Secret Garden Cottage

THANK YOU...

2012-01-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

So much time has passed since my last post. I've been wanting to thank all of you so much, but

I'm sure you can imagine just how busy I've been over the past few weeks.

This is the first weekend without my kids... they're with their dad... so I have some spare time I
normally don't have. I miss them terribly, so I thought this would be a good way to pass some
time tonight.

I wish I could reach through the computer to each and every one of you who left me the most

wonderful heartfelt comments and emails I could have hoped for and give you all a great big hug.

That's how your comments felt to me... like a great big wonderful hug encouraging me to go

on and be strong and reassuring me that everything will be OK some day soon.

So, THANK YOU to all of you from the bottom of my heart. I don't think you'll every know just

how much your words meant to me.

I took these photos last spring. They're of the Scepter'd Isle roses and hydrangeas from my garden.

I'm not sure when I'll be back for another post... hopefully sooner than later. :)

I hope you've all been well and are having a wonderful weekend.

'Til next time...

~ Jo

MENDING A BROKEN HEART

2012-01-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. First of all, I want to thank everyone who has enquired about my well being and

offered a supportive shoulder for me to cry on over the past week or so. It's meant so very much to

me and is what has brought me back to my blog in hopes of it possibly turning into a wonderful

career opportunity for me some day.

I feel it's time to explain why I have been absent from blogging for so long and left so

abruptly. It's so very difficult for me to even write this... tears are flowing as I do...

My husband of 24 years... my high school sweetheart... the love of my life... has decided to

divorce me. Words cannot express how completely devastated I am by the whole thing. No matter

how difficult problems in our marriage became, I always thought we would work through them and

be together until our dying days. I am both emotionally and financially broken.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while are aware of the fact that I've been a

stay-at-home mom for the past 12 years, which also means I have been out of the work force for

12 years. We live in a poor economic area where jobs are hard to come by to begin with, let alone

for someone in my circumstances. I'm terrified of what life is about to become for me and my

daughters. My heart breaks most at the thought of everything our daughters are going to lose and

all of the heartache and hardship they're going to have to endure.

And so, I am appealing to all of you... my blogger friends... to keep me in mind if you know of any

job opportunities or have any suggestions as to how I could bring extra money in through my blog.

I would be so grateful for any advice you have to offer.

I am determined, no matter what, to overcome this horrible situation for my daughters' sake and
for mine. We will get through this somehow, taking each day as they come.

I have a lot on my plate right now and don't know when I'll be able to start blogging regularly

again. Maybe I'll try to put out one post a week that I can put together each weekend and see

how that works out for me.

I do hope that you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I wish all of you
every happiness life has to offer in 2012 and always.

'Til next time...

~ Jo

P.S. Thank you so much for all of your supportive comments and
for keeping me and my daughters in your thoughts and prayers. It
means so very much to me... more than you'll ever know. ♥

CARRYING ON FAMILY TRADITIONS...

2011-11-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

When I was little, my mom bought some Santa cups for me and my sister to drink our hot coca

from during the Christmas season. I loved that Santa cup and couldn't wait to get it out of

the box every year for the holidays.

As soon as my daughters were old enough, I couldn't wait to buy them their own Santa cups
to drink their hot cocoa from. My daughters love their Santa cups just as much as I did and
get so excited when its time to use them for the holidays once again. It sure does bring back
fond memories of my own childhood to watch my girls with their cups and listen to them talk
about how much they love them. I love that something so simple can bring so much joy.

I found these cute little curled candy canes at Target... to add that little extra something special.

Linking to:

This and That Thursday

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

Next up, Christmas! Here's to carrying on family traditions!

'Til next time...

Jo :-)

A SIMPLE FALL TABLE SETTING

2011-11-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a nice week so far.

Today I thought I would share a simple fall table setting with you. As usual, around this time

of year, I get very inspired by all of the pretty table settings in magazines and in Blogland that I

actually begin to think that I too can do this. Ideas begin to roll around in my head, and then I

just can't fight the urge to give it a go. Of course, it didn't turn out all that I wanted it to be,

but I thought I would share it with you guys anyways... what the heck.

I wanted to get some of the yellow-colored fall leaves from my yard to tuck into the twine around

the napkins, but I was running out of time before I had to go pick up my kids from school. My
youngest gets out of school an hour early all week because of parent teacher conferences, so
fitting a blog post like this into my day isn't easy.

And if that wasn't enough, my batteries died on me before I was done taking all the

pictures I wanted to take, so this is all I was able to get. I didn't have anymore batteries,

and I didn't have time to run to the store. Living in the country definitely has its faults.

Everything here is very simple. I used a couple of antique white ironstone beer bottles for

candle holders and tied "Merci" tags on each one. I used vintage music sheets as place mats,

tucked the silverware into the simple white linen napkins and tied each one with twine.

I wanted to keep everything white on white, so that the pretty Cinderella pumpkin would

add a pop of color, but I do wish I had the time to place those fall leaves in the napkin

bundles.

So there you have it... my unfinished attempt at creating an inspiring fall table setting... lol.

Linking to these fun and inspiring parties:
White Wednesday
Vintage Inspiration Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

On an entirely different note, I'm considering creating a "Tag Sale" page, so I have a venue
to sell some of the things I no longer have room for in my home. These would be things that

I love and adore and would use in my own home, if only I still had the space for them. You
all know how it goes... in with the new old thing and out with the old old thing. I'll keep
you all posted if I decide to follow through with it.

Also, thanks for all of your lovely comments. I've enjoyed hearing all of your thoughts and

ideas again.

I hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

THE WARM GLOW OF CANDLE LIGHT

2011-11-11T19:46:00.000-08:00

On a cold autumn day like today, when the rooms are dark because the sky is covered with clouds,
I like to enjoy the warm glow of candle light. It makes me feel all warm and cozy...

I hope you're warm and cozy wherever you may be today, too.

Today is Veterans Day here in the U.S. Words can't express how grateful I am for all of the veterans

who have sacrificed so much for our country.

I hope you all enjoy the long weekend.

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

PLAYING WITH TEXTURE

2011-11-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend.

Blogger sure has been giving me some trouble lately. I have no idea why, but for some

reason it was showing on blog rolls that my last post was published two days ago, when

it was clearly a week ago since I've published my last post... very strange.

At least I've finally been able to get my comments link issue resolved. It now appears

directly under my blog post, like it's supposed to. Thank you to those of you who have

taken the time to leave your lovely comments. I appreciate them so much.

All the photos I'm sharing today are all about texture. I love the contrast of placing

something soft and pretty next to something rough and chippy or tattered and torn. It

makes the perfect balance to me...

Linking to these fun and inspiring parties:

White Wednesday

This or That Thursday
Farmhouse Friday

Well, that's all, my friends. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you all enjoy your week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

A FEW VINTAGE THINGS, VIBURNUM BERRIES, AND A KITTY

2011-10-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend. Are you all ready for Halloween?

The kids had fun dressing up for school this morning. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some

good pictures of them tonight, so I can share their costumes with you. I'm not very good

at taking photos at dusk though, so we'll just have to see how they turn out.

This morning, I decided to try and get a little more photo taking practice in. I pulled

a few vintage things together and used some berries from our viburnum bushes for
the photo shoot. I was so happy when one of our seven cats (yes, I did say 7) got a little
curious about what I was doing, and I finally was able to get some good pictures of her.

This is Maisey. :-)

There are lots and lots of photos today. I was enjoying trying different perspectives

and playing around with the props. I hope you enjoy them...

