Happy Birthday!

to our firstborn!

Nate, as the firstborn, was our experimental child. Poor kid!  They get all the new parents parenting theories tried out on them.  

Nate has grown to be a diligent man.  He works hard to provide for his family, he's proud of them.  Nate is a loyal man.  His friends and family are blessed to know he's got their back.

Happy Birthday, son!  We are so proud of you and we love you!

This and That

So, I've found I'm not a good forced rest-er. I've been binge watching old seasons of NCIS that I've never seen.  I've also been reading a lot, and really enjoying 'The Scent of Water,' by Elizabeth Goudge.  Problem is I keep thinking of things I should be doing but I'm tired and don't feel like it.  I may actually go out to the bank today.


Lindsay gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble for Mother's Day, and I'm interesting in book/author recommendations.  If you had a gift card, what book would you buy? Go!


We are in a rain cycle again.  Wondering if its going to continue into the summer?  Cool and rainy.  Not typical for Pennsylvania this late into May.  What's it like where you are?


My irises are in bloom!  The peonies are prettier but the iris look really good.

These are planted along the creek bank.  I also have them in front of my goldmound spirea which is planted by the lamppost, and by the mailbox.


I'm committed to sharing beauty, in the midst of a very world.  I'm not closing my eyes to pretend that the evil isn't there, but I want to look for the good, and share the beauty of creation and the creator.

I hope you have a really good day!

Resting

Remember how I said I was resting and trying to fight off a cold?  I thought I had conquered it but on Saturday, I realized it had me in its grip.

Its not horrible over all, no fever, just a cough and ear stuffiness.  The cough isn't even too bad.   Its really just enough that I feel tired and in need of rest.

Sunday I stayed home from church - a rare occurrence - and relax.  Today will be more of the same.  I'm sleeping well at night which is helpful.

I must be much better by Wednesday, when I have dear friends coming for a visit.  They've recently moved back to our area after living out of state for several years.  We haven't seen them in just over a year, and since its just the ladies in the family coming, we're pretty excited for the day.

We have two family birthdays coming up - Nate and Rachel.  He'll be 28 on Wednesday, and then Rachel will be 18 on the 31st.  There is airsoft and a bonfire planned for this weekend.

I'm leaving you with some beauty to look at -

My light pink peonies are in bloom!

Happy Weekend

We have no big plans.  Just small things around that house that have been waiting - like changing the oil on the van, and putting up the new umbrella for the deck.

Speaking of the deck.  We had a small, quick thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, and in its wake was cooler weather!  I sat out on the deck for a while in the evening reading, and doing FaceTime with Lindsay. 

She was rearranging some furniture due to their receiving a baby grand piano this week! (someone gifted it to Joseph)  Their little Cape Cod house can barely house it but they have made it work, and Joseph is enjoying playing it. He's a gifted pianist.

I helped her with ideas of furniture placement.  That was fun, and I'm glad she calls and asks.  I have lots of rearranging experience, as you all know! lol!

I hope you have a good weekend.

Home Keeping: Furniture Rearranging

Sometimes inspiration strikes at the most unlikely times.  Like yesterday when it was hot and we did not have the air conditioning on yet!  Once we got moving furniture, we closed up the house and turned the air on. The last two days have been 90 degrees!

These two photos are of the living room before the rearrangement.

 I'd changed things out on the walls already but the basic furniture arrangement had been the same for quite some time.

My idea began with an idea of moving a few things in my bedroom (which I'll show in a few days), and involved me moving somethings around in the living room.

One thing is that I never liked this bookcase here, as I felt like it was alone on a big wall, so to speak.  Even with art and plates on the wall above it, it seemed 'out of place.'

Now, with the red cabinet (you can read about it here) moved out from my bedroom - it used to be next to my side of the bed - and my great-grandmother's china hutch moved from beside the front door to the corner of the living room, the bookcase now feels like it belongs.  I'm very happy with the arrangement here.

But with the hutch in that corner, the chairs needed to switch spots with each other.  It looks better visually, since the tan chair is taller.

Since I moved the red cabinet to the living room, I moved my desk to the wall by my bed and it is acting as my bedside table now.  That left a wall empty, so I moved the small white bookcase from the living room - it used to be next to the love seat - to the empty wall in my bedroom.  I then moved a side table that matches the one between the chairs, to the space where the small bookcase had been.  

 This looks better visually, too, since the bookcase fit right under my teacup holder and the lamp and anything else I put on top of the bookcase hid the tea cups.

I have a great new spot to show off some peonies, too!

With the hutch gone from beside the door, this has opened up this space and makes moving around to the closet easier.  The closet is across from the front door.  This closet houses our vacuum, broom, mop, etc, as well as winter coats.  I put this ladder in that space for now.

I think my favorite thing is how great this red cabinet looks in my living room!

And the hutch in the corner.  My fern loves its place on top of the hutch.  It gets lots of light, but not direct light, and it is out of the way of little visiting hands. My poor fern got scalped one Sunday last year by a sweet little visitor.  It nearly died and is finally recovering well!

I'm pleased with how it looks.

And Watson highly approves!

Peonies In Bloom

Two days ago the peonies began to bloom, so I did what I always do - I snipped a few.

The next day I snipped three more and made this arrangement.

This is how the peony in the front garden looks this morning.

They are so beautiful and the scent is heavenly!

Cottage Style Dishes

Rachel bought me these darling cottage style dishes from Ree Drummond's collection.

Aren't they the cutest?

 

I already had the solid aqua and red plates at the back of the rack.  I'll have to keep adding to this collection.  I really like the mis-matched dishes, and anyway, I couldn't decide on just one pattern!

There are also mugs, a teapot, bowls.  Really cute stuff.

Works just right in my cottage.