try it out further.

I feel a little like Tom Sawyer............

Yesterday I pressure washed and primed the swing, and today I have my new daughter-in-law painting it! I don't know why but I am usually a bit of a control freak...which is not good. Delegating is good! I see the light! I'm in here cooking supper, and the swing is getting painted. The color in the picture above is more like the true color. Bright!

One of my best friends, Peggy,  is trying to post to her blog every day for 30 days. I'm not sure I can think of something to post about every day, but I'm going to give it a try...

Stairway Progress

Here is the stairwell as it looks today. Joe was able to get to this point before the wedding weekend, so it looked pretty darn nice! This is standing in the family room/kitchen looking towards the stairs and dining room.

Here's the little corner block detail. This worked out so well to tie in where all these pieces of trim meet.

Now we are going up the stairs....quite an improvement over how it looked before! This is just the cottagey look I dreamed of for this house. Some of my son's friends keep saying that we have lights like at the bar...I guess I don't hang out at bars enough, because I just thought they were cute little stained glass lamps that didn't take up too much room!

Now were are at the top of the stairs looking at the window that goes into the guest room...Joe fixed it so it swings down, so we can get some ventilation and also clean it easily. You can see the other side here. We also put a little fan at the top of the stairwell because the heat tends to rise up the stairway in the winter...hopefully this will help with that.

Here is the next step...the old acoustical tile on the ceiling in the upstairs hall needs to come down so the beaded board can be contiued into this area. Also there needs to be a little trim along the corners going down the stairs where the beaded board meets the plaster. The whole ceiling thing sounds tricky to me, but Joe is a perfectionist, and I'm sure it will be beautiful when it's done.

The guest room is done...

and has passed muster with Jessie and Dan overnight, and again with Brenda, so I guess it's good to go!

I found the bedding at TJ Maxx...nice...simple and white. I don't have stock in TJ Maxx but I should. You can get such wonderful stuff there for a great price. The headboard is from a bed that belonged to my great grandmother. I have the rest of the bed, but the rails and footboard don't seem to want to stay in place. So, we attached the headboard to the wall and just used a metal bedframe to hold the mattress and springs.

The lamps and tables are vintage and came from that great Pontiac store, Old City Hall Shoppes. ;o) Stop by if you need similar items at your house...we'll be happy to help you out. The chair is from Pier One. The artwork is some that I bought at the farmer's market in Hilo, HI. 

 The colors in the room came from the art.

I really like how this window over the stairwell turned out. At night if you leave the stair light on, it's like having a little night light in this room. Very cozy. Our house has had quite a bit of remodeling done on it before we came, so I don't feel the need for true restoration (it's too far gone for that) and can just renovate...adding quirky things if we want, and staying within the spirit of a folk victorian.

Gardening...

I got a very late start this year, and still haven't caught up, but things are blooming! Luckily, perennials know when to bloom whether I'm late or not. And they come up on their own, right on schedule.

Many folks don't like the lowly day lily because they grow out of bounds. I love them...because they grow out of bounds. Ha! I'm better off with plants that don't need lots of attention, and that list includes most of the ones that you have to start ripping out when they get too carried away.

Mom checking out the hydrangea.

This year the Lace Cap Hydrangea finally bloomed. It's been there, growing and green, but apparently it has to get some size to it before it starts blooming. I think it was worth the wait!

 Here's another hydrangea on the side of the house. They come up every year, love the shade, and flower like crazy...what's not to love?!

This is Trumpet Vine and Silver Lace Vine all mixed up on the arbor. I'm not sure how it happened, because the Silver Lace Vine grew beautifully for years...on the other side of the arbor. Now for some reason it has died out on that side and is coming up with the Trumpet Vine. I've planted a Black Eyed Susan Vine on the other side now, but it's an annual and it takes it a while for it to get a decent size.

 

This is just me enjoying being out of high heels after the wedding. I got the cutest apron at TJMaxx and ended up wearing it all day. Yes, I wear aprons.....when I have my wits about me, anyway. It seems that anytime I mess with food, it's attracted to my clothes like a magnet, so I try to remember. I was checking out this book the other day, and all the wonderful vintage aprons. I almost bought it, thinking I'd make myself a few really cute ones, but then I realized...the last thing I need at this moment is another project!

The Wedding....

Mike and Jill are now married! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

Jill getting ready.

The bride's maids helping her with her gown.

Colleen and I before the ceremony.

Mike and Jill pouring sand during the ceremony.

Entering the reception hall.

Their first dance as a married couple.

I get to dance with Mike. The song is here...so touching!

Colleen caught the bouquet...yikes!

Congratulations Mike and Jill!