A Bit of This and That

I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their weekend.  This morning on our walk the air was very brisk and it was breezy making the temperature seem colder than it really was. A heavier hooded sweatshirt was needed and a pair of capri's instead of the usual shorts.

I took some photos of various things that have been keeping me busy over the last few days and thought I'd share them with you and a bit of history in between.

Painted clay pots.

Here are three clay pots that I painted, one for me, one for husband and one for my neighbor.  I wanted to do something different so I painted them in pretty bright colors.

Violets

As you know, this time of year the flowers are "slim pickin's" but they did have some violets which smelled divine.  So, I potted two of the three pots with them (keeping in mind that one was going to my neighbor).

Husband has not decided what he wants in his pot yet...waiting for spring I guess.  I think he would like some type of cactus but I guess I'll just have to wait to see what he decides.  :-)

Somebody hid a pecan!

As I was checking my plants out back, I noticed this pecan hidden under one of the leaves.  No doubt a squirrel hid it there for later.  I left it so that he could come back to find it when he was ready.  I check everyday to see if it is still there.

My fern garden

Some of you may remember when I planted this in June with leafy fronds given to me by my neighbor.  The Asparagus ferns and Gardenia's we purchased. This morning while having our coffee out on the back patio, I noticed the sun filtering through onto my ferns and it was so pretty I had to snap a pic.

Decorated Pine cones

Last Sunday husband and I spent a couple of hours painting and preparing pine cones.  I painted and used German glass glitter on some, some were sprayed with adhesive and sprinkled with the silver glitter to give them a sugary effect.  FYI: most of my pinecones were fully opened and dry but some I prepared for decorating by placing in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes to dry out the sap and get rid of any pests that could be inside them.  I used my essence of Lavender oil and a dropper to scent them and placed them in a zip lock bag for 30 days.  I'll then tie them in pairs of twos, add a sprig of holly and some ivory twine for hanging.  It is a tedious job painting them but I enjoyed it.

It seems to me that this time of year nature gives us a bountiful of wonderful gifts.  Pinecones, moss from the trees, acorns and it is when we (husband and I) take our morning and afternoon walks that I take the time to notice everything that nature has to offer.

 For the past three weeks when husband and I take our walks, we walk down a street that has a cul-de-sac.  Just as we round the corner, coming to the end of it we start to smell the sweet scent of Jasmine and as we get closer to this house the scent keeps getting stronger until we are standing in front of it.  The smell is overpowering at this point and I have started to just stand there for a minute or so to try to figure out where it is coming from. There are no plants or flowers anywhere around and the rear of the house overlooks St. Andrews Bay.  It is on this same street that I have twice found a dove feather right in my path...I even picked one of them up. Yesterday,  also on this street, I found a small leaf with three smaller perfectly rounded seeds sitting inside the leaf that was shaped like a very tiny boat.  I am quite puzzled by all of this.  Some days we only smell it in the morning and not in the afternoon and other times we have smelled it in the afternoon but not in the morning. And then there are days when we smell it both in the a.m. and p.m. This house is empty and the lady who owned it passed away about two years ago and it has been up for sale all this time. The lady had a son and a daughter who are at odds about selling it...the son wants to and the daughter doesn't.  So, every time someone makes an offer on it, it isn't accepted by the daughter.  I am trying to figure out what God and nature is trying to tell me.  I have at other times in my life smelled fragrances i.e. roses, gardenias,  frankincense and myrrh when there was nothing floral anywhere around me at home but never outside in front of the same house for three weeks.  It has given me pause... I've been praying to God for an answer to why this is happening.  But, until I get an answer, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with knowing that I will continue to smell this heavenly scent and be grateful for it.  :-)

Bruchetta

Hi everyone,

Last night I decided to make some bruschetta.  I have tried this recipe several times and each time I've added something extra to enhance the taste of these.  I thought I'd share it with you.  It is deLish!

Here is a photo of what I used:

1/2 loaf French Baguette bread (small) sliced 1/2" (I was able to get about 22 slices)
(3) Roma Tomatoes sliced -  22 slices  1/2" or less
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese 22 1/2" slices or less
Fresh Basil sliced ribbon style
Salt & Pepper
Garlic (I used minced garlic in olive oil)

First you slice about 1/2 loaf of a small baguette.  I got about 22 1/2" slices from it.  It pretty much fills up the cookie sheet.

Baguette sliced

I brushed each slice with a bit of olive oil, sprinkled Fleur de Sel salt and cracked pepper on each slice.

In a preheated oven of 450 degrees F, I put the sliced bread into the oven for 5 minutes until nice and toasty brown.  After removing, I placed a thin layer of minced garlic, followed by a slice of tomato and again added a sprinkle of fleur de sel and cracked pepper to each slice.  Then I added a slice of mozzarella  on top of each toasted tomato sliced bread and again sprinkled salt and pepper.  I topped each slice with a garnish of ribboned basil and a quick brush of olive oil and back into the oven for another 5 minutes.

Brushing the sliced baguette with olive oil, salt and pepper

Toasted baguette with olive oil, salt and pepper

Sliced baguette with tomato slices and salt and pepper.

