He Knows Little Things Matter

It’s Joe’s Birthday!

Happy Birthday My Darling Love!

Here is a list, in no particular order, of just a few of the many qualities Joe has that I appreciate.

 

1. He knows little things matter…he notices tiny mushrooms in the grass and always shows me.

2.   He loves the old house and is partially blind to it’s faults.

3.  He is enjoying the yellow house and understands the magic it has.

4.  He makes the best popcorn…on the stove…not in the microwave for heaven’s sake!

5.  He reads books and we discuss them.

6.  He is a Christ follower.

7.  He appreciates art…sometimes modern art…yuck…but still.

8.  He loves his children and grandchildren.

9.  He loves my child and she loves him…this does not always happen…he made this transition easy.

10.  His brother is his best friend…that’s cool…right Bob?

11.  He took care of his parents when they were ill.

12.  He works hard and his customers like him…older ladies bake for him at Christmas.

13.  He can drive expertly  through any large city(while I cannot).

14.  Man, can he hang a chandelier, with Italian instructions! You can read about this here.

15.  He can cook…priceless.

16.  He will go to yard sales and thrift stores with or without me.

17.  He bought our wedding bands in Italy. We traveled to Florence…oh my.

18.  He found a lovely historic log cabin for our wedding ceremony.

19.  He flirted with me, unashamedly…that’s what started all of this!

20.  He tells me he loves me every day… multiple times.

21.  He kisses me hello and goodbye.

♦To Be Happy Be In Love♦

grace surrounds us

Olive

White Wednesday

Two of my favorites. Ironstone and sunflowers. The flowers were reduced in price. I did not mind that they were a little frazzled. So am I. The ironstone is new but was made in Italy. I refinished this table in one hundred and three degree heat. I know it was too hot to paint.

A glimpse of the  dining room chairs is shown in the photos. We found them at Habitat for Humanity Restore. I like their shape and the fabric is pretty. The wood is worn on the arms. A man in the store was explaining to me how to refinish them and I told him I was not planning on doing that. He looked at me strangely.  

I am linking with Faded Charm White Wednesday event.

grace surrounds us

Olive

Fancy’s Porch

My friend and neighbor, Fancy, has a Sun Porch with sixteen windows.

It is painted a soft grey with white trim thereby showing off all of those windows.

Fancy fancies wicker. In a big way. I counted fourteen pieces. I may not have counted all of it. Some is vintage and some is reproduction.

Her grown daughter lives with her and recently did not notice a vintage piece Fancy purchased.

It is hiding in plain sight!

Fancy’s friend, I shall call her Social Butterfly, asked me to intervene and stop Fancy from buying more wicker.

What?

I am the last girlfriend on the block to tell a gal to stop shopping!!!

Especially for Vintage.

Fancy  often takes naps on the little wicker bed. Looks like a delightful place to dream.

Fancy has literally hundreds of pieces of blue and white china and ginger jars. She also has some stunning European pieces of pottery.

She and her family are from Peru. The mirror  is Peruvian.

These mirrors are lovely and are all over Fancy’s house in several shapes and sizes.

When her sister visits Peru next I might ask her to buy me a few. 

A tranquil white, blue and pastel Sun Porch composed by the sweetest and kindest person. It reflects her spirit. Light and cheerful.

Thank You Fancy.

P. S. Fancy had no warning I was going to take these photographs.

grace surrounds us

Olive

Saturday Finds

Yard Sales at 0700.

We start in South Carolina and work our way across the Savannah River into Georgia.

We found two nice reproduction pieces and a couple of divine English bone china pieces.

Enjoy.

Also some odds and ends. Joe found a post hole digger! I spared you a photo.

Oh, see the tiny pink elephant…pink objects find me.

A chippy flower basket and two pieces of linen that are large enough for a bed or a table.

The bone china is Trinity Rose by Staffordshire. I am squealing like a little girl! I did not need it. But still…you know.

The linens are from Okinawa. They are really soft and pastel in color. The yellow is large enough to cover a king size bed.

Now time for a post yard sale nap.

I am linking up with Debbie @ http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/ for the Garagesalen Party.

grace surrounds us

Olive

WrAPpiNg uP tHiS wEeK and LoOkInG aHeAD

Happy Weekend Y’all!

We are on a working vacation at our yellow house.

This week has been tough.

I feel a bit lost and out of sorts. I think you will see why.

