Pay it Forward

I received something very special in the mail today! I love getting mail, but I really love it when it happens to be a package. It is my Pay It Forward gift from my new sweet blog friend, Ana at A Petite Cottage. You really need to visit her blog, it is very lovely.

She sent such a sweet note, she says that she looked through my blog and wanted to make me something that she knew I would like.

This is so exciting!!!

Ohhhh, isn't this sweet? She knows I love monograms.

And I have been wanting a cloche, so she made me a miniature one. How did she know that I had been searching for birds eggs and had not been able find them anywhere?

It looks nice there, don't you think?

And this looks so pretty here.

Thank you so much dear Ana, those are the sweetest gifts and I love them!! I am in awe of your selection, it is so thoughtful. It is the first give away that I have ever won and I love that it isn't stopping here.

Now if you want to join in on this, you will need to be one of the first three commenter's on my blog today. You will receive something hand made from me in the next month or so and you will do the same on your blog and include the Pay It Forward logo on your blog, also.

Hugs, Cindy

A Rummage Sale

Do you remember the old fashioned rummage sales that Churches used to have? The Ladies Auxiliary would make their knitted crafts and bake goodies? Well, our church here where my husband is Associate Pastor still has them several times a year and we bring in thousands of dollars with them. Aren't these lovely old tins? They came from the Rummage sale.

I found these three skirts and the little sweater there, also. They were a dollar or two a piece.
I just realized that that is a terrible picture, so sorry, I should have loaded another one that was better. Too late, the third one was the plain pink that you see there at the bottom.

We also serve a pancake breakfast, my son is mixing up the pancake mix and our Senior Pastor is the cook, and a good one!

My husband washed dishes all day long, he says he still has dish pan hands. My little grand daughter is there with the long braid. She is eight and she serves the coffee and tea and runs for drinks.

Our Pastor cooking up the pancakes, eggs, hash browns and sausages.

Sarah sells the handmade crafts and the baked goods. I made 18 dozen cookies for the sale.

I worked with Diane in the rummage area, I straightened the clothing and made sales. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. We made nearly $1500.00 in one day.

That is my post for dear Rhoda's Thrifty Finds. Be sure to go over there and check out what others are posting today at Southern Hospitality. And thank you Rhoda for being such a lovely hostess.

Have a good Monday,

Hugs, Cindy

Whidbey Island, WA

We had a little vacation in 2008 and so we stayed in a little cottage on a bay on Whidbey Island, WA state.

It is a very picturesque place to visit, the whole island is full of little towns like this with cottages for rent.

I am off to an old fashioned "Rummage Sale" today, I will see if I can get some photos for next week.

Have a great weekend,

Hugs, Cindy

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Welcome to my oldest daughter's home.

Did you know that one of the first places the term "Like mother, like daughter" is used is in the Bible? The very popular KJV actually says "As is the mother, so is her daughter", but in later translations it comes out as above.
My sweet daughter loves beauty and strives to surround herself with loveliness and serenity. She is definitely a minimalist, there are not too many decorative items sitting around for little hands to demolish. Because her two year old boy would do just that with a football, soccer ball or hockey stick, if he had one!
Their master bedroom is very pretty and serene, though. When her husband bought this house it had been an unloved little rental. After they married and Carolyn moved in, it underwent extensive updating. It is now a sweet little three-bedroom rancher that is definitely very much lived in and and loved. With two toddlers she has her hands full keeping it up, but she is like me in that she keeps it as tidy as is possible. I had another photo to show, but Blogger is giving my trouble today, she has a beautiful yellow quilt on her bed that echoes the color that are in the picture above the bed. Her walls are actually a soft gray-green, here they are showing up gray.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour, she is a very private person, but she allowed me this much. Thank you, sweetie.

Hugs,

Cindy

Outdoor Wednesday & My Neighborhood

As promised last week, a tour around "The Purple House's" yard. I am posting this for Outdoor Wednesday. Please go over to A Southern Day Dreamer and see what others are posting today.

First up... the sign.

See, it really is a purple house, with Yellow Orange trim.

Her front door is very charming with a french door there. She has so many different kinds of plants and flowers around her house. I don't even know the names of most of them. I think I see a hydrangea peaking over the edge here.

Look, a sweet little tree house, wouldn't that make a little girls heart go pitter-patter?

Are the yellow flowers delphiniums? And look at the beautiful big bird house. Don't you love the iron fence? I have another neighbor with an iron fence much like that, I wonder who makes those.

A bird bath for the many birds that live in our community. I see hostas here, did you know that a hosta is a lily? Am I the only one who didn't know that?

Oh, I love the holly hocks!!! I want some, aren't they lovely and this is a lovely view, too.

She has a beautiful smooth lawn.

For a touch of whimsy, an old, way older than mine, bike planter with plants growing all around it. Isn't that cute?

Now we are in the alley and this is on the side of her garage, the window is a painting! I love it!!!

