TABLESCAPE THURSDAY: EVENING SUPPER IN THE SUMMERHOUSE

Today I am joining Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday. After you have a peek at mine, visit Susan and see what she and all of our blogger friends have in store for us after playing with their dishes!

Today I am sharing a table setting I did in the Summerhouse up at the lake. I know there has been some confusion about the Lakehouse and the Summerhouse. The former is where we actually live and the latter is a sort of a guesthouse or a screened in building to run for when the mosquitoes invade! I have shown pictures of it before. It is very simple and I am slowly working on it bit by bit. Twin beds pull out of the wall hidden by double door closets. I have a couple of pieces of wicker furniture, a vintage cabinet and finally I have found a table and chairs. Goldilocks and the Three Bears can move right in! LOL!! Actually, it was The Husband that wanted the table and chairs; to have coffee and read the paper, do a crossword, play on the laptop... that last sentence was the magic one for me. I found my table at The Worlds Longest Yard Sale and I promised I would show you my big find soon and this is what it is. I do, however, have some work to do on it and the chairs, so I am only showing what you see in this tablescape (oh, the suspense!!).

I set my chippy (very chippy) little drop leaf table after dark one night last week. I used the place mats from Pier I, which I received from the kids on Mother's Day along with a set of dishes that are at this house. Oh, now you are confused. In our wee little house in Chicago where I now sit typing. 100 miles away from the picture you are looking at in the Summerhouse that sits a few feet away from the Lakehouse. Okay...

The white plates are my everyday dishes at the Lakehouse and are by Gibson, as is the soup bowl. The blue and yellow salad or dessert plate is from my grocery store. I had my eye on these plates for months. I patiently waited for them to go on sale and when they finally replaced them with something else and marked them down...I promptly fell in love with the new stuff. But I persevered and bought only the plates I originally wanted.

The napkins and wine glasses are from Marshall's and the water goblets are from The Dollar Tree. My flatware is from Target.

I found these tiny little bud vases at Target a few weeks a go. I believe they were only $3.99 for a set of 4. I love them. They are especially nice to have around if you have a bouquet of mixed flowers that is pretty much dead, but you don't want to throw it out because some flowers, usually the carnation's, are still full and plump and happy. Stick them in a bud vase. Or in this case, you have a perfectly new and healthy bouquet, but you want to spread the joy, so to speak...bud vases in every room!!

I have this little hurricane lamp from a thrift shop. It worked perfect in this tablescape.

So, this is my first tablescape at the lake. I hope you liked it. I want to touch up just a bit of the chippiness of the table, it actually looks battered! And I will show you what it looks like with the leaves, they have a really nice curve to them. And I think I will crawl under it and see if I can find the name of the manufacturer (that will be fun!!)

I leave you with a picture of the Great Room in the Lakehouse. You can see our harvest table (which I was in no mood to do a tablescape on) and the tall table by the window where I use my laptop. It is the only place in the house that gets a signal. But it is right by the windows where I can look out at the bay while I work. It doesn't get any better than that!!

Enjoy the rest of your week!!

xoxo

Jane

TIME

This little feather has been blowing around my patio for the last couple of days. This morning I went outside with the dogs and it was still there, wedged in a corner. I picked it up and placed it on the table, hoping to get a picture of it, but it kept blowing away. I tried holding it, but couldn't get the right angle holding the camera with one hand. Finally I gave up and walked away. A bit later I came back and noticed the feather was still on the table. I held my breath, picked up my camera, and got this shot.

Lately I have been thinking increasingly more about time. The past, present and future. There are so many changes going on in my life, but so often I feel like I am stagnant. Immobile. All the while, time is blowing away much as this feather did. I have so many things I want to do, want to achieve, want to accomplish, but something inside of me has changed and I don't know how or why. Things I wanted before, I don't any longer. And things I never wished for in the past, I long for now. And as I struggle with these thoughts, time just passes by, and I know with all of my heart that time is precious.

I have lived a very wonderful life. I have been gifted with so much that I really have nothing to yearn for. I can look back at my younger years and then those years newly married, having children, making a home and though I have many regrets, they all came with huge lessons learned. And as glorious and perfect as one's life can appear on the outside, there are stories that can be told that are far from all appearances.

