Cheery Morning

(Through the screen this morning)

What a glorious week.. the  spring rains have given over to    bright  clear,   breezy   gorgeous days.   Our  lives   which heretofore  have been extremely  wrought with   circumstanves   beyond our control,   have  settled  down  quite a bit now that  we have a contract on mom's house and we arent    pushed to be over there working all the time....      it's wonderful to  actually  see things happening here at home..  and  this morning, it was   great to   be  able to  enjoy a leisurely breakfast outside..

I am still  trying to figure out  the  porch arrangement   with   my inherited  glider which I  love..it brings back such   fond memories of  being a girl   at home  lying on the glider reading my Trixie Belden Myteries. I think  when we  get the   end railing installed  and I place it   along the  adjacent  wall, I'll  like   it better..   for now,  it  adds extra seating out of the morning  sun.

This morning  we enjoyed  baked eggs  with ham and cheese   and  english muffins with   my favorite,  orange marmelade,   Lynn will always   have to have his  apple butter.. Heeehee, looks like Lynn  already   sampled something and  just threw his fork back on his napkin...   he just doesnt get    the importance of   trying to capture a  certain mood...    he  just  wanted to dig in.  

at any rate,  it was a cheery morning   repast and     it was made that much more special to me to get to use   some of my   new finds  at the  consignment shops  in   Stuart's Draft,Virginia.   This time a mismatched cup and saucer...   but that's   quite fine with me....

  these  transferware  English   countryside patterns   look  more   interesting used  together   ...   they each tell  their own story.

 

The cup is Royal Warwick  The Lochs of Scotland...   this particular one is Loch Duich.. if you know me, that  certainly tugged at my heart strings!
The saucer is  Wedgewood, Willy Lotte Cottage  from the Romantic England  collection.

Today I am sharing on 

Cottage Style



  Home Party@ Sandi's   Rose Chintz Cottage     

Tablescape Thursday 

and   

Thursday  Favorite Things

Grace at Home  @ Imparting Grace

Home and Garden at  A Delightsome Life

 Home Sweet Home@The Charm of Home

Happy Homemaker Monday and Beautiful Blues!

Visit Sandra here for more HHM!

The weather.....

 Going to be  a  much warmer day... it is already 65...

Right now I am....

I am   taking a break from house cleaning....  

Thinking.... 

Wow,   Amanda and Joshua   will be flying  to us   very soon  and then   it will  soon be 

Friday when I get to  see  them!!!

On my reading pile....

Daily Bible reading...Psalms

Daily devotional.. My Utmost for His Highest 

Spiritual Warfare by Derek Prince
Random Harvest by James Hilton

On my TV..... 

Foyle's War, a BBC series from  a few years back....
HGTV
I have  to say I havent been impressed with any new primetime show on any network this season....   sad!

Blog hopping (newly discovered blog).... 

I like  Finding the Inspiring
This week she  included   ideas for celebrating   patriotic holidays   and   since we still have a few  coming up,  I thought Id highlight her  site...

there you can find    some tantalizing recipes,   family fun, and   inpsiration for   making   great memories around the summer holidays!

On my to do list....

working on  shower  activities...  coming up this weekend!!!!!!

laundry

errands
clean house (this list never changes)

grocery shopping  for the shower
baking

In the craft basket.... 

  finishing touches on   the shower decorations

Looking forward to this week....
the   tea party  luncheon   for    family and  family friends  and the   all out shower....
BIG week in our lives!!!!!

Looking around the house....

The guest room is coming along  

   just need to  change the sheets and   springify  it  up a bit....

From the camera:

 After all the rain we have received  everything is   extremely lush...

I  can   hardly  see  my   wee  squirrel   buddy  .... the ivy is taking him over...

The spearmint is   taking over     the garden! 

 the  vinca vine,  as well ,  knows no bounds!!! 

quite a bit of gardening to be done for sure,,, but  no one around here  seems to have time to   do it!!!!

On my prayer list..... 

