I Love Flowers

I love flowers; but I guess you all figured that out by now.  :)  I also love big, beautiful, glossy books about flowers.  Which is why I LOVE this book:  A Passion for Flowers, by Carolyne Roehm.  My sweet family gave it to me for my birthday.

It is absolutely filled with gorgeous flowers, arranged in beautiful containers.  In fact, as a thrift store addict, the containers make me almost as giddy as the blooms themselves.

These photos really do not do it justice.  I really need to start scanning them.  Wouldn't you love to have this gorgeous all-white arrangement, in it's lovely footed crystal bowl?

It is a wonderful coffee table book to peruse on a cold and dreary winter's day.

And it is giving me some terrific ideas...  I'd love to start featuring a flower arrangement in a unique thrift store find here in the blog.  Maybe once every couple of weeks?  We all need some flowers to get through the winter, right?  ;)

My Valentine

Yes, I know it's not Valentine's Day yet, but I just discovered how to add textures to my photos, and I'm having an enormous amount of fun playing with Photoshop.  This photo, alone, was nothing to write home about.  But with some texture and a quotation, I really like the way it turned out.  I think I will use it as a Valentine's Day card.  :)

Snow Day

Here is another little scene from near my favorite thrift store.  Just enough snow to look pretty.  I took this last week.  By today, we should be in the middle of a big bunch of "wintry mix."  We get a lot of wintry mix in New Jersey -- snow, sleet, freezing rain.  I don't look forward to it, except maybe that I might be able to get a few pretty ice photos.   So I think I'll be sitting in front of the fire today, with a good book and a cup of tea.  :)

Stay warm, dear bloggers!

Lovin' Spoonfull

We were young and foolish when we got married;  we did not register for wedding gifts.  We had some crazy idea that it might seem like we were being greedy.  Thus, we never got the sterling silver place settings that other brides and grooms receive when they wed.

Actually, that was probably a good thing, since it has given me the excuse to frequent lots of thrift stores and antique shops over the years, buying pretty dishes and silver.

This serving bowl was a thrift store find last year.  I think I paid about $5. for it.  The spoons I found in an antique shop.  The set of five was $60.  They are coin silver, made in New Jersey around 1850.

And you know I just LOVE the monogram, even though it's not mine.  ;)

Thank You!

Thank you SO MUCH for all your SWEET birthday wishes!  You are all such wonderful blogging friends, and your comments mean the world to me!

Yes, we had birthday cupcakes.  My very talented daughter took this photo.  :)  And we spent the day taking a nice brisk walk in the park and then relaxing in front of the fire, reading.  

So, that's about all I have for today.  Back to our regular blogging program tomorrow.

It's My Party

Sunday is my 52nd birthday.  Yikes, that sounds even worse than it did last year!  I went back and read last year's post, and I don't think I achieved even one of those things I listed.  And I'm not feeling at all introspective this year.  So I decided to just make myself a great big mosaic bouquet.  Because a girl needs a few flowers on her birthday, right?  ;)

Have a great weekend, dear bloggers!

Country Love

Just a little bit of country love for you today.  This house is down the road from my favorite thrift store, and I just couldn't resist taking a picture.  Wouldn't you love to live here?   :)

Click on the photo to enlarge it, so you can see the geese in the road!  :)