Precious Gift

I received a lovely gift from a neighbor on Monday. Sweet Deloris gave me her treasure of piano music. She comes to my Monday night Bible Study and knows I have a piano. I definitely need to use it more. Maybe this will be the impetus I need.

 Look at all that beautiful music!

 Isn't this just awesome?  And these were only the first few pieces in the stack!

What a generous gift.  Thank you so much, Deloris!

I'm participating in Show and Tell Friday!  Take a look!

Mall Fantle Party

I'm participating in the annual Fall Mantle Party, aka. Mall Fantle Party over at The Nesting Place.  Looks like I'm coming a little late to the party. That's what happens when you live on the West Coast!  Pardon all the reflections, I have absolutely no natural light in this room. 

I bought these little quail at Nell Hill's in Atchison, KS.  It's a MUST VISIT if you've never been there. 

Check out all the other beautiful mantles at The Nester. Also visit the Fall Decorating Party at Hooked on Houses.  My other Fall decorating posts are here and here.

Apricot-Apple Tart

I realized that I haven't cooked for you all lately. Since it's a mere 110 degrees out today, I thought it would be a great day to bake a Fall dessert. Seriously, I baked it for the ladies that come to my house on Monday nights for Bible Study. And, it IS Fall, isn't it? Even though we're baking over here in So Cal, I wanted an appleish dessert for tonight. I thought I'd share a lovely recipe that's SO easy, but makes you look like a chef!  What?  Doesn't everyone gather their ingredients onto a silver platter first?  Geez! 

INGREDIENTS:

2 pie crusts (Pillsbury all ready)

3 granny smith apples

1/4 c. sugar

3 Tbl. flour

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cans apricots

apricot jam

Prepare crust, one in pan pressing up the sides.  I use a tart pan. Combine peeled, thinly sliced apples, sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon.

Place in crust.

Open apricots, reserve one tablespoon of juice.  Place with skin side up on apples, press down.  

Cut remaining crust in lattice pieces, lay on apricots.  Trim edges.  

Combine 1/4 cup jam and 1 tablespoon juice.  Brush over crust, pushing chunks into pie.

Bake at 425 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.  

YUM, ALL GONE!

Enjoy.  Everyone will be very impressed.  

Fall Inspiration

{Country Home}

Isn't this lovely?  Maybe because I love Red! 

{Country Living}

Then there's neutrals and very cool gourd shapes. 

{Country Living}

Clever place cards.

{Martha Stewart}

I use to be able to go pick my own bittersweet every year.  It's times like these I miss the East Coast.  

Floral Fridays

{bhg}

Fall Finery

Here's a little peek at my Family Room mantle.  I still love the mercury glass and crystal candlesticks.  So you'll probably continue to see those for awhile.  I just added a different combination of candles and this cute pumpkin.

I love having Pottery Barn outlet close by.  Their candles are a little cheaper there.

After cleaning out and moving my in-laws, I came home with some vintage vanilla and spices.  They were still in her cupboards!  I found Mace from the 70's! Check the dates on your spices ladies!

Here's a sampling of my never ending fascination with ironstone pitchers of all shapes, tarnished silverplate and Transferware. 

Getting into Fall

So, I didn't get my act together soon enough to participate in all the Fall decorating parties last week.  I spent this last weekend getting it together.  It's not finished, but almost.  I did things a little bit different this year, which I somehow need to do.  I've already decided to make some more changes.  

I pulled out all the doilies we used for my daughter's wedding that was TWO years ago!  

I don't know why these pictures justify to the left on my laptop. They were centered on my desktop.  Just ignore that. I've probably shown you this cut out before. It's really old and I need to frame it somehow.  Who needs a new project, right? In the mean time, I'll enjoy in on this beautiful old hymnal.  

My entry table is going to be tweeked a little.  I've got an idea.

I love these honey scented candles by A Cheerful Giver.  Mine is Honey Be Mine.  

I bought mine at The Farmer's Wife in Temecula, CA.  I'll show you more tomorrow!