I have heard that the reason elderly people talk so much about the past is because that is where they want to be. Their glory days. The days of love and sun and sand. This is not to say that we can't grow old happily, we just tend to forget the bad and languish in the good. And lately I have been doing a lot of that because I just don't know what the next chapter of my life will be like. I am not afraid to turn that proverbial page, it just feels as if I have only so many more pages to fill in and I don't know what to write. I don't know where to start.

I have lived such a great life. I have had so many passions. For family and friends. For cooking and gardening and reading and writing. The love I have for my four children is almost too much to hold in my heart! I am filled with gratitude. Those years raising them and being a wife, yes, there are some pages I would definitely erase if I could. But mostly I think I did a pretty good job and jumped over many more cracks than the ones I could have fallen in to.

However something had changed inside of me and it has been gradual. It has just reached the point where I seem to be doing more self~examination than I do taking action. Of course, most of you know I am facing the empty nest as I droned on about in a post a few months ago. Bu this is bigger than that. And yes, it involves what I want to do with my life now, but foremost, what happened to the old me?

I came to the lake for these two weeks with a long mental list of all the things I wanted to do and take care of. I wanted to spend a lot of time outdoors, something I don't do much of at home. The Husband asks if I want to take a boat ride and I usually have an excuse like the weather is crappy or that I'd rather just chill on the patio. I have yet to go on the wave runners, just a little bit of intimidation by these huge powerful machines and the fact that The Husband rides pretty fast and I waver between keeping up with him or losing him. (Losing him where??). Cooking. I was going to try some great new recipes for healthy meals and salads and bake some not so healthy desserts. I have a new kitchen after all. And I was going to spend some time organizing this new kitchen. Do you remember moving in to a new house and being so excited to arrange and decorate a room just how you imagined or planned? And I was going to work in that big old English garden of mine, weeding, trimming and planting more perennials. Put trellis's up and start to train my wisteria to climb. And with paint and supplies already bought, start on several make~over projects. And I was going to READ! And I did not set my sights too high, I only brought along two books.

I have less than a week left of my vacation and I have not done one of these things.

A friend of mine that lives up the road, someone I have known for eighteen years, came by the other day. She said, "Blondie, what has happened to you?". She wasn't being rude, she is very straightforward and that is what I love about her. And I wanted to cry. She said, "Before, when I would come down here, I would find you working in your garden or painting the bathroom. Just look at you!" And I did. Same old T shirt and shorts, no make up and hair in a ponytail. The good old five minute get~up~and~go mode. And I had been sitting in a rocker near the window, just staring out, drinking coffee most of the morning. I confessed to her that I didn't know where the old Blondie had gone. It seems she has faded away. I make all my plans, but do I really care enough to complete them? Is it possible that all the things I used to love to do no longer matter to me anymore? Have I lost interest? If so, what will replace these passions? What will fill my days? What will fill my time now that I have less years ahead of me than behind?

Another friend of mine stopped by last night and we talked for quite awhile. I asked her if this might be a phase. She said, "Blondie, this is now...you are being still. You want to be still. Accept it and move on when you are ready."

I think that was good advice. It doesn't completely ease my mind or answer the relentless questions. But the fact that I am asking the questions is putting it out there. I do have pages and pages more to write. But right now, maybe I am like that beautiful swan feather, just blowing gently in the wind. Waiting for a safe place to land.

I took all of these pictures of our beautiful swans and their babies this morning near my beach. They bless us every summer with their wonderful presence.

xoxo

Jane

OUR LITTLE GET~AWAY & THE WORLD'S LONGEST YARDSALE!!

Last Monday we left on out little vacation from our vacation, a 3 day trip north to Ludington, Michigan, home to...well, er...just a getaway along Lake Michigan. Actually the town is known for having the only transportation from Michigan to Wisconsin across Lake Michigan. I didn't get a picture but it is a huge old ship that even carries cars and it takes 4 hours to make the trip. Sorry, no pictures, we were late for dinner and the ship looked very foreboding to me. Very huge and Titanic looking. Sorry that I am not giving you all of the historical facts here but I am deathly afraid of anything bigger than a small boat (like ours) on a small body of water (like ours). Above is a picture of the house across the street from our B&B. I thought it was just lovely. And there were so many other beautiful homes in the area that I didn't have time to photograph. It was a gorgeous area, just blocks from Lake Michigan (and the Titanic), and the shopping.