I WISH YOU ALL A...

...HALLOWEEN!!

Linking to these fun and inspiring parties:

White Wednesday
Feathered Nest Friday

Thanks for visiting and your lovely comments!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

IMAGES OF FALL FROM THE GARDEN

2011-10-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Happy Friday!

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU for all of the wonderful feedback you guys gave me on
my last post. I've decided to keep my comments on, so I'm looking forward to reading all of your
lovely thoughts with each new post that I do once again. :-)

I'm so excited to say that fall has finally arrived here in Central California... YAY! The leaves are
starting to change color on the trees, and we've had some of the most enjoyable weather lately...
cool in the mornings and evenings with our afternoons in the 70's. To me, that's PERFECT weather!
Now, if it could just stay that way year round...

The roses in our garden love this cooler weather. Spring and fall are the best time of year in the

garden for us. During the summer heat, our plants just don't perform very well. The roses don't
bloom as often or hold the blooms they do get for very long. So, I'm always thrilled when fall
finally arrives.

The roses in this post are called Heritage roses, and I bought them from the

David Austin Rose Catalog.

Below, is a picture of our Dogwood tree. This is the first year that it's produced... well, I'm not
sure, are they berries or hips (like a rose hip)? I tried to look it up on bing, but couldn't find any
info on it. I'm very curious though... anybody have a clue?

Linking to:

This or That Thursday

I still haven't figured out how to get the comment button directly under my blog post, so

unfortunately, you still have to click on the blog title if you want to leave a comment. Sorry
for the inconvenience. I've changed all of the settings I can think of to fix it, but without any
luck. If any of you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Well, that's all for today, my friends. Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you all have
a lovely weekend and a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :-)

'Til next time...

~ Jo

A LITTLE REDECORATING... and QUESTIONS ABOUT COMMENTS

2011-10-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I hope you're all doing well.

**COMMENTS ARE ON FOR THIS POST**

There's a bit of heavy reading below all of these pictures regarding comments that I'd love to get
your thoughts on, but first I thought I'd share a simple change I made to this corner of my dining
room. There aren't a lot of pictures today. I mean, there are only so many pictures you can take
of a little corner like this, right? ;-)

I use to have a galvanized bucket that held my most recent Jeanne d'Arc Living magazines
sitting in the chair, but this corner had been bothering me for a while, so I decided to switch
it out to soften it up a little.

I added one of my antique grain sack pillows and hung a little burlap bag with a dried hydrangea in
it over the back of the chair.... done... simple. I think I like it better. What do you think? :-)

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've also redecorated my blog a little bit. I made a new header,
and I also switched formats. I've been wanting to switch to this new format for a long time now.
I just think it looks prettier. I hope you all like it.

OK... SO, NOW ONTO THE QUESTION OF COMMENTS...

I have gotten so many questions about having my comments turned off ever since I

chose to do that. Questions like:

"Why did you choose to turn your comments off?"
"How has it effected your blogging experience?...
...your followers?"... etc. etc.

Of course, this always makes me rethink whether I should turn my comments
back on or not.

The main reason I turned off my comments was just the pressure of feeling obligated to
respond to all of them. When you have as many as 60-80 comments per post, and I know
a lot of you who have blogs do, it can get very overwhelming at times. I know from a lot
of the emails I've received , that many of you can relate to how I feel.

Well, I have this idea, and I'd LOVE to know what you think about it...

I've been thinking about turning my comments back on, because I LOVE to hear what
all of you think and truly miss that part of blogging. But, I DON'T want to have that
overwhelming feeling again, so I thought instead of responding to everyone's comments,
I would answer any questions that you guys may have in my posts. I also thought I could
add a "Comments From my Readers" section and list three of them in each post. I thought
these ideas could be a fun way to incorporate your comments into my blogging without
having the pressure that comes along with responding to comments.

For those of you who have questions for me and would like to ask them in a more
private setting, you can still always feel welcome to email me.

So, WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK??? I would LOVE to know. This will

help me decide whether to turn my comments back on or not. Thank you so

much for your time and input. :-)

I know that was a lot of reading... sorry for that!

Thanks so much for visiting! Hope you all have a great day!

'Til next time...

~ Jo

**To leave a comment, just click on the title of the post and
scroll to the bottom of the post where the comment section is.
For some reason, even though I've changed all of my comment

settings, the comment button still won't show up at the bottom

of my blog post. Hopefully, I'll get that figured out soon.
Thanks! :)**

B is for BOO!

2011-10-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far.

I have been inspired... yes I have... by my good friend, Tricia of A Rosy Note. she put out

a beautiful fall post today. I just loved her chalkboard with the word "Boo" on it in a

pretty handwritten script, so I went right to work about thinking of how I could use that

in my home. Of course, it had to be simple, because that's what my decorating style is all

about. This is what I came up with...

I used simple brown paper wrapping that I had stored in a closet. I cut a strip of it off the roll

to make it easy to work with, wrote the letters B-O-O on it with a black Sharpie marker in the
pretty script Tricia used, and used pinking sheers to cut the letters out with. It was all done free-
hand... nothing's perfect or exact, and I kind of like it that way. It literally only took me about
15 minutes to do. I punched a hole through the top of each letter square and used white twine to
tie them onto the pitchers. I added the hydrangeas, as I have an abundant supply of those in my
garden right now, and that was that.

Thanks for the wonderful inspiration, Tricia. I sure needed it! :-)

Linking to these fun and inspiring parties:
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Farmhouse Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Saturday Night Special
White Wednesday

I also wanted to welcome my new followers and say thanks for clicking that button. I

haven't done that in a while... just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate you. :-)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

'Til next time...

~ Jo

THE LAST FEW FALL IMAGES...

2011-10-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I normally wouldn't blog this often, but I wanted to join in on Debra's

fun fall tablescapes party for Vintage Inspiration Friday over at her lovely blog,

Common Ground... thanks for hosting, Debra.

All of our hydrangeas have turned gorgeous fall colors with lots of purple and pink in them.

I couldn't resist bringing some in to make a bouquet for my dining room table. I took out what

I normally have in the vintage French tool caddy and added the hydrangeas... without any

water.... they'll dry nicely that way.

I kept all of the pumpkins white in here for a fresh and airy look. It also allows the

eye to be drawn to the hydrangeas on the dining room table.

I added some lavender to my vintage milk bottles, continuing the purple and apple green color

scheme I'm using for fall this year.

Well, these are the last of my fall images. I really enjoyed taking these photos. I

hadn't taken any pictures since all the way back in August (except for the few apple

pictures), so it was nice to get a little practice in.

Linking to:

Vintage Inspiration Friday
White Wednesday
Farmhouse Friday
Saturday Night Special

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

FALL IMAGES - PART II

2011-10-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far. We have had the most

beautiful fall weather this week, making it such a joy to be outside. The summers are so HOT

here in Central California that fall can never get here soon enough for me, and when it does

finally arrive... YAHOO!!... it's absolute Heaven!

So, onto the fall decorating...

I first started decorating for fall by bringing in the apple green colored hydrangeas back at
the end of August. They've dried so nicely to the soft muted colors they are now. I gradually

added the pumpkins as they became available in our grocery store. I was so excited to see
the Cinderella pumpkins. We usually only get the bright orange and white ones around here.

I would have loved to have added some fall branches to the zinc pitcher, but our

leaves haven't started changing color yet. That usually doesn't happen until mid

November around here.

I think the rust color in the vintage metal garden table already adds some wonderful

fall color. It was so easy to just add a dried hydrangea blossom to the vintage white

ironstone compote and the white pumpkin to the space below.

