Happy Fall Y'all

I so love this time of year................. This is the first year my bittersweet vine has bloomed. You must have a male and a female plant growing close together to get the berries on the vine. The berries are covered with these golden pods that pop open to reveal the orange-red berry inside.

I've cut a bunch for decorating and wreath making.........about 6 wreaths already.......

That's why there is no picture of the bittersweet vine itself as it is pruned and ready for next year.........................so..............
Happy Fall Y'ALL

Pink Roses

Aren't these roses just about the most gorgeous

you've ever seen?

I got a surprise delivery at the office this past

Friday for Boss's Day.............

...........Thanks to the Dispensing Diva's!

They said they 'look just like you!"

I'm glad 'my look' is pink roses.

More Paris Pretties

Here are some random pics I took in Paris.

Enjoy the eye candy..............................

Wasn't that sweet?

Paris Flea Markets.........SWEET

I knew the Paris Flea Markets would be sweet...........................


Just didn't realize how totally sweet!

As soon as I started to focus my camera on this beautiful shop with ivy, this lady came out and stood for the picture.

Can you believe all this?!?!

My dream job would be a decorator that shops the Paris fleas to find the perfect treasures to display and use.

The first market we went to was Clignancourt, which is on the north side of Paris. Luckily the subway got us there just fine.

.....no getting lost on this day!

There is all kinds of stuff there and thank goodness it didn't take us long to find the vintage/antique stuff. OMG..........this is such amazing stuff

........the most amazing stuff you've ever seen!
The other flea market we went to was Porte de Vanves. I highly recommend this one too. Very friendly vendors and lots of nice items.

The Marche aux Puces is a definite on any Paris itinerary.

French Lavender

We loved taking the TGV (fast train) from Paris to Avignon for a day excursion to see the lavender fields in Provence.

The sunflower fields were still in bloom also so that was an added bonus.

As soon as the door to our tour van opened we could smell the lovely fresh Lavender...............We could hear the bees buzzing too.......................such happy bees I'm sure!A natural French quilt of lavender and green.

France has been experiencing the cooler temps this summer just as we have here in Indiana so that has extended their growing season a little. Lucky for us to see the sunflowers too!

This Lavender field has just been harvested the day before we arrived. They leave the bundles in the field to dry. Would have loved to see the harvesters in action.

The Lavender fields in France are a must see. I'm so happy to have experienced the sight and being surrounded by the frangrance of my favorite herb.

Next see the amazing Paris Flea Markets.

I survived.......PARIS

We all survived Paris and our heads are spinning with wonderful memories! I must admit I'm proud that I planned it myself (except for the surprising side adventures.....) and we made it everywhere on our itinerary except Giverny. Very disappointing for me to not see Monet's gardens but it wasn't meant to be. The extremely confusing train system would not cooperate for us. Even a nice local French gentleman could not figure out why the 'billet' machines would not spit out the right tickets for us.

Oh well............now on to one of the highlights in Paris.......SACRE COEUR. If you ever go to Paris, this basilica is a must see.

The views down on Paris are amazing from the Monmartre hill it sits on.

The activities going on around Sacre Coeur were abundant.

From singing sideshows..................

to a Mime.......................

to a whole square full of artists and their awesome paintings.

Here are the two paintings I bought there...

.....a simple Eiffel Tower

{my silhouette was hand cut}and a gorgeous lavender field.

Stay tuned for more Paris/France postings to come.

Next will be about the lavender and sunflower fields in Provence.

Happiness Is...............

"Happiness is something that comes into our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open."

Rose Wilder Lane

Four more days and I'm off to France with two girlfriends. It is the first trip there for each of us so what an adventure lies ahead!.I started planning and saving money in 2008 and it is finally here!

My stomach is doing somersaults with excitement. We are staying for 12 days in an apartment in the 7th arrondisement just 5 minutes from the Eiffel Tower.

We have day trips planned to Versailles, Giverny, Avignon, and Amsterdam. I'm so excited to see the Provence lavender fields in bloom and be surrounded by the fragrant blooms.

Flicker.com

We will also be shopping the Paris flea markets and I am taking an extra suitcase to fill with treasures!I can't wait to share stories with you when I get back.

Bon Voyage!

A Bear of a Wedding Weekend

This past weekend hubby and I went to Gatlinburg TN for his nephews wedding. We stayed in a really nice Chalet up in the mountains. There were three chalets all together as the wedding party stayed in one, the bride's family in one, and the groom's family (us) in another. We had a super fun time. Here is one of the living rooms in the chalet

It was way too hot for a fire in the fireplace as it got up to 97 degrees!

Something always goes wrong when there is a wedding...right? The groom is in this vehicle that ended up with a tire off the roadside. There's hubby and some other guys trying to get the tires back on the road. They finally managed and the other front tire was smoking as the driver put the pedal to the metal!

The groom made it in time and the wedding was super pretty in a mountainside chapel.

The excitement of the weekend was when this black bear came right up in the yard of our chalet..........

We could not believe how close it came.