This is where we stayed, The Candlelight Inn. The owners, Tony & Melanie were just the sweetest people. They made us feel comfortable in every room of the house and our own room, of course, not that big, was still so comfortable, I had a really good night's sleep, even though that is rough, even at home.

The home had several cozy little spots outdoors to hang out at in the day or evening. We discovered this one the first night after having dinner out. We didn't start the barbecue pit, but there were a few torch lamps that we lit and it set this little area all aglow. Isn't it pretty? Rocking chairs outside!! The Husband said, "I saw a few bottles of wine in the kitchen and they said, help yourselves!" So I said, "Go for it!". We shared a bottle of wine under the stars...

IIt was cool that night but the day was humid, thus, Blondie's hair expanded threefold. But I was a happy camper (rocker).

The Husband always loves to show off a new Tommy Bahama shirt!!!! Isn't he handsome??

This is the breakfast buffet on the front porch. I was given a recipe for their coffee cake which is like none you have ever had before. I will post it later.

Whooooo, Wilbur!!! We're not in Kansas anymore!! Our first stop on the World's Longest Yardsale, spanning 654 miles from West Unity, Ohio to Gadsen, Alabama. Some bloggers have already posted about the fun they had. This here wasn't so much a yardsale as it was a barn sale and of course Blondie was more interested in checking out the animals (not to buy of course.) Isn't he CUTE?????

And that is little Pony Boy next to Wilbur. Of course I thought it was a baby horse, farm girl that I am. They were both so friendly!

And then little Billy came ambling up, wanting some attention too. What a threesome!! I could have hung out here all day!

Just to show you how friendly Wilber was and how big, I am giving him a little pet on the snout! Very cautiously!! LOL!!

Onward!! This was our last stop after about 4 hours in the rain and then the humid heat. It is the place I mentioned recently that we stopped at in White Pigeon. Well...I don't blame you forgetting, but they had something there I wanted with a passion and YES!!!! It was still there. We brought home something I really wanted for the Summerhouse and because this post has dragged on long enough, barnyard animals and all, you will have to wait until my next post to see what I bought.

Until then, I leave you these beautiful flowers that I cannot identify and I hope to be back soon. I am still enjoying my vacation at the lake and I hope to have a little more time to just lie in the shade and read or snooze. I hope you all are staying cool and that you are having some rain down there in the South. I think of all of you and always wish you the best.

xoxo

Jane

ANOTHER PEEK AT THE LAKEHOUSE

Today is the day that we are taking our trip up to Ludington, Michigan, as I last posted. Check In time is not until 3:00, so we have some time before we have to leave. I thought I would share a bit more of our Lakehouse with you.
Above is a painting we bought years ago. I have no idea who painted it but it looks a little Victorian to me. I by no means, tried to do the Lakehouse in a Victorian decor, I just loved the painting and it went well with the wallpaper, the border of which you can see below the painting. I then started to pick up colors from the painting, but the style of the furniture and room is just ALL OVER the place...

This is a view from the table by the windows where I had been blogging (it is the only place in the house I can get a signal, grrrrr). I thought it was a good view of the Great room. In the corner of the room you can see the wood burning stove. It was here when we moved in. This baby can sure heat up the house. On cold winter days it is all that we need. When the wood gets going and you keep feeding it, it starts to glow red.

You can also see my furniture. It looks a little formal, but, but once again it goes with my colors and I have to confess, I really wanted to sort of break the rules of what a lake house normally looks like, that sort of "Coastal Look". But as time has gone on, we have added all sorts of things, things that we like, and so I can't call this decor anything~maybe BLONDIE STYLE". Yes, that will go right along with Victorian, Contemporary, Shabby Chic... LOL!!!

You can also see the staircase. Originally, it went straight down and was quite steep. RC changed the configuration so it curves. It is another thing that isn't finished. Patience, Blondie, patience! Down the hall is the front door that leads to my big porch. To the right is part of the bar/counter that divides this room from the kitchen.

Another view of the Great room where you can see the fireplace and stone wall. The previous owner who built this house, gathered all these stones himself from local farm fields. Ignore the spear gun over the fireplace. The Husband put that up there just to antagonize me. It is coming down. I just don't know what to hang there yet. And the guitar, I don't know whose it is, but it looks good. Ha Ha.

