Simplicity

Over the weekend I found a couple of wonderful "whites",

 and wanted to share them,

 along with some other info.

Nothing earth shattering...

just something that I've needed to do for awhile,

but was chicken.

And that would be to stop relying on the automatic setting of my camera.

I'm still learning,

but at least I put my big toe in the water

of the proverbial pond of better picture taking.

Of all places, I chose a spot where the light isn't very good,

but I just wanted a "simple setting" for sharing my new white finds.

This old white tureen is my new favorite to add to my ironstone collection.

Just love that wonderful shape.

 Upon an Internet search, I found that this piece is French;

probably from the 1930's.

and a pristine set of four white European linen

 monogrammed towels from the same estate sale.

They are gorgeous and I knew they were a real find.

(Hubbs had his wallet, so I jumped on them!)

The silver cutlery set came from The Seed Box Open House last month.

(among many other things that I just haven't shown yet)

Then Saturday, I also found this precious little print from the twenties.

The night before, I had just visited Fishtail Cottage

with her post on visiting Farm Chicks,

and her local find of this same print and it's companion print.

I commented that I'd never seen one before.

And good grief, here it was in a local flea market so I grabbed it.

Oh how I love bluebirds!

This is just a haphazard stack of white china that I love to play with.

So, my new tureen is a test subject,

of playing with different camera settings.

and proof to myself

that I actually can "do" simple.

Hope you're off to a great start this week,

we had a little rain and a cool down for a few days.

Enough to water the grass,

and give me a break from the hose.

I'll see you Thursday,

if not before,

for my new toy...

a potting station!

I have a few photos from the sale at Pheona's Vintage Market

I'll share those soon!

Joining these parties:

(Links are on my sidebar)

Love you all,

          

Wear Repair

I always like to show the "good" before I show the "bad" and the "ugly".

So if you have an aversion to rotten wood and peeling paint

well, then you better not continue...

I have a great space off of our lower level family room;

a large concrete patio of sorts.

The problem is that there are some shady spots that never see the sun...

a drainage problem that invites mosquitoes to eat you for lunch...

(which hopefully is now fixed)

and an issue with dirt runoff from our shake roof that causes

 the concrete to be stained.

Oh, and did I mention squirrels with giant gnawing teeth?

When my inlaws moved out of their house a few years ago,

we brought home this park bench which we had given them.

Layers of paint that weren't pretty.

It was screaming for help.

(help meeeeeeeeee....)

And then there is a great bench that my daddy made about 25 years ago,

but was slowly rotting due to the elements...

and said giant gnawing squirrel teeth.

I'd finally had enough of this unsightly stuff,

and decided I needed to actually DO something about it,

instead of just ignoring it.

So I bought an industrial size tub of spackling

and went to work.

Not perfect, but at least I think I bought it a couple more years,

before it would have to go to the woodpile.

Bench looking better.

Sorry, no distressing here.

In a few months it will be plenty "distressed".

A can of white Rustoleum and this little set was looking better, too.

Even the planters got a little Behr Ultra Exterior on them.

So here's the space.

I'm not sure what I want to do with it.

But at least it's not so scary, now.

I'm going to be using this area for some al fresco dining

during the Summer Blog Party.

Hope you're planning on joining in!

I'm joining in on these great parties,

find the links on my sidebar.

Hope to see you Thursday afternoon with some

 Vintage Inspiration

Staying busy,

hope you're having a great week!

love,

The Comfort of White

I was hoping to share some outside photos of the flowers on my back deck,

but the storms of the last few days have them beaten down and sad.

My heart is still heavy over the loss that has occurred in our area.

We have a beautiful sunny day today,

but they are saying that it could cause more storms to "fire up" this evening.

Late Spring is a beautiful time of the year,

but the threat of tornadoes and storms

are always in the back of our mind.

I collect old frames of every shape and size;

you never know when an opportunity will come along

to frame some sweet prints or book pages.

This is a page of a wedding album

The white roses and sweet verse about May

sent me searching thru my stash.

And the little antique gift book

expresses my thoughts today,

for all those who are facing tragedy and loss.

(Photo Feature Friday)

A little antique drawstring purse

that is aged, but still so sweet.

Lacey, leafy ironwork on the back of the baker's rack...

And some angel vine in a cottage teapot.

I buy anything that resembles a birdhouse.

A whitewash for Spring and it's heading outside. 

an image from a Catholic church in Joplin, Missouri.

Thank you each and every one of you,

who left such sweet comments and prayers

on my last post.

Bless You!

love,