Lucky for us, we were on the second level deck instead of the first level one or we could have been eaten alive!

It was a bear of a wedding weekend!

Pink FireWorks

I've been watching the tiny buds as they develop on my climbing rose growing along the fence. All the recent rains kept me from photographing the buds and that's OK as they were nothing compared to this.............

PINK FIREWORKS

I have no idea what variety of climbing rose this is as I bought a tiny start at a yard sale a few years ago.

Last year I whacked the rose canes way back and cleaned out all the dead ones and this year it is thanking me with this beauteous show.

I must admit though that every year I get really upset with this climbing rose...............upset that the blooms don't last nearly long enough!!!!

Yummo....

I've so enjoyed the fresh asparagus this year and never tire of those delicious green stalks. I don't have a favorite asparagus cooking method...........................any way is OK with me.

YUMMO

Creative Garden Ideas PARTY!!!!

I'm really excited to see all the creative gardening ideas. Mine involves decorating with plates and shells. Both are super cheap to find at yard sales, flea markets, and of course, Goodwill.

I go straight to the 'dishes' isle when I 'm at Goodwill as I have found all sorts of cute plates. The plates have to have a floral design to go in the garden. I've also decorated potted plants with broken plate pieces. As for seashells, they are a super way to fill space in a garden. This year I filled my birdbath with shells as I never seem to be able to keep the water clean for the birds.

Now I'm outta here to check everyone else's party post.

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

I can't wait for this! What fun in blogland!

Click on the pic to join in!

My Front Door

When you come to visit you will be greeted by this beautiful front door.

I believe it to be the original door from this house built in 1900.

I love the window panes with the wood trim.

When I yell, "Come on in...the door is open" you'll reach for this lovely ornate door knob surrounded by the prettiest metal backplate.I'm glad the wood door has never been painted. I'm not sure what type of metal the knob and backplate are and can't even tell if it was ever painted or has just aged to this beauteous patina.

How perfect it is that there is even a flower on this backplate.

Does anyone still use a skeleton key?

We do!

I'm feeling some Front Door Love!

The Color Purple

Purple flowers are what's blooming here at Calendula Court so I wanted to share them with you.

Iris and chives which look like blue and pink in the pic but they are really purple.

The False Blue Indigo is ready to burst with color and more irises.

I'm thinking of making some chive blossom vinegar. It always turns out to be the loveliest shade of pink and looks so pretty in the bottles.

More iris and allium.

I go for the romantic color scheme in the garden and use mostly purple and pinks with splashes of white and a little yellow. Those orange poppies in the background were a gift and they are the only bloomin orange in the garden! I've planted pink poppy seeds several years in a row now but they always come up orange!

I so love this time of year!

The Vintage Key

Another girls day out this past Saturday to Zionsville, Indiana, to the Country Market Festival.

I left my camera at home as rain was the forecast and rain it did so I didn't get any pics of this charming little town.

Here is a link to the pics I took there last year. Anyway, my favorite purchase of the day is this so adorable vintage key necklace. I got to chatting with Kama,the designer/jewelry artist and discovered she has a blog too!

Please stop by and see her and the awesome jewelry she creates.

I just love my new 'B'!

Trying on...........

I've slowly been trying to frou-frou my blog and have been trying different backgrounds from The Background Fairy. I've tried on almost all of them and have decided to stick with this one for awhile. There are so many pretty ones to pick from!

Don't be surprised if there is a different look when you come to visit.

I may just change my mind again.

As I woman, I can do that, Right?!?!

Goodwill...Good News...Great Score

Can you believe that I saw this creamy white soup tureen, picked it up, put it down, and walked on!?!? I came to my senses an isle over and back-tracked to grap it up!

Yes, the price sticker says $3.99.I love the way it looks against the red toile in the kitchen.Also found out the local Goodwill is expanding........

......Good News about Goodwill

Another Auction Score

Hubby and I had not been to the Sunday auction for a while and decided to check it out this weekend. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I really wanted to work in the gardens, however, I know he is about to die of boredom as he is layed off from his job so I caved and went with him.

I'm sooooooooooo glad I did. I saw this box and spotted something pink under the carhart hat and the childrens wall hanger. SO I dug deeper in the box and look what was there..................Large vintage prints of art

A very old book.....Stories of the Bible.

The first few pages are missing so I am unable to find a print date.

Another very vintage print

A pristine poster advertisement for the City Market in Indianapolis

More vintage prints and postcards.

The postcards actually match the larger art prints in the picture above.

Oh yeah, and guess what was hidden underneath that hat and hanger?

Can you believe your eyes? Look at these vintage linens!!!!

Two pink tablecloths, an unopened box of 4 pink and white hand towels, a white embroidered linen tablecloth, 3 smaller lace and linen doilies and 'His' & 'Hers' hand towels.

What a score!!!!!

Would you believe all this for $5?!?!?!

Thanks hubby for making me go

TableScapes

Yesterday it was girls day out as three of my good friends and I went to Indianapolis to

The Orchard and Bloom Garden Show. This year for the first time they featured Parties In Bloom that showcased four themed party vignettes designed with a table, seating, linens and tabletop features.