Linking to:

White Wednesday

Saturday Night Special

Well, that's all for today, my friends. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

FALL IMAGES - PART I

2011-10-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you have all been doing well. We have had the most amazing

fall weather lately. We had our first rain, and it washed clean all of Summer's dust and smog. We've

had temperatures in the 60's and 70's for a week now, and it will be in the mid 80's all this week. I'm
absolutely lovin' it!

Today, I thought I would share some fall images of a simple vignette I put together in my mudroom.

This year, I decided to stay away from the spooky Halloween decorations and stick with pretty fall

decorating. My youngest daughter felt like she hit the Halloween jackpot and decorated her bedroom

with some of the decorations I didn't use this year. She had a ball... it was fun to see her get excited

about decorating and being creative. She did a great job! :-)

For the vignette, I brought in a fabulous Cinderella pumpkin (my new favorite), some vintage book

pages, and an oregano plant. I love the combination of the green and very subtle purple in the

oregano plant against the brownish-orange color of the Cinderella pumpkin.

This vintage French book page was a gift from Maria of Dreamy Whites (thanks Maria! :-)) that she
included with an order I placed from her shop months ago. Again, I love the combination of the faded
green color of the book page and the brownish-orange color of the pumpkin.

I took a few of the vintage book pages and wrapped them around the pot of the plant...

so simple.

This gorgeous vintage book page that is aged to perfection was a gift from Tracey of French Larkspur
when I ordered the current issue of Jeanne d'Arc Living from her online shop. Thanks, Tracey! :-)

Linking to:

Tuesday's Treasures

I took lots of images today of the touches of fall I added to my home, so I'll be back with

more fall images to share with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week everyone!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

HAPPY FALL!!

2011-09-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I hope you have all been well. That little blog breather was a nice

break for me.... gave me some time to step away from constantly thinking

about decorating and look for some inspiration myself, instead of always trying
to give it. I have definitely been inspired... There is so much wonderful Fall
inspiration in Blogland right now... lovin' it!

For me, nothing says Fall more than apples... especially fresh picked apples. I was able

to pick sooo many of them from our Fuji apple tree this year... 2-1/2 buckets full, and there

were still some left on the tree that I couldn't reach.

This was the first year that we've had enough to share with family and friends. We

enjoyed a delicious homemade apple pie that my mom's husband, Paul, made for dessert

one evening. We all went out for pizza and then came back to their place for pie. MmmMmm...

pizza and pie...... a nice, healthy meal...... It was sooo delicious though! ;-)

The pictures below are from a post I did last Fall.

I haven't started my Halloween decorating yet this year, but with October coming up

this weekend, I thought I would share this post with you to kick off the month of Halloween.

I hope you have all been enjoying a nice start to Fall. The weather has cooled down about 10 degrees

for us this week, but the high is still in the low 90s. The mornings and evenings are so pleasant right now, though.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

FALL CHANGES IN MY LIVING ROOM

2011-09-16T06:40:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

Today, I'm sharing my living room. It's been a while since I've shared any pictures from this room of

my house. This post is going to be short and sweet with lots of pictures again. I just haven't been in
the mood to write lately. Hope you enjoy...

I changed out the metal gate I was using for a fire screen, rearranged the display

on the hearth, and added some hydrangeas... very simple changes. Of course, this will

have to get changed out again in winter, when we're actually using our fireplace for heat.

Our sweet, little Ellie getting ready to take a nap on her favorite blanket.

One of my new favorite things to collect... grain sack lavender pillows. All of these are from

Maria's lovely shop, Dreamy Whites Online.

Well, that's it... like I said... short and sweet.

Linking to:
Farmhouse Friday

Now that I have all of the posts updated on my sidebar that I've been wanting to get
done, I'm going to take a little break from blogging for a while. I'm not sure how long...
I guess that just depends on if and when I think of something new and inspiring to blog
about. ;-)

So, 'til next time...

Take care everyone!

~ Jo :-)

MY KITCHEN and DINING ROOM

2011-09-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Today, I'm sharing some updated pictures of my kitchen/dining room. I'm not much in the mood
for writing today, so this post is going to be short and sweet...... just a lot of pictures.

Hope you enjoy....

If you're new to my blog and would like to see before pictures of my kitchen and read more about how

we remodeled it, you can do so by clicking here (before pics) and here (the remodeling story).

Linking to:
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Farmhouse Friday

Next, I'll be sharing my living room, and that will complete updating all of the posts on my sidebar

that I wanted to get done.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great day everyone!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

MY LAUNDRY ROOM

2011-09-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you're all having a nice weekend so far.

As promised, today I'm sharing my laundry room with you. I don't think I've ever showed the

entire room in one post... it's either been one side or the other. I wanted to put together a

post that would give a better sense of the room in its entirety, so I could replace what I have

on my sidebar.

The above photo gives you a look at the view from my mudroom into my laundry room and kitchen.

My husband and I built the shelf below the cabinets a couple of months ago. Some of you may

remember the post I did about it. It fills in the space nicely and helps to camouflage the faucets.

It's nice to have something pretty to look at while I'm doing the laundry, rather than just a blank wall.

Below is the view from the kitchen looking into the laundry room.

I like to keep all the walls and trim white in my home, not only to help bounce the light around a room,

but also to make it easier to bring in my antiques that have their original paint in various shades of

color. I used a nice warm, chalky shade of white called Cotton Ball from Ace Hardware Stores. I first

bought it years ago, before our little town had a Home Depot or Lowe's. I still love it and use it today.

The vintage tool caddy and jars are perfect for storing my twine and scraps of ribbon.

I chose subtle accents of green and purple to add fall color to my home this year, mostly

through hydrangeas and lavender. I like using green apples as well, as you can find a never-

ending supply at the grocery store, and they're a delicious, healthy snack to have in the house

for the kids....... though they don't eat them as much as I'd like them to. ;-)

I hope you're not all getting sick and tired of looking at pics of my home, because I still
have a couple more posts to put together of rooms I want to update on my sidebar.

Next, I'll be sharing my kitchen/dining room, and then onto the living room.

And, on a final note, I'm not one to write about my personal feelings on my blog, but
with the anniversary of 9/11 coming up tomorrow, it's on the forefront of so many American
minds. I just want to express how much my heart goes out to all of the families and people
who were effected by the horrible tragedy that was 9/11. The memorial they built in New
York is absolutely beautiful and perfectly fitting for the void that was left in so many lives.
My heart fills with pride when I think of all of the Americans who risked and even gave their
lives to save others on that horrible day in American history.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog. I hope you all have a lovely day.

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

MY MUDROOM ENTRYWAY

2011-09-06T06:40:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Today, I'm sharing my mudroom entryway with you. I've never shared it with you as if you were
coming from the outside entering into the room, so that's how I'll be sharing it with you today.
I've also made some fall changes to the room that I thought would be nice to share as well.

For those of you who are new to my blog, the roses in the above and below picture are called
A Shropshire Lad, and I bought them from the David Austin Rose Catalog.

I brought some hydrangeas and lavender into the room to bring in some fall color. The french door

leads into what used to be the garage. We started remodeling it a few years ago to turn it into a

playroom/family room. Well, with the economy the way it is, we've since ran out of money, so that's

a project that will just have to wait. We use it for storage right now, as you can see. ;-)

I designed the closets to create the nook and to have plenty of display space for all of my

enamelware collection. We then hired a contractor to frame it all out and sheetrock and build

shelves inside the closets. We also had him open up the exterior wall and install the french door that

leads to the carport. My husband and I installed all of the trim molding and bead board paneling.

