week end rest...

{rest}

Sometimes the most urgent and

important thing you can do

is rest.

Have a refreshing weekend!

Xo deborah

happy weekend!

                                          

{ being }

I never loose sight of the fact
that just being
is fun.

                Katherine Hepburn                  

xo deborah



Resting Place

We were designed with a need

to stop,

get out of the noisey traffic

and rest

on occasion.

Even a 10 minute 'put your feet up'  works wonders.

Better that a double shot of espresso.

And costs less, too.

P.S.  I still enjoy my coffee...

He is my resting place.

{Jeremiah 50:6}

What do you do for an occasional rest?

xo deborah

{Al Fresca Life}

{Al Fresca Life}

I think I could live outdoors.

Coffee in the garden with my husband

 in the morning,

taking our kids and their friends

to the lake on a hot afternoon,

a late dinner on the deck by candlelight

and stargazing from the porch late at night.

How about you?

Do you enjoy life 'al fresca', too?

deborah

{inspired images: the web}

painted couture

When you look at 

natural wood

does your imagination

automatically start to envision

it would look like

painted?

Maybe in your mind's eye

 you see an aged

application technique...

Or a crackled, weathered finish.

I have an appreciation for

quality antique wood

so I would most likely

{not certainly}

not alter it's finish with paint, but...

To add interest,

character,

uniqueness,

and charm

with the wave of a brush?

Absolutely delightful!

I have several 'transformation projects' ideas
bouncing around in my head.

 I noticed that my paint supply cupboard
was getting sparse so while running errands,
I picked up a few things. 

I found some oil paint,

and some cotton white inteior gloss,

a little can of walnut Minwax,

and for a splash of color for fall

...or Christmas,

...or summer,

I  grabbed

 a nice shiney red oil paint.

{a child's chair for every season?}

 

As the cashier was adding up my bill
she asked the common question

 "what are you going to paint?"

All of a sudden my mind went off and running
and I  began to picture it:

all of the oak trim in our whole house,

the wet bar that would look nice aged,

the children's bathroom cabinets,

the hammock room under the deck,

and  STOP!
{hear brakes and crash sound!}

So rather than really answering
 her question
I just said
"Oh, just a few projects"
with a kind smile.

 I wished her a nice afternoon
and went on my way
with my little bag of supplies
that provide many opportunities for
creativity bliss.

xo deborah


{images ETSY.com and the web}Are you a painter, too?

summer pleasures

What do you enjoy most about summer?

Is it the joy of caring for gardens?

Or cooking and eating outdoors?

Enjoying nature with friends and family,

or  quietly alone?

Do you enjoy theme parks?

And all the creatures of the sea?

Or do you prefer Paris?

Where you can enjoy the city lights?

And feel like a princess?

Are art galleries and museums your cup of tea?

Or dipping your toes into a vast ocean? 

 

Travel to far away places? 

Or a staycation and creating your own lights?


 

Or have  clear open space in your life for little things?

Maybe just enough space for a good rest.

What are your favorite summer pleasures?

Happy Summer!

xo deborah

{to do list} vintage couture? or the countryside.

{ Vintage Couture }
In a very brief photo session 
I set up this arrangement
to feature the vintage teapot
that I am selling in my boutique
{and to share the beautiful photo
from the early 60's of a young woman  
that I adore, my Mother}
Flowers are hydrangeas that I dried
on our 22nd Anniversary.
  
Yesterday's To Do List:

*etsy photography session out by the blooming hydrangea shrubs

*List etsy items: vintage baby stroller

vintage luggage

shoe forms

child's table and chairs

5 drawer cabinet, etc.

*Etc.

What I actually did yesterday:

*Start etsy photo session

*Get phone call from school... "child not feeling well"

*pick up 'not well' child from school, get a DQ shake, and go for a drive.

*"Mom? Will you go with me out to Connor's to get my fishing poles from  their lake?"

says Caleb {who can drive but is leaving for out of state college in one week 

so I try to enjoy all the time that I can with him}

*Feel like I'm wasting time... but really I'm not.  Just pleasant disruptions.

