Trash to Treasure ~

Diane at A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words hosts a Tuesday Meme called Trash to Treasure. You can click over to her blog and see an explanation.

 

I was doing some thrift shopping and found these items. Someone took a great old silverplate sugar bowl and made it into a lamp. I thought it would be fun to use in the guest bathroom (our only bathroom) in our condo. It’s a nice soft light that we can keep on while company is over to help them find their way in the dark.

 

This silver planter/candle holder was another item someone trashed and I thought I could use. Both the lamp and the centerpiece were $4.00 each. These little tea lights that I think are so pretty were $1.00 for the box of 6. I got 2 boxes. Here’s a photo of how I ended up using the planter/candle holder at a recent Open House at the Condo.

For more Trash to Treasure or to participate visit the Hostess Diane here.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Friday’s Fave Five ~

 

1. The very best part of this last week was spending lots of time with my kids in Washington. Josh, our DIL Laura, Dan and Katie. We ate together and went to church together and worked together. Fun times.

2. While in Washington I got to go to my favorite shopping place with my sister Lana G. and I found 8 of those great tea cups and saucers you see in the top left of the collage. They are Churchill and made in England.

3. Again in Washington I got to see some beautiful fall color in Woodinville and on my 6 mile walk on the Burke Gilman Trail with my walking buddies, Jan and Jody.

4. Working in my yard in Washington. Mowing the grass and trimming some overgrown shrubs. Strange but true I enjoy mowing. It’s probably because of the before and after transformation that is so wonderful to see. That bush that has turned that shade of rusty red is my Blueberry Bush.

5. Getting back to my more quiet life in California and starting up the daily walking schedule with my bloggy friend Willow. We’ve been seeing the same 3 Mule deer on almost all of our walks. If you squint you can see one of the deer with those huge ears in the collage.

To see more Fave Five click over to Susanne’s at Living to Tell the Story.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site. All my photos that I stored and uploaded from that site are now big ugly black and grey boxes with a message to pay big bucks to get them restored to my blog. It will take me a long time to restore thousands of posts.

Blue Monday ~

I’m joining in with Smiling Sally’s new Monday Photo Challenge called Blue Monday. I love the color blue and thought it shouldn’t be difficult coming up with some blue to shoot and post on Mondays. If you want to join in click over here and see the guidelines.

One of the things I like to do besides blogging is to search for treasures at thrift stores. I always complain about the Goodwill’s in Southern California compared to Washington State but I finally found a goody.

 

 

 

This Blue Danube teapot cost me $7.95. Would anyone like a nice cup of Earl Grey?

 

Choose a cup and I’ll pour…

For more Blue Monday visit Smiling Sally here.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

Pink Saturday #5!

Welcome to Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

 

On a little thrifting excursion I had this week I found these pretties for Tea! Both Cups are made in England.

 

These depression glass Salt and Pepper shakers are from some items that came down to me from Dear’s Great, great, Aunt Emma.

I spotted this last Pretty Pink Umbrella at a Boutique in Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle.

 

Look at all the pretty details.

Happy Pink Saturday everyone. I hope to hop around to all your blogs soon…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site and have replaced my photos with black and grey boxes of ugliness. I’m slowly deleting those boxes from my blog and trying to update so many posts, very frustrating.

Our Quick Trip Home

I’m back at the Condo in Southern California after a quick weekend to my home in Seattle. I’m sharing some photos of my walks around the yard while I was there and a couple from my typical outings when I’m home in Washington.

 

The Planters are filling in. The Azaleas are at the end of their pretty blooms. The Camellias are at an in-between stage. I chopped off their tops so I hope I didn’t kill them. We’ll see. My two lavender plants are getting ready to show off. They sure smelled good when I was weeding around them.

 

Azaleas, Lavender, I can’t tell you what the center plant is *but two of my lovely commenters say Corral Bells, yippee, and my Lenten Rose that has gotten quite hardy!

 

Rosemary, pears, ferns, hydrangea, little blueberry buds, wild rose, stuff in pots, my pear tree, and another photo of my blueberry bush.

 

The wonderful Washington State Flower the Rhododendron. I have 4 bushes that are in the need of some serious pruning to make them even hardier than they are. Just so you all know, everything I’ve shown you grows by the Grace of God. I do not want to pretend that I’m a gardener. I truly appreciate gardeners and praise God each year when these plants bloom again despite my neglect.

 

While I was home I had a quick walk with my Washington Walking buddies, Jody and Jan. The Burke Gilman trail is amazing in the Springtime.

 

Lilac bush/tree along the trail. Lilacs bloom everywhere here. I’d love a lilac tree in my yard.

 

Before we headed to the airport to fly back to California on Monday, I made a quick trip to my favorite thrift store in Washington State, Goodwill, not to be mistaken for California Goodwill’s. I found this pretty hand painted tea pot and creamer from Japan. (no sugar bowl to match)

 

But I picked up this cute little glass sugar bowl to compensate!

Greeting and Farewell ~ Quote from Anne of the Island  by L.M. Montgomery

“Anne dressed in the cheerless grey dawn, for an early start was necessary to catch the boat train; she struggled against the tears that would well up in her eyes in spite of herself. She was leaving the home that was so dear to her, and something told her that she was leaving it for ever, save as a holiday refuge. Things would never be the same again; coming back for vacations would not be living there. And oh, how dear and beloved everything was – that little white porch room, sacred to the dreams of girlhood, the old Snow Queen at the window, the brook in the hollow, the Dryad’s Bubble, the Haunted Wood, and Lovers’ Lane – all the thousand and one dear spots where memories of the old years bided. Could she ever be really happy anywhere else?”

Well just so y’all know I’m not quite as sentimental as Anne is. I can be happy somewhere else and I do think that I will return to this home sometime in the future but there’s always a little sadness when I arrive home and then when I have to leave again. And until I can return “my heart will keep on singing” and I will choose to find joy each day I’m away.

I’ll be posting more photos from the Japanese Gardens we visited tomorrow. In the meantime I hope you find joy today.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!