WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: MAKE A WISH!!

Be careful what you wish for!!!!

Thanks for visiting me and my feathered pets!! To see more participants of Wordless Wednesday, visit our hostess, Dixie at French Lique! Have a wonderful Hump Day!!

xoxo

Jane

THRIFTY THURSDAY: A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

Today I am joining Leigh from Tales From Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday. Visit Leigh's delightful blog~ you will love it and then visit all the girl's with their great thrifty buys!

I recently had the good fortune to find a thrift store called 2nd Time Around, not too far from where I live. I saw the ad in the back of Romantic Homes and went, "Wow... that's only about 15 minutes from here!" So off I went and I have gone back a few more times since. I can't say there is anything old there, like some of the antique stores I frequent, but I am trying to learn the art of not only seeing what something IS, but what it can BE!! That takes a lot of creative thinking and talent and I have learned so much from all of you, my friends. But I am going to give you fair warning, I am going to be asking for a wee little bit of help in this post! ;-)

First I have a wrought iron, two tier basket with some little grapes and leaves on it. It appears to have been spray painted a lovely shade of baby poop brown. It's about 24 inches high and my first thought was to use it on a counter. In the kitchen perhaps, to hold fruit or in the bath to hold soap and hand towels. That ends my many usage ideas and actually, we can scrap the bathroom idea because none of my vanities are big enough for this. Secondly, do grapes belong in a bathroom?? Next, I have the issue of the paint job. I actually think the BP brown can be used to an advantage if I paint it white and then sand it a little to distress it with some of the brown showing through. Any other ideas? See how creative I can be!

This is the pitcher and saucer that you see a lot on the mantle in the background of all my "Abby Posing Pictures". Sherri from Sharing With Sherri mentioned she liked it so I'm sharing (no pun intended). This is also from the same place. I have beautiful roses in it from Michael's, my florist of late. I like the raised pattern on the saucer and it looks almost brand new. I'd like to tell you I paid $1.50 for it, but honestly, I don't remember since it was months ago. I'd also like to say it was such a bargain that I had to have it but again, in all honesty, if I really liked it, all common sense would fly out the window and I'd end up going home with it, maybe hiding it in the closet for awhile and doing the "Oh, that old thing?" number when The Husband asked about it. Nothing needs to be altered on this find, maybe I will splurge on real flowers once in awhile!

This is another pitcher I found just recently. I guess I'm having a thing for pitchers. You can't tell from the picture, but it is a very pale yellow. I thought it might look good in the white Cottage Kitchen, maybe to hold cooking utensils. I really like things that are pretty and have a function. Or at least I am supposed to.

This is one of my bigger finds. (Ignore Monster Fern. He is being sent back to the lake where he belongs now that the weather is warm). This is from an antique store blocks away from here in Chicago. I believe it was a dresser since it has hardware in the back of it where a mirror might once have been on the side behind the drawers. The Husband did not believe we would ever be able to replace the mirror so he bought the one on the wall from Home Depot. Did you know they sell beautiful mirrors? I didn't. It has a medallion to hang it from but I was too anxious for him to drill the hole! LOL!!

Oh goodness, I downloaded the same picture twice!! Sorry. I don't know how to edit this so just say "It's okay, Blondie" and we will move along...

Now this cabinet is the closest thing I have to a china cabinet due to lack of space. We have a bar/counter that divides our kitchen from our living room and the dining room table is sort of between. I can't explain it very well, but one day I will take a picture. In the drawers I keep tablecloths, place mats, napkins, napkin rings, candles, etc. Everything I need to set a table...

Inside I keep a mess, I mean some china and all sorts of bowls and platters and miscellaneous things. It really needs to be sorted out but frankly, there is no where for it to go. I don't dare complain, you see, because a few years ago we found the house of our dreams. I was going to have that big dining room, a pantry off the gourmet kitchen, a sitting room off the bedroom...you get the idea. We just couldn't make that leap from not having a mortgage to once again having one. Months later, the beginning of the end of our great economy occurred. I am forever grateful for what I have and yes, I complain my closet is the size of a locker and that I can set the table and clean my bedroom at the same time, but we avoided disaster.

