~DID YOU HEAR WE IRISH ARE CLAIMING EVERYTHING GREEN TO BE OURS?~

Between Naps on the Porch hosts this lovely event.

Yep, it's true...all ours. :)

I simply cannot find the two boxes that contain my St. Patrick's Day things...it's out there...but ...(shrug..)


Last year when my son's and their wives went to Ireland, they brought this home with them..and I have posted it before..but I am trying to qualify for the St. Patrick's tablescape...so.. LOOK, I CANNOT find the darned shamrocks and clovers! I looked! OK?

Yes, I just picked these and I love that I can do that again. I missed it. I am not great at arranging. I just plop flower into a vase, in this case my new GW cherry pitcher! :)

My new bunnies from Pottery Barn. (Shoot, those places are expensive. Back to GW!)

My china is Nortaki and the pattern is Goldcourt. It was sent to me many years ago from Viet Nam by Patrick.
...and of course my garage sale find of INTERNATIONAL sterling. Pattern Prelude. (sigh :)

Another garage sale find from a long time ago. It says only CROWN sterling on the bottom.

The birds nest chargers are, of course, from Pottery Barn.

The sweet little napkins are from Pottery Barn. I fell in love with these but only got two. Yeah. And you KNOW why don't you...


The nest was a "heads up" from Penny@ Lavender Hill Studio. Thank you Penny. I love it. It just arrived today.

Have a wonderful week and hug everyone you see! Ok..just kidding! :)
Mona

~MY FRONT PORCH IS BLOOMING ...~

A Southern Daydreamer hosts this lovely activity..

My front porch...that Winter only touches lightly, and kisses goodby until next December rolls around. Native Californian's are not used to cold hard winters...and all I have is my memory of them from childhood.


I wished for cold and I wished for snow, and the quiet peacefulness that comes with it.. but it never came. So I visited and read about it..and looked at it..and that would have to do.


I didn't do anything all Winter on the porch and it really had begun to look neglected. So yesterday I began snipping here...and snipping there.. and favorite bunny began to be more noticeable


A couple of buckets of dead twigs and leaves and vines..and it began to look a bit better. A bit..

I will add flowers to the little wagon and under the fountain..but that's it. WOULD you just look?! I did good on this shot. I was trying to catch the Honey Bee but missed him. One of these days...I will take pictures like the big girls do. :) And you KNOW who you are out there! I am proud of this photo..it's the best I have done..little Bee or no little Bee! Wow..I must have hit a button of some kind. Made me smile when I saw it.


These flowers cover the entire front of our home. They get cut down to the very ground and in nothing flat they are back up...and seem to have been a great choice (by accident) for this hot dry area. That "Amend" works wonders!

A couple of ferns for the iron pot holders..and that should do it. I think! :)

Can you see them up there? The pot holders...all rusty from our fierce weather here in California?! I cannot tell a lie. I bought them in Missouri at a flea market on a vacation.

and he said nothing would grow there..never has in 45 years. Good old "Amend" and just look!

This was full of long grass and weeds and again Sweet Husband said nothing would grow. :):) But it did.





I didn't even get a chance to wear my new winter coat. Darn! And my new scarf!
However, The Mele got to wear hers!! NOT fair I tell you!
Maybe next Winter.

Love and hugs,
Mona

~AN APOLOGY IS IN ORDER...~

Hi...
Not much today and no show and tell for me. I'm afraid I need to apologize to some of you for not getting your "buttons" out sooner. I DO grab them with every intention of putting them on my blog. I'm trying to catch up.

I wrote one of my sweet blogger friends last night and told her I was falling behind, and did some bellyaching. I am getting a taste of what others have gone through when they wanted to pull the plug on blogging. Not yet, I'm still enjoying it and I know that there are going to be moments like this when you just cannot find a thing new to put out there.
Or you don't want to write what really goes through your head.

There are so many buttons to post and sites I want to visit and comments I want to make that are worth writing and it just is not really getting done. I want to do the "meme's" as they are called..but they are over before I remember that it is time for them. So I seldom get one done. Anyway, I'm sorry. I really do want to join in doing things, and visit and take part..but..it isn't working.

To my blogging friend I wrote to last night, please do forgive me for dumping on you. It was not the thing to do. I found out you cannot get a letter back if they are not on the same server! Frustration sort of took over..I won't do that again. It wasn't right and I feel bad about it.
Love and hugs,
Mona

~DO YOU EVER WONDER...~

why in the world you ever buy anything NEW when you can get lovely things for almost nothing? I do! I think back of the money I have spent over the years on all sorts of household things, tools, outdoor patio things.
Of course there are things you can't and should not buy second hand..but...just things that make a house a home..and a nice home at that....

