I've Got My Tables Covered

Table Top Tuesday.

 I have tried in the past to pare down.  NOT VERY HARD!

 It did not work!!! 

 So when you tend to collect more than one thing like I do, you have to find spots to put them.  More often than not I have TOO much on my side tables, so much so that Mr. M. often questions where he may place his glass of water.

My table tops are usually a simple collection of silver, a white pitcher and sometimes a white platter, white linen, my floral can be either faux or real depending on the season, a picture of the family, a candle and a trinket or two.

You can see Mr. M.'s dilemma, not much room for that glass.

I like to have my collections scattered around the house and along with being clustered in cabinets.  Don't think I spend all my day dusting my collections, that is not happening.  I try to rotate my tablescapes at least once a month if not every couple of weeks, helps keep the dust off!  Fresh flowers from the gardens or a new treasure picked up from a flea market are always a good addition.

I am joining Marty from A Stroll Through Life for Table Top Tuesday.

Thank you for joining me. 

What do you have on your tables that tells a story about you?

Petri What?

Do you remember one of my finds while I was on vacation visiting my girlfriend?  The petri dishes, if you want to see the original post go here.   I said that I would tell you what I had in mind for them.  Here is one of my ideas.

My kids had fun looking for the stickers and other fun things to put inside.  I treated the glass container as if it was a small scrap book container.  This is just my trial one so I know what to collect when we go to the beach later in the month.  I also plan to put a picture of the kids playing in the sand, inside of the petri dish.

 There are so many ideas of what I can do with the other petri dishes.  Special holiday mementos, snow and tiny ornaments, candy hearts and love notes, there is no limit as to what can be done with them. 

SPECIAL NOTE:  I did find out that I have to glue the top to the bottom or all the sand will fall out.  I wish I could say I figured that one out without doing so first. NO.  Note to self, do not shake the dish with sand in it.

This was just a little something I thought I would share with you and The Girl Creative for Just Something I Whipped Up Monday.






Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

A Deck For All Parties

Last year my husband and I built a two tiered deck on the back of the house outside of our kitchen.         This deck was something I had been waiting for since we first built our home 11 years ago.  It was worth the wait for sure!  Although the deck is built and the pergola is on, I still have a lot of staining and painting to do.  That can wait for cooler weather I think, for now there is swimming to be done.

This is the lower deck. It has one long step down from the larger deck where everyone usually sits and chats.

Believe it or not but this chandelier has been out here since I first put it on the deck for last years 4th of July party.  It looks beautiful lit up at night, especially in the winter while the snow is falling, but I will save that for another post. 

Did you notice the swing from my mulch bed?  It is not sturdy enough for anyone to sit in so I had to hang it up high.  There is one of my new/old chairs peaking out from the flower garden.

The upper deck is where we eat most of the summer.  I love that it is right off the kitchen door and I can just walk right out with dinner.  Coffee in the morning is wonderful too!

This is the lower brick patio.  I had to haul all these bricks out of the driveway when our house was being built, they were meant for fill for the driveway but I had other plans for them.  It was a lot of work chipping off all the old mortar, but well worth the the effort.  It is fun to sit in among the flowers with all of the birds, bees and especially when the humming birds flying around.

This is the side brick patio that I put in last year using recycled bricks.  It is also set in among the flower beds and it is a cool place to sit and watch the kids play in the sand pile behind the flowers.

Thank you for stopping by, I am joining Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.     

    Next time you are in the area, you can join me for a drink on the deck.

Great Flea Market Finds Part 2

I was supposed to show my GREAT FLEA MARKET FINDS last Friday.  However, we were so busy entertaining Mr. M.'s cousins that have been staying with us for the weekend for our family reunion and the 4th of July.  I just ran out of time.  SO, I will show you for WHITE WEDNESDAY with Kathleen at Faded Charm.

This was truck load # 2.  Don't you just love the #5!  I bought it to up to put on the SHED.  Most of the rest of the finds have already found a home somewhere in the house, maybe not permanent but they have a home.

Do you see the chair peaking out from behind the window and the quilt?  That is the chair I want to cover with the new coffee sack I found, oh and I plan to paint it white, of course.

I must say my favorite finds may be all of the corbels I was able to find at a shop in the flea market.  I found 3 sets of 2 and one that is not a pair.

I put up two, one in the kitchen in the entry way.

 

And one in the living room entrance.

I did not have a large enough entrance to put them both in, but I still like the way they look.

This is some of van load #3. I found a cheese box already painted WHITE, I love finds that require no work! The little metal basket is going to work great for extra towels in the bathroom. I found a couple of edged pillowcases for using on the deck pillows. I also found a white platter and a small white pitcher.

Another favorite find is this large apothecary grinder.

I was lucky to find some embroidered linens. I think this garden wheel barrel is my favorite.

I am not sure if I am going to frame it or make it into a pillow.

A beautiful rose monogram.

This cabinet I showed last week, it had to be dismantled to get it home.

Well, I have put it back together and I had intended it for the dinning room, it did not look good there so I have put it into my office and it is in a happy place now.

Do you see the angled corbel on top of the cabinet? 

 It is another find, I plan on attaching it to the wall in the bathroom and hanging a chandelier from it.

 

This necklace is one of my favorite finds of the weekend. 

 I just love all the little pieces, watch face, key, crystal and lock together.

I am not much of jewelry person.

 For me to wear a necklace on any given day it has to be special. 

 I bought this necklace at North of Eden Creations shop located at Shupp's Grove in Adamstown, PA.  Tina has the most amazing things in her shop, definitely worth a visit.

  Thank you for visiting me.

  Don't forget to go back and check out all the other White Wednesday posts.

Hot Day at the Falls

We took our visiting family to the American side of Niagara Falls. 

 Oh boy was it HOT!!!! 

 We had 4 young children that were not as much appreciative of the Falls as the adults were.  There was a lot of complaining about all the walking and how hungry and hot they were.   After all the walking we finally were able to get cooled off by going on the Maid of the Mist.  It is a big boat that takes you right up to the falls and you get plenty wet from the mist.  We had a fun day, complaining aside. 

Can you see me?  I am the one in the BLUE rain gear, hahaha. 

 Can you believe how far down it is. 

 The water may look calm now, but just a short distance away it is not.

Just a little mist. 

Anyone who did not wear the rain gear was soaked by the end of the ride.

What an amazing sight!

From here you can see the look-out tower that takes you down to the bottom of the falls.

Our Canadian friends across the border.

Double rainbows from the mist.

Niagara Falls, from either the American or Canadian side is amazing to see in person. 

The pictures do not do it justice.

Birthday Boy

There is a special day coming up on Sunday, 4th of July.  It is even better in my home, it is my oldest son's birthday.  To honor both we do not insist on having only flags for his birthday theme, this year he picked Iron Man.  However we do decorate the house with flags. 

Today we are not seeing PINK but RED as Pink Saturday after all, as Beverly from How Sweet the Sound said, PINK is a derivative of RED.

Even the shed is wearing a FLAG!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASE!

Happy 4th of July to EVERYONE!