Not Until AFTER Labor Day

Way down south it is drilled into our tiny little girl heads that we do NOT wear white after Labor Day....   so I don't...My Mama would be proud that I still carry on the tradition..  my, oh my..the things we teach our girls......

So, I waited until AFTER Labor Day to bring out these dishes..  wink, grin......because they look like fall, y'all..

The stemware brings out the gray green in the china....

The dark wood chargers match the stems in the fruit pattern...

My coleus is starting to show off it's fall colors...

I have spent the last month creating this little dining place in our family room...It is so bright and cheery and perfect for the two of us..   I had wanted a round table for a very long time and this wrought iron one fits in just right....  all along it was sitting on our front porch  waiting to come inside and play...  Fall colors blend in with the colors I use in making our house a home so I love it when fall gets here....

Here is a better picture of our little table.....

Now I can sit here and gaze out at our backyard..and dream....
For 10 years we have eaten solely in our dining room that is located in the middle of our house ..It has NO windows.  There are 4 lamps and a chandelier but it's still not bright enough for daytime eating....it is great at night.but this little round table is now my favorite eating spot...and so much easier to get the lighting right for photography...

I hope you have enjoyed my short little tablescape...and that you will come again soon...

Love,

 Mona

Here is where I am linking up this week..come on over and see the beautiful tables and get some inspiration..

 Let's Dish

Tablescape Thursday

Seasonal Sundays

Boldness

Do you have some ideas that you are afraid to act on?  I am working on being bold.  just doing it anyway...even if I am afraid...I think it is the only way I will ever live outside of the box..    or color outside of the lines.  .and that is what I am made for......to be unconventional..

There are so many sayings that I see cycle through Pinterest about being different. and not following the crowd and taking risks..so today I did just that.  I created a facebook page for my blog.  it might seem small to you but to me, it is huge!  I took a risk..

Somehow, this little plaque says it all for me this morning....a little arts and craft project from my childhood that still has a prominent place in my home today...

It is what is in my heart today..this moment in time....

I am glad you have found my place today..I hope you come again soon....

Mona

p.s.  I will add a link to my facebook page as soon as I figure it out!  lol

Every Morning

Every morning my sweet husband makes coffee for us right here in this sunny spot in our kitchen....

Do you make pretty little scenes throughout your house?  I do...I am forever tweaking and creating little still lifes..

maybe it is because I was raised by two artists that taught me to look at things like a painting......it's amazing what our children will pick up and carry on throughout their lives....my life is filled with all kinds of art...

Spread some beauty through your home today...small touches that please the eye..it doesn't take much effort but it will make a huge difference in your home....

Have a good weekend.......

The First Time

For the very first time, I am writing my blog from my deck...OUTSIDE!  sitting in the warm sunshine..hearing the birds sing.  and smelling the newness of spring life happening all around me...  I am loving this laptop....

I am meant to be a homemaker..not just a housewife but a homemaker...making a home requires a lot of a woman (or a man)...  It is a full time job and takes creativity and perseverance...among many other things..

As I look around at my life today, it is hard to believe that just a few short years ago I was a broken and hurt and rejected woman going through a divorce....and it felt like it was the end of the world for me.

Some of you have read my story..I wrote about it here and several other posts.

I am so very thankful for where I am now..for the grace that God has shown me..for the restoration...for the ability to love again..and most of all for my husband that loves me like I have never been loved by anyone else...what joy there is in a good marriage....not perfection but good, very, very good...

So, as I sit on my deck in my wonderful yard outside of this home we have built together, I am thankful...
Yes, more than words can convey..I have not forgotten from where I came...and the difficulties of the journey so far.....
But life is good....even when made to start over against my will...It has turned out in my favor.....

These are views from where I sit today on our deck.....no longer empty and forlorn..where there was death and destruction, there is now love and beauty and life..

DON'T EVER GIVE UP!  AND DON'T EVER QUIT!  the only sure way to lose is to stop.....

No matter what comes at you, continue to live the life you are meant to live...