After checking them all out you voted for your favorite.

This had a too much black for my tastes......just love the hot pink roses though. Love the color scheme here...white, black and yellow........kinda retro modern

LOVE this one..................very chic elegant

LOVE the pearls on the chairs, and the square plates, and the dreamy layers of fabric

This is the one I voted for.

Wouldn't it be awesome to go out your back door and find this beauteous table waiting for you!

Blog Party!!! BLOG PARTY!!! Blog Party!!!

I'm getting an early start on Joy's blog party on May 1. She is featured in the soon-to-be-released issue of Artful Blogging magazine.....how special is that?

Her blog party is about 'Why I Love Blogging" so make sure to visit her site and check out all the participants and see why each loves blogging.

Now to answer that question myself......I LOVE Blogging because I get to share my passions with others that are passionate about the same things.

I live in such a tiny mid-western town and don't get much exposure to others that love sparkly, vintage, rusty, chippy, flea-market finds. All I have to do is click on the many blogs I have found and feel I am surrounded by friends who love those things too.

I just checked the number of blogs I subscribe to on Google Reader and found out that 143 blogs friends are just a click away......and I know there are many more to yet be discovered!

I must admit I am so envious of my blog friends that have lots of time to craft and shop for vintage treasures. What fun to shop and make things and then resale like several do!

I also love seeing pics of bloggers homes. I get all kinds of decorating ideas.

Such beauteous and creative people these bloggers!!!!!

Any Paris info? Please do share

All I can think about it seems is my trip to Paris this July. Have I mentioned it is a dream come true for me? Oui.....I know...a thousand times already!

Here are a couple books I've been using to get info.

If you have ever been there and have any ideas or info please do share them with me!

I've received a few gifts from coworkers recently and I'm sure they are thinking if they just give me a little something for my trip I will shut up already!

First sweet Megan thought of me when she spotted these Fleur-de-lis so she picked them up for me. I hung them on the bedroom armoire and now the gold knobs I wanted to replace don't look so bad.

Then Rita found this luggage tag that says Paris, France, and New York so I found it on my desk one morning.

She knows that I also love New York City and the times I've traveled there that is all I could talk about then!

Please let me know if there is some place in Paris that we must see or any info I can not get from a book!

I had a lot of dried herb and flower bundles that I hadn't done anything with so I decided to frou-frou up this left-over Christmas wreath. The wreath was made with pine and boxwood and had been hanging in the 'manwood' room since the holidays.I used lavender, marjoram, and a few hydrangea blooms...all dried from last years garden. I didn't realize the wreath was actually a teardrop shape until I hung it in the kitchen.

Oh well, it had dried into this shape and things from nature are perfect in their own way, right?

Candalabra Deal

Found this goldplated candelabra at Goodwill the other day. Isn't it pretty? It was only $4.99 and is really heavy and of good quality. I stuck it in my craft room, the 'B'Hive,' until I find a spot for it....probably in the master bedroom. I may use it to hold some jewelry or I may just put some candles in it...not sure yet. I'm thinking it would look really cute with necklaces and bracelets hanging from the arms.

The straw hat with the pink roses was purchased at Sal Gilbertie's Herbs in Connecticut several years ago. Sal's is where Martha Stewart shops for herbs and has often featured him on her TV show.
I'm over the hearts on the hanging rack and am sure I will be replacing it after returning from France and being inspired by all the beauteous decor there.

My HomeTown

Hartford City, Indiana is my hometown...

...it's where I've always lived and probably always will.

I found these old postcards featuring my town and love the history I see in them. This is the grand courthouse and is the most beauteous one in this part of the state. Since I only live a block away from it, I hear the clock bell in the tower ring. The bell rings one tone for every hour {one tone for one o'clock, two tones for two o 'clock, etc} so I especially love it when working out in the gardens as it helps me keep my time.

This is the old City Hall and Fire Station.

I remember this old brick building from my childhood. Unfortunately it is no longer standing and has been replaced with a modern structure. How sad is that.......


Here is the prettiest church in town.

It is now called The Trinity United Methodist Church.

My parents were married in this church 50 years ago

and our family have been members here forever.

Hartford City, Indiana, USA

What history!

Back in Action.....

Just as my hectic work schedule is calming and I am feeling inspired to blog again.........ye ole computer decided to get sick. Not a virus that I could remove but several viruses and also a part replacement was required. EEEEEECCCCKKKKK! So after finally getting a call from the computer fixer dude I'm finally back at it. Did not realize how much I depend on my computer and am so happy to finally have her back.

Here's another box I decorated and am getting hooked on this decoupage thing. I've always loved reading magazines and now end up tearing out many of the pages to have pics to decorate more boxes.
Also this week I found a couple treasures at Goodwill, which is about a block away from my new office location. That means weekly lunch break visits to treasure hunt. What fun!

I promise more frequent posting on my blog now as time should be more available for it. I envy those that blog almost daily...both the time and the inspiration involved.