An "Inspiration Leave"

Have you every heard of a Study Leave?
Well I don't need to study but I could use 
some inspiration.

So... to celebrate my 6 month blog anniversary
I am going to take an "Inspiration  Leave!"

The time has gone by so fast!
I have learned so much about blogging
and I have even gotten a little better at my picture taking.


I have met so many new and very creative blogger friends.
And I have met many others who leave me such sweet comments.


I need some time to play catch up at home, get creative,
finish up several unfinished projects and mostly some time to reflect
on were I am going with my blog and with my life.

 Sounds a little dramatic when I write it down
but it's really not.


Ever so often in our lives I think it's important to just listen.
 We are so busy constantly moving
that we don't take the time
to stop and listen.


At 48 years old, I find that I have become more aware
of these seasons in my life.


So.....
it's time for me to slow down, listen and get inspired!


I shall be back...
I am just not sure when....

I will try to keep following my favorite blogs.
Because they are a huge inspiration to me!

Thank you to all that checked me out over the past 6 months.
I will be back soon!

Until Next Time,

Hey There!
Have you missed me?

I've missed you!

I have no good excuse for why I haven't blogged much!

We have had quite a bit of company over to the house.

  Then I ran my brother to a Doctor's appointment.

After we left the office I realized I had left 

my computer in the waiting area!

Yikes!
By the time I realized it, I was home and it was to late to call!

But thankfully my sister picked it up the for me the next day!

(So... no computer for a couple days made it hard to blog!)

I also had a lovely lunch at Joy's (the Savvy City Farmer)

home yesterday. Oh my gosh was her home wonderful!

She is so creative and her home is so uniquely her!

    Jen Rizzo from Sanctuary Arts &

Tracey from French Larkspur also had

lunch with us and we did a lot of blog talking.

I got to pick their brains.

I was the newbie of the group so

they patiently answered all my questions!

Thank you Joy for a lovely lunch and the lovely company!

Ok....ok....enough words!

Now lets see some photo's....

 

 

It's the inside!

This is our Master Bedroom.

There are 2 things I love about our bedroom.

First, I love the barrel ceilings.

It was hard to show them but 

you can kind of see them in a few of the photos.

Second, I love the five windows that go 

across the wall opposite our bed. 

I hardly ever close the blinds so in the morning we

wake to all the beautiful trees and birds.

 And in the wintertime the snow 

on the trees is so beautiful!

Oh... and did I tell you that I
love love love

a really soft set of sheets!

Hmmm.....

Wow...now I feel like going back to bed!!

Missed you,

lazy days of summer

after I did my porch post my mom and step dad
requested screened in porches

so here are some lovely screened in numbers!

you know...
if you double click on a photo
most times it will enlarge it.
then you can really see all the details!

Can you picture yourself on one of these,
relaxing & sipping a raspberry lemonade?

can you guess which one's my favorite?

have a lazy summer weekend
you deserve it my friend!

I feel change a come'n!

I was in the mood for some change!
Can you tell?

Change #1
Blog Header!
I got really brave last night and
decided to change my blog header.

I did it all by myself.:-)

No help from my daughter-in-law.
Half way through I was sweating bullets....I almost called her!
First the header was WAY to BIG.
Then it disappeared for a while.
But in the end I finally got it!

Next....
I would like to introduce you to someone.
This someone comes and goes like the wind.
At times it sticks around for
6 months or a year and then it goes.
It's never gone for very long and like the wind it returns!
This has gone on for at least 25 years!

It's the same 20 lbs!
I have gained and lost the same 20 lbs for soooo long
that it feels like it has a personality of it's own!
Can I get an Amen!!
Anyone else have this problem?

That leads us to change #2 & #3

Change #2 is diet!
Or at least eat less and healthier!


Change #3 is yoga!
I've started to go a few times a week with my daughter!

Yoga is much harder than I remember!
Ouch...I am a little sore!

But..aren't the yoga mats and
matching bags to die for!

Seriously.... it's time to make some changes!
Anything in your life that needs a change?


Lastly, I would like to say a big thank you to all of you
that left me such sweet comments about my house!

As for the inside,
it is still a work in progress!
As I looked around
I realize I haven't really
finished one whole room!
So bare with me and I
will snap a few photo's!

Lots Of Love,

Random photo's!

Over time I seem to save a bunch
of random photo's.
They are just photo's that catch my eye!

Love the duvet at the end of the bed
&
the cute antique bench!

I saved this one because
I would love to find a wardrobe
like the big blue one in the corner.
I wish I could see the whole thing!
I would like to paint it white
&
use it on my back porch!