A friend, merely thirty six years old, died early Monday. When my phone beeped at five thirty in the morning , I knew it could not be good.

She had only been married for two years. Her father quietly wept through out the entire service.

Joe was in a car accident this evening. He is fine. Mad. But fine.

This is the second time in a few months he has been stopped at a light and rear ended. His car insurance will increase despite the fact he was not at fault. That is nuts.

In spite of it all we are blessed and know it.

Yard sales with Joe in the morning! Yay!

CC, finally can attend True North Church with us on Sunday.

We are thankful for rain and with it a break from the terrible heat we have been having here in the South.

grace surrounds us

Olive

The Left Side of the Street

North Harris Street, Sandersville, Georgia is one of those beautiful sleepy Southern streets.

General Sherman slept on this street, at the Brown House, during the Civil War.  He did not burn down the city.

That was mighty generous of him. I will show this house on another post.

These photos are from houses on the left side of the street driving north on state Highway 15.

It was extremely hot so I never made it to the right side of the street. Yes, I am a wimp.

This house looks like a pink wedding cake!

This house has no paint, just like our old house. They are  made from fat lighter and will not rot but will catch fire easily. It has the best door with lovely details.

This house is my favorite. I think. It is hard to decide. Those columns…gracious!

Look at those porches. Can you see yourself  in a rocking chair reading the paper?

Afternoon tea anyone?

Thanks bunches for joining me on the left side of the street. When I visit the right side of the street you will see the garden at the Brown House.

grace surrounds us

Olive

New Skills, Stumbling, and a Table

Learning.

That is what I am doing here every day.

I just told Joe, “ a girl can only learn so many new skills in a day.”

Yesterday I made my first photo collage header. Yay!

Today I put this blog in Minima Stretch.

With the tutorial by Lily Puff Designs.

Thanks bunches Missy.

Below is a photo I linked to White Wednesday at Faded Charm.

First link ever.

I do not think I did that correctly. I sent her a comment and told her.

I have had this vintage twig table for maybe twenty years.  I purchased it at an antique store. Rarely do I buy from antique stores. I just don’t have the budget for them. I have another one that is not white.

Primitive tables are dear to me.

I stumble through this beautiful blog world following so much talent.  I suppose I am absorbing some wonderful tips just by osmosis.

Thanks bunches y’all

grace surrounds us

Olive

The Vintage Scale

It should be no secret after this post that I hang out at Farmer’s Market’s.

The last one I posted about was fancy and dressed up. This one is a country market.

It had many back-yard gardeners participating.

Nothing fancy here. Wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables were plentiful.

Look at this vintage scale with natural woven basket.

I told the grower that I wanted it! Can’t you see it in my kitchen?

He just grinned. No really, it’s swell that it is still used for it’s original purpose.

I bought patty-pan squash. I had never cooked it before. A little olive oil and Vidalia Onions with the thinly sliced squash was tasty. Very like yellow squash. The patty-pans look like tiny space ships!

Georgia Peaches. Peach Pie anyone?

Watermelons were in abundance. Joe and I have already eaten a couple of delicious melons. Yummy.

The man who had the vintage scale was in the hallway of our church on Sunday morning. I knew he looked familiar.

He winked at me. He knows I want his scale!

grace surrounds us

Olive

I Miss My Dad

 

Daddy I miss you.

 

I moved in with my Dad when I was thirteen.

He was quiet and studious. He read three or four newspapers a day.

We were quite the pair.

It was peaceful at his house and I needed that.

He loved old things, wooden, rusty, and hand crafted.

He drove down to the river just about every day.

He found unique objects in that South Carolina Clay.

He was a picker before picking was cool.

Maybe that is when I began to appreciate vintage and antique items.

He is gone now.

I often find myself trying to call him from my cell phone.

There is so much to tell him.

What CC is doing in college,

that her hair is purple, that she is dating boys,

and making good grades.

Maybe he knows.

 

grace surrounds us

Olive

How To Arrange a Bay Window Without Effort

How to arrange a bay window without effort?

Let a beautiful cat sit or sleep  in it all day.

 

grace surrounds us

Olive

This House is Solid

The old house has a ginormous central hall. Originally the front door looked directly onto the back door.

Then some one, not so bright, decided to put the bathroom at the end of the hall where the back door was located.

This blocked the breeze flowing down the hall. This bath is stuffy and poorly constructed with a false ceiling.

When CC and I moved here some years ago it required gradual adjustment to this old house.