Below, I simply bent the stem to hang the hydrangea from the top edge of the vintage ironstone
platter. It dried beautifully and will make a long lasting fall display.

The mudroom enters into the laundry room area, which then leads into the kitchen. This

room used to be part of the garage and was the previous owner's workshop at one time. By

the time we bought the house, they had turned it into a guest bedroom. When we decided to

remodel the garage to turn it into a playroom/family room, I thought this room would make a

perfect entrance to carry groceries in from the carport to the kitchen.

Well, that's it for today. Next, I'll be sharing updated photos of my laundry room, and then

onto my kitchen and so forth.

Linking to these fun and inspiring parties:

White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

Pretty Up Your Plain Jane Home Party @ Jennifer Rizzo

I hope your September is off to a great start. It's still very hot here... in the mid to high 90's all
week this week... ugh. I sure can't wait for that really nice 70-80 degree fall weather.

Have a great day everyone!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

FINALLY, ALL OF MY BEDROOM and A PICTURE OF ME

2011-09-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

Hi All! I hope you've all been doing well. I can't believe how quickly August just flew on by!

I think the kids being back in school helped with that. Life is always so much more hectic when
they're in school. ;-)

I finally have pics to share with you of my entire bedroom today. I was waiting to share them

with you, because my home is being featured in the Cottage of The Month for September over at

The Old Painted Cottage, and I didn't want to post too much about my home right before the feature

came out. Some of you have probably already seen the close-up photos before... sorry about that.

I hope you enjoy the pics anyway.

Have you seen my teeny, tiny bath yet? It's open to our bedroom... definitely not what I would prefer,
but we couldn't afford to do a major remodel... just cosmetic changes. I did a post about it shortly
after I started blogging a little over a year ago. If you'd like to see more of my teeny, tiny bathroom
and read more about how we remodeled it, you can click here.

My husband and I built the beadboard headboard. I thought of doing this a few years ago, but I

really wanted to try to find some sort of architectural salvage piece, like some doors or windows or

even a fireplace mantle, but after years of looking and having no luck finding what I wanted, it was
time to figure something out. I designed it to go high on the wall to add drama and architectural
interest to an otherwise bland, long wall. It took us all of one day to build... a couple more to paint...
and $150 in materials. It was a much cheaper alternative than buying a headboard and adding
beadboard to the entire room.

I bought all of the bed linens and tie top curtains from Pottery Barn and the antique grain sack

pillow covers from Dreamy Whites Online. I found the reproduction enamelware barn light

fixture seven years ago, when we remodeled our bedroom, for $20 at Home Depot.

I found this great European farm table a couple of years ago to hold a large flat screen TV that we
bought for the garage-turned-playroom that's still not done. After realizing that the playroom may
not get done for a while more, I decided to move the large TV into our living room, so it wouldn't go
to waste.

When redoing my bedroom to try to make it more special for Fifi's visit in hopes that she would want

to photograph it, I decided to bring the table in there to add something a little unexpected. It works

wonderfully for holding extra bed linens and pillows.

So, there you have it... that's my bedroom.

I want to thank Jennifer of The Old Painted Cottage for featuring my home in the 2011 September

Cottage of The Month. To see the feature of my home and a pic of me (for those of you who have
been wondering about the face behind SGC), you can click here.

Linking to these fun and inspiring parties:
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Pretty Up Your Plain Jane Home Party @ Jennifer Rizzo

Over the next few weeks, I'll be putting together posts of the various rooms in my home to update
the ones I have on my sidebar and to share some of the changes I've made for fall.

Fall... yaaay! I am sooo looking forward to some cooler weather!

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope you all have a lovely Labor Day weekend!!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

DESIGN SHUFFLE...

2011-08-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you're all doing well. Not long ago, I was honored to be contacted by
Emily Chadwick of Design Shuffle to do a guest post for my readers. Mari, guest blogger writer for
Design Shuffle, has put together a wonderful post about decorating with vintage windows and doors...
something I love to do, and I know you do too! So, here we go... enjoy!

**************************

Hi, everyone! I'm Mari and I write as a guest blogger for Design Shuffle, a fabulous social networking

site for interior designers, architects, design professionals and enthusiasts. I love my work because I

get to explore the beautiful world of interiors every day. Then, it's my job to write about the great

decorating ideas I discover along the way.

Here at Secret Garden Cottage, decorating is all about beautiful country cottage style. Thanks Jojeana

for letting us spend time with you and your readers.

As you can see here, Jojeana loves decorating with vintage windows and doors. So, when we were

asked to do a guest post about architectural salvage, we decided to focus on those two types of

vintage elements. We love to see how these pieces have gone from dusty and forgotten in the salvage

yard or flea market to places of honor in interior spaces. Please enjoy!

Dove Tales Antiques (via)

A whole set of vintage windows can make a big impact in a room's decor. They can be left with
panes intact or exchanged for mirrors. We like the look of both new mirrors and aged ones.

La Fleur Vintage (via)

Tall narrow doors like these would look stunning simply resting against the wall in most any room.

Missing panes just add character and even more vintage charm.

French Larkspur (via)

At French Larkspur, these 1920s garage doors look right at home in a studio. We think they would be

lovely anywhere. How often do you discover garage doors to bring inside? What a find those were!

Country Living (via)

Among several dining room design ideas, Country Living gave a nod of approval to this dining space

with its china alcove fashioned from vintage barn doors and a demilune window. Here, it's all dressed

up for the holidays.

Dreamy Whites (via)

A lovely mix of rustic and glamorous, the center of attention in this bedroom from Dreamy Whites is a

pair of aging doors.

Sunny Days (via)

For a mere $12, this six-pane window went from outside under a foot of snow to inside as part of a

beautiful vignette set against a mirrored wall. Doesn't it look great along with a mirrored star and a

smaller four-pane window inset with chalkboard?

Dreamy Whites (via)

Simple chippy vintage wood doors take a casual stance against the wall in this cottage living room--an

example of how country cottage decorating ideas for living rooms can be quick and easy, yet beautiful.

French Larkspur (via)

A single vintage door or tall window makes the perfect backdrop for a corner vignette. This one is

used beautifully as a rustic background for fragrant hyacinths--a welcome display of spring.

This post comes courtesy of Design Shuffle, where you can find top tier interior designs from around

the world – from New York interior designers, Los Angeles interior designers, and more, check out the

latest at Design Shuffle.

**********************************

That was a fun post... thanks, Mari and Design Shuffle!

I'll be back on September 1st to share all of my bedroom with you guys... finally!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

A HOOK RACK and HYDRANGEAS IN THE BEDROOM

2011-08-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a nice week. My daughters went back to School

on Monday and all went well. We're gradually getting back into the groove of things, and I'm

glad the first week is over with.

I brought some hydrangeas into my bedroom to hang on the hook rack I have in there, so I

thought I would share some pictures with you of how it turned out. It's such a simple way to

bring some life into a room, and they'll look just as pretty once they've dried.

I have a dear Italian pen pal (you know who you are cara Renee :-)) who is so graciously teaching me

her language as well as some French... she told me that carpe diem means "seize the day" in French,

although I had a co-worker of my husband tell him it was Latin... so I'm not sure... but I love the idea
of waking up to that expression every morning. ;-)

I love this hook rack that I bought at a local antiques shop called Good Goods last month. I was told

that the hooks are made from vintage porcelain knobs that were used on telephone poles way back

when to hang the telephone wires from. I love that they have some numbers and USA on each one.

