Time Just Seems To Fly...

As the year is drawing to a close, I have been reflecting on my blog and all the fabulous
friends I have made both in real life and in blogland.  From the bottom of my heart I thank
you all for your support and friendship.

In my reflecting I decided to show a few of my posts from this past year which have
encouraged me to go forward with new and creative ideas.  I hope you will enjoy the
visit...

This post was called I Just Couldn't Help Myself and truer words were never spoken.
I love peonies and I love silver and adore the combination...

I so enjoyed my visit to the Remnants of the Past sale earlier in the year.  I was able to
spend some time with some of my favorites like Atelier De Campagne, 3 Fine Grains and
A Beautiful Mess Antiques...(Links to all are found within my link)

On A Beautiful Hot Summer Day was such a lovely day .  As you know by
the name of my blog, I love roses and a visit to Roger's Garden was absolutely the perfect
way to spend a hot summer day.  The only thing I like better are my own roses but this
was the perfect introduction to Roger's Garden because they not only have beautiful
gardens but a wonderful art gallery and gift shop...

Fields of Lavender was a very special day. Jermaine from French-Kissed and I spent

some wonderful time in the lavender fields and then had a lovely lunch followed by a

visit to the lavender festival in Ojai, California. (Again, links within my link)

The post Violets for Valentines was a chance to share with you the lovely violet plates

my mom gave to me many years ago.  I love them and they are perfect with chocolate

heart shaped tea cakes...

I am always up for going to Country Roads Antiques and a visit with Sue...(Again, link

within my link)

It's always good to see the wonderful Alpacas and this last time I was able to purchase

some yarn that came from a wonderful alpaca named Yuletide.  I now have two lovely

scarves that I have made from Yuletide's wool...

**You can see links to all blogs and places I have mentioned by clicking on my link that

will take you to their links.**

I wish you all a very, very Happy New Year with an abundance of happiness,

good health and prosperity.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am linking to Privet and Holly for Monday Moments...(1.8.12 sorry to be late)

I'm linking to Rose Vignettes for Fresh Cut Friday...(1.8.12 sorry to be late)

A Summer Visit To Country Roads Antiques

I have been absent due to a little knee surgery but before the surgery I had a chance

to do one of my favorite things on a Saturday or Sunday.  I drove down to Old

Town Orange to visit with Sue at Country Roads Antiques.

Her store always has so many fun and wonderful things to look at and it sets the

imagination in high gear.  My last visit was no exception.  I thought you might like

to see some of her current treasures(although by now I know she already has

even more new treasures to find)...

I think this would be wonderful with a butcher block top...

Interesting lights and chandeliers are everywhere...

What a wonderful birdhouse.  One of many...

One of the fun things about Country Roads Antiques is that it's huge. You really have

to walk around several times and go through room after room because each time you

will be amazed at all the things you missed on your first walk. Just as I began to take

pictures so many people appeared and I didn't want to get in the way of their shopping

so be sure to go to her site to see more wonderful treasures. The store is also full of

some great industrial pieces right now.

Have a wonderful week.

The Remnants of the Past Sale

As you can see from the picture above the fellows from Atelier De Campagne were at the
Remnants of the Past sale.  They are so delightful and have so many wonderful things for
the home and garden.  They were so popular that it was difficult to get into their area to
take pictures.  I fell in love with a garden statue but when I went back it was gone and I
couldn't even get close enough the first time to take a picture of it.  Their displays are
always so inviting...

Another favorite was 3 Fine Grains and A Beautiful Mess.  They were also so very popular.
It is always lovely to talk with Kymberley even if only for a couple of minutes. As you can
imagine she was quite busy. Here are some of their wonderful offerings...

Another favorite was Blue Canoe.  I know them from their days at Country Roads in
Southern California.  They have now moved up north and are doing wonderful shows
like this one.  Here is some of what they were offering...

The sale has grown by leaps and bounds and is now very large.  The crowds were
huge and came from all over the country just to attend this sale. I think this event has
become so successful that they will probably have to expand the selling areas in the
near future.

It was a beautiful sunny warm day and the drive up to Nipomo, California was
spectacular.  I am quite certain it was a very successful day for all the vendors and I
am also quite certain they must be exhausted.  I will be showing you more of the
booths from the sale in a future post but I wanted to show you my top three favorites
now.  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of what was offered.

Have a great week.

A Mermaid Gave Birth To New Friendships!

Because I have spring fever I have been thinking a lot about my garden and what I
might want to add this summer.
Over the last several months I have shown pictures of many statues, figures, sculptures
and shells...most of which would be wonderful in a garden...

This cherub is already in my garden and was adorned with violets for last Mother's Day...
they were my mom's favorite flower...

This sculpture is over 20 feet tall...

Some figures really might not work in a garden but would be better displayed inside...

Actually, it's the lamp I really like in this picture...

Some are wonderful water features or at least make us think of water...

There happens to be one particular figure that has ended up bringing new friends together. 
It is this lovely mermaid.  The lighting was difficult that day but can you see the dolphin
under her arm?

I found her at Country Roads Antiques in Southern California and showed her to you on
my blog.  A couple of months later I was looking at La Dolfina's lovely blog and saw that
she was showing the same mermaid but up in Northern California.  It turned out to be the
same exact mermaid but she was now located up north.  Terri and I exchanged emails and
laughter and a long distance friendship was born from this mermaid.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and spending an afternoon in Malibu with Terri of
La Dolfina and Jermaine of French Kissed. We had wonderful conversations and lots of
laughter. They are both fabulous women and have fantastic blogs.  French Kissed is one
of the beautiful blogs featured in the current issue of Romantic Homes magazine.
Oh, and by the way, Terri’s gorgeous husband Chris joined us and put up with all our
“girl talk”... talk about being a good sport!!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Are you making plans for your garden this
spring?  Do you have any statues, sculptures, fountains or shells in your garden?


And, our hearts go out to everyone in Japan as we continue to hold them in our
thoughts and prayers. This has been an overwhelming tragedy.