Okay, here you can sort of see the strange configuration of the rooms. The couch divides the living room on the left from the bar and kitchen on the right.

Now, I never had any intention of changing the finish on this cabinet in any way because the wood grain is beautiful and the inserts are cut across the grain of the wood the way it used to be done before we stopped destroying our forests. But I am wondering about the knobs... My sister~in~law suggested glass knobs. What do you think? I really think they need to be changed. Is there anything else out there that might look good on these drawers?? By the way, Layla says Hi!!! I woke her up from her nap.

So this is it for Thrifty Thursday. Pay Leigh a visit, she has a fun blog and she is just the sweetest! I will see all of you soon!!

xoxo

Jane

THREE OR MORE TUESDAY: JOURNAL VIGNETTES

Today I am joining everyone participating in Three Or More Tuesday hosted by Tam at The Gypsy's Corner. Please go on over to Tam's blog to see her pretty vignettes and then visit all the girl's joining in! It's a fun event to get involved in on Tuesday's!!

After seeing Tam's summer vignettes (so inspiring), and visiting some other blogs joining in, one girlfriend posting a collection of beautiful silver pieces, I took my cue and came up with a little of both!

When I was designing my blog header, I really wanted to depict something related to my journal keeping. My original intent as a new blogger was to create an extension of my written journals. Can you remember what you had in mind for your blog when you started? I think we all had an idea and it expanded once we joined in with all the sweet and inspiring girl's in Blogland!!

So I created a vignette with some of my journals and a few of the things I loved and thought would say a little about me.

This was one of my first choices. You can see some of my journals piled up and one opened. I dearly remember that one from March of 1991. I was eight months pregnant with Abby when all three of the younger ones came down with chicken pox, all two weeks apart!! So they were all quarantined for about ten days each, and I was grounded at home for six weeks, giving Aveeno baths, rubbing them down with Calamine lotion and trying to keep them busy in between their whining and scratching!!

In the vignette, I also have a my vintage teapot and a china teacup along with a silver bud vase. A little peek at my personality... And I also have my Mother's high school graduation picture. Wasn't she beautiful?? And she always was. I hold that picture very close to my heart...

This is the picture that was another choice, everything just rearranged. I had made little vignettes in my home before, but not with so many things and especially not so personal. I have been keeping a journal since I was sixteen so you can imagine how many I have. They are piled up on the top shelf of my closet. I wish I had the time to reread some of them...

My mom was also a big journal keeper. When she passed away in 2001, we weren't sure what to do with them. In my heart I knew that she wouldn't mind if we read a little bit of them, so I did. She was a very talented writer, had had a few short stories and articles published and her journals were very insightful. I learned a little more about her before I closed the books and we packed them in a box and stored them for my father.

Another vignette. You can see a bit of my vintage tablecloth.

And finally the picture used for my blog header.

So now you know a bit more about me. And as I said, I was inspired by collections. Well obviously all 1000 of those journals make up a collection, LOL!!. And I collect old tea sets and silver. I also collect table linens, I can't seem to walk away from those huge baskets filled with tablecloths, doilies and napkins when I am in an antique store! And I love china. I have a few sets and can't resist them if it is a pattern I really love and the price is great. I just don't know where to store all of them!!

And this finally is a vignette I made in the spring for a little table. I think we were all wishing for spring after such a miserable winter!!

I hope you visit Tam and get inspired to look at your collections. Vignettes are a wonderful way to add a little interest to a table or shelf. And collections can be found anywhere in your home if you really look. You might see a little pattern that describes the things you love and what sort of person you are, as mine did.