You can click HERE if you'd like to learn more about Good Goods.

All of my hydrangeas started turning green a couple of weeks ago, as they always

do this time of year. They're now just starting to turn more of the purplish plum color

they always do in the fall. I really like the green color though... I think it makes an all white
decor feel so fresh and clean.

Well, that's all for now, my friends.

Linking to Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home.

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you all have a lovely weekend!!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

P.S. Shortly after I published this post, I was informed by one of my lovely readers about
CARPE DIEM. Here is what she had to say:

"CARPE DIEM in English 'Seize the day', CARPE DIEM in Italian 'Cogli l'attimo',

CARPE DIEM in French 'Saisir le jour', and it is a Latin word."

Mia cara amica (my dear friend) from Italy, Renee, also read my post and told me that
she knew it was Latin, too... it seems I was the only one who didn't know... lol. Sorry
about that Renee.

Anyway, I think that expression would sound wonderful in any language, don't you?!

Thank you for sharing this wonderful expression with me, Renee... and thank you for the
info, Rita! :-)

SEPTEMBER COTTAGE OF THE MONTH...

2011-08-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I hope you're all doing well. With September only a couple of weeks away, I feel like
I can finally share some news with you that I've been holding on to for a while now. Not long before
Fifi and Mark came to visit back in July, I was contacted by Jennifer of The Old Painted Cottage to
have my home featured for the September Cottage of the Month. I feel really honored that she would
include my home among so many other gorgeous homes... Thank you, Jennifer! I just hope mine
doesn't stick out like a sore thumb among all of the beauty that's over there.

I started taking pictures the week after Fifi and Mark came to visit (you can read more about that
HERE), since my home was the cleanest it had been in a loooong time. Today, I thought I'd give you
all a little sneak peak at some of the greenery I brought into my home for the feature.

Lavender and hydrangeas...

...thyme from our garden...

...white crape myrtle and green apples...

...and more lavender and hydrangeas.

Since I've taken all of these pictures, I've been at a loss as to what to blog about lately.

I can't share all of the pictures I've taken, because Jennifer would like to have new ones that

you all haven't seen before for the feature. I figured it would be OK to share these close-ups,

since they don't really give you any idea as to what the big picture looks like. And trust me,

there are A LOT more close-up pictures than these few that I shared with you today, as well as

full-room shots of nearly my entire house (except for my kids' rooms and the bathrooms).

Anyway, hopefully I'll find something new to blog about before September...

I hope you enjoy this little tidbit for now.

For lots and lots of gorgeous home tours, head on over to The Cottage of the Month at
The Old Painted Cottage.

Linking to Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground. Thanks for hosting, Debra!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Bye for now...

~ Jo :-)

FROM TREE TO TABLE... VICTORIA PLUMS

2011-08-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. My family and I had a wonderful time

at the coast over the weekend. I wanted to share pictures, but none of them turned

out that well, so I decided not to bore you with bad photos of the beach... what would

be the point of that, right? ;-)

I've been so inspired by all of the beautiful food photography in Blog Land these days,

that I decided to pick some of the nearly ripe plums from our plum tree to take pictures

of instead. These are Victoria Plums and have a reddish skin with a golden flesh, rather

than the more commonly known purple variety.

Most of you know how much I love beautiful photography, so I decided to have a little fun

and try to create some pretty photos using some vintage pieces I have and some flowers I bought

from the grocery store last week.

I still yearn for a better camera, so that I can manipulate the focus of each picture better.

Who knows when that will happen though, so I will have to just figure it out with the

one I have for now.

Linking to these fun parties:
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground
Farmhouse Friday @ LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Well, that's it for now. My kids start school next Monday. I'm going to miss the slow days of
summer vacation.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

HAPPY WEEKEND...

2011-08-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Just wanted to wish everyone a happy summer weekend, before I took off to the

coast tomorrow with my family.

These are some pictures of some cabbage Fifi brought for the photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. I

took these pictures the day after she and Mark left. I thought the green of the leaves looked so

pretty and fresh against the blue of the vintage enamel bucket.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! :-)

Bye for now...

~ Jo

HEADING OUTDOORS and THANK YOU...

2011-08-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far. :)

I want to thank my friend, Maria of Dreamy Whites, for her kind words about my kitchen and

for sharing the link to my blog with all of her readers. That was so nice of you, Maria... THANK YOU!
If you haven't had a chance to check out Maria's blog yet, you've got to check it out. It's filled with

so much beautiful inspiration that you just don't want to miss. Her home is absolutely gorgeous, and

her photography stunning!

I also want to thank those of you who left such nice comments about me on Maria's blog.

I read all of them, and they really meant a lot to me... you guys are the SWEETEST!

And, a warm WELCOME to those of you who came over from Dreamy Whites and are new to my
blog. It's so nice to have you here... thanks for stopping by!

It's been a while since I took any photos outside, so I thought I'd get a little practice in.

This is my puttering spot where I like to plant my potted plants. This is a space that's

not completely done, so I can't share the whole space with you. Hopefully, it will get done

next Spring, and then I can share more of it with you.

The sun is just brutal here in Central California, so I never go outside around the house

without my straw hat during the summer. It's a lifesaver, let me tell ya. ;-)

On another note, I wanted to introduce you to my friend Tricia's blog, A Rosy Note. Her stunning
photography has inspired me since I found her blog almost a year ago. She has a gorgeous home and
style that's sure to inspire you as well. I hope you get a chance to check out her beautiful blog.

We're going to the coast this weekend. I can't wait to enjoy some of that cooler weather.

I hope you've all been having a great summer so far... staying out of the heat...

keeping cool.

Our kids go back to school in a couple of weeks... I can't believe how quickly summer

has gone by this year.

Hope you all have a great weekend coming up!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

GLIMPSES OF MY BEDROOM and FIFI AND MARK'S VISIT...

2011-07-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing well. It's been such a long time since I posted last. The day finally

came for Fifi and Mark's visit, so now I'll have a little more time for my blog. As promised, I thought I

would share glimpses of my bedroom. I've never shared any pictures of my bedroom on my blog

before, because I just wasn't happy with the way it looked. Fifi coming to my home got me motivated

to make some changes though, and now I'm happy to say, I like my bedroom!

I just want to warn you... there are lots of pictures... hope you enjoy. :-)

Some of the hydrangeas from our garden were used in some of the photos. I was so glad

that I had one bush with fresh blooms on them still while Fifi and Mark were here, because

most of my roses had faded about two days before they came... I was so bummed!

These are some of the flowers that Fifi brought for the photo shoot.

My husband made this horseshoe nail cross necklace for me a few years ago. ♥

Fifi, Mark and Mark's son (assistant ;-)), Taylor, arrived at my home just before 1 p.m. They

had to drive all the way from L.A.... about a 3-1/2 hour drive! With not much time left of daylight,

it was a mad dash to get all the photos in before sunset. They immediately started in our master

bedroom... Fifi working her magic below. You can see part of the headboard that my husband

and I built. I didn't want to show you the whole thing, because Fifi did such a fabulous job

of making my bedroom look gorgeous. I really thought it would be best to see the whole room

in the magazines first. :-)

Here, Fifi's just getting started styling our LR. It looked completely different by the time she was

done... soooo pretty. It really was amazing to watch her and Mark work. They are both so talented...

and I have to say, I'm so jealous of all of Mark's photography equipment. ;-)

Mark was such fun to be around... always joking. He called me "J" the whole day. I had to laugh,

because my name is Jojeana and everyone has always had such a hard time knowing how to

pronounce it. When I was little, family and friends called me "Jojo". Then, when I was a teenager,

it became "Jo". I've joked for a while now that eventually people will just start calling me "J". I

hadn't told Mark this... he just did it on his own... too funny. Once I told him the story, he got a kick

out of calling me "J" all day.