Finally I wanted to show you a really neat sight that we saw coming back from a bike trip. The Husband bought me a new Treck bike. It has 24 gears. I have so much fun riding it. We went to a town about 15 miles away and rode along the banks of the St. Joseph River. I didn't have my camera, so take my word for it, it was a beautiful ride. So coming back, we rounded a curve and saw this group of Sand Hill Cranes (no, I didn't know that is what they were until my neighbor looked at the pictures and identified them. I thought they were herons and The Husband thought they were turkeys!! LOL!)

In this picture they were just milling around, minding their own business...

Once they became aware of our car and me hanging out the window trying to get pictures, they starting raising their heads up and squawking like mad!

Then they left, in single file...isn't this the funniest. "Okay guys and girls. Follow me. Single file. There is a crazy intruder trying to get us on the cover of National Geographic again!"

So that was our big day yesterday and now I have to get ready for our trip. I will take some pictures. Everyone have a great week!

xoxo

Jane

BLONDIE TAKES A LITTLE VACATION!!

Oh!!! Do I wish I looked this good!! Look at that little sarong! I definitely would need a bigger sarong. And the beach ball...Much bigger to hide behind!! In any event, I'm off for a wee vacation in Michigan. Some leisurely days at the cottage, floating on a raft, napping in the Summerhouse with the dogs and sitting under the palm trees (plants), reading a book. One of my very favorite things to do is take the boat out with The Husband to the far end of the lake where there is no traffic (and there really isn't any during the week) and we just drift, no anchor. He fishes and I read and it is so quiet and peaceful. The only time the silence is broken is when he catches a fish and that rarely happens.

We are going to get away for 3 days and travel up the coast of Lake Michigan to a little resort town called Ludington. This is the Bed & Breakfast I chose to stay at. It is right smack in town around all the shopping and restaurants and just a short walk to the beaches, which are supposed to be just pristine. Oh, I can't wait to collect shells now that I've decided to give the cottage a bit of a coastal look!

I am boarding Milo and Layla for the first time. I found a nice place called Whispering Pines which is on 23 acres in the country. The owners actually enjoy playing with the dogs in a fenced in yard and they live on the property so they get 24 hour care. I think my little pups are going to have a little vacation of their own!

I promised to show a bit more of the kitchen even though it is not completed. What I really want you to see is a custom made wall of cabinets that Resident Carpenter and I designed.

This is what you see if you are seated at the bar/counter that divides the kitchen from the great room. I wanted my refrigerator enclosed. I kept my appliances as they were perfectly good and of course, white. All of the cabinets are done in Painted Turtle by Behr. These cabinets and cupboards make up a half octagonal shape on this wall. Not only did I want storage space, I wanted to display some things as well.

This side cabinet opens up on the top and the bottom...

The next set of cabinets have two glass panes that open in the middle and although I don't have the shelves or trim in, I will be able to use this upper cabinet for display. RC put a piece of the tin ceiling in for the back and I don't like it. I don't know what I will do with it, paint it for sure, but what color?

Now you can see that the whole door opens up into a cabinet!! How cool is this?? It is like a hidden door!. My hardware is not on yet, I chose brushed nickel knobs and pulls to match my sink faucet and knobs. Isn't this ingenious? Well, this is all that I am going to show for now because there is so much more work to do and I would rather have you all see it when it is completed. Let me know what you think!

I mentioned that I finally pulled out my new front porch furniture and The Husband assembled all but for the coffee table. I found these cushions on Overstock.com and they came in a set of three for about $60.00. After looking everywhere for cushions that I liked, in the right size and at a reasonable price, I think I hit the jackpot. I love them!! Now look at the pillows...

I found these at that mansion/flower shop/antique store in White Pigeon last weekend. There were pillows EVERYWHERE!! They were all handmade by a 90 year old woman. Boy, does she have her groove or what??! Zillions of colors and patterns. I bought a neck roll for my bed that has pearls and crystals and all sorts of bling. Handmade and only $23.00!! The pillows at Target cost more! She IS good!! And you know I am going to the big sale there on the 6th. Whoo Hoo! I am renting a U~Haul!!

They match my furniture cushions perfectly!