Love the chippy fireplace mantel for a headboard.
And how about the bench next to the bed, to be
used as a night stand or a stool to help
jump into this comfy bed!

~~~~~~

I've had a busy last couple of weeks.
I've been helping my in-laws get there
house ready to go on the market!
They have been in the same home for 40 years!
So....there has been
a lot of lifting and cleaning and
for my mother in-law
a lot of emotional decisions as to
what to hang on to or what to let go!

I suppose that's why all
the photo's are of
lovely beds!
I am feeling like a nap today!

Have a relaxing weekend!

My House!

I've been asked several times if I would show my house.
So.....
after reading Cathy's post from the Mille Fleur blog!
{She did a post on her wonderful family room.}

It inspired me to get busy and take some photo's.

Now here is a little history...

As I have said in previous posts,
we moved here a little over a year and a half ago.
We were actually having a custom condo built.
The kids had left the nest so we were down-sizing!
You know...
less yard, less to clean,
no more pool, less to take care of.
I saw my self with more time to do the things
I never had time for!

Then....
shortly after we had our previous home sold
we received the bad news that the builder
of our condo had gone bankrupt!
BIG FAT UGH!!
Sadly, it was a sign of the times. :-(

After the initial shock wore off....
we did what any homeless parents would do.
We moved in with our son!

And when we knew "the condo thing" was
completely hopeless
we started looking for another place to call home.

So the hunt was on!
We looked and looked and looked!
First, we looked at condos and none were as great
as the one we had our hearts set on.
Next we looked at home after home after home.
To no avail!
We even considered building! Yikes!?!...
{It was definitely the wrong time to build!}

Then.....
after putting my poor friend/Realtor through the
daunting task of finding the perfect home...
we came up with this.

Our kids and family were never crazy about the condo thing!
After all where would they all go for holiday's and pool parties!

Our families always say, that Mike and I have
the gift of entertaining!
I think they just say that so we will have them all over!

Now....
Mike liked this house right way, but me, not so much!
I was still thinking down-sizing!


Yet, here we are.....

with a bigger yard


a bigger house

another pool

and more parties!

It's taken me a little longer to to fall in love with this house!
But little by little I have started to really enjoy all the wonderful
details and character this home has.
I wish I could say I designed it..but I just get to enjoy and
"TAKE CARE"
of it!

I guess it wasn't time to stop entertaining!

Warmly,

Hydrangea's

I picked these
from my garden!

I have never had hydrangea's till I
moved to the house I live in now.
I think they're one of the most beautiful flowers.
They are gorgeous
at almost every stage of blooming!
Whether they are small & green or large & white
they are awesome!

These are
Annabelle Hydrangea's!

My daughter-in-law said I needed to cut
them so they would continue blooming!

So we cut a bunch!
They look so beautiful in a vase
and they last for a long time!

Next...
I am going to try and figure out how to dry them!

Thank you again
for all of your wonderful comments!
I enjoy each and every one!!

Have a safe & fun
4th of July!

Warmly,

porches porches porches
(THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED FOR SARCASM!}

I have only had one real front porch
in my homeowner lifetime!
I've had some "back porches" that were
pretty sweet and even
one "screened in" number!

Remember earlier when I did a post about
"doorways"
and I shared with you my thoughts on what
kind of person lived behind those doors.

Well I believe porches have a personality also!

And lucky you.....
you get to hear my thoughts on
this array of porches!!

I believe
this porch belongs to an accountant.
She's not very creative but very neat.
An everything has it's place kinda gal!
Hence the matchy-matchy white wicker.
(Sorry but this one kinda makes me yawn).


I would never think to paint everything
on my porch the same color!
Even the pillars and banisters are the same color.
So who lives here?
I think it's a women who is going through menopause.
She is creative but she hasn't slept well lately.
And when she went to the store to get the paint she
forgot the paint chips she had picked out.

Then she had a serious hot flash so she bought a
bunch of gallons of the first paint color she saw.
And when her husband questioned why she painted
everything the same color, she bit his head off.
I get this women!
After all, it's just paint. You can always re-paint it!



This lady is a card player.
Her husband past away a few years ago.
But before that they would sit in their his and her rockers
and sip raspberry lemonade and talk about there day.
Now, she very seldom sits in her rocker but she still has her
bridge group over to play cards on Wednesday afternoon.

No women lives here.
The guy who lives here and his partner are
in the design business.
And they are so excited....
because.... a design magazine just did a photo
shoot of their porch and the publicity has done

wonders for their business!

This lady wears white linen drawstring pants,
a light khaki gauze top, is barefoot and single.
Less is more for her. She writes books for a living.
And loves yoga!!

This women is bold and loud!
She's a mover and shaker!
She's confident and would have been a interior designer
if she hadn't gotten hooked on
selling real estate when she was younger.

This one is young but has an old soul
(She's always been an old soul).
She dresses older than her age and
Country Living is her favorite magazine!
She's easy going and loves the simple things in life!

This is the women we are all jealous of!
She's intelligent, athletic, creative, she gardens
and even has time to cozy up in this chair
and read a book!
I used to want to be this women
but now she just makes me tired!

Now at this time in my "doorway post" I showed my own doorway.
Well, my porch is sooooo ugly right now
I decided to show this one instead!
Love this one!!
I'm going to pretend it's mine.:-)
So what does this porch say....
It says this women hasn't had time to
work on her own porch so she had to pretend this one is her's.

Honestly it's not so much about time as it is that she can't seem to
find all the right items she's been looking for to finish her's up!
She's looking for a blue and white outdoor rug,
a large old white cabinet to store pool equipment
and a fun storage bench for toys.
But she is on the hunt and hopefully
some of these things will pop up soon!

This women has also gotten to the stage in her life were
she realizes that it's important to enjoy the hunt!
She has leaned from experience that the right things
will come along and not to settle for just any thing!

How about you...
have you learned this lesson yet!

When I was younger I made plenty of mistakes because
I thought I had to hurry up and finish a room right away!

But now....
I know that the search is half the fun and that
the right things will come along!

Happy Hunting Everyone!