I'm participating in the Fall Mantle Party and the Fall Decorating Party. 

A Little Nutty

{country living UK}

I got teased a little bit yesterday. I guess I make funny faces when I'm decorating. You know, that look of serious concentration? I made quite a mess as well. When redoing things for Fall there a big mess to be made before the end result. There is also a lot of cleaning to do, a little dusting here, a little washing there. So, I'm off to finish, funny faces and all before I go a little nutty with this mess. I know you understand.

Floral Fridays

{Aidan Gray}

Okay, so I stretched the "flowers" a little.  It's still beautiful.  

Have a family fun, laughter filled, precious moments weekend!

Family Photos

{southern living}

I'm not really sure where I snagged this photo. It has been sitting on my desktop for a few months. I'm always looking for a different way to display family photos. I've planned for years (years, ask my girls) to make a family photo wall, but it has yet to be accomplished. I just want it to be SPECIAL. Can you tell that this one is very different? Look closely. Can you see that some of the photos are pieces of a whole? I.LOVE.IT!  Would this be considered a NEW project?  *See last post.  

Spinning, Spinning, Spinning

{country living uk}

It would be really lovely to think that by spinning, I'm leisurely riding around on my bicycle enjoying the beautiful Fall weather.  It could also be that I'm taking a stab at spinning my own yarn. That's another skill set that I don't think I'm going to delve in to.  Instead, by spinning, I'm referring to the ever present list of things to do and the never reaching conclusion of it all.  I am my own worst enemy in this regard.  I'm trying to make a commitment to myself, NO NEW PROJECTS. I could actually put a time frame on that, but then I'd really have to stick with it. 

A year? No way. 

Three months? Possible. 

A week?  Hopefully doable.  

Any new projects started have to be already in my possession or I have the materials to make them already.  That in itself could be a problem.  It's all about baby steps, right? Maybe I'll actually have some finished projects for you to see one of these days.  

My friend Cheryl from Acorn to Oak has been a champion of finishing projects using her stash.  Has anybody else been successful?  I know, I need to JUST DO IT!

Pottery Barn Purchase

When I get a new Pottery Barn catalog, I love to see what's new.  But, somehow, I always want the items that aren't for sale.  See that big bowl with the hurricane inside?  The hurricane is for sale, but not the fabulous big bowl.  I need to do more large impact accessorizing.  

I LOVE the wonderful stack of old suitcases!  I have two.  It's going to take awhile. 

I found a fabulous big wine bottle not too long ago.  But a Mercury Glass wine bottle?  LOVE IT! Does anybody ever look at mirrors in photographs to see if all the photography equipment shows up?  I know, I'm strange.  They usually to a great job of cleaning up the photo.  They've obviously thought of that.  

You can see this much better in the catalog, but on the mantle is a HUGE platter.  At least that's what it looks like.  Where do they find these things?

What a fantastic idea this chalkboard globe is.  I suppose someone just painted a globe with chalkboard paint and then drew on the continents.  Very fun!

Today I went looking for a new table lamp and came home with this lovely one.  Unfortunately, you can't see the base.  I bought the lampshade below which looks much better than the one they show it with.  

Pottery Barn, you make my day.

Floral Fridays

{country living}

Happy Friday!  

Take time to enjoy some simple pleasures this weekend!

thankful for. . . thunderstorms

"it never rains in California, but girl don't they warn ya, it pours, man it pours"

Well, I don't know about that, at least those are the words as I remember them. It does pour once in a blue moon. All I know is living in California has made me appreciate a good thunderstorm. When home visiting in the Midwest, we love a good storm.  We've been known to run outside to watch and smell the rain. We don't like the tornado kind, but a good, rip roaring thunderstorm. Last time the thunder clap was maybe one second after the lightening.  Which if you're familiar with thunder means that the lightening strike was pretty dang close. Too close for comfort. Makes you wonder if you can smell smoke. Please don't critique my stitches too closely. It dawned on me that I could see much better without my glasses or contacts on. Hence, little squiggly lines.  My previous squares.