Magnolias

Our beautiful magnolia trees are setting their seed pods.

very faint red pods

Velvet watching for the blue jay that likes to chase him

more red on the seed pods -- pretty soon we will have red seeds

Velvet still on guard -- he does not like to be chased although we do enjoy watching him run

Sandy

Cross Stitch Quilt Block

An Adorable Finish

Brennen (LDI)

Precious Moments, Furr-Ever Friends, PM59

To Be With You Is Uplifting

Sandy

White Wednesday

I thought for this White Wednesday I would pull out some of my linens for show. These have all been picked up at flea markets or antique malls. They are such a treasure trove for linens and I do enjoy looking for them. It is amazing to me what heirloom treasures people will sell, most not even realizing what they have.

3 piece set of doilys

baby pillowcases and regular pillowcases, all trimmed in crochet or tatting

beautiful handkerchiefs all trimmed in crochet or embrodiery

gorgeous lace and a handkerchief holder I ordered from an Ireland catalog several years ago

Head on over to Faded Charm for other great blogs participating in White Wednesday.

Sandy

Paydirt at Home Goods

Mom gave me a place setting of Royal Albert's Old Country Roses for Christmas several years ago. Then she came across a great sale on a 20 piece setting for the next Christmas. A great sale we thought until we found TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Marshalls. Since then I have completed my service for 12 place settings along with the coffee pot, tea pot, serving bowls, platters, spice shakers and everything else I can get my hands on at really fantastic prices. They sure make it a joy to shop.

teapot, coffee pot, sugar bowl, creamer and tray

right side of china cabinet

full view of china cabinet -- I have also picked up some kings crown glassware at a local antique mall to go with my dishes

Sandy

Maple Trees & Blooms

We are very fortunate that someone long ago planted our 3 maple trees around the house.

maple tree at the corner of our front yard by the driveway -- trimmed by the power company last fall

red roses blooming in the garden

maple tree at the corner of our house -- trimmed by the power company last fall

red geraniums blooming good now that they have decided to live -- they were my clearance bargain

maple tree on the side of our house -- escaped the power company trimming

Sandy

White Wednesday

Once again I am joining Kathleen at Faded Charm Cottage for White Wednesday with more pictures from our flower garden.

white hibiscus -- in full bloom

chippy white flower pot we found at a local antique mall

more white hibiscus - their beautiful blooms stand out so well in the garden

even better they came as a set of 3

Sandy

HomeGoods StyleScope

Take the HomeGoods StyleScope Quiz and find out if your style is Bohemian Classic, Earthy Modern or Dramatic Eclectric. Mine was Bohemian Classic. The StyleScope is a great tool for those who want to find their own style and escape from the overly prescriptive home decor options of major stores. This quick quiz is designed to help all of us who love stylish home decor but don't know how to incorporate specific trends or styles into our own homes.

You can also sign up for a chance to win a gift card in their daily give-a-way and a $5,000 weekly shopping spree.

Sandy

Africian Violets & Winner of Give-A-Way

Our Kitchen Bay Window

left side

middle

right side

Our bay window in the kitchen is where our africian violets do best along with our 1 orchid which has not bloomed since Mom received it as a gift. This window overlooks the backyard where we have buttercups blooming in the spring and then peonies, roses, crape myrtles, hydrangeas and our middle size magnolia tree blooming the rest of the year. It is a delight to stand and look out this window.

***** Winner - August Give-A-Way *****

And the winner is

Irma from Irma's Rose Cottage

Sandy

Cross Stitch Quilt Blocks

Finishes

Carson - Love Quilts

Mack from Cars Movie

Any Child - Love Quilts

Boy Cartoon Theme

Garfield ... A Real Sport, Hockey

Sandy

White Wednesday

I am joining Kathleen at Faded Charm Cottage for White Wednesday with pictures from our garden.

our old chippy roses sign Mom picked up a few summers ago

our gorgeous white roses -- doing better than ever this year

1 of 2 arches we made from rebar on the far side of the garden for our sweet autumn clematis

there is nothing better than walking by and getting a whiff of the sweet autumn clematis in bloom -- it is heavenly

Click on Kathleen's link above for more wonderful White Wednesday blogs.

Sandy

August Give-A-Way

I am joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for her August Give-A-Way

My give-a-way consists of these fabulous garden gloves, a vintage crochet doily and a wonderful round tin storage box with beautiful birds, butterflies and flowers on the lid. The gloves are Wells Lamont Pro Garden gloves made from goatskin leather. They have the pro touch dexterity and gauntlet cuff. These gloves fit close to your fingers and are the best ones I have found for working in my flowers.

In order to win please leave me a comment below or e-mail me at shilliard0914@aol.com by midnight Friday, August 14. Due to shipping costs this give-a-way is open to those living in the United States only.

Sandy

Trees & Blooms

Here are a few of the trees we have in the garden along with the crape myrtles that are now blooming and our trumpet vine.

ginko tree at back of garden

lavender crape myrtle finally blooming

3 bald cypress trees at back of garden

dark red crape myrtle blooming now

pin oak on side of garden

trumpet vine on outside edge of garden

pine tree at the end on outside edge of garden

Sandy

Our Hero

When Jennifer's house was built the builder decided to make it really tight and blew insulation all around the foundation blocks. He then put insulation under the floors through out the house which rested on top of the AC duct work. Needless to say this year we had a problem. We have had very high humidity this summer and that along with the condensation from the AC ducts was absorbed into the insulation and up into the sub floors and right on up into the house which has caused the floors to buck up. The insulation from under the floors had to come out so Aaron spent part of his Friday under her house pulling down insulation so Mom and I could haul it to the outside opening and Aaron's Mom could bag it up for the dump since Jennifer's home owners insurance company "Travelers" would not approve the claim. They only pay if it was an act of nature or someone ran a car into her house. We could never have gotten this done in 1 day without their help.

Aaron -- Our Hero

Our opening to the dungeon -- there is enough room under the house to duck walk and crawl on your knees -- we had a good laugh at each other pulling and tugging the insulation back and forth to this opening -- thank goodness no one had their camera handy at this point.

Finished just as Jennifer was getting off of work -- we ran out of bags and were waiting for her to pick some up on her way home from work. We let her help us bag all this mess.

truck load #1 for the dump

truck load #2 for the dump

Sandy

Jane Magnolias

Our jane magnolias are blooming again. Hopefully we will get one more set of blooms off of them before winter.

beautiful bud

they start at my corner of the garden

and go across the front of the garden, 5 in all

Sandy