Adding Dimension

Have you ever looked around at your life  and thought.... it just feels a little FLAT!  somewhat shallow...not many ups and downs...

There is something you can do about that..you can add depth and dimension to your life...going from boring to interesting...it takes a little bit of thinking and creativity......

this wall was flat and boring...and  then I started adding plates, trays, and bowls..they have a common theme..flowers or floral patterns...so there is a commonality but lots of variety....

they are seen from across the room in the reflection of this antique mirror...  When we add texture to our life or home, it spills over into other parts of our life...it is contagious....once you start down the path of adding interesting characteristics to ourselves.it is kinda like potato chips, you can't eat just one...it builds on itself...block by block..until, there you have it..a no longer boring, flat life..

Life is graced with golden opportunities to further your growth...be alert.....TRY!!  .we all have to start somewhere..what interests you?

These pillows all huddled together in our living room.....one from my early days as a new homemaker...one from a dear girl, Sarah, who painstakingly sewed every button on by hand while praying for me ..a real treasure...and one that I made from a cashmere and silk sweater with felt roses .....they all add texture, dimension to our room..

A very old crewel piece done by my Grandmother about 90-100 years ago....stained and fragile with age but still beautiful to me....I love to run my hand over the stitches..they are smooth on a linen background..rough and coarse...the colors are still vibrant..

We are made to be different..in all of these pictures, there is depth or dimension but there are differences..each one important in it's own right...Embrace your uniqueness, don't try to copy someone else's style...do your own...that is what adds depth to your life...copying someone else is FLAT... we all have something to add..our own texture to give to this world...

What gives your life depth?  if there is nothing, what can you add to make it deeper, to give it more than one dimension?  think about it....there is no need to spend life being a boring person.....

There is a lot to be thankful for so find something or somebody and SMILE!

I appreciate your stopping by today..

P O V

pets

POV...what is this???   point of view.....

We have been watching the Next Food Network Star..which I love.....we get to know the people and this year I have a definite favorite....I have noticed that the ones to go first are the ones who do not know who they are...the judges continually say to them...what is your POV????   you have to have that to make it believable..and be who you are........

so, I have been thinking about that and how it applies to me...you would think I would really KNOW my POV by this time in my life....maybe I am just in need of tweaking it..refining and condensing it....less is more kind of thing........

decorating

building

These pictures certainly fit within my POV....homemaking......and everything it takes to make a life worth living....

God....He makes it all

family......a husband that is a perfect fit for me.....children..awesome people.....grandchildren...gifts to me

home.....where it all begins

garden

dogs

I have tried and tried to narrow my interests...it is just not possible...I can't do it all but there is a lot that I truly enjoy doing..I certainly do NOT want to be a jack of all trades and the master of none.....I want to live my life with excellence...there are many, many things that you all do so much better than me.....but the one thing I can do better than anybody else is BE ME....fill the space that Mona lives in....so that is what I will do....now if I can just figure out what that consists of.......

from Pinterest

This crepe myrtle is an old one.....and the blooms are the palest pink, almost white....Bryan said yesterday it looks like cotton candy...and yes, it does.....I am not sure I have ever seen another one this color so I hope you enjoy.

flower gardening

Thank you for stopping by today.....

and I hope you come again soon..

Mona

Summer Whites

It is so hot outside that I thought it would make us feel cooler to work with all whites on our table.....

the Blushing Bride hydrangeas have been absolutely beautiful this year so that is where I started..
gotta have flowers, right?..and the oasis ring I found while cleaning helped me with a centerpiece for an all white table setting.....

so here goes.

maybe a few stories thrown in but the flowers speak for themselves..My husband said  oh wow..are those your flowers? I knew I had a hit then.......and the plates.....well, you'll see......

Hydrangeas, dahlias, leather leaf fern...all from my garden...I truly do love white flowers..and this did not disappoint...aren't they beautiful?

 always a little retro thrown in..the glasses are definitely from the 60's....we had clear blue ones growing up....

the candle is a Claire Burke botanical candle with fern leaves in the sides...