Do you keep a journal? It might just be a little notebook to record the day's events. Or one of the pretty journals that you can pick up in a bookstore or even Target to have a place to write down your thoughts and dreams. I hope I have given you a little inspiration!

xoxo

Jane

A COTTAGE KITCHEN

Off we go to the cottage again tomorrow. A lot of physical (ouch) work for me waiting, mainly of the outdoor variety. But... this is what I yearned for the entire cold winter. So I will be pulling up my sleeves, pulling out my trowel and getting some real dirt under my manicured nails!!

Last week I took pictures of my kitchen which has been under renovation since January. I hesitated showing them because I really wanted to show the completed project. That is going to take awhile for a few reasons. But first, I'll tell you what I do have. One main thing I wanted was open shelving. That is getting quite popular now, but it is actually very common in European kitchens. I had in mind my friend's Doris and Hans~Martin's kitchen in Cologne, Germany. So that is what I have above. Resident Carpenter first gutted the kitchen completely. He made these shelves and painted them. I have subway tile below the bottom shelf. My counters are quartz, white with speckles of various colors. I wanted everything from the counter up to be white. I ordered my dishes from Overstock.com. They are Basket Weave by Gibson. I am still deciding on coffee mugs, and drink ware. I also need pots and pans and linens, blinds, curtains and rugs. I told you I wasn't done!! If you look to the far right you will see a little glimpse of a deep gray~green color. That is the stove hood and that is the color of the lower cabinets, which I did not take a picture of . RC removed these cabinets, stripped and sanded them and painted them this color, Painted Turtle by Behr. I really liked the old cabinets because the doors were beaded board and I see a lot of that now. the shelf brackets need the screw holes plugged and painted as well as the trim around the windows. Then he is done!!

This picture is to the left of the kitchen sink and window (the above was to the right). The pendant light looks humongous but it isn't. It is from Home Depot. I have them on each side of both windows and on each end of the bar/counter.

Here is a better of view of that stove hood RC made (he has some touching up of the paint to do). I was really surprised that my cottage china went so well with the paint color. The flowers are a bluish~gray. So I am happy that I can display this and it's not going to clash.

So I have some work ahead of me. Okay, I have some shopping and that is definitely not work!!! Now it might sound strange that we had the kitchen renovated but we have nothing to unpack to put back into it. Well, I will tell you why. If you own a lake house or know someone that does and it is a 2nd home, as it is in our case, there is a general rule of thumb when furnishing it. If you don't want it, you bring it up to the lake!!! So we have had over the years horrible, ugly, wretched things up here! I replaced much of course as the years went on, but never let me lead you on that it has been a breeze to own two homes. And as much as I have always loved to entertain at the lake, our focus was to have fun with the kids and keep things simple. And actually, when we decided to renovate, we not only cleaned out a lot of accumulated "junk", but things we just didn't need or never would use. Blondie finally has space that is uncluttered. For now.

So we are off, bright and early. I have to plant pots for the patio and porches. It is supposed to rain all day again, but part of the patio is covered. I went to a garden center today and even I was amazed at some of the varieties of annuals they had, so I am excited to show you pictures of my pots when they are completed.

I wish you all a wonderful, DRY weekend!!! :-)

xoxo
Jane

TWO OR MORE TUESDAY: A TALE OF TWO GARDENS

A big "Good morning!" from Milo & Me!! It is Two or More Tuesday and you can visit Tam, our sweet hostess for today's event to see her contribution and a list of all the other ladies with two or more of anything!!!! As you can see, Milo is posing on two or more legs to greet you this gloomy, drizzly morning in Chicago!! What a ham. And he has no shame!! He is drawing your attention to my day lily's that will be blooming in about two (or more, LOL) weeks. And my post today is about what is going on in my gardens here in the city and up at the lake. And there isn't much happening because you know that our "Spring" here in the Midwest goes right into June. So this is the start of all my early blooming perennials.