Our family, parents, daughter ,  Little Birdie*, son-in law, 

Our church, and church family 

our nation, leaders, 

Israel and the Middle East 

Bible verse, Devotional:

source  

Psalm 62

1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;

my salvation comes from him.

2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

  Smiling Sally here!

A Bit "0" Birdie

I can't believe Amanda's  shower will soon be upon us....   time  is flying....  and there is so much to be done...  So far Ive been gathering all the   "birdie"  items I can find and   some  Ive  recently purchsed and am  playing  with them in various vignettes...  This is   not nearly  a complete assortment.. in fact, I just  got up from the painting table   where I  have painted  3  bird houses...  so  cute... I just love  this bird theme!I love it so much it inspired me to    create a  bit "o" birdie theme  on the mantel   ..

Actually, gathering all these  items onto the mantel  helped me to  sort through all the  crafty items I still need to be  working on....  oh, my,  so much to do,,, so little time!!!! What a blessed work,  it is!  

Your messages mean so much to me..... they are a real encouragement to me!

A Return to Loveliness@ A Delightsome Life

Inspire Me Tuesday@ A Stroll Thru Life

Cottage Style Linky Party@ http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com

Happy Monday to You

Visit Sandra here for more HHM!

The weather.....

 What  began as a   misty   cool day has  opened up to a   lovely sunny, warm one!

Right now I am....

recuperating from   all the morning errands....  ah, it is good to be home!

Thinking.... 

There is much to be done   prior to    the end of the month...   which   will be Amanda's shower and  very short visit with us....  but   oh  how wonderful it  will be to see  her and  Joshua! 

On my reading pile....

Daily Bible reading...Psalms

Daily devotional.. My Utmost for His Highest 

Spiritual Warfare by Derek Prince
Random Harvest by James Hilton

On my TV..... 

Foyle's War, a BBC series from  a few years back....
HGTV

Blog hopping (newly discovered blog).... 
I just discovered
Curlew Country
When Im hungry for a  taste of  Britain   I  love to  read the charming posts of Steph,   a  lass  from the moors

who writes the most delightful   accounts of life  with her  family in the UK!   She is living my dream life!!

On my to do list....

working on  shower  activities

laundry
knitting class

errands
clean house (this list never changes)

mid week services

Bible study  Class

In the craft basket.... 

knitting projects 

Looking forward to this week....
just  some   days   with  not too much written  on  the calendar....maybe I can actually tackle  a few things on the to do  list!

Looking around the house....

The guest room  needs   pretty much of an overhaul....   looks too wintry...time to get it   ship shape!

From the camera:

last week I got lost in organizing    old ohotos   making  a  scrpabook of   my own little Miss  to illustrate waht little girls are  made of  to  be shown at the shower....

 I was  so glad     that   I found this one  in mom's collection  of   boxes of  photos...  of Amanda   happy with her   discovery of bite of chocolate  cake!  My own little  baby doll, Amanda!

Don't you just  love that  gaspy little laugh in a  toddler  when  they   are so escited they   giggle with a  bit of a gasp!   So Sweet!

On my prayer list..... 

Our family, parents, daughter ,  Little Birdie*, son-in law, 

Our church, and church family 

our nation, leaders, 

Israel and the Middle East 

Bible verse, Devotional:

Because I   love this ministry so much and  there is so much blue  in  this video I am also   posting  below....   mainly because   Id love to  share  this ministry with as many  people as I can!

  Smiling Sally here!

ONe Thousand Gifts (506- 522)

  Join  Ann Voskamp   here  for  more..

506.  The blessing of the   awesome   Venetian chicken dish   with all its  savory and luscious   spices,   fruits and   juices..
.
SOURCE

507.  That I found Amanda's  Certificate of Dedication   just in time for her   baby shower....

508.  How God has worked in my mom this week to  give her a much more contented spirit and  a stronger will to   live well!

509.  The daily love offering  my sweet husband serves  me every morning..   A   dish of fruited yogurt and a cup of   restorative coffee!