 These plates are Coalport Countryware and when I saw them, I think I giggled out loud..that's what I do when I find something really good while browsing thrift stores....there were 5 of them @ $2 each....so I quickly looked them up on replacements.com   ...and yes, indeed, a bargain....later I found out they are a wedgwood china....but I was really just attracted to the flower like design and they were white.....

This is White Orchid silverplate.  I am slowly adding to what I have..it was my Grandmother Lewis' pattern and when my parents moved her entire set was lost or stolen.....My Mama grieved over that loss and never replaced it...I don't know why she didn't...that is just the way she was ..but when Daddy closed out his house, there were a few pieces left from grandmother's set and I brought them home......I love the pattern..she picked it because she said it looked like a daylily.....so when I spot a deal on ebay, I buy it.....one day a whole table full..but not yet....


I hope you like my table.....I placed the bowls there with ice cream in mind.....yep...first course..ice cream...there is great benefit to being empty nesters....and the little round spoons, perfect for that.....
Then a cold pasta salad would be quite refreshing.....

Thank you for stopping by today...

I hope you come again soon....

and visit here where there are lots of flowers and dogs....

Mona

Come join the fun 

I am sharing at Table Top Tuesday

A DREAM realized...

                  After I took this picture a few days ago, I was reminded  of a dream I had years ago......

For any of you that have been reading my blog for a while, you know how much my home and gardens mean to me....this is another one of those stories about Winterpast...my dream come true....

I dreamed that me and Bryan were hacking our way through a very thick jungle..we were so tired BUT we kept going, we didn't stop...it was slow going at times and there were a lot of tangled vines and thick underbrush...together we leaned into it and whacked away with machettes...All of a sudden, we were on the edge of a clearing and we could see a house....In the dream, I just knew it was our house..we had made it through the thick of things and come to a clearing....HOME!

this picture represents that dream really well..I don't try to stage my photography, it just happens as I take pictures of things I like.....I added some effects to make it look a little aged and liked the way it turned out..... then, I remembered my dream...a long ago dream...now a reality...

It means a lot when we see a dream that is in our heart become a reality in our life....for as long as I can remember, I have liked to play house...even using cuttings from the landscaping to make little gardens in the sand.(Mama said anything I put in the ground would root)  to me it was play and dreaming...about a garden I would one day have of my very own.. and a house I could furnish to suit my taste......my very own house...


It would be a long, long time before that dream would come true...and there were many years that I didn't much hold onto that dream anymore...
When I got divorced I thought that dream was probably pretty much DEAD!..I lived in a rental house and had a broken down car and an empty nest too....and no job..and on and on and on....it was looking mighty bleak for me.....
and then.....

a little spark of hope started to burn....and then I met Bryan......
and the rest is history...well, so far..history..there is still a lot of history to make...

I am so very thankful for our homeplace...it is a reminder to me...don't stop dreaming..no matter what!!  dreams do come true...some of them take a little longer than others....

One week after we signed the contract on this house, my Mama left this earth as a result of an awful car accident..and my Grandmother was in the stages of dementia..so neither of these all important women in my life ever got to share in my realized dream....even in the midst of that saddness.. a desire realized gives hope..

I have no idea why the two things will forever be intwined...My mama's death and buying my dream house...all in the same week....
Probably the only real regret I have in my life, that she never got to come here...she saw pictures and loved it but...

Oh, well...I hadn't planned on going there....
There is a heritage that goes on, daylilies grow on this land...a family tradition.and gardening is in my blood....and so is the making of this house all it can be......

The house in this picture belonged to my great Grandparents....and the angle in this picture reminded of the picture I had taken of my very own house.....looking at a family home through the trees....I see a family legacy here....it might be a stretch for you to see it but I most definitely see it...and live it.....

I am thankful for all of the homemakers in my family line.....I embrace what you left for me....

thank you for reading this little scattering of my thoughts this morning.....

I appreciate you and hope to see you again soon....
I'll be out in the garden enjoying this warm weather...