Today, even with the threat of rain, we were out by 8am this morning. There were almost no garage sales at all. Even the listed ones were pulled due to a rain threat.
But on our way home after stopping briefly at a couple..then to our usual pancake breakfast...we stopped at one more...
..and on a blanket in a pile of junk was this..blackened by what appeared to be a fire. Soot covered the poor thing and it really did look hopeless..plus there were some of those places in the bottom I knew were a loss.
But I asked the price anyway..

See the Reed and Barton sticker? It is also inscribed right into the bowl but it is difficult to see.
The man said with a pause..two dollars. I shook my head and said no thanks, no quibbling, and we left. We went to Walmart and then started home. I told Sweet husband that...maybe I should go back and take another look at the bowl. No problem he said...
So back to the garage sale we went. No one was there..and the clouds were gathering darker and darker. I jumped out of the car and said "I'm back!" when he came out of the garage. He remembered me and said.."Ah yes, the bowl." It was still there so I picked it up and said "what in the world happened to this bowl?!" He said.."oh well, I use that thing on top of my hamburgers when I barbeque and it got kind of scorched..." I said "50 cents?" and he said sure..
took the poor thing home and went to work on it.
I think it turned out just beautiful..I saved it's tiny life! :) It will help make my home a bit prettier. I appreciate it. So will sweet daughters some day.

Last garage sale a block from home..this little blue and white (I have a weakness for this blue and white..)plate. I needed this like a hole in the head, but...
It came home with me too. For this I paid $2.00! But after all, it's Royal Delft..and anything "Royal" has to be good. Well, that's what I thought anyway...

And that was Saturday. Big thick Tuna sandwiches and salad in front of the fireplace. Ah..Saturday's. Love 'em! I hope all of you out there had a wonderful Saturday!

Love,
Mona

~MY LITTLE QUILTS AND FOUND TREASURES...~

My little Mele waiting patiently to share my morning toast...



Someone asked me about the little quilt I have on my table. I have several of them and I bought them at Tender Heart Treasures. I'm sure many of you have heard of it. I seldom buy anything from those little catalogs, but as for the little table toppers or throws, I have found theirs to be wonderful. Softly aged.

The garage sales have been rained out for the past two weeks..and could be tomorrow by the time you are reading this. So yesterday we decided, since we are RETIRED and can do what we want we would spend the afternoon going to Thrift stores..namely Goodwill and Salvation Army.

At the Goodwill Store I found a pretty print of a bunny with TWO mattings of rose and white for with a perfect frame. A little milk pitcher, a wonderful heavy pewter frame with velvet backing in perfect condition.
At Salvation Army, a Pottery Barn red and white checked shower curtain and matching window curtain from JC Penny's Home collection, a etched glass brandy sniffer and a Westmoreland milk glass larger creamer.

I loved this little frame, perfect for a grandchild's picture...in like new condition for .99 cents. VERY heavy!
It's difficult to see the cut double mattings but they are very nice. The back is totally covered and the frame is beautifully made. It cleaned up so nice. Not a single scratch on the glass. $2.99. Not bad at all!

The Pottery Barn shower curtain is nice heavy material. The curtain with the buttons will be made into a valance for the bathroom window. I will use the large covered buttons on it to make tie backs for the shower curtain? I got the shower curtain and window curtain for $8.00. Someone made a mistake, I'm sure. I scored! Yippee!

I thought this little milk pitcher was so sweet with the raised cherries. 99 cents. It can be used for so many things..including MILK. :) Can you see the large covered buttons on the curtain? It doesn't look like it was ever used.

I hope you can see the leaves and vine etched in the brandy sniffer. $12.50. Not a great deal but remember the apothecary jar I broke? The lid must might fit this..we shall see.

And this Westmoreland milk glass creamer. $8.00. I collect Westmoreland milk glass..so to me it was a deal. Enlarge the photo and look at the grape vines..sooo pretty.

I just put some apples in the sniffer so you can see the size.

We had such a good time and that's what it's all about. Finding deals and enjoying the day. So..Di..get out there! All of the deals will be GONE! (I'm teasing! I know ya got SNOW!) :)

We have been taking loads of things to Goodwill since we redid the house. Out with the old and in with the new. I am off to bed!