Well, we are nearly finished here, one last look at a shed that is tucked into the corner of her yard, and it has a gingerbread siding and... a chandelier!

Have you enjoyed the quiet little tour? I loved snapping the pictures last week and tonight when I passed the Purple House on my walk, I was hoping to see her in her yard, well... she was there but she had company, I heard silvery laughter coming from the back of her yard and there she was with somebody else sitting on old metal yellowy orange porch chairs. And, I could smell a fragrant smoke in the air, I think they had a little fire going. Oh, I wish I knew her and I could have joined them perhaps. One day...

Hope your Wednesday is beautiful and bright!

Hugs, Cindy

Thankfulness & Three or More

Jonathan, our little Monkey who loves to climb trees, is seven.

Weary traveler who is tired of sitting in his car seat.

Little Princess who dances the days away.

I am showing off three of my four grandchildren. I can't find a picture on my laptop of Jonathan's sister. His sister Naomi made me a grama, she is eight.

My dear husband showed me how to make mosaics on Monday evening. I see such wonderful mosaics on people's blogs and I want to be able to make them, too. My husband made this one, hopefully the next one you see I will have made myself! I am very thankful that he has the patience to show me time and again how to do new things.

These are photos that we took with my husband's new camera. They are much better than the photos that my point and shoot takes.

The little cuties in the mosaic are my grands, they are two and five. My little grandson has excellent motor skills, he loves all sports, and he climbs the rope ladder at the playground very easily. I am so thankful for my sweet little ones and for a daughter and son-in-law who lovingly parents them and who loves us, too.

Tam over at The Gypsy's Corner is hosting Three or More. Stop over there to see what others are showing off.

Have a lovely day and if you are the mother or grandmother of little ones, remember to give them big hugs today!

Cindy

My Friends Etsy Shop

It is show off Monday! And I want to tell you what I have done...no I did not make these, but I will tell you who did~and where you will find them!

Now don't get me wrong, normally I do not brag. But you see, my dear friend Lois is one very talented lady, as well as her two beautiful daughters, so I will brag on them first. The last time I saw her she commented to me that she was not traveling with her evangelist husband quite like she had been and was needing a new way to sell all the wonderful things that she and her daughters make. I asked her if she had considered opening an Etsy Shop. I guess she got to thinking about it and decided that it would work for her. So...ta da...the creation of EWMcCall on Etsy! It is only a couple of months old and I am sure that it will do well because they have some really great stuff for sale. The above images are from the shop. A lot of her creations are upcycled, for instance, she made the jean skirt, shown above out of several different pairs of jeans. The beautiful collar is also upcycled. That should be good for our environment, right? It saved them from the trash heap! So I hope you will stop over and see what else she has to offer.

I am joining in on Etsy Cottage Style's blog party today! So hop over there and see who else is bragging on what. My second brag is that it was my suggestion that got Lois started. Okay, comparatively that wasn't so great was it, I know.

Have a beautiful day,

Hugs, Cindy

Pink Flower Boxes

I took some great pictures yesterday of my neighborhood. These are the Holly Hocks that I love and am desperately wanting to grow next year. They are at a friendly neighbors house, I took the pic as I quickly walked by. Then I went up to her door and rang her doorbell, but she did not answer it, I just wanted to tell her that I was planning on posting her flowers on my blog. I will be showing more pics of my neighborhood later this next week. Stay tune for the "Purple House"!

These are the flower boxes at the front of my house. Alas they have not done very well, but the next pic will show you that I really can grow flowers.

These boxes are my pride and joy. They make me want to do the happy dance every time I look at them! I think they are so pretty. And they are my favorite color!!! PINK! None of my flowers have done well this year, so that's why I am so happy about one little flower box.

Thank you for coming by!

Have a wonderful day and stay happy!

Hugs, Cindy

Cozying Things Up

A new blog friend of mine is having a give away for her One Year Bloggiversary! Be sure to go over to Chari's blog Happy To Design and leave a comment, maybe YOU will win the two beautiful Decorating books that she is giving away. They look like great books, too!

It has done nothing but rain with temps being in the 60's and 70's for the last six months and I am so tired of it! I got the flu this week with an ear infection and I just want to cozy up to a fire and stay dry and warm. That is why I find myself cozying and rearranging my little cottage.

What better way to spend indoor time? Do you like the white chair at my table or will it look better when I paint the dark wood chair white? I have so many ideas going through my head that I don't know where to start.

I know the calendar says that it is August 20th, but somehow I don't believe it! This is the first summer that I have spent in this part of Canada, but I am told that normal temperatures for August is in the high 80's. I hope and pray that we have a warm dry Autumn. We were here for the Autumn last year and it was glorious, warm and dry!

I hope you are having beautiful summer weather wherever you are. Please leave me a comment and tell me what your weather is like, I would love to hear from you.

Hugs, Cindy