i love the smell....

I love the smell....

of fresh ground coffee.... especially when you have cobwebs in your eyes and your senses are still asleep.

of a newborn baby.... even a stinky little newborn baby smells sweet as a flower.

of wood smoke.... an open fire, family and friends gathered around, and you're trying to dodge the smoke..

of fresh baked cookies.... especially chocolate chip. I don't eat them though until they're cooled off as I don't like warm, soft cookies.

of my husband's deodorant.... what can I say. I love him so much and forever more, even after he's long gone, that smell will always bring me back to loving thoughts of him.

of lilacs and roses.... I must be anticipating spring!

of fresh cut herbs.... I especially like to brush them through my fingers so the smell lingers a little longer.

of home grown tomatoes, peppers, corn..... there's nothing sweeter.

of fresh sheets..... although I have to say that the Natural sheets we use don't have that same smell as other fabrics.

These are some of my favorite smells! What's your's?

red tuesday

I feel like I need to make up for blue Monday since I haven't posted anything yet. But I've been so busy at my job.... and I use that term lightly because working at a nursery is anything but a job. On the worst of all days, it's still the best place to work. Needless to say, I go when I'm not scheduled to work, because they need the help, and when I try to leave, it seems it takes two hours to get out of there. So today I'm tired. I know I should stay away on my off days but.... they need me....

I love oddball saucers--any shape, color, or size--and find them useful in many ways. IF I had posted on blue Monday, here's what I would have shown--blue dishes. There's a story behind the one on the bottom.... As a child, this was our dinnerware. My mom gave me what was left of it; I don't recall that it was much of a set of anything, but mostly sentimental. Eventually I had only a few pieces left and I gave them to the Salvation Army. One night we were at a friends for "happy hour," and she had served us on similar saucers. Tracy commented, "my mom used to have dishes just like that!" of which I replied, "but I took them to the Salvation Army...." Sherry (our hostess) exclaimed with excitement in her voice, "THAT'S WHERE I GOT THESE!!!!" Okay, all I'm going to say is my daughter was not a happy camper that I actually got rid of something without her getting first dibs and I've never ever been guilty of that since....

But Tracy takes our family heirlooms to heart. We don't have anything of great value, but if it's been handed down from family, it has value. I love her for that.

Okay, red Tuesday. I don't have a lot of red, but I love red as an accent. I wanted a red couch when we moved into our present home--one from Pottary Barn--but didn't have the courage to get it.... That would have been way out of my comfort zone! But I think I could pull it off now.... I am, after all, older and wiser, and really don't care so much about what other people might think.... But I don't have a red couch and my red accents are limited. These are little cheese spreaders. I love cheese spreaders; you can find them all year long; and are useful for so many different things. They're fun!


And this is an old jar with a real old (not newly painted) red lid. I love how it looks with marshmallows in it :)

And my lady. I'm sorry to say, I don't know anything about her but here's a closeup of her head. She's so precious; such a classic beauty with her delicate features. She's 12" tall. She's not porcelain; I'm not certain what she's made out of; and the material is a little pitted like it's soft. There aren't any markings of any kind on her. Here's what I know though.... When my mother was a young girl, she lived on a farm on Pete's Mt. in West Linn, Oregon. They didn't have a lot of money but one day she walked down the mountain (which had to be a couple miles), all the way to Oregon City (which had to be several more miles), with 15 cents in her hand. With this 15 cents she bought this beautiful lady. My mom entrusted her in my care many years ago and she's one of my most beloved treasures. I did find information on her on the Internet several years ago but have spent the last couple days trying to relocate the site, with no luck. I'm glad you enjoyed her. I have no plans on relocating her.... to Tracy's home.... for very long time. Like I said, this is one of my most valued treasures from my mom.

Hope you had a good day!

white sunday

milk glass pitcher

lady in the wind figurine

music box

These are some of my favorite things.

But on this horribly windy, rainy, nasty Fall day, my white Sunday is brighter simply by looking at this beautiful dining room.

It's from one of my favorite blogs--Cherry Hill Cottage. Tina has such clever decorating and crafting ideas. I drool over her blog every single day..... aahhhhh

black saturday

What a depressing thought.... black Saturday! But it is dark and dreary here in Juneau. I'm hoping it will clear up some as I need to work outside this morning. I walked through the yard the other day, with tablet in hand, and made a list two sheets long of new and continuing projects and repair work that needed to be done from the harsh winter. Now, I just have to hire a staff of 14 to get it all done! :)

I love a good, strong cup of coffee in the morning. Don't give me weak coffee! And a bold taste, not something whimpy. Whole beans, not canned. My husband loves Starbucks Sumatra and that's what we buy but it can be any brand of good coffee for me. Tracy will give us Heritage coffee for different occasions and it's just as equally good, but you can't convince my hubby to mix and match all on his own. Funny man. I very seldom will drink more than a cup or cup and a half but sometimes, on an ugly day, will long for a second cup.

This is my favorite display of black. My first husband brought these face plates from an old door back from a hiking trip one day. He found them up in the mountains where I suspect there were some old mining shacks. I absolutely love them. They're so ornate. The picture on the left is of a magpie. Not only is this a pencil drawing in black and white, but magpies are a gorgeous black and white as well, with a longggg tail. We only see them in the late fall for a couple days and then they move on. The picture on the right Michelle (my son, Bucky's, fiancee) gave to me. It's of whales and I think are a perfect addition to my black display.

Have you ever gone clam diggin? As kids we did all the time. We had a cabin at the coast (Netarts, Oregon) where we spent our summers. We just had to walk across the street and down the bank with shovel and buckets in hand and dig to our heart's content. Course, I suspect.... as children we didn't think it was so much fun.... but more drudgery than anything! I can just hear us whine..... do we have to.....! But as adults we have the privilege of remaking our memories as the need arises..... I'd rather remember getting up at the crack of dawn, stumbling down the hill with sleep still in our eyes with shovel and bucket in our hands, wading knee deep in tide water digging for the elusive clam, and then hauling full buckets of steamers and quahaugs back UP the hill, scrubbing, and cleaning as a good memory rather than one I disliked. Anyway, THIS old wire basket was used for collecting clams. Another treasure I inherited when my parents passed away. We could easily set this on the beach and the tide would flow in and out of the holes and the bucket would stay put. Good memories.....

That's all the black I have to share today.

brown friday

Looking around my home, most of my favorite things are brown or framed in brown, or its brown furniture, or brown tones of something or other. I never realized how non-vibrant my house was before! Hopefully the cute little items from Splendid Designs will bring a little color into my life. I can hardly wait to get them!

Take this nest. It is a real bird's nest that my husband found down south when he was working and house sitting. I love bird nests and have several real ones laying about the house. They work so well for holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving as well. They're perfect as a simple nest or with some tiny bird or eggs set inside. I particularly love Jeanetta's Live Love Laugh eggs in her nests and may have to consider doing something like that, just to add a little color.

And this vintage cheese container. I think it's an old cheese container. It's another memory of my parents. My mom had it in the dining room for as long as I can remember. The wood lid comes off and inside is an amber color glass jar. It has copper trim around the top and bottom. Don't tell anyone, but when I was young, this is where I hid my money....


This is an old garden plow that belonged to my ex-husband's great uncle, Stan Price. He lived at Pack Creek on Admiralty Island here in Alaska and was known as the Bear Man of Pack Creek because he lived peaceably with the brown bears. This is one of my favorite treasures and makes perfect yard art.

These are just a few of my favorite "brown" treasures. I hope you enjoyed looking at them.