And I leave you with a parting shot of the day lily's that I have planted around this front porch. They even match the furniture. This was a happy accident, I was simply looking for pink.

So off we go tonight. I am doing a ton of laundry (again) and running some errands, but otherwise I am ready!! Happy dance!! And wherever Blondie goes, so does the laptop so I will be in touch and post some pic's.

Have a great weekend! :-)

xoxo

Jane

WHITE WEDNESDAY: WHITES ON DIAMOND LAKE

Today I am participating in White Wednesday, which is hosted by Kathleen at Faded Charm Cottage. I came upon her blog last week and really loved it. I highly recommend visiting her. I also visited some of the other participants in WW last week and they had some really unique things to show. A lot of decorating ideas here!! So after you leave a comment, visit Kathleen and all of the ladies joining in.

I took tons of pictures at the lake this weekend. It wasn't too hard to find white because I chose open shelving with all white dishes when we renovated the kitchen. I'm sorry to say it is still a work in progress and we are well past the completion date but I am trying really hard to be patient. I hope one day soon I can show you the kitchen and two baths totally finished.

This is a pretty general view of the shelves which are on both sides of the sink and just a bit more on the adjoining walls. I have been putting in a little treasures with color for some contrast such as this blue Cape Cod plate.

My everyday dishes are by Gibson and my china is Johann Haviland. I have mentioned this in a previous post, so I hope I am not boring anyone!! The coffee mugs on the bottom are from The Dollar Tree, believe it or not!! We really like them, they are nice and sturdy and I like the texture of the little bumps around the rim! I also collect little glass bottles and they are scattered all around. They make great bud vases. And finally, I broke down and bought the infamous Target Birds!! Of course, you can click to enlarge the pictures.

Next, I have a clock I bought from Lidy Baars at French Garden House. Please click on if you would like to visit her shop that carries all things beautiful and European. I have shopped her site many times and am always impressed by the quality of her items, and of course, Lidy herself is a very special lady. She may not know it, but she is the one who influenced me to start blogging. I was shopping French Garden House and happened to click on her blog. I thought, "Well, this sounds like a lot of fun, but will I have anything to say?" LOL!! The rest is history!! Thank you Lidy!!

Here are some antique glass dessert plates I found a few weeks ago. They came from a flower shop housed in a huge mansion in White Pigeon, Michigan. The flower shop was actually a very small part of the business. Every room held antique or second~hand items. I was like Alice in Wonderland!! I managed to buy only what I could carry in two trips, with the promise that there will be a huge yard sale on August 6th with over 15 dealers. There were a few thing there that I wanted so badly, but The Husband kept patting me on the shoulder, reassuring me that we would be back. I should have just thrown a tantrum!

A little shadow box with some beachy scenes and vintage silver salt & pepper shakers.

The matching shadow box. I found these in Saugatuck, Michigan, a resort town along the lake, many years ago. Saugatuck is still one of my favorite places to visit.

A vintagy sugar jar from Marshall's.

This canister is made out of iron and is super heavy. I found it at a second hand shop and knew it would make a great utensil holder.

I thought we would move outside. A few weeks ago I posted a picture of a mysterious flower bud and by unanimous decision, it was declared a hollyhock!! It sure is different! But very pretty, a very light blush color. Even though the plants are only about 2 or 3 feet high, I had to stake them. The leaves have a zillon little round holes in them like something has been nibbling. I am wondering if this is why the stems are falling over. I have never seen the blasted critters that are doing the damage so I am not sure what to do. The plants around the hollyhock are doing fab. So, once again, I am asking the Bloggerville Garden Advisory Board for help. :-)

I found this cute white chair with a rush seat also at a second hand store. It is sturdy and chippy and I didn't need to do a thing with it. I used a metal container from Michael's as a planter.

This is called an obedience plant and it came up for the first time this year. It is really pretty and I hope it gets bigger each year. It looks perfect in my English Garden.

And my last picture is of the white birch trees in our yard. They are beautiful. I'd love to have more but all of our trees have matured so much over the years that our house is really hard to even see from the lake!

I hope you have enjoyed my contribution to White Wednesday. I have not even come close to exhausting all of the white I have! LOL! So I will probably join again and of course, hope to make new friends.! Please visit Kathleen and see how pretty simple white can be!! Have a wonderful week! :-)

xoxo

Jane