Below, Fifi is trying to make friends with Ellie, our little Yorkie. Ellie was so jumpy all day... not sure

what to think of so much commotion in the house. You can see just a glimpse of the mess that was

made while Fifi and Mark worked their magic in each room of my home.

Fifi was an absolute sweetheart and so adorable! I just love her style, don't you?! She made me

feel completely relaxed about the whole day and was so down to earth and easy to talk to. I loved

her accent, and she taught me the correct way to say Jeane d'Arc Living ~ it sounds like Jon Dark.

I was so worried that the pictures I took of them throughout the day wouldn't turn out, and sure

enough, most of them didn't... too blurry... but, I love the one of Fifi below.

I want to thank Fifi and Mark for making the day such a wonderful experience for me and

for making a long-time dream of mine come true. It almost seems unbelievable. Things like that

just don't happen to people like me... I mean, I'm totally off the radar in the middle of nowhere.

It was such a pleasure meeting the three of you Fifi, Mark and Taylor!! It's a day I will never

forget. :-)

Can you guys believe that I FORGOT to have them sign their book, Romantic Prairie Style, while

they were here?!?! I mentioned it when they first got here, but we were so busy the whole day that

it completely slipped my mind by the end of it all....... bummer...... :(

OK... I've got to get off this computer now... my kids are hollering for me...

Thanks for visiting... hope you all have a wonderful week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

STILL FLUFFING... and AN APPLE BOUQUET

2011-07-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far. :-)

I'm still fluffing the house in preparation for Fifi O'Neill's and Mark Lohman's visit on

July 25th.... getting close now.... getting nervous.... getting tired of so much fluffing... lol.

Everything I'm doing is relatively simple, such as adding textiles and color through pillows

and tea towels. I decided to add a hook to the side of the kitchen cabinet (below) to hang

a tea towel off of. I think it finished off this corner of my kitchen nicely.

We have an apple tree in our back garden that has so many apples on the branches that

it's weighing down some of the lower branches down to the ground. Since I was pruning

the branches anyway, I decided to bring some inside to display in this zinc pitcher.... I was

curious about how it would look.... I think I like it. :-)

On another note... remember how I was looking for something to use as a headboard

in our bedroom? Well, I couldn't find anything, so I decided to build one. I really like

how it turned out. Maybe after Fifi's visit, I'll share my bedroom with you. I wasn't really

lovin' how it looked before, but I'm liking it better now. It's not exactly how I would want

it, but it's better than it was. ;-)

Thanks so much for visiting my little ol' blog! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend

coming up!

I probably won't post again until after Fifi's visit, so... 'til next time...

~ Jo :-)

I FOUND THIS GREAT STOOL...

2011-07-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I hope you're all doing well.

I went to some of the local antiques shops over the weekend to look for something to use

as a headboard in my bedroom... came home with this great stool instead.

I fell in love with the patina and the color the instant I saw it, but it kind of sticks out like
a sore thumb in my house. I don't have a lot of color in my home, and this stool really pops.

Still haven't found a headboard for my bedroom... I have a few ideas though...

Hope you're having a great week so far.

~ Jo :-)

Linking Up To: Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Commmon Ground
Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm

BRINGING SOME ROSES IN PART II...

2011-06-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hello again...

These are Heritage roses that I brought in from the garden this morning.

I'm sharing this post with the Midsummer Party at the lovely blog, Rose Garden in Malevik.

Thanks for visiting!

Have a wonderful day!

~ Jo :-)

BRINGING SOME ROSES IN...

2011-06-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a nice week so far.

I thought I'd share with you the pretty roses I bought at the grocery store yesterday.

There used to be a faux plant in this urn. I'd planned on removing it to place a live plant

in it when I got a chance. When I saw these roses at the grocery store, I thought they'd be

perfect. I used a loose weave ribbon of burlap to wrap around the pot.

I also switched out the faux roses in the tool caddy above the window for a vintage

French mason jar... much better, I think.

I hope you all have a wonderful upcoming weekend!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

MY NEWLY PAINTED OLD DESK

2011-06-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope all you dads out there had a happy Father's Day! We spent the day with my

Dad in Clovis and had a nice visit with family and friends.

Well, I finally finished painting the vintage desk that I have in my mudroom. It really was quite a

chore. I think it's safe to say that painting furniture is not one of my favorite things to do. ;-) It didn't

turn out exactly the way I had envisioned it, but I'm happy with it nonetheless. As promised, I took

some pictures to share with all of you. :-)

Below is a closer look at the distressing technique that I applied to the finish.

My husband and I finally framed out the window in our mudroom, too, so this room is completely

finished now... yay! The closet system was something that I designed when we remodeled this room

about three years ago. If you'd like to read more about that, you can click here.

To achieve the distressed finish on the desk, I followed steps from an issue of Jeanne d'Arc Living
magazine that showed how to add patina to mirror frames. In the JDL issue they suggested using
three different colors of paint: green, tan, and a final coat of white. I only used two different shades
of white, so that's probably why it didn't turn out quite the way I envisioned it. If you'd like to achieve
the distressed look I applied to the finish, these are the steps I used:

1. First, I removed the original stain finish using Formby's paint and poly remover, following

the directions on the can.

2. Once the finish was removed, I used steel wool to remove any left over finish and/or paint

remover.

3. I then applied a coat of the darker shade of white paint to the entire desk, letting it dry

for 24 hours. I applied a second coat of the same darker white paint to the entire desk

and let it dry again for another 24 hours. It took more than one day to apply a coat of paint

to the entire desk each time. I used a sponge roller for the side and back panels and the top of the

desk. I used medium and small sized brushes to paint the drawers, legs, and the thinner edges around

the panels.

4. For the final coat of paint, I used the lighter of the two white paints and used a brush to apply the

paint. I started with the large panels first. I painted one panel at a time. After

applying a coat of paint to one panel, I used a heat gun (or blow dryer) to dry the paint, applying

extra heat where I wanted to remove more paint. You need to ensure that the paint is 100% dry. Once

the paint was dry, I took a putty knife to remove some of the paint, revealing the darker white

paint underneath.

5. I repeated step #4 over the entire desk. This is what took most of the time to complete.

6. Once I was done distressing the desk with the heat gun and putty knife, I then distressed the

edges even more with some fine sandpaper.

Overall, it took me about two weeks to complete the desk with a few days off in between. The paint

colors I used were Valspar's Blizzard Fog (#7006-18 ~ the darker shade of white) and Cool Gray

(#7006-10) in a satin finish from Lowe's.

I think from now on, I'm not going to buy an antique or vintage piece of furniture unless it's already in

the finish I want with the patina I want. They're really hard to come by around here, but that was

just too big of a chore for me, and I much prefer the look of original paint patinas.

I have lots more projects and chores to get done around here before our special visitors come

at the end of July... still can't say who, but I will as soon as I feel confident that it's set in

stone. :-)

Thanks so much for visiting... I hope you all have a wonderful week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

P.S. Sorry for the lousy pictures... just can't seem to get good ones these days... don't know if

it's me or the camera???

