Up Before the Chickens

Welcome to Tablescape Thursday!

Be sure to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her lovely tablescapes and other participants as well. It's so much fun to see what people put together to share.

I'm not really a morning person, so I needed something bright to help me wake up on these sleepy mornings. I've gotten used to sleeping in a bit, but now that school has begun, I really need to get up a lot earlier.


My class begins at 7:50 am. Can you believe that? So to make it on time, I really do need to get up before the chickens!


I put this table together with some of my favorite things...clocks, books, my feathered friends, and my new favorite color ~red.

Aren't these little ones cute? They look like the are snuggling together in their "nest".




These "glasses" were given to me, the wooden pedestal was a GW find, and the apples are fresh and ready to be enjoyed.


I made these napkin rings out of jute. Vintage Indie has a tutorial on how to make them, they are so quick and easy! The dishes are from Bed Bath and Beyond ~I love the basket weave pattern. See the little candle holder? It is a thrift store find! I love it! It is actually upside down, but I wanted it to hold a votive. It worked!


After a yummy breakfast and a cup of coffee, I'm ready to greet my students!

I hope you have enjoyed my tablescape.
Enjoy your Thursday!

Something borrowed...

I'm borrowing my sister's backyard for today's post. She and her husband have a large lot and have basically transformed it from a blank canvas to an urban retreat. We visited this past weekend and I took a couple shots. A few of her yard decorations caught my attention, so I thought I'd share them with you.

She has a multitude of hummingbirds...

...love these guys.


How creative is this? There's an old record placed here...she's definitely a music lover!


These are so pretty...

Please visit A Southern Daydreamer for more Outdoor Wednesday.

Enjoy your day!

Sisters, Sisters...

If you are fortunate to have a sister, then you'll be able to relate to this post. You see, I have only one sister. She is six years older than me and has always had the role of my "big sister". With that title comes a lot of responsibility. She has to look out for me and love me no matter what.

Now, I will admit, we didn't always get along. Especially since I was the little sister with "cooties." I'm sure that I was always in her things, always playing in her room, and always embarrassing her. {Wasn't that my job?} As the years have progressed, our age difference has disappeared and now we rely on each other for just about everything. We are best friends, truly.

This week is my birthday and for my present, she found the sweetest things, two flamingos. They are absolutely gorgeous! They are the work of Brad Keeler. I hadn't heard of his work before, but since have read quite a bit. He studied art at USC and opened his own Glendale studio where he created naturalistic figures of birds and animals. His work is air~brushed and enhanced with hand~painted details. Especially popular were the flamingo figures. Now, I'm the proud owner of two!!

Sadly, in 1952, Keeler suffered a fatal heart attack. His company didn't survive the loss and closed its doors in 1953.

The second gift from my sister was a book she put together about our beach cabin. After Hurricane IKE, trips were made to the area to look at the property and to recover any items left from the storm. She had taken all pictures of the disaster and complied them in a book for both my mother and me. You see we all had a hand in building the cabin, however, it was the dream of my father and mother to have a weekend getaway. It is missed.



This is a picture of my father on the back deck of the cabin overlooking part of his land. He loved his cabin and the beach.
We miss him too. {1931~1987}

Thrifty Monday

I'm officially back at work, so my available time for thrift store shopping has been dramatically cut. However, after my question and answer session, I've learned a lot about everyone's thrift store shopping strategies. My favorite was to just go when you have the money! Loved that! However, now I'm also more keenly aware of the thrift store's discount days.

Here's my plan: I'm going shopping on Monday afternoons. By Friday afternoon, things are very picked over and the traffic here is horrendous!!! On Monday, I think that people will have dropped off their things the weekend before and by the time afternoon rolls around, the workers will have had time to process the things and bring them to the floor. I'll try this and report back.

Here are a few things I picked up this past week. We'll begin with these white plates.


I will freely admit that I don't need any more white plates, but these were priced at $0.79 each. I liked the basket weave around the rim and there were 8 of them. I just couldn't resist. They are Williams~Sonoma Marketplace ~ I think this is their outlet brand? If anyone knows, please let me know.

I also picked up these cups and saucers.




There were six in the set. They are so sweet and delicate...I think they'll be nice pieces to put with pink depression glass.

I also picked up this large pitcher. It's the color that caught my attention.

{It isn't spotty like this picture shows, it's actually a solid color.}


Here's my favorite part, I love the handle.

This is a glass picture frame. The back part was missing, but I thought I could use it for a tray or pedestal for an arrangement. For $0.49 I took it.


And finally, I picked up this easel. I loved the scroll work and the color. I'm planning on using it in my kitchen to hold my favorite cook book.


I hope you have enjoyed looking at my treasures. Be sure to check out Southern Hospitality for her weekend update. Here you'll find other participants as well and their finds while treasure hunting...you'll be amazed at all the terrific items!

Peaceful Blue...

This week, I'd like to share something from my church's courtyard. In this tiny space is a reflecting place with a mosaic cross. It is so pretty, peaceful and calming for anyone needing a bit of solitude.


If you'd like to see more amazing blue items, head over to Smiling Sally's Blue Monday.
Enjoy your Monday.

Summertime...

If you'd like to visit other Wordless Wednesdays, check out Simply Joyful Photos.






Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful Wednesday!

It's All About the Flamingo

Yes, I'm participating in Susan's Tablescape Thursday. But the post today is not so much about the table, but a flamingo. You see, he has quite a story, he's a survivor.

If you want to see "real" tablescapes, head on over to Between Naps on the Porch for creative and beautiful settings ~ all carefully constructed.

Here's his story. Last summer we had a beach house on a small sleepy peninsula near Galveston, Texas. It was the perfect retreat ~ a weekend getaway ~ and filled with seashell crafts made with little, loving hands, and gloppy glue. It also housed sea glass, well loved books, and of course a flamingo.

One stormy summer evening, IKE hit with a mighty blow. He struck with such force that homes were destroyed like matchsticks. One knew that building on coastal land was always a gamble, but a gamble that many took.

Here are before and after shots:

These pictures were actually taken by the United States Geological Survey. They were the first pictures we saw of the area. It was devastated. For comparison, USGS used yellow arrows. Our house is in the first picture, in the middle, and it's yellow. In the after picture, you can tell it's completely gone.

After it was safe to approach the island, we trekked our way through miles and miles of debris to try and recover any of our belongings. Guess who we found?

So this post is for my flamingo who survived IKE. He's a little battered, but still makes a memorable table.


He's a little rusty and his tail feathers are a bit crumbled...


...and he's missing a wing......but his feet are in good shape.




I think he's happy that he was found and brought home...

...to be the centerpiece of this summer table.

Mmmm....watermelon...a summer favorite. No longer eaten at the beach house, but enjoyed just the same.