Friday, June 29, 2012

Bidding my last farewell to the month of June

We are surrounded—delimited by zillions of diminutive bodies-creatures of the atmosphere… invading the atmosphere; tailoring the air in intricate winged designs… minuscule bodies meandering the melody of the early evening air… zigzagging invisible paths.

And there are those tingle of spider webs made out of gold and thin air too. Spider webs that seem to twinkle and dance from the rooftops down to the garden’s floor when agitated by light...

It’s the enchantment of the summer evenings in the garden. And I am here—clinging to the magic of the moment; racing against time; racing against life itself wishing I could keep it all as is forevermore… hold this moment eternally. Just as is.

But alas… I must say goodbye to the last wave of the “month of enchantment” as it crashes along the flower beds of my garden. I know… the month of June lingers in many a heart. And we northern birds must bid our last farewell, until the wheel of time returns it back to the land again, and hopefully, we’ll be here to receive it and welcome it into our life once again.

I'm glad I am alive, to see and feel
The full deliciousness of this bright day,
That's like a heart with nothing to conceal...

(William Allingham, On a Forenoon of Spring)

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

My favorite things...

I’ve been enjoying lovely summer days... and roses from the garden in almost every room of the house… simply delightful!

Aquamarine tutu for lovely Princess Tesa…

And a lovely purple puffy ballerina dress for sweet Pebbles…

Oh, and speaking of Pebbles… have I shown you yet some of the pictures of her birthday party? I didn’t think so… my spray-painted bottles and roses from my garden on tables...

Cake pops made by Pebble's mommy...

And here's our 'extra' sweet birthday girl and her cake~ Yum yum! Please excuse daddy's lovely legs, would you! ;)

She’s such a sweetie… she didn’t mind at all sharing some of her cake with her best friend Jillianne...

...and with her best doggie friend too...

Thank you dear friend for stopping by and say hi... Ah yes, I can see you... see you as you smile and create small ripples of positive thought... THANK YOU!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Summer days in the garden

What kind of a day did you have today?

Café au lait at 7:00am...

Then it was work work clean cook work...

...and make the house in the roses sparkle before our guests arrived.

...spray painting more bottles in pastel colors. Love it!

We had a lovely little get-together party today in the garden with some friends who were visiting from CA, and then some more friends...

The scent wafting from the garden this afternoon was that of roses mingled with the taste of cheesy chile rellenos, ginger lemon cupcakes...

...and cakes with centers filled with strawberries topped with whipcream...

I forgot to take some pictures of my shortcakes after they were filled with fresh strawberries cut in small pieces and topped with whipcream, but they looked and tasted scrumptious... love my new Nordic Ware Shortcake Baskets pan!

And then flowers flowers... simple country jars decorated with lace and beads filled with carnations from Walmart in the loveliest of colors. Flowers make me so very happy! Wish I could have fresh flowers decorating my tables all year around...

I hope you had a lovely day yourself my friend... a day filled with the sweet gratitude of family and friends and lovely summer thoughts...

Friday, June 22, 2012

the magical door

I’ve been embellishing things with Mod Podge again; like decorating some old books with free graphics and scrapbook paper that matches the room's decor. The possibilities are endless and it's so much fun... Do you enjoy doing things like that too?

I found this old book in the ‘discarded’ bin outside the thrift store across from my office the other day, and immediately felt in love with its cover. I can tell you I don’t exactly intent to read it, but I do love the visual rendering of the title—so enigmatic and mysterious, doesn’t it?

So, I took this book home with me and dug out the Mod Podge and sponge brush… I didn’t want to cover it in its entirety because, as I have mentioned before, I love the title, which I think is creativity in itself. So I decided this is how this book should look…

And here is this other book… I wanted something simple this time, so I used some fine vintage wrapping paper from the dollar store to cover it up and selected a simple rose image…

This book makes me think of some secret journal safeguarded by the fairies. A journal which can only be unlocked with the help of some magical key… I have that key, but what’s written in that book? And do I want to read it and unveil the mysteries guarded there? I did something like that just the other day. I read an email that I wasn’t supposed to have read. It was not meant to be read by me, and by unveiling the ‘unveiled’, I was deeply hurt by it. My mistake. Thankfully, hurt works like magic for some people. A wounded heart creates a new heart; a better one I think. I believe unhappy experiences are necessary sometimes; they can be an eye opener and a way to reacquaint ourselves with our Creator and our true self.

