If I had a house in California ...

I would want to live in any one of these beautiful Craftsman style houses. We just got back from California to visit our girl, and I have to show you a few of my favorite houses in her neighborhood.  This first house has a front yard of mostly succulents and the purple front door to match the purple japanese maple trees.

 these hen and chickens are growing in the walk way!

This was one of the coolest back yards.  I drooled over it every day while walking the grand dog, Max. That is a window pane built into the fence, for people like me to peep into. So I did. And even took the liberty of taking this picture. They had raised beds on one side of yard, stone walkways, and the like.   One night these people had a party . . the back yard had lights hanging in the trees.  It was beautiful.  I wanted to crash the party . . maybe asked to go inside and look around.

I love the old school house porch light on the front porch of 312 North Street

I have always wanted to have a 3-digit address.  

This goes back to my courier days, delivering to the 3-digit estates in Memphis

who doesn't love a red front door?

s w o o n ....  

318 Plaza 

and it just goes on and on . . . 

these folks seem to enjoy every bit of their porch

I think my front door is painted close to that color now.  so, I am getting there, right?

 This one is under a major over haul.  The guys living there had a yard sale while we were there, and we learned that they grew all the pumpkins and gourds around the front.

They had great stuff for sale, and a red door.  I liked them straight away.

do you think the "keep out" was for people like me?

so if you had the good fortune to live in Healdsburg, California, which house would you choose?

I want 318 Plaza. Really bad.

Spanish Pipedream

As folk singer, John Prine, so astutely sang in the song, Spanish Pipedream

"...Blow up your t.v.; throw away your paper;
Go to the country; build you a home.
Plant a little garden; eat a lot of peaches;
Try an find Jesus on your own"

and just in case you are wondering whats going on with the $5 darling ... 

she has had a bath and is getting a facial now

9 months and 1 day

but who's counting....

tick tock -- tick tock

come on little girl .... 

One thing led to another thing

Blame it on the chalk paint

I have had this sidebar for about 10 years.  Bought it off a friend of mine, and have wanted to paint it since I started blogging.   This is 1 coat of DuckEgg. 

check ..

I eventually put on another coat of paint and waxed this, but I never could settle on knobs

Then I decided I would refinish the top of the dining room table.  

Another something else I have wanted to do as long as I've had this table.  

 I think I may have sanded for 3 or 4 nights after work.
I used 2 coats of minwax special walnut stain and 2 coats satin finish minwax polycrylic 

I wanted it dark.  

check check

then I decided I would take on the chairs.  They were on a long list of things I wanted to do

turns out the chairs needed more than a simple facelift 

check check check

I've recovered these chairs a couple of times over the years, but never added padding.

I am so glad that I did this time.  They look and feel much better. 

And the ticking stripe is a nice neutral for me too.  

The color is brownstone  - I have more if anyone wants to purchase a few yards, please email me.

 one morning before I left for work I decided this thing would look better painted Old White

I  found 8 knobs that I like at Hobby Lobby and couldn't wait to see how they looked

I still need to add another coat of Old White, and wax it

  

here it is all together... for now
what do you think I should do?  paint the sidebar blue again or leave it white? or go green?
I have enough of Versalles or even the Chateau grey, which is actually green, to cover it.

linking up to Kim's WOW party here

You know you love the Linden goodness

A couple of weekends ago we visited the in-laws, in Linden, TN, and went to an auction. 

At first site, I thought the word auction was being loosely used  

We drove a long way off the main road to get to this .... all this was in the front yard.  At first site, rubbage came to mind, but if you roll up your sleeves and commit to getting someone else's funk on you, you will find something worth waiting for.   I quickly spotted a large box of chenille bedspreads - that I didn't get, but it sold for $15.00.   Things were going cheap.

Someone else took this lovely lady home.  I am thinking she came in a box of other goodies.  Bonus!

With her arms behind her head like that I wonder if she rolls her hips when you turn her on?

See the Auctioneers in the bed of the pick up truck?  And the 4 guys in the middle are the helpers and the ones that yell out when a bid is placed, or raised.

Samantha got this skateboard for $5.00.  Actually, I think a few other things came with it, but I didn't take a lot of pictures during this sale.

We were creeping into the hills .... 

The area has a prominent Mennonite community. They won a box of fabric.  

 I think the young girl combing through the box was picking out fabric for her next dress.

This is what I waited on all day ....

might be the best $5.00 I've ever spent on a piece of furniture.  oh yes I did!

She really is a beast, but I think I can turn this ugly girl into a swan

After the auction we had a surprise visit from niece and her hubs and their littles ...

we traded phone numbers or entered each others numbers in our phones so we can text and keep in touch.    One the way home I sent her a message, but I had the wrong number....

but, no worries... the wrong number was for this cutie boy...  

he wants to hang out...  I think he thinks I am the hot niece.  

Should I tell him?

Love that Linden goodness

How do you make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?

This is one way ...

I had the pleasure of helping a few really talented women decorate the inside of a barn for a wedding reception.I think it turned out so rustic lovely.  These pictures were made before the reception started.

the gift table was just outside the barn door, with a vintage suitcase used to hold gift cards

the flowers on the bench belong to the bride's attendants and her little flower girls

The bride's colors were blue, green and white

The dessert center

about 100 pom-pom's were made and hung from the rafters and all around the barn, lots of white lights, and a couple of chandeliers.  It was so pretty and especially after dark with all the lights

A dance floor that glowed in the dark for the bride and groom and anyone else that felt like shaking their tail feathers.  The hay bales filled up with little children when the dancing started.  

This was where the food was set up.  They served a couple a hundred people BBQ, and the fixings

It looked really pretty after we got it all set up

a beverage center.  there were lots of mirrors and lamps used inside the barn, which reflected a lot of light

center pieces

The dessert center was a piece of work! and so delicious!  I think I tried all of them!

But first, the wedding cake.  The cake topper was appropriate for this couple as they love to dance.

The bride wore white cowboy boots, and all of her girls wore brown boots

From a little girl's playhouse to a Honeymoon Suite ...

I think the bride's brothers may have fixed this up for her?

 and their get-a-away tracker

It was fun.  I am so glad I was asked to help.

He makes mother's day gifts too

a few years ago I saw one of these potting benchs at an antique store in town

it was so cute, but WAY over priced.  I took a couple of pictures of it and showed it to my mister, electrician, carpenter, padna in crime kinda guy and asked, will you make me one of these?

This is what he created one afternoon ..... he made it out of scrap wood he found in garbage piles in our neighborhood.  we live in a new subdivision and when a new house is built a lot of lumber is thrown away.

a couple of years later I painted it with a couple of colors that I mixed together. 

it has served us well and I've had fun decorating it

then .... I saw another one in the Pottery Barn catalog.  It is smaller and even more expensive than the first one I saw at the antique store.  I asked if he would modify this one?

his response was, you sell that one and I'll make you another one.

WHAAA???  It was game on!  If you know me, you know how I love to sell my stuff!

 I put on craigslist - of course, it sold it pretty quick. 

last Saturday night, a girl called and asked if we still had the potting bench listed on craigslist?  I told her that it sold.  She said her mother really wanted it.  Jeff said, tell her I'll make her one.  So we worked out the "deal" and this is what some lucky mama in Bartlett is getting for Mother's Day.

I am going to show it off at Savvy Southern Style's WOW party. 
Y'all should check it out.  Over 300 amazing post so far. 

Happy Mother's day this Sunday

xo, g