A sad day for us...

It’s been a rough couple of days. We had to send our sweet old boy Harley to Heaven this morning. He was 13 years old and had been suffering from a seizure disorder for the last 5 or so. The last few months it had gotten harder and harder for him to get around without help, and just in the last few days he declined pretty fast. I told myself when I started these blogs that only happy thoughts would be put out there to the world, so this evening , as I write this I would like to share with you a few things about him that I will fondly remember.

Harley loved the water. (Most Golden Retreivers do) We used to go camping in the summer and he would spend 75% of the trip wet and muddy, and loving every minute of it.


He loved to play ball when he was younger. He would play fetch for hours if we let him. (We always gave up before he did) And if playing fetch involved swimming...even better!!!






Harley was a wonderful big brother. When we got little Jasmine, our Corgi, she would jump on him, pull his tail and ears... pretty much be a total pest. And he just took it. Never did he growl or snap at her. He just let her use him as a Jungle Jim. He even let her take his toys or steal food right out of his bowl!!!




At night when my husband and I were sitting on the sofa, Harley would come up and press the top of his head against us as if to say..”hey, rub my neck please!” He would just stand there until we decided to stop, enjoying a little love from Mom and Dad.

My dear sweet Harley Barley will be missed greatly by all of our friends and family...

Have a good time playing ball in Heaven sweetie...We love you.

It's Time for the Mad Hatter Tea Party!!!

Hello!!!
Oh I’m so glad you could make it.
I’ve been so excited about this day!
I thought it would never get here!
Did you have any trouble finding
the place? No? Good.
Well , you’re right on time!!!
Come on in!!

Some of the guests are already here.
Let me introduce you.
This is Rocky. He is the love of my life.
(Don’t tell my sweet husband I said that.
He might get jealous!)
Rocky is the one who insisted on getting
dressed up for this affair.

This is Jasmine. She couldn't decide
if she wanted to be the Mad Hatter
or the White Rabbit so
she chose to be both.

Harley’s favorite color is purple.
He shopped for 2 weeks straight
trying to find a matching purple
top hat and bow tie.

Even the chandelier got dressed up!!!

Oh look! The guest of honor has arrived!!!
Isn't he just divine????

The table is packed full of party goodness!

I brought out my favorite silver tea set.

I have all sorts of tea cups
for you to choose from.
I've collected them all over the place.
Which one would you like???

One lump or two???

Here's your tea...
It’s one of my favorites.
Vanilla Caramel by Bigelow.
Mmmm...
Doesn’t it smell wonderful?

Now, I know you’ve been to several other parties today, and you’ve
probably had your fill of yummy finger food and sandwiches, but my
favorite food is dessert!!! So with our tea we are going to have cookies..
chocolate covered and fruit filled!!!

We are also having cupcakes!!!
We have chocolate or vanilla.
I’m sorry they are not home made,
but a career girl has to
get help where she can!!!

The food choices seem to be a big hit with one of my guests!!

My goodness... Time does fly when you are having fun!!!!

You are all a bunch of wild and crazy Tea Partiers!!!!

Thank you so much for coming to my party. Now I have to get cleaned up.
I’ve got hundreds of people to visit and I’m LATE, LATE, LATE!!!!!
Make sure you head over to A Fanciful Twist to see all the other Tea Partiers!
(Before you leave don’t forget to click on the invitation on my sidebar and
sign up for the next great party event...Where Bloggers Create.
It’s time to show off your creative spaces!)

I'm having a Party!!!

Click here to be taken to my Party Pictures!!!

I have become a blogoholic.
I can’t seem to get enough.
The stories, the pictures, the constant
inspiration! I love it all. For me, what makes it most special is the friendships I am making and the never ending give and take of creative ideas. They rise and swirl around us all. You only need to spend a small amount of time hopping from one blog to another to find incredible artwork, beautiful gardens and interiors, and heartwarming stories. My idea for this party came from 2 places.
One of course, was the wonderful publication, Where Women Create.
If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, I highly recommend it. The second came from a fabulous woman named Denise over at BellaDreams. She posted some photos of her new Studio space, that were just wonderful. So it got me to thinking... I bet there are hundreds of gorgeous studios and workspaces out there.
Rooms that are whimsical
or elegant, or clever or all of the above!!! So I am inviting you all to
join me for my first ever blog party.

Share your creative spaces!!!

Is your space at the dining room table? Do you have a room of your
own? Have you converted a closet?
And what do you do in there? What kind of things do you create?
There is a little bit of voyeur in all of us don’t you think??

So, come on and join in the fun!

To participate, just leave me a message on this post along with the address of your blog. I will add you to my link list on my sidebar. On July 24th, post your photos and stories about yourselves and your creative spaces. Then we will all have a great time coming over and visiting all the wonderful, creative spaces that you all have made for yourselves!!
To help me promote my event, please take the party poster and add it to your sidebar as a photo with a link to my blog (or this post.) And ,if you
are feeling generous,
a post on your blog about the party would be awesome!

Thanks so much!! I really hope to see you there!!!

2nd Time Around Tuesday

This week I'm sharing a bunch of chandeliers that I got at a Garage Sale a couple years ago. There were 3 total, in various degrees of shape. 2 were almost completely dismantled. But all the parts were there including the crystals. How much?? $10.00 for the whole box!!! They were originally brass, so I painted them and antiqued and my sweetie (who is good at everything) re-wired 2 of them. The one above is hanging in my bedroom.

The one below, didn't have all the part we needed so I glued wooden candle cups to it, and now it is a candelabra that hangs in my guest bathroom.

This one hangs outside on my porch. I absolutely love it out there at night. One flick of a switch and I have instant ambiance!!! Be sure to check out all the other entries at A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

Metamorphosis Monday

My metamorphosis for you today is my master bedroom. The photo above is from 2000. I had just recently discovered my love of cottage style, and everything in the house was frilly and girly. My DH is so wonderful, he just goes with the flow... However as time went on I realized my tastes were changing and I needed something a little less feminine.

The photo below is after several other changes and comes from 2004. I still like this look very much and do go back to it when the mood strikes me. However the room is still very feminine and my sweetie has to live here too. So....

This is the final result (to date) The room feels more balanced for both of us. Hmmmm... I wonder what the room will look like in a couple more years. The ideas are already churning!!!

2nd Time Around Tuesday

Hello! Welcome to my first of hopefully many contributions to 2nd Time Around Tuesday, hosted by Diane @ A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. I should have a pretty easy time with this since 75% of my home came from second hand stores, garage sales, and an occasional antique shop. Since Two seems to be a theme I will share two different finds...

The first is a pair of these Adirondack chairs. I got them at a garage sale last year for only $5.00 each!!! I think they are one of my best finds. The wood was rough and cracking and they were pretty rickety. My DH and I spent a couple weekends taking them completely apart, sanding, painting and putting them back together.

And here is the final result!! I love my chairs!!!!

The color in the photo below is more accurate than the one up above.

My second thing to share is my collection of watering cans. I actually have several more that I'm not showing, but I didn't want to bore you with to much of a good thing. This one is in my kitchen.

The rest are all out on my porch and patio. I've collected them from garage sales and antique stores from a couple different states. I keep looking for more. The price has to be right though. They can get pretty expensive, but I won't spend more than $20.00 on one.

 
So there you have it! My first 2nd Time around Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed it! See you next week.