Our cottage in Michigan is two hours away, on the other side of Lake Michigan. The climate is pretty much the same. The big difference is that my home in the city is completely shrouded by oak, maple and walnut trees. I get slivers of sun here and there. I can only grow limited varieties of flowers and plants as a result; hostas, lily's, columbine, astilbe, weeds... And then oh, to my delight, we moved to the lake 18 years ago and I was blessed with the sun!!! Gardening took on a whole new realm. Two summers ago we enlarged our covered patio, changed a big slope down to the water into two flat levels and built my beloved Summerhouse, i.e., detached screened in porch of sorts. I started an English garden in an octagonal shaped area between the Summerhouse, shed and patio. At least my version of an English garden. Clean bones and structure, boxwood's enclosing a variety of perennials, herbs and ground covers, a path, an arbor and a lot of funky little vintage pieces here and there for fun. So I am going to take you on a limited trip through "Blondie's English Garden."

Everything is a little weedy and unkempt right now as the rain has really got me behind on things. To the right is the shed and in the background is the rear view of the Summerhouse. I bought the arbor from Plow & Hearth last summer and I have clematis growing up both sides. You might have to squint. You can see my baby boxwood's and my flagstone path, which I promise I am going to tidy up next weekend. I learned a tip about pathways: If you plant Thyme between the steps, when you walk, the herb crushes and sends up a lovely scent. That is on my To Do List. Between the shed and Summerhouse, you might be able to make out my miniature Weeping Willow. I didn't think this guy was going to make it over the winter, but he did and I love him for it. Ignore Resident Carpenter's saw horse~he is going to clean up once he returns from vacation. He has about 3 more weeks of inside work but he no longer lives with us (YES!!!!). Along the side of the Summerhouse I planted 8 tomato and 8 basil plants last Sunday. You can never have too much of either. Next to the shed is a vintage trellis I found that I am growing Trumpet Vine on. Yes, you will have to squint again.

In front of the foxglove is a funky little trellis thingie I found last summer. I need to find some sort of vine to plant inside. Any suggestions??

Isn't Mrs. Foxglove glorious? This is nature at it's most creative. I planted three so I am wondering if they will come up a bit later or if I killed them as I am prone to do with most plants.

Mother Nature was doing some splatter painting!!

Every once in awhile The Husband does something that makes me scratch my head and think "What else do I not know about this man?". We had some "stray" iris growing around the house and I had good intentions of digging them up (at least 15 years worth of good intentions) and planting them in a nice spot and then one day about 3 years ago, The Husband said he wanted to show me something. Now these have bloomed for the most part, but he planted them down along a little slope that divides our property from our neighbor's. It's actually called "naturalizing" in garden lingo because it looks as if they just grew like this on their own. He didn't know this of course, but I was so impressed, not only that he did such a marvelous job, but because I saw a glimpse of a nurturing side of him that I had never seen before. I mean, other than with his children and his law books... But I love his little iris patch and I love him thismuchmore for it!! :-)

Pretty??

Uh oh, I don't think we are in England anymore!

My little garden angel would not approve of this at all!

Okay, a sign that has seen better days....

There she is. Our new boat. We bought her last summer. With all of the clean up work inside the cottage from the renovations, we have yet to take a boat ride. And our dock is sinking!! We have needed to replace the dock for the last couple of years and we are now getting quotes. The huge amount of snow and rain did not help matters. I won't walk on it. But I do love the new boat. It was with mixed feelings when we sold our other boat for this one. It was a beautiful and young. To me, boats age the opposite of how we figure "dog years". If a boat is 7 years old, it is really only 1. If you take care of your boat you will have it forever. And although there will be updates and new luxuries inside new boats; refrigerators, toilets, wine cellars... they are forever young. Our fabulous 23 foot, Four Winns that we bought when we first moved to the lake was a temperamental young lady. She wouldn't start, she broke down, she smoked, she died. But she looked gorgeous the whole time. There is a saying about boats, a definition, if you will: Boat: A hole in the surface of the water in to which money is thrown. So true. We unloaded the little lady and we have this, which is a deck boat. I forget the name of it. I only took a few rides in it last summer because I was recovering from surgery. We also sold our pontoon. It was wonderful for big groups of friends and I liked that it was covered and I could get out of the sun~but it is HARD taking care of two big boats. We also have a fishing boat, a paddle boat and two wave runners. We don't like the water much...