Love and hugs,
Mona

~SLEEPLESS IN RIVERSIDE..because of greenery??~

When one can't sleep because she dove into bed at 8pm and back up and at the computer at 2am, a bagel with strawberry jam and left over coffee with Vanilla creamer hits the spot! I know. It's NOT good..but I can't SLEEP I tell you!


I have a question. I don't think I am going to like the answer..but..Shelia's last tabletop post has given me a bit of a heads up..and as sweet as her encouragment is when I mentioned it to her...I am..well..thrown.
You see..I like silks..good ones of course :) but silks never the less. You can hardly tell them from the real and besides it is nice not to have to water them..although I do have a couple of live plants in the house right now. (NOT in great shape.)

The question is about ..I cringe here...silk greenery on top of my cabinets...
YES..I have that and now I understand it is...not thought to be really..the thing to be doing fashion wise. I love the look. I do. I have them on my fireplace..to hide that it is uneven..and on top of my cabinet in the living room. Etc. etc.

You know how you see things around your home, but you don't really? I am afraid I have done that. Hung onto an old decorating fashion and not even known it. Now that I think about it..my daughters don't have them. They have never said anything..but still. It's like wearing white lipstick after it is ten years out of fashion. You know what I mean? I would have never known had I not read Shelia's post on NOTE SONGS.
She defends using them too..and told me to never mind..and do what makes me happy, that she certainly is...but...perhaps it is time for a change.


I love this little wooly sheep with his velvet face and feetsies! He sits on my desk...sometimes above it and sometimes in front of me. I think he likes me! :)

Of course I have more serious things on my mind than ivy and whether it is in fashion or not. Lots of them..or I wouldn't be sitting here trying to turn off my mind and relax. Earthquakes all over the place and the economy, getting old and struggling with health problems..just all of it.
But here is the thing. My family is well and I thank God for that. They have worries like everyone because they have businesses that are struggling and children trying to start out in life during hard times. But that has always been the case over the last century and will be over this one.
We all have our worries..our hurts..our reasons for not being able to sleep sometimes..but we have each other. Right?
I like to think we do.
Hugs and love,
Mona

p.s. NO NO! Shelia said NOTHING to me. I was only reading her post and asked her about the greenery thingy..and she immediately tried to tell me NOT TO WORRY! THAT SHE WAS GOING TO USE HERS AND WHY SHE USED IT! She never did or said one word to
LOL :) cause me any loss of sleep. :) She read this and worried...oh dear! It's ok Sweet Shelia!!

~I NEEDED A PAIR OF SCISSORS..be careful what you wish for..~

A few minutes ago..was looking for a pair of scissors, forget now what I wanted to cut! Anyway, I pulled open the kitchen drawer and began digging around and THIS is what I found!!


Good Grief Gertie!
Why would anyone have this many pairs of scissors in their kitchen drawer! I need another cup of coffee...maybe some chocolate??
Hugs,
Mona

~TABLETOP TUESDAY CAN CURE THE BLUES..YOU BET..~

I am joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday. I visted Marty's blog today and she inspired me! So..thought I would give it a try.


I did my tabletop in a quilt and used my red Mosser glass, fresh flowers and filled my new red Mosser bowl with faux lemons and cherries. My most favorite colors of late!

My LARGE kitchen salt and pepper shakers...
...and my OH so red butter dish...

MY SPOONER! I spent most of my life not even having heard of a "spooner." Ah well..one can't know everything, can one?

Of course my Mosser buscuit jar!

My NEW Mosser fruit bowl that I got for Christmas from eldest son and wonderful DIL.

And...a rooster and hen. Copley to be exact. I just had to have a rooster in there! (LOVE them roosters!)
Ok. All done. That was fun! Thanks Marty, for the wonderful inspiration! I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this! And...it helped get me out of my doldrums! :)

Love and hugs,
Mona

~TODAY WAS HIS BIRTHDAY~

Today would have been Patrick's 76th birthday. I met him in high school. He was 17 and I was just fifteen. He should have lived. He should not have smoked but he thought he was invincible, I think. I wish he had been. No one is.
He has missed so much. We had such plans.


I like to think he would be happy about the way I am leading my life and his children are all leading theirs. I think he knows I'm doing fine. We are all well..and miss him. He was my Irishman.

We always celebrate our Irish backgrounds..and this year is no exception. A big party is planned.. I'll take pictures..
He would have liked that I think...

Love,
Mona