And would you like to know what else I’m thinking of? Oh I'm thinking we’re long due for some adventure of the imaginary sorts around here… Ah yes! Time for some dreaming?

Indeed, my head is itching with stories. I see enchantment fluttering all around me, and……. oh the magical door at the end of the garden awaits! We must go through it; must not delay...

The fairies are whispering magic and joy in my ears... I'm dying to find out what new and exciting world might be waiting behind our magical door... fairies, giants, dragons, elves, goblins, witches and other fanciful and fantastic forces and worlds untold. And who knows if, perhaps… perhaps magic decides to send us right into some fancy Alice-in-Wonderland sorts of a party or something like that? I’m sure I’d look more like a Cinderella in my simple garden gown than an Alice, but that’s OK by me. But you see, the problem is quite clear here...

Ah yes, I have lost the magical key to the magical door! Again! Absolutely without a doubt! Lost! Gayla, how will we get through our magical door?

Have anyone seen my magical key? Perhaps, instead of going to some magical distant land we could visit each other’s place? Maybe we can even help each other around in the garden a little bit? Oh I know you love old keys too, just like me, and maybe you have found a key in your garden that can lead you to mine? Would you like to come to my garden instead? OK then…

I have a gut feeling you’ll find that key somewhere in the grapevines; behind the huge leaves. Oh but do be careful not to awake the grapevine fairies, or worse yet, mistaken them for spiders. Fairies hate to be mistaken for widow spiders by the way. Just like spiders do, the grapevine fairies live in intricate web structures on the underside of grape leaves, but don’t you be fooled by their looks or preference in habitat… They’re no spiders. They’re fairies! ;)

OK, so off I go to get ready for our visit. I’m thinking I should prepare my very special and delicious rose sugar. I can already picture you stirring rose sugar into your coffee, or tea, if you don’t like coffee… if you like, you can take some home with you later… rose sugar is perfect to used when baking cakes, and scones; or to sprinkle onto desserts, cakes, cookies, muffins, or just to add to the rim of cocktail glasses…. I’ll share my recipe with you soon.

For now, that’s it. You can shimmy down the magical path to my garden or tiptoe through your own magical door. Use the magic in this special evening to find twinkling stars, moon dust and more! See you soon!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Little pretty things...

I woke up to my house filled with beautiful light this morning and I was inspired to take some photos...

Dried Amethyst roses from the garden...

My favorite white dinner plates ever... from the ROSCHER PAISLEY Collection and some roses in their lovely final stage...

I wish the sky would rain down roses, like when they rain off from their bushes on windy days... then all the valley would be pink and white and yellow and soft to tread on. And I will always have the loveliest of bouquets on my dinner table!

The palest of pinks... Bonica roses. Love love love it!

Here is yet another lovely bouquet of spent roses in crystal vase, that I'd forgotten to throw away. Aren't they pretty! From the bud to flowering to the petals starting to drop to dried roses left in their water in vases—I love each and every stage a rose goes through. Perfect flower with a perfect cycle for sure.

A single white rose arranged on a tarnished silver tray... love the combo.

Oh oh and I have to show you what I got the other day.... the loveliest of hair clip ever! From the Lilla Rose Product line.

THANK YOU Jackie... no more messy hair! ;)

Why not visit The Lilla Rose site right now and find yourself a jewel! Hair clips that look like jewels in your hair... lovely!

Oh wait... did I hear you say something? My imagination is running away with me. This is very strange, very strange... are you what? Say that again? Oh, you're inviting me to meet you where? Over at HOLLOW WOODS? OK then... when?