Fall Treasure Box Giveaway

Shabby Lane Shops

wow this is fab giveaway!

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a special treat from a friend.....

I am "wowed".  I asked a talented friend of mine to take a sign board I had that was painted pink, and paint my website name on it. Since I really cannot "paint a stoke" I knew that Carrie would get the letters neat and tidy and professional looking, And that is all I expected. Just letters with my website name.
Since Carie I live an hour apart, we don't see each other too often, but we met for lunch recently. She presented me with this AMAZING mixed media piece of beautiful art!

 can you believe it? this is GORGEOUS!!!

(my pics don't do it justice)

all the DETAILS are incredible

And I found the perfect place in my studio to hang this too.....Just as you enter above the door. Thank you Carrie for you thoughtfulness~you truly are a gracious friend~ If any of you would like to see more of Carrie's mixed media art, she has an Etsy shop called CarrieMe Home  and of course she accepts custom orders too.

The vintage alphabet party for September

Oh my this month slid by fast.....but it is time for the Etsy Cottage Style blog Vintage Alphabet party!

This month the letters are P,Q, and R. The P and R were easy, the Q not so much. I have a vintage quilt I wanted to show, but it is in our motorhome, and guess what, the motorhome is in the shop this week. So please pardon that I didn't include that letter.

To start with I choose to use a group of words to the letters....P--- for Pink stuff such as, Purse, Perfume bottle, Plate and Pillow. All of these things are or include something vintage and are handmade.

Next would be the letter R. So how about Red for Retro, Ruffles, and Roses!

Won't you join us to show up your vintage P, Q, and R stuff? Pop over to the Etsy Cottage Style Blog for more info!

time for reflection..literally

A short trip in the motorhome this weekend offered a wonderful rest, relax and regroup  for me. I schedule these short excursions months in advance just so we will actually go. If they are not planned and reserved we will find a reason not to go. So for the second time this summer we lucked out with awesome weather for our mini getaway. So up the canyon we headed to Detroit lake, located on the western slopes of the Cascade mountains in Oregon. No TV and no internet service, a nice get away from it all.

click on the pics to see full size

The first morning I walked down to the edge of the water...amazed at how calm it was. Now when I was younger and was really into waterskiing, this smooth water was a skiier's dream. Didn't matter too much how cold the water or the air was, this was the ultimate scenario for me. We sold our boat a few years ago when the kids grew up and we started having to force ourselves to ski....but this scene made me think..hummm I think I could enjoy a ski at the moment....okay snapping back to reality, I took sometime to just simply watch nature here. The crowds are gone after labor day, so I could immerse myself in thought and reflection.

I watched with wonder this flock of Canadian Geese as they meandered down to the water for a bath I am assuming. I had never seen this ritual, but they almost went into a frenzy, then they all went under water at the same time time for about 5-10 seconds, then all popped up the same time. Then they took turns rolling over on their backs flopping their wings. After 15 minutes or so, they paraded back up to the shore. Interesting....

Later in the day my daughter and son in law showed up with my 2 sweet little granddaughters, and of course nana had to take some photos. They stayed for a lovely BBQ of juicy burgers on a perfect evening!

Lilian 

Lynsie

The next day we returned home, and of course I had a ton of email to take care of, but I am recharged and so glad I got to rest!

My summer project complete.

Okay, so many of you may remember back last spring about my story of the barn up the road being torn down...and there was this old church pew sitting in the rain with my name written all over it...figuratively of course....Now I am back to show you that I did finally finish it.

 the "before" pic with the peeling paint

 all stripped and sanded..this was a big chore...

here it is all done...a coat of Kilz primer and 2 coats of creamy white exterior latex. I decided not to try to distress it since it will sit in my covered patio year round. The PNW weather will do it for me. I picked this amazing wood sign at Molly Mo's Antique Faire, it is perfect for the bench!

I also have not decided if I want to actually use it as a bench or a place for plants. It would be perfect for my fuchsia's and impatiens that like nice warm shade in the summer. 

I would love to hear my blogger friends ideas????

my pink details from the garden

So I shared some white from the garden last week....last evening I grabbed my camera to seek out all the pink. What I found was the pallet our creator presents in pink has so more much detail I had not noticed before. I took lots of photos, but just a few were presentable...Enjoy!

tiny upright fuchsia

Cosmos "sonata"

pale pink hollyhock

Mary rose

"kiss me over the garden gate"

garden pinks (dianthus)

did you see the bee in this pic??...

click on the pic to see full size