Sliced baguette with added mozzarella cheese

Fresh basil, salt and pepper added to mozzarella, tomato, baguette slice

Voila!  Bruchetta

You can use fresh diced Roma tomatoes instead of whole slices and you can slice the mozzarella to have a thicker slice or you can slice it thinner.  Whatever your preference is.  I prefer a thicker slice of mozzarella.

Any way you cut it these are wonderful!  

Saturday At The Beach

Hi Everyone,

Saturday we spent the afternoon at The Pier on the beach side.  We decided to take a walk along The Pier which is 17 feet wide and 1,500 feet long.  You can just stroll along or you can fish off The Pier.  It was a beautiful, breezy and sunny day with temps around 77 degrees F and great white caps on the water.  I took this opportunity to take a few photos (really a lot of photos LOL) to share with all of you.  Not bad for a November day!

Restaurants at the end of the shopping district before you head onto The Pier

A side view of The Pier

A straight view of The Pier.

Yes, they are playing volleyball!!

The start of The Pier

My favorite view of the Gulf

A view of the coastline from The Pier  (If you look real close you can see a dolphin in the center bottom portion of the picture).

Metal artwork for sale along The Pier

It's interesting to me the various artwork available for sale here.  I love the metal art and these are all handmade by local artisans.  Pretty cool.


We ended up having lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville's restaurant with a view from outside seating here:

The view from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville's Restaurant

Husband's Lunch ( a Cuban sandwich with fried onion rings)

My Lunch ( a Cheesburger with Smoked Bacon and Cheddar Cheese)  Not very dietetic.  LOL

All in all it was a fun filled day.  I will leave you now with Jimmy Buffett's famous record that inspired the name of the restaurant.  Here he is performing at the Gulf Shore Jam.

A Life Less Ordinary, Interiors and Inspirations

Hello,

I've been reading a wonderful new book called A Life Less Ordinary, Interiors and Inspirations by Zoe Ellison and Alex Legendre.  This is the most delightful and inspiring book I've read in some time.  It is the journey of two women, Alex and Zoe, who, although from very different backgrounds, found a connection through the beauty of everyday objects, design an antiques.  Their story and friendship is inspiring enough but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book is also filled with gorgeous photos of items in their shop, (you can check it out here) i gigi General Store and Cafe.

In 1997 Zoe and her mother first opened igigi, a women's boutique in Brighton England on the South coast of England.  It has evolved since then to include home decor items, speciality items and it also has a cafe.  It was after she opened the shop that she met Alex, who came to work for her.

I am about 1/4 way through the book and find it to be so enchanting, charming and sweet I can barely put it down.  I have posted some photos off their website and I hope that you will check it out as well as purchase the book.  If you have a love of old and re-purposed items as well as antiques then you will love this book.  I hope you enjoy the photos.  I would be interested in hearing what you think of the shop.  :-)

Filled with lovely pottery

Sigh...I love this chair!

A photo taken inside of the shop

Linens

Soaps 

Candles

Suitcases

Charming pottery.  I love the creamer and sugar bowl...I might just have to add the creamer to my collection.

My Reveal

Hi everyone,

Here is the finished table base and chairs stripped, sanded and re-painted.  It was certainly a job but well worth it.  I really liked the way they turned out.  What do you think?

Angled view

Side view

I added a small stenciled anchor in navy blue centered in the middle of each chair as an added accent to the otherwise white chairs,

The table with top

The shelf above the slide in drawer that is removable from both sides.

The hardest part of stripping the base was these legs.  Sigh...I spent a long time on each one trying to remove the paint inside the grooves.

I fell in love all over again with my set!

My newest wall art...a giclee map print on canvas of France with the locations of each city within the map.

I hope you enjoyed the pics.  Since I am a pro now ( LOL, LOL) if any of you all need any advice on the "how to" just let me know, I'd be glad to show you how! :-)

It was another lovely day here in the high 70's near 80 degrees F.  I spent the afternoon cleaning up the mess on our patio from the stripper, sand and paint from redoing the kitchen set.  NOW, I can rest!!

St Andrew's Bay At Sunset

Just a quick pic of St. Andrews Bay at sunset!  Gorgeous!

Stay tuned tomorrow for my big "reveal" of our kitchen table base and chairs revamp.  :-)

A Sneak Peek

Hi Everyone,

This is a quick update on the progress I've made in stripping my kitchen table base and chairs.  I have just finished stripping the table base and tomorrow husband will sand.  On Monday I will paint the last it. All four chairs are stripped, sanded and painted.  I must say that I thought stripping the chair legs and the lattice back of the chairs was the worst part of the stripping but I was WRONG...it was definitely the table base and the table legs.  The table legs are rounded with grooves that go around each leg three times. Try as I might, I could not get all the paint out in between those grooves.  Husband will have to use the handy dandy hand tool that is small and has attachments to get in to those hard to sand areas.  I worked tirelessly for 7 1/2 hours today to finish.  I'm pooped!  I'm headed to the tub to soak these tired old and achy bones.  LOL

Here are a few photos of the chairs finished:

(3) of the (4) chairs

The Lattice Back

The legs (I personally love the curve in the legs of these chairs!!)

Side view

So, there you have it!  I will post the finished photos of the table base with the chairs Tuesday or Wednesday.  Stay tuned for the big reveal!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. :-)