Angels in the Garden

                  I have Angels in the garden and sometimes they appear in very mysterious ways!

My youngest Granddaughter, Willow is spent the night with me, I am an early riser and she not so much so, especially during the summer. So while I was waiting for her to wake up I decided to have some fun editing this photo. I started out in Picasa and then changed over to Picnik where I combined several of their effects: Matte, Vignette, Heat Map, and added the frame. Fooling around with photography is so much fun!






This post has been linked to: http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Plaisirs Simples ~ Wall Plaque

I made this plaque for my front porch a few months ago in my pottery class but just got around to adding the gilt trim. Rose Arbors of course is the name of my house. I seem to be prone in attempting clay projects that have difficulties attached; this time it was the size of the piece and trying to keep it from cracking during firing.
But it is done now and my wonderful son-in-law McGyver Man from http://loveandlifeatleadora.blogspot.com/ stopped by on Friday and hung it for me.

Just in case you were wondering the flowers were easy to make but the letters were very time consuming and difficult. All in all I am pleased...now on to something new!

This post has been linked to: http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/, http://www.anoregoncottage.com/, http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/, http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

Inspiration ~ Château de Chenonceau

On my visit to France one of the most impressive places I visited was the Château de Chenonceau it has been marvelously restored. All of the rooms were beautiful and I will be returning to this on a later post, but right now I want to talk about the kitchen. As I understand it, during World War I this kitchen was remodeled and modernized to better provide meals for the multitudes of injured troops that were staying in the château. It is simply the most amazing space, divided into several rooms, one of them housing this incredible stove.

This worktable was in an adjoining room. I don't know why we don't have tables like this in our kitchens, they make so much sense...just think how much you could do on them...meal preparation, homework, crafting, eating. and the perfect height for kneading dough or rolling out a pie crust. I guess kitchen islands are our interpretation of this. But what  inspired me, and what I wanted to share with you, were the arrangements of Lady Apples in the glass pedestal containers...I thought, how beautiful in their simplicity and how easily I could do this in my kitchen.

Voila! Here we are, sadly I don't have the wonderful ambiance of the stone walls, the burnished wooden table, or all of those lovely copper pots, but I do have apples and glass containers, and I do like the effect ~ I think it adds a touch of french elegance to my kitchen table. The little birds, well just consider them a touch of whimsy.

I hope that you enjoyed a peek into this fabulous kitichen at the Château...do you bring home ideas from your trips?



This post has been linked to: http://romantichome.blogspot.com/, http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/, http://maleviksrosentradgard.blogspot.com/, http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

Raleigh

                                                 ~ Today is Raleigh's birthday ~

                                                         "He said good-bye far too soon..."

Along the Garden Path ~ the Daisy

                                            "He loves me, he loves me not...."

 What flower is more quintessential than the Daisy. Perhaps someone might not know the difference between a Foxglove and an Aster, but everyone recognizes a daisy. There is just something about the simplicity and the casualness of the flower that brings a smile of recognition and delight. These daisies that are sprawled so carelessly along the garden path are the very ordinary, old fashion Shasta Daisy, in my garden they refuse to stand up straight but I have become used to their 'floppy-do' habit and enjoy them anyway.

This post has been linked to: http://romantichome.blogspot.com/, http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/, http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/, http://maleviksrosentradgard.blogspot.com/

A Walk on the Wild Side

Last week was my birthday a yearly event that is loosing much of its appeal as each year goes by, but celebrating it is much better than the alternative! I decided to give myself a little treat...a gift from me to me. This is what I found. Actually I just went to get some new blush but when I saw this I fell in love. It is very dramatic, and something rather out of the ordinary but I think it is a marvelous statement piece and it even looks good with a simple black tank top and jeans. It is by Betsey Johnson. Years ago I used to be able to buy Vogue Patterns that she designed and sew up copies, but no more, and now I probably wouldn't want to. I do think that there is something very appealing about both she and Vivienne Westwood and the way they flaunt all of the rules and seem to totally disregard 'dressing their age'. You must admit they both seem to be having lots of fun! As for me I think this will have to suffice for my walk on the wild side.





This post has been linked to: http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/, http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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I have quite a few birdhouses in the garden but these, mostly painted in my signature red paint, are some of my favorites. They are getting very old and very worn, sometimes I think that it is the many coats of paint that keeps them from falling apart ~ still I keep patching them back together because I love them.

This post has been linked to: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/, http://maleviksrosentradgard.blogspot.com/

Marcher en France

I think that it is absolutely true that one of the reasons that the french stay slim is as much about walking as what  they eat. Everyone walks...in the city and in the small villages, the young and the old, the fit and the infirm. In Paris we took the metro, but still we walked, one day from the Louvre through the Jardin des Tuileries down the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe, a feat that even amazed our concierge.

Throughout France we walked...under beautiful arcades,

Place des Vosges ~ in the Marais

                                                                      in small towns....

Village of Giverny

and in royal palaces.

Walking to the Trianon Palaces ~ Versailles

 And we walked on many surfaces: cobblestones, tile, decomposed granite, gravel, stone, rocks, pebbles, sand and even a bit of grass.

No wonder we spent most of the evenings like this!

 ~ I will be returning occasionally to post about my trip but these posts will be mixed in with regular posts...after all,  flowers are still blooming in my garden, everyday life  continues, and I have lots of projects and other things to share with you.


outside the Louvre




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