Where could we be?? The Bahamas? The Keys?? No, we are on the patio steps going in to the house. This funky little sign usually sits by my big palm trees that are currently enjoying the warm winter in my home in Chicago. Back they will go to the lake to spend a balmy summer outdoors on the patio, giving us that fake tropical feel. It works though!!

A little glimpse. Ongoing work.... Resident Carpenter has an infatuation with rocks and stones, fossils and arrowheads. They are in abundance up here. He scoured local fields for these stones and performed the laborious job of making these steps as a surprise for us. Wow!! The stones are smaller versions of the large stones in the wall to the left. On the opposite side, inside the house is the field stone fireplace. These stones were also found in local farmer's fields. Some have plow marks on them.

So, I am back at home this morning. I took a few pictures of my yard here in the drizzle. This is my overgrown herb garden. The basil has taken over so I am going to pull some out and re~pot some for the kitchen and then add some of the annual herbs that don't come back every year. IF the rain stops! I also have chives, parsley and cilantro.

And in the corner of my yard is what I call my Woodland garden. Shaded by two big walnut trees, I have a Red Twig Dogwood, the first thing I EVER planted in my life, just a little sprig of a thing 23 years ago. Hidden in there I have peonies, columbine and the remains of a few precious pet birds. They have a nice little resting place there, don't they? And I will pop in some impatiens and red geraniums for color. When it STOPS RAINING!!! ;-)

Bushes and ivy running rampant. I love ivy. The Husband hates it because he says it attracts spiders. Oh, pooh. This ivy covers the whole back and sides of our house and is working it's way to the front. Maybe he won't notice~he has been known to tear it down. But it is stubborn. Emily once took the screen off her bedroom window and left the storm window open a crack. The ivy started growing in to the room and she loved it so much that by mid~summer, one whole wall was covered!! It was fabulous!!! The Husband would have frowned on this...I loved it. But that's just me.

I wish everyone a wonderful week from my neck of the woods!

xoxo

Jane

OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY: GRADUATION DAY

Abigail graduated June 24, 2009. It was such a beautiful day. 80 degrees. A nice breeze. Had it not been this nice, the ceremony would have been held inside. so we were very lucky. There were a little over 300 girls in the senior class and about 2,000 in the audience.

All the graduates wore long white formal gowns with gloves, as tradition has been for over 50 years. Abigail's silk dress had a short train and bustle with hand sewn beading around the neckline, which you can see better in one of the following pictures.

Catherine McAuley was the Foundress of The Sisters of Mercy. These Sisters were responsible for opening the first "select school." St. Francis Xavier Academy for Females was the first school chartered in the city of Chicago in 1846. The original building was destroyed by the Chicago Fire of 1871. It was relocated and by 1956, in need of additional space, the "Academy" opened it's doors as Mother McAuley High School in it's present location (three blocks from our home). It is the largest, all female school in the country. Above is the graduation announcement.

The happy "grad!"

Here is Abby in that familiar posing spot in front of the fireplace!! I just seem to get the best light here and it is the best backdrop for my pictures. But I bet you are all tired of seeing the big old monster!!

The procession line...

"Okayyyyyy!!! Enough snapshots!!"

I meant to take some pictures of the campus as spring arrived. It is so beautiful! The school shares a 2 square mile block with St. Xavier University and Brother Rice High School, the all male high school which my sons attended. Emily graduated from Mother McAuley in 2005. Many of the older buildings have been added to, keeping with the traditional architecture. There are beautiful trails and a pond as well as all types of plants and trees that attract all sorts of birds. I PROMISE I will take some pictures for a future Outdoor Wednesday!!

The chapel.

"I did it!!!"

...and the final walk across campus toward home.

Happy Outdoor Wednesday!! Stop in and see Susan at A Southern Daydreamer, our hostess for today. I am on my way now to see the list of everyone participating. I hope to visit all of you by the end of the week!! :-)

xoxo

Jane