Christmas is coming. . .

Welcome to our home, all decorated for Christmas!

We've had sunny, crisp, gorgeous days lately. Such a treat for this time of year around here.

I've been wishing for some real snowflakes.

Our tree is filled with collected ornaments from over the years including the very first one we purchased when we were engaged to be married 40 years ago.

Baby's first Christmas ornaments, too.

I've been wanting these large Heritage Hill jars for quite some time and finally purchased two in time for holiday fun. 

Funny story here: see the barn among these tin ornaments? Well, a few weeks ago I suddenly decided my Christmas theme this year would be barns. I began to hunt online for vintage toy barns. I also discovered Hallmark tin barn ornaments so purchased a couple on eBay. Last week I pulled out a box labeled "Christmas Village" thinking it would be my ceramic village pieces I haven't used in several years. It contained those plus all these tin buildings - that I did NOT remember I had, at all. I already had the barn, too! 

I did not do the barn theme after all, either. Heh.

No matter what theme I decide for Christmas decorating, the snowman always come to the party!

Our first Christmas with our new family members, yay!

Can't wait!

99% Finished

Good Morning!

Remember the bathroom remodel we were working on earlier this year? Well, it was mostly finished this summer before the wedding preparations began.

I've hesitated doing a long awaited reveal (yes, a reveal - cool!) because my little phone camera doesn't take clear photos in that space. I've tried from different angles using different lighting. Now I've decided not to wait any longer. 

First, here is the bathroom some 25 years ago.

And here it is today.

Between than and now I took down the wallpaper, painted the walls green and purchased a new shower curtain (after some 20 years using the lace one - it wore like iron plus I was SO indecisive, heh!). I can't seem to find any photos of that stage of the room.

I love, love, love the new hardware which will also be installed in the rest of the house. No more shiny brass!

The 1% unfinished is a mirror for the built-in frame. We just hung up the old one for now.

I am loving the heated tile floor. Highly recommend it!

A couple of pumpkins decorate the room for Autumn, of course!

I am very Thankful this season for my new bathroom.

On to the rest of the house!

Creativity

I was having a Facebook discussion with a friend recently.

She has been sharing a beautiful painting she is working on and I've been amazed at the strokes that produce such art. I told her I wished I could paint or even draw and hoped to give it a try someday. But my expectation was not to do anything like she is doing, it's not "in" me.

She then reminded me of my garden and I once again realized that it is such an important creative outlet. 

It is most definitely "in" me!!

I overflow with gratefulness when I am getting my hands dirty

or visiting a nursery

or filling the trunk of the car with plants

or weeding (truly).

I overflow with thankfulness when gifting someone with cut flowers

or a bag of homegrown carrots

or sharing photos of blooms.

Or hosting a wedding in the garden!!!

Thank you, friend, for reminding me of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autumn home continued. . .

Here's a few more snapshots of Autumn around our home.

The first thing I display every Fall is this darling pumpkin made by my niece when she was in high school. Makes me smile and feel at home.

I think deep orange tones compliment blue so amazingly, like Autumn leaves against the blue, blue sky.  

Like my comfy throw against the blue couch. Many a nap is taken snuggled under it!

More fun pumpkin treasures. I look for natural toned or deep orange colors instead of Halloween oranges.

Love this cute little box that I use for napkins.

I used to collect tea cups and saucers, not so much anymore. But I've kept some seasonal ones to enjoy on display.

This flower handled set is a favorite.

Old, old Royal Albert Maple Leaf cream and sugar.

My niece and I both like to have seasonal books in a basket. (How do you like my "hardwood" floors, heheh!)

There are a few flowers left in the cutting garden for the table.

I did make the table runner (machine quilted by Anne Jones). 

And I am taking notes on which dahlias were excellent cut flowers and which I'd like to replace.  Deep purple (like the wedding flowers - gorgeous!) and a rich orange bloom.

Maybe next year I'll even grow pumpkins!

I love my house best in. . .

Autumn!

My favorite tree, a Japanese Katsura, is beginning to turn yellow. The leaves fill the air with a sweet smell as they fall, very etherial. 

This greets you by the front door.

Open the front door and come on in - this is the first thing you'll see. I love to decorate my hall tree seasonally. 

I love, love, love pumpkins and have gathered sweet ones over the years.

The painting is an original by Cathy Horvath.

An autumn quilt I made awhile back.

And a fun mini quilt I purchased.

Even though my favorite seasons are Spring and Summer, I fall in love with Autumn every year. Pumpkins seem to capture my heart once again.

The story of an arbor.

Howdy, I'm back!

It's been a crazy, awesome, amazing summer.
But I have a background story to tell.
It's the Story of an Arbor.


Years ago, over 25 years ago, when we moved to the island I had not been a gardener. I began poking around the garden at our rental, planting a few things, enjoying the rhododendrons, clematis and rhubarb. A few years later we ended up building our house and then I had a whole bare yard to landscape. I loved to drive around the island and spot colorful gardens. I especially loved to find white rose arbors.

One beautiful day in May I decided to photograph my favorite, over there on Falk Road on the East side of the island.

As I began snapping photos, I noticed an elderly man standing at the end of the walkway behind the fence. I quickly went over to him to tell him what I was doing (and ask permission after the fact!).

He warmly said, "Come in, come in!" I then met his wife who suffered from a bit of dementia but was as warm as her husband. They gave me a tour of their vintage house and yard which I immediately wanted to buy!! The dining room had windows that viewed Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier.

Yes, he had built the arbor.
He had also built all the picket fences around the property from old sewing machine crates! He had been a sewing machine salesman for years and kept the crates. He'd built birdhouses, too, that dotted the property. "Bring your husband over," he said. He wanted him to take any arbor measurements he needed in order to build me one.

And hubby did, almost an exact copy.

With our youngest son's help, he built the arbor and a picket fence.

Yup, I hand dug the shape of the garden and began planting.
I think I fell in love with gardening right about then.

Things began to grow!

And grow!

And grow!

Until one day my young niece looked at the garden and named it The Wedding Garden all the while dreaming of getting married there someday.

But when she married 5 years ago, she needed a bigger venue and chose a gorgeous farm setting.

I didn't dream that one of my sons would get married by The Wedding Garden. Um, they just don't talk about that stuff much while growing up :)  But to our surprise and delight, our oldest son got engaged this summer and our soon to be daughter-in-law loved The Wedding Garden.

So we busily got ready.

New pickets and fresh paint.

We had painted the arbor (and house exterior) last summer, thankfully!

Until all was complete (well, as much as a garden is ever complete!)
And on September 7 our son married in front of the arbor.

(Photo credit Christin Spradling)

It was an amazing day.

Thank you, Mr. Hamro, for generously sharing your handiwork. You would have been delighted to see what became of your inspiration!