SUMMER MANTELSCAPE & GETTING MY GROOVE ON AGAIN!

Knock knock.  Hello, it's me!  I'm finally pretty settled, if one can ever be settled.  It's good to be home, it's good to see the kids and my precious hounds.  We got in late Friday (of course two of our bags were lost at the airport), we ordered pizza and I collapsed in bed at 10:00 p.m.  Can I brag and say Milo and Layla have not left my side?

Saturday was spent unpacking...luggage everywhere.   The Husband ran out the last day of our trip to Target to pick up two small duffel bags to carry on the plane.  So that made six bags.  So I had them spread out on the floor once home, handing our souvenirs like Santa Claus on Christmas and trying to determine which clothes were clean and what needed to go in the hamper.  I got the house in order, made a quick trip to the grocery and then I shot out to the backyard to clean up the patio, fill my wee little bird feeder and plump the pillows.  Then I sat out there and had a glass of wine until I was forced to go make dinner.  Milo lives for this time of day.  He loves to lay in the cool grass and wait for squirrels.  Or just sniff the fresh air.  Now that he is getting up in the years, he occasionally nods off, just sitting up like this.  It puts a lump in my throat...I'm really eeking out every precious moment I can get with this boy of mine.

One thing leads to another.  In the midst of dashing around like a fool on Saturday, I unpacked this little blue sign I actually bought for the lakehouse.  It was on my mind to make a simple spring mantel so I just went for it working around the sign.  I think I need more blue.  Blue is summer to me.  Blue skies, blue water...I think I may add blue votives to the orbs.  Anyway, I had these starfish tucked in a bin for years, Emily gave me the fan a few years ago when she realized it did not add one thing to her decor and the little tray propped up is from a set of two that was also meant for the lakehouse.  

This truly means summer to me, a picture of Abby and Emily in their wet suits there at the lake taken a few years ago.  We used to start getting the place ready for outdoor fun as early as April.  The water would be frigid.  For quite awhile we were "owners" of a huge wood raft complete with attached steps to climb up on and a slide.  At the end of every summer, four of the  bigger guys had to push it to our shore and lift it on to the beach for the winter.  And I say "owners" tongue in cheek because it was usually so crowded with teens and kids from the surrounding homes that we never used it.  So...the worst job was in the spring, swimming out with it in the freezing cold, diving under to the bottom of the lake and hooking it to the cement block that secured it.  We finally gave it away a few years ago.  Funny, we all still sort of miss it.

The coffee table got the smaller of the two trays.  I found these on a website that some of you may know of, Antique Farmhouse.  They have a new sale everyday (it pops up in my mail).  I have gotten some great things but my method is:  A)  Can I find it at Marshall's or Homegoods cheaper?, and B)  Is it worth the shipping cost?  So far I have scored some really cool, unique things that are totally worth it.  Very one of a kind.  I know I'll bring these to the lake, They would look so cute on the outdoor table with a lantern lit at night or some snacks on them during the day.  Can you tell I am missing going?  So much work but so much fun!

I have always had a love affair with vintage linens...lacy embroidered pillow slips, dresser scarves,  table cloths, tea towels and napkins.  I also had started a small collection of pretty floral hankies and then I got to thinking where they had been.  Stopped collecting those.  On my shopping trip with Penny and Penny in Asheville, I picked up these new Williams Sonoma napkins for a steal and an old tea towel with a Burpee Seeds ad on it.  I thought I might frame it.  I have been teased that I have enough white napkins to host a wedding reception for 250 people.  I just love them, especially after you wash them with a little fabric softener.  And when I find new napkins that I really love but hate the price, I buy maybe a set of 4 (which is how they usually come) and then alternate them with white in a table setting.  On the bottom is something that I'm seeing more of, a Turkish towel, whether for the bath or the beach.  I was surprised because they don't look very absorbent.  I had a table runner in mind and just sort of flipped over this orangy color.  It has the folding creases in it and I will get around to pressing it and showing you it on my table.  Or maybe I should bring it to the lake...Ha!  I'm so fickle.

One last picture I found in my files from a little town in North Carolina we stopped at between Raleigh and Asheville.  You know many people, especially the lake people that really don't even know my real name, have no idea that The Husband started calling me Blondie early in our marriage in reference to Blondie in the comic strip.  He would come home from work with his briefcase (just like Dagwood) and I would be running around with my hair all askew, chasing after four little ankle~biters.  I was always burning something on the stove or scorching his shirts with the iron.  Ya know, I wasn't always perfect!  ;-)

I was so looking forward to getting some flowers and veggies today and finally getting around to planting some pots and pretty little pops of color in my garden beds, and then I woke up to rain.  Actually we had a few windy storms come through.  I knew the day was shot, especially with planting anything in the mushy ground.  It cleared up a bit and I dragged Emily off with me to Home Depot.  I got my basics there...I like them more for their end of season perennials that go on sale...somehow, and maybe it's just my particular store, the plants look a little stunted and neglected.  You can't beat the prices though and I like to nurture the sad little guys back to health.  I'm also in a new phase of gardening vertically.  I have some old trellises as well as an iron headboard Emily saved from the neighbors curb (that I played no part in!), so I have two clematis, a honeysuckle and a trumpet vine.  I've set my alarm for the ungodly hour of 8:00 a.m. and I'm putting on those wellies and gardening gloves!  And you can be sure...my next post will be filled with you know what.  I might add though...ahem, I came home to thousands of weeds and overgrown hedges and bushes and I believe the Type A Wannabe in me will tend to that first. So, I might see you guys in mid June! :)

Joining The Scoop at Stone Gable!

XO,

Jane