Amazing Terraced Landscape in Paris

Click photo to enlarge and then pick yourself up off the floor. WOW.

A page from the book 'Paris in Bloom' photography by Christoper Baker

Dogs Have Such A Great Purpose

And they do it so well. When I look back on my life, I sometimes measure the chapters by the dogs I have owned and loved. via

Wonderful Alphabet -- Handlettered

Fun with lettering.

Great alphabet drawn by twentysix.

Landscaping in Shades of Green

My favorite landscaping contains no color other than shades of green to accent the architectural elements.

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Great Potting Sink

Look at those big dovetails. This sink and drainboard are made of wood!!! I don't know why there are four faucets and please notice they are all different. Maybe the interior is tin or zinc lined, but I can't really tell. I love seeing these relics from the past that are still in use, don't you? via

My Bathroom Window

I took this photo with my Nikon yesterday morning while the sun was shining on the top of the radiator and a gentle breeze was blowing behind the curtains. Hopefully the rain we have been having to make this the wettest June on record is behind us. I see bright sun for 5 consecutive days on my iPhone's weather app. Let's hope it's right because we really need to dry out!!!

Library on the Landing

Southern Living Idea House, Charleston. Margaret Donaldson Interiors. This is a wonderful use for an upstairs hall landing, isn't it? via

Grueby Tile and A New Laundry Detergent

I should have cleaned off the two coffee stains before taking the picture. I put my coffee cup on this tile every morning. It's a big one 6" square stamped Grueby Boston. We had a surprise downpour yesterday and I had clothes drying outside on a big expanding rack and just barely got them inside before they were soaked. I slept on freshly laundered linens last night and they smelled like lemons thanks to the new detergent I'm using. It's overcast again today so the same thing will probably happen. Then we are supposed to have 4 straight days of sun, sun, and more sun. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm off to do errands now. 

This is the aforementioned detergent I picked up on a whim at the grocery store because it was on sale. It says the scent is Clean Burst but believe me when I say the clothes smell like lemons whether you dry them outside or in the dryer. I'll never buy anything else. I am thrilled I finally found something I like. Watch, it will be discontinued shortly. I must stock up, just in case. 

Cast Iron Frog in My Garden

I took this photo early one morning last week. Ribbit. He's a big old one and I love him. I got up before the cat for some reason this morning and decided to start watching PBS Masterpiece recorded from Sunday night. I love Inspector Lewis Mysteries and this episode is the  beginning of Season VI. Here is a review from Forbes Magazine. See you later.

Wonderful Guest House

There's more to see at A Country Farmhouse. This is just one corner of the guest house renovation that was featured in Country Living.

Opinions of Sheep

Good One! via

Delightful Farmhouse Bedroom

Traditional Bedroom Chicago Interior Designers and Decorators Tom Stringer Design Partners

I love it all, don't you? Click on the link for some other ideas on introducing farmhouse style to your home.

My Mother and Baby Me

I've been working downstairs all week for the first time since losing my mother in December. Up until now, I have only been going down there to do laundry. After I washed all the windows and screens and doors on the outside of the lower level, I decided it was time to go inside to start putting things in order. I still have a lot to do but the kitchen, living room and laundry room are looking pretty nice. I found this old photo in a drawer and took a quick picture of it through the glass with my phone. My mother looks so happy and proud of me and I'm trying to tell the photographer how to take the picture using mental telepathy since I didn't know how to talk. I'm sure she made her dress and probably mine too. One of my grandmothers probably did the needlework trim. My mother saved and saved to buy a sewing machine during those war years when everything was so hard to get. It was a Singer, of course. 

Male Seahorse in Labor

YIKES. This is a photo of a male seahorse giving birth. Does that make him the mother or the father or both? It is definitely one of the oddities of nature. Anyway, Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. via

Gorgeous pink Cosmos

Photo by crescentmoon on Pixdaus. Now that my peonies are gone, this photo makes me wish I had a nice stand of cosmos. We all went back to bed and now we are all up again. I watched a movie, put it on pause halfway through, cooked breakfast and ate it while finishing the movie. It was The Clearing with Ann Mearin and Robert Redford. I tuned in after the first 20 minutes and didn't miss too much. It was very good. Then I dozed off again and now I feel great and ready for a nice afternoon. Tabitha wants lunch and Webster wants a walk so I must tend to them both. See you later.

Webster, watching me.

Webster was outside on the balcony watching me eat my supper last night, hoping I would save him the last few bites and I did. We are both up way too early for a Sunday morning thanks to you know who. Tabitha gets us up at 6:30 every morning like clockwork. I think I'll go back to bed and watch a movie. See you later.

DIY Interior Sliding Barn Door on Closet

This is a great idea to hide hanging clothes and display collections on shelves on the other side by using a batten door that is half the size of the opening. The construction of this door looks pretty straightforward for the do-it-yourselfer, doesn't it? via

Dragonfly on My Front Walk

Click photo to enlarge.

He is still out there basking in the hot sun. The photo straight out of my Nikon was very boring against the bluestone background so I played around with the saturation and a few other things and got this. We don't have any cicadas but I can hear them singing faintly in towns nearby. When you drive through those towns, the sound is very loud. This lone alien dragonfly suits me just fine.
I took my best dragonfly photo back in 2009. Click here to see it.

Taking the Hard Road

Perfect Farmhouse

Pleasant Valley - John B. Murray, Architect. Bruce Buck photo. Let's ring the bell and see if we can go inside, shall we? Have a wonderful weekend -- there's no rain today here at the cottage. I can hardly believe it!!!