A NEW SHELF FOR THE LAUNDRY ROOM

2011-06-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a nice week so far.

I've been wanting to build a shelf under our laundry room cabinets for a couple of years now to help

take the eye away from the faucets for the washer that sit high on the wall and to help bring the

cabinets down to eye level. Well, Mr. SGC and I finally got around to building it last week. I'm

really happy with how it turned out, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Now, I have to figure out what I'm going to display on the shelves in my hallway that I took
some of these pieces from... ;-)

Thanks for visiting! Hope the rest of your week is a good one!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

P.S. If you're here for a second visit to this post and are a bit confused by how different it is, I decided
to delete my first post about the shelf and just combine it with this one.

HYDRANGEAS ON THE MANTLE

2011-06-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a nice week so far.

I'm still working on painting that desk. I'm getting close to being done... just have the drawers

to paint and some more distressing to do. I brought some hydrangeas in from the garden

yesterday to display on my mantel, and I thought I'd take a few quick photos to share with you.

The sun finally came out, after about three days of being hid behind cloud cover. We

even had some heavy rain one day and the foothills and mountains were hid by fog.

I can't believe we had fog in the middle of June... we're having some crazy weather

this year.

Anyway, I've got to get outside and prune some rose bushes, now that we have some nice

weather.

Have a great day!

~ Jo :-)

INSPIRATIOIN...

2011-05-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend.

I finally had the chance to order Mirjana Schnepf's and Bianca Aurich's new book, Belle Blanc. It is

truly so inspirational... filled with page after page of beautiful images of fabulous decorating ideas.

I wouldn't be a very good blogger friend if I didn't share this wonderful new book with you.

It inspired me to make this bouquet of roses and hydrangeas.

The flowers and colors compliment each other perfectly.

This book is filled with inspiring images of how to decorate with white in the Nordic French

country style.

The text is in German... they still haven't come out with an English version... but, the pictures alone

are inspiration enough and well worth the extra shipping costs to the U.S.

You can find out more about the authors and their book by clicking here (their giveaway is no longer

going on... it's an old post from January).

Just wanted to share...

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

~ Jo :-)

IMPERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL

2011-05-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

I dried these roses...

ones that I bought from the grocery store before our roses were blooming in our garden.

They're no longer perfectly beautiful...

their petals shriveled...

color faded...

scent gone... imperfectly beautiful... at least to me.

I'm not a motivational speaker. I don't get all philosophical on my blog. I'm not a great cook,
and I don't travel the world, let alone my own state (very often). I lead a pretty simple life... happy,
but simple. My blog is just a place for me to blow off steam and be creative... and to share that
creativity through my pictures. It's meant purely for enjoyment (for me and hopefully you, too)...
nothing more.

In other words... I hope I'm not boring you (did I just hear a yawn?).

I wish you all a lovely weekend!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

MEXICAN PRIMROSE

2011-05-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far.

I'm linking up to Photo Feature Friday over at Tricia's lovely blog, A Rosy Note. The theme this

week is flowers, so I brought some Mexican Primrose in from the garden to photograph.

I used one of the vintage letters I have for the shot below. It's written by an American officer from
WWI who was stationed in France. I thought it was appropriate, with Memorial Day Weekend coming
up. I have nine of these letters from this officer to his wife. Some of them expressing how lonely he
is...about waking up in the middle of the night, but not fully awake... forgetting where he is and
thinking she's by his side... only to finally realize he's not at home... that he's in France, and she's at
home in the U.S. They really are so sweet... romantic and sad all in one.

We have a nice long weekend coming up... Memorial Day weekend. We don't have any major plans...

we'll just play it by ear.

Thanks for visiting, and have a lovely weekend everyone!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

MAY BLOOMS

2011-05-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Sunday, my husband and I went to the show,
while my mom watched the kids. We saw Water for Elephants... such a good movie... I definitely
recommend it.

Today, I thought I would share some pictures of the roses in full bloom in my garden.

I took these pictures of the garden about a week ago. All of the Scepter'd Isle roses were in full

bloom. These are absolutely my favorite roses in our garden so far. They are the roses in my

header picture... the color so soft and pretty.

Once these flowers are spent, I'll prune all of the bushes, and they'll bloom just as beautifully again

and again all the way through to the end of Fall.

This garden sure is keeping me busy right now, and I'm enjoying every bit of it... even when my arms

and back are aching from hedging our "lavender field ", vines, and bushes. Yes, I also did some
hedging over the weekend... LOTS and LOTS of hedging. ;-)

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Thanks for visiting!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

COLLECTING...

2011-05-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! I want to thank all of you who commented on my last post. Your input helped so much

for me to shrug off the old and bring on the new (header and button, that is ;-)).

Anyway, I love visiting all of your blogs to see what beautiful things you love to collect, so today I
thought I'd share with you some of the vintage and antique pieces I love to collect. These pieces are
just a small portion of all that I collect, but there was already a lot of pictures...so I'll share more in
another post.

I ♥ vintage books...

...I ♥ antique grain sacks, especially with monograms on them...

...I ♥ antique and vintage white ironstone...

...I ♥ vintage bottles, especially with old paper labels...

...I ♥ antique and vintage ephemera...

...and I ♥ so many more things, but as I said... I'll share those with you in another post.

Thanks again for all of your wonderful input on my last post. I'll be coming around to visit all of

you by the end of this week. :-)

I haven't linked up to any link parties in quite a while, so I thought I'd join Debra for
Vintage Inspiration Friday over at her lovely blog, Common Ground. Thanks for hosting this
fun party, Debra!

Have a great day everyone!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

ROSES and LAVENDER

2011-05-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and 'welcome' to my new followers! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We

enjoyed some local fair fun on Saturday. Our town recently had a new facility built for the

fair, so we definitely wanted to check that out. We actually had a lot of fun... ran into some

friends and hung out with them while we were there, and ended up taking an extra kid home with

us for a sleep-over afterwards. ;-)

Anyway, today I thought I'd share with you some pics I took of some roses I brought in

from the garden (Scepter'd Isle roses). I put together a little chair vignette for our mudroom

yesterday. I've finally started working on painting that desk that was in there, so the nook

needed a little something to take up the void until I get the desk finished. If You haven't

seen the desk I'm working on yet, you can click here... in case you're curious.

On another note... If you like the vintage tool caddy I have on my dining room table (click
on photo on my sidebar), Donna of Funky Junk Interiors is doing a "how to build a tool caddy "
tutorial on her blog with a fun link party to follow it up. Click here and here to check out all
the details.

Now I'm off to go do some blog visiting... I know you've noticed I haven't been leaving

comments on your lovely blogs anymore, but I'm still out there visiting them. There has

been a lot of wonderful inspiration lately... thanks for that!

Thanks for visiting, and have a great rest of the week everyone!

~ Jo :-)

THE SERENITY OF WHITE

2011-05-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a nice week so far.

I absolutely love decorating with white. It gives a home a serene, peaceful feeling and mixes

well with the rustic antiques I enjoy collecting so much. I think the trick to keeping white from
feeling cold and sterile is to use lots of different textures and varying shades of white, as well as
bringing some greenery into each room... in this case, with the roses and the wreath. These pics
are just me having a little fun with photography. I hope you enjoy them. :-)

The roses in this post are Iceberg roses from our garden. It's nice to have free
flowers to bring inside the house again. ;-)

Since this post is based on the color white, I'm linking it up to my friend Tricia's fun link party,
Photo Feature Friday. To see some really inspirational photography, head on over to Tricia's
blog, A Rosy Note. Thanks for hosting, Tricia! :-)

As for the photography details... I don't do any sort of processing to my pictures. What you
see is straight from my camera to my blog. I do increase the light setting on my camera,
depending on the amount of light needed for each picture. That's about it.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

'Til next time...