Pre-teens do not adjust well. It’s that simple or not.

This house is solid. If you are on one side you cannot hear what is happening on the other. A loud homicide could occur and you could miss it.

We actually call each other on our cell phones if we need something. Modern Intercom.

When CC took one of her first showers, apparently it was a long one, I just happened into the central hall.

She was screaming. Homicide  in progress?

I went in. In the shower with my child were no less than fifteen rather large spiders!!!

Pre-teen, taking a really hot shower for gee about thirty minutes…she steamed them right out of the walls. Dear Lord.

It was kind of  like a TV movie except I had to deal with the screamer and the spiders!

Forty somethings don’t adjust well either.

grace surrounds us

Olive

Olive at the Noodle House

I woke up on my forty-eighth birthday in  the yellow house. I wanted to do that. It is a magical place for us. June fourteen, Flag Day, was the day.

Our new neighbor and friend, Fancy, took me out for lunch. We met another friend of hers, who is now my friend. Blessings multiplied.

Then I captured the C-Cat and drove to the old house and Joe said we were going to get CC ,our daughter, at college and have supper.

It could not have gotten any better than that.

But it did!

Joe drove  past the college, after picking up CC,  to Bonaire, Georgia.  In this small town ,close to the Warner Robbins Air Force Base, is the best Vietnamese food. It is the Saigon Noodle House.

I like that name. Say it over and over. I am going to the Noodle House…Noodle House….Noodle House!!! Noodles, Noodles and more Noodles or rice if you like.

I am enamored with this cuisine. Fresh vegetables, lean meats, and thin rice noodles. Yummy!

The people who own it are warm, friendly and just darned nice.

I don’t know what they thought of us, sitting there taking a lot of silly photos.

We three had barbequed pork with grilled shrimp over rice noodles with a little salad all served in a very large bowl. It was unspeakably good.

We were delighted to be together. Can you tell?

grace surrounds us

Olive

Doves

Doves,  on a head stone at the Old City Cemetery in Sandersville, Georgia. The Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places.

These doves have been here for well over one hundred years. What a touching tribute for the death of a  loved one buried here in the nineteenth century.

Two little doves, snuggling as if it’s cold in this place.  The city has recently undertaken a restoration of this historic site. It also has  many angels, urns, ornate fences, and gates.

Does anyone do this any more? Wrap a plot in this sort of fence?  This is a magnificent gate. Victorian wrought iron. The Victorians did wrought iron with gusto. Even at the end of life.

Thanks for joining me in a stroll through the Old City Cemetery. Just so you know we were quite alone and there was a slight breeze felt and seen blowing in the Spanish Moss.

grace surrounds us

Olive

Yard Sale Part Two

It’s over! We crept down the hill at six O’clock and put out all that stuff.

The good part was our friends. They are happy, cheerful, and helpful. Not to mention generous. I will  show you in a second!

Joe said we had on average nine cars parked on the street the whole morning. It was pretty steady. Here’s Joe in his fishing hat. He does not fish. He is cute. Be still my heart.

SOME of my wares. I was trying to display my stuff in a nice fashion. That lasted for a nanosecond.

Our neighbors had these horns from a longhorn  bull. How about these in your dining room? They did not sell.

The sweetie on the right, I call her Fancy because she is very fancy in all things, hosted this sale in her shady yard. Bless her.

This is Fancy’s daughter, gorgeous I know. She was selling jeans size zero. It’s okay to hate her cause I already told her!

Okay the generous part is this:

Fancy gave me this bird feeder because it was rusty. She doesn’t like rust. Well all righty then. I said I could do something with it.  It is five feet tall and weighs about thirty pounds!

It now  sits right by our side door. Rust and all.

grace surrounds us

Olive

Yard Sale Part One

It’s nearly five am. Yikes! I have been awake since four. Crazy I know. I’m cooking turkey sausages for my lovey.

At six am we walk down the hill and start our YARD sale. WOO HOO! It’s going to be a blast. I hope. Our neighbors are super duper organized. There is a sign every which way you turn to get into this neighborhood.

I shall report back later. If I survive the one hundred degree heat it is supposed to be here today! HeHe

I have had a LOT of coffee…you noticed yet?

grace surrounds us

Olive

The Potter

I am a vessel

Imperfect

Being molded every day

Sometimes placed in the fire

To my benefit

Gently, I am released

Revealed

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

grace surrounds us

Olive