limelight hydrangea's

blooming now...limelight hydrangeas...paper thin white flowers that look beautiful on the bush and even better in a vase...just a little something to light up your day....worth planting.....in numbers to create a stunning effect in the garden!

Sweet Summer Cherries

Our beautiful Okanagan Valley is groaning with fruit at this time of the year...with the lack of cherry pickers the fruit is falling from the trees!
We rescued a few cherries from spoiling by hand picking some off the branches within our reach as we were wine touring...oh my goodness...the sweet taste of a warm tree ripened cherry will stay with me all summer long.

You know what Erma Bombeck said...."if life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits? "

Have a happy day and eat lots of fruit!




























I am totally in love with this cherry bowl hand made by Nancy Pridham...I have many of her pieces that were bought when we lived in Nelson,B.C.....check out her amazing art pottery.
HERE

just as sweet as a summer peach.....

Those eyes of Claire's say it all......


..... her very happy & loving dad...thanks so much Julie for taking and sending these sweet photos...they melt my heart.

Bracelets.....on the go....

Into the craft room I went and a few hours later I had several newly made bracelets..I bought a few sea pearl necklaces last year.....cut them off the cord added some swarovski crystals on fishing line and voila a couple of bracelets came to life...in my opinion a girl can never have too many pearls on her wrist! I added an old rosary chain to my crocheted flowers and it became a necklace...very summery!

Loving this! From this recycled into that........

Today I was inspired to get back downstairs into my craft room where it was cool and make a few things....I saw this on Pinterest...(addictive browsing!) and knew I could make something similar but different!
From this Etsy shop here! LavenderField






Mine started out a a crocheted square that had a big hole in it but lots of little flowers sewn on..I cut them off...


tried to bleach the color out. (didn't work for me)...then I got the idea to dye them...



Went thru my stash and found Coral as well as Perrywinkle....




Left them in the dye bath for about 20 minutes...rinsed them off and dried them in the sunshine!






Loved how they took the dye...the coral was absorbed well into the cotton crochet and the blue is lovely.







Threaded together on fishing line with pearls....they will make an amazing necklace..I think I might string pearls together and make it big enough to slip over my head...I have submitted my idea to Green Craft Magazine...let's hope they like my recycled doiley into a necklace!

Friendship bracelet....

Yesterday was a picnic day at the beach...it is sunny, warm but a bit breezy....I was learning to make a friendship bracelet in a new way...have added the link below....oh what fun...I came home with 2 bracelets....and kept my brain cells active...a very good thing!
Bracelet HERE

in season

These blueberries are grown in BC...the good part is that they are ripe and in the markets everywhere....blue, ripe, plump, juicy and just plain delicious...I love the taste and the color...they are little edible jewels!

Breakfast on the deck....

With summer finally being here and our deck enlarged....having breakfast here is a wonderful treat..fresh strawberries, blueberries with cottage cheese and slivered almonds.....too good to pass up....somehow everything tastes better being outside under the umbrella enjoying our second cup of coffee..

sunshine on the geraniums....focus 52

Perched precariously on the deck glass....this geranium makes a pretty statement...of course I could not leave it there..but love the background and it's cheerful nod of color! I plant red ones every year for my Dad...somehow I recall my mom always did that for him..it is a good tradition to remember him by.

old globes in the guest room....

Both of our guest rooms are on the lower floor where we can walk out to the golf course and our garden......they share a full bathroom.....I love this room...it is sunny and bright with lots of flowers right outside the window...this is where a few of my old globes reside... 3 more are opposite the bed on an old white cupboard as well a few more in the family room.

To determine how old your globe is you just need to see when they changed the name of a particular country......eg.....if your globe says Ceylon.....Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972....your globe was produced before 1972....check out some other countries on your globe...especially Africa..this makes for a good history lesson.......thanks to my Cindy for a couple of these treasures!

Claire is all dressed up......

Claire with her lovely mom, Julie....Julie's brother Darren married Kara a week ago over in Victoria...Claire had her first ferry ride...did not like the horn going off thru the Islands... she was the star of the party...even the bride admitted that Claire stole the show...this is what happens when we all have been waiting 13 years for this 7 month old bundle of joy to come into our lives. I am waiting for the photo that shows the 4 generations of Claire's
family of women all together.








Her she is with her handsome Dad....not that I am at all partial to my son, Jeremy.

A small find for Cindy...

My Cindy loves glassware..her home and studio can attest to the sparkling display of lovingly used glassware...her collection of swanky swigs is amazing as well as her bar glass stash! I am sure that she always finds a glass or two when ever she is out and about!!!!!!
Here is a write up from Martha Stewart about these "sour cream glasses" found on eBay and featured in her August Magazine....wouldn't these look wonderful on a summer dinner table?











Here are the 4 I found for Cindy..they are for her "Cabana" on the beach! Sailboats and bouys...and not a blemish on them...the trick is...never put them in the dishwasher! I will be over for drink soon!

The new addition to our deck.....

This new addition to the top part of our existing deck nearly doubled our outdoor space....We overlook the golf course and the lake...it made sense to
do this and enjoy more of our summers outside...we already had the awnings so all we had to add was more comfortable seating...including a lounge chair and umbrella for me...almost done...we need to enlarge the garden on the left hand side when we replant my Mom's lilac { sitting in that pot on the right} and replace some of the sod on the lower part of the deck. Now we can eat as many meals as possible outside enjoying our beautiful Okanagan Valley.

The fun we had in July..

July was a really good month for Jim and I...even though it wasn't too summery here yet, we did allot of things and had allot of fun!

Having Jeremy and Julie here with Claire was definitely the highlight!