*Etc.

Well, the *Etc. column was consistent...

Child #1 thought a ride in the country

to look for horses, lakes and boats sounded

refreshing...

 So,

we filled up the gas tank and off we went.

Our first stop was DQ for a shake.

We drove by my favorite antique market

Venice Antiques

and it is located in a very tiny town

{maybe a village}

called Venice.

  My companion, Chloe

was resisting my prompting to

"just walk through?"

No go.

Bummer.

 By the way...

 They are having their biannual outdoor flea market

this weekend complete with local food vendors.

Great fun for the whole family.

Last year someone in our family wanted this:

{Seth found a treasure}

I am fascinated 

with old abandoned farmsteads

with their sway back barns,

antique rusted farming machinery,

and crumbling houses made of stone.

I wonder who lived there

and how they lived their day to day lives.

We found ourselves driving down roads

that we hadn't been on before.  So fun!

Do you ever want to go on an 'adventure drive'

and someone with you just can't 

go off the familiar path?

Adventure requires adventure!

Then we picked up child #2 and he had a to do list

that took priority over my original list.

Off to get fishing tackle from lake.

 We ended up in an area that 

Fifi O'Neill

features in her new beautiful book

ROMANTIC PRAIRIE STYLE.

 In fact, the friends that own the lake

where our son likes to fish 

live in the same community

as a family who's home and farmstead

was featured in Fifi's book.

Small world.

 

Continuing our journey 

we drove by the hugest herd of horses

that I have ever seen.

  I don't think 'herd' is a word usually used to describe

a grouping of horses, but this was a HERD!

Hundreds out in a field grazing.

So Chloe's desire to go on a

'horse drive'

was fully satisfied.  :]

Now for the lake and boat...

We drove by several communities out in

the country that are built around lakes.

We saw boats.

Lake homes.

HUGE lake homes.

She was happy.

Don't get me wrong,

I love lakes, too.

And I have had the honor of having of horses

and all that comes with that package. :]

And I like boating...

as long as the driver is careful and wise

and doesn't try to dump every one off in the water

as they speed along pushing

the frontal lobe of their brain's boundary...

{I don't need any more adrenal dumps, thank you.

You know what I mean.}

But then it must have been my turn.

We came around a curve of the road

and I looked over to my right

and there was a barn that had collapsed!

Barn wood heaven on earth!

I started envisioning long tables,

coffee tables,

more long tables!

I just added another item to my to do list. 

{My 'someday' to do list} 

wink.

Have an adventure filled  week!

xoxo deborah 

{ beautiful weekend }

 

 {Romantic Home}

Have a beautiful weekend!

xoxo deborah

beauty for ashes mosaic mirror

My mosaic mirror

 'Beauty For Ashes'

It started out 

with a pretty collection

of beautiful teacups 

that by accident crashed to the floor

creating a non intended puzzle

of porcelain.

I didn't have the heart to just 

toss out these pieces of what was once

a treasure

so I tucked them away in a drawer.

 Years later, I had an 

idea.
I could use all the broken pieces
to frame a mirror...
And a favorite verse came to mind,
"He gives beauty for ashes"

Each section has sentiment:

a cup from my mother and father

a cup from my husbands parents

a cluster of 8 pearls 

{8 members in our immediate family} 

a crystal perfume bottle from my mother

a small salt and pepper set glued together

my first make-up brush

an angel

and a pretty mirrored compact. 

                                                                              

 And it was such a big project.
I didn't know how to do it well.
Years before,
I tried to complete
this mirror on a smaller frame
and it was a 'trial and error~oops!'
experience
so I disassembled all of my
'progress'
and decided to just wait.

 It is good to have it finally finished!
What do you think of it? 
 

What's one of your very favorite projects?
I'd love you to tell about it!

xoxo deborah

 

...Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His Gospel is peace...

O Holy Night

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