510.  The wonderful idea God gave me to create a    scrapbook   depicting   photos of Amanda  that   illustrate  What are Little Girls Made of....for  example...   "baby doll faces"

511.  Lynn and I have  weekly dates  around the  tv  watching BBC dvd's   like Downton Abbey  or Foyle's War  and  enjoying   tasty bowls  of pop corn and  each other!

512.  The gift of Christ to redeem and change me more  each day into his   likeness!

513.  Christ's gift to show his never-ending love of provision of exactly what I need in his perfect timing.

514.  Christ's gift of opening my eyes  and the open door  through which I find more of him!

515.  So thankful that we were able to  paint and carpet the stairs!   This is  a huge improvement!

516. Thankful for the replenishing rain that has  built up the lawn and  our landscape.

517.  We have been able to clean and  create a restful space on our porch...I so look forwrd to this each spring!

518.  I am thankful  for   the spirit of loosening  my  grip on stuff  and  therefore my closet  is   showing the evidence of   order and   freedom of so much clutter

519.  The wonders of a late night thunderstorm.. I love them!

520.  The early dawn singing of the birds  that herald the day!

521. The cooing of a neighboring dove...

522.  The morning  aroma of savory  sausage frying to  a  tasty  crispy  essence!... 

A Drippy Pink Saturday

Today is a  pink  kind of  day  ...   it is so  stormy and  drear  only  a   rosy pink umbrella   could  brighten  the aspects of the day!

 I'll take this  anyday!!!!!

 Click here to  hop back over to  Beverly!

Newport, R.I.

A day trip from  our daughter's  near Boston  to  Newport  is  a  thrilling excursion for a landlubber  like me....even  a long bridge  will just about do me in.....  but,  in 2011  the kids  took me on a  day I'll never forget and enjoyed so very much!

From  Providence we took Rt138  and crossed the  Claiborne Newport toll bridge....

 and I was totally fine....  I  only gasped a couple of times! But I  knew   my son-in-law was a marvelous driver and it was truly an amazing  day!

 The kids told me   the only way to  see  Newport, known for its  fabulous   summer  mansions  of the   rich and famous was  by sea... so we were soon   on board   our  boat and ready to  set out!

 It was exhilarating!

 The harbor was   a never ending maze of  every kind of   vessel,  from   fishing  boat to  awesome yacht...

 every  size and shape imaginable....   and it was  such a glorious day the  slips  were writhing with activity...

 The  bay w as  dotted with   sailing masts...  and  there in the distance you can  see   an  awesome  triple mast of   the largest sailing vessel  ever  built...  the  Maltese Falcon ....

 as our    vessel   slipped past her  it was  evident just how very huge she is....

 I cant imagine  how majestic she would be asea under full sail

I  borrowed this   photo   here to just   show her  beauty

Looking back at the  harbor   shows just  as  was  explained  how lovely   Newport is....

but   now for the   coastal   vistas...  I give you  the Newport mansions...

with names like
The Breakers, Chateau-sur-Mer, The Elms, Marble House, Rosecliff, Green Animals & Kingscote
owned by   such   powerhouses,  as Vanderbilt,Oelrichs, Gallatin,  and Bouvier..

to name just a few 

(Jackie's  childhood home)
 next time around  I want to take the inside tours.....  awesome!
 Back ashore  we   had  so many   fine   restaurants  from which to choose...

 The Mooring   really took our fancy...
   
 a   lovely dockside setting   as  the   sun   begins to set.....

We couldnt resist the bag of doughnuts. ...Lobster, crab & shrimp fritters with chipotle-maple aioli 12       fabulous...   we each wished we'd  had own own bag.....

 I opted for the   Fish N Chips...

 Fried Atlantic blue cod, Guinness batter, spiced fries,
 red pepper slaw, Mooring tartar sauce 19 
Eating dockside     with the lapping of the water   was the perfect end of  an awesome  day  on the water for me!

  Return to the Tablescaper here!