~ Jo

A LOVE AFFAIR... with roses

2011-05-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

I've been noticing on so many blogs that Spring has finally sprung for those of you living in the

colder parts of the country and in some of the colder parts of the world. There have been so many

beautiful photos of gardens waking up from their winter naps and trees blossoming... I've been

enjoying them so much. :-)

Spring sprung quite a while ago around here, and now the roses are in full bloom. Aaahhh... roses...

I just love everything about them! Well... maybe not having to prune them back every winter. ;-)

But, I do love watching the growing process of a rose... how it starts from a bunch of prickly sticks,

then unfurls new stems with their reddish-green leaves that eventually turn a glossy green, at the tips
of which buds start to form, growing larger and larger until the day that they finally open. And then, it
starts a whole new process of beauty... the show...

The roses in this post are called A Shropshire Lad, and I bought them from the
David Austin Rose Catalog. For those of you who are new to my blog, the silver
plants are Dusty Miller. They bloom yellow flowers, which I snip off before they open,
because I don't care for the yellow color in my garden (crazy... I know ;-)), but I love
the contrast of the silver foliage against the green foliage of the roses.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

ZINC PITCHER LUV AND PHOTO TAKING TIPS

2011-05-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, and happy Friday everyone!

I'm luvin' this antique French zinc pitcher I bought from Dreamy Whites Online a couple of weeks
ago. The patina is just perfect, and I luv the little band detail it has going around the middle of it.

I placed a bouquet of Scepter'd Isle roses from our garden in it. I think they give this vignette

a bit of a shabby chic feeling. I really like this vintage garden table too, especially the patina... but I'm

not so sure about those hearts on the legs. They may be just a little too fru-fru for me. I think I may

have my husband remove them to give the table a simpler, more sophisticated look.

Hmmm... should the hearts stay, or should they go? Decisions, decisions. ;-)
I also bought the lavender pillows from Maria.

I especially 'luv' the cool #8 this pitcher has on it.

I've been having fun adding a little French farmhouse style to my home lately, and I've really

enjoyed trying to get creative with my photography when I create a new vignette. I've
received a lot of questions about my pictures since I started blogging, so I thought I would
share a few tips. I still have a lot to learn myself, but I'm enjoying the process. :-)

A FEW PHOTO TAKING TIPS:

1. Read your camera's manual. You don't have to read the whole thing... look up what you
want to learn about in the table of contents, and read up on those things.
2. Turn off the flash. You will get more true color in your photos that way.
3. Use a tripod, or try to hold perfectly still while taking your photos. I personally don't have
a tripod, so I use a chair or table to steady myself sometimes, or I'll hold my breath while I
take my photos... thanks for that tip, Donna. :-)
4. Use the different settings on your camera. There are certain settings for the types of pictures
you want to take: a macro setting for close-ups; a button to increase or decrease the
lighting; settings for when the sun is behind the picture you're taking, etc., etc.
5. Get artistic, and try to think of everything that is in the frame of each shot. I don't crop my

photos... each one is as I took it.

6. Practice, practice, practice... have fun playing around with the settings and see what works

for you and what doesn't.

The camera I use is a simple point and shoot camera with zoom capabilities:
The Kodak EasyShare C743 with 7.1 mega pixels and 3x optical zoom.

****************

Now, I'm off to see what all of you have been up to.

Thanks so much for visiting, and I hope all of you mothers out there have a
Happy Mother's Day this Sunday!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

TIME FLIES!

2011-05-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

It was one year ago today that I started this little ol' blog. My how time flies!

I didn't want to let the day go by without putting together a post to say what a pleasure it's been
getting to know so many like-minded people and how much I've enjoyed the camaraderie that we've
shared over the past year. :-)

Have a wonderful day everyone, and thanks for following along!!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

A NEW OLD TOOL CADDY

2011-04-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday!

I've been wanting to find something to use for a new centerpiece for my dining table for a while, but

just hadn't been able to find the perfect piece... until now. It had to be something that could easily be

moved from and to the table, as my kids use it often to do their homework and art projects on. I

bought this wonderful French rustic tool caddy from Maria's lovely online shop (along with a few other

things, which I'll share in another post). I love the way the pale pink of these delicate Heritage roses
look against the rustic wood of this caddy.

I also ordered some antique French letters from Maria's shop, and she packaged them tucked inside

this fabulous vintage French book in the most wonderful shade of bluish-grey color. Thank you

so much Maria!! I love everything I ordered from your shop and this sweet book!! :-)

I used a green antique French canning jar that I also bought from Maria's shop to hold the roses and

tucked some white tapered candles in the caddy as well.

While I have turned off my comments and haven't been leaving comments out there in Blogland, I still

visit your lovely blogs from time to time to see what you've all been up to. This is just a less time

consuming way for me to continue blogging.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

HOW I USED ROSES TO BRING SOME SPRING COLOR INTO MY HOME

2011-04-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend with your loved ones.

I thought I'd share with you how I used roses to add some Easter color around my dining room and

kitchen. We had our Easter dinner over at my mom's and her husband's home, but we had dessert at
our house. We live right down the road from each other, so it makes it easy to do that sort of thing. I
put together a simple display on our hutch and added roses from our garden here and there to add a
little Spring color to our home.

I used this orange juice tumbler that I bought from Target as a rose vase.

I like the casual look of just one type of rose in my bouquets.

Below, a bouquet of the French Lace roses that I've been sharing so many pictures of from our garden.

I used Iceberg roses and rosemary sprigs to display in this caddy of vintage milk bottles and added a
ribbon with the word "Family" printed on it to the handle.

Well, that's it... just a short post with lots of pictures.

Thanks so much for visiting... hope you all have a lovely week!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

DELIGHTFUL BLOOMS... what I've been waiting for...

2011-04-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

...and why I love gardening so much. Whenever I feel stressed, angry, sad, etc., I go for a

stroll through the garden, and as I start to be further drawn into each flower... to all of the details

that make it so beautiful to me... I find myself forgetting what it was I was so upset about. My garden

is my haven... my place to get away from the things that weigh heavily on my mind... my place to

breathe... my place to just be in the moment.

The Pink Jasmine is just about in full bloom right now. The scent is so sweet and enjoyable. My

oldest daughter and I went for a stroll through the garden last evening, just before it was getting

dark. We went slowly from plant to plant, enjoying the different scents and beauty they had to offer.

This is something I've done with both of my daughters from time to time since they were little. Those

moments with them will always hold a special place in my heart and bring back happy memories of

when they were little (they're 10 and 13 now... still lots of sweet memories to be made :)).

Queen Elizabeth rose

purple flowered ivy geranium


David Austin's French Lace roses... just can't stop taking pictures of this beauty :-)

Mexican Primrose ground cover -- self-propagates

I hope you guys aren't getting bored with all of the pictures that I'm sharing of my garden, but that's

really where my head and my heart is right now.

Have a wonderful day and a very happy Easter everyone!!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)

HAPPY EASTER!

2011-04-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

David Austin French Lace roses

David Austin A Shropshire Lad roses and Dusty Miller

A purple flowered bush that I've forgotten the name of (not lavender) -- three bushes per mass .

David Austin's Heritage rose

White Bower Vine

I hope you all have a Happy Easter!

'Til next time...

~ Jo :-)