MAKING FRIENDS...

I can't tell you exactly

 when my love of books and reading began.

 It might have been 

on a dark rainy night,

 with the sound of thunder in the distance,

 the power out, 

and my mother and father 

reading aloud to us by candlelight,

 so that our minds were relieved 

of the fear of the storm;

or it might have been

 when I found The Secret Garden 

and would steal away

under the branches of an old tree 

in my grandmother's garden 

to imagine and wonder 

all that was capable 

in an eight year olds' mind.

It may even have been

 when I would go to the library 

with my mom 

and where I found

Albert Payson Terhune

and all the stories he wrote about dogs.

I was never good at arithmetic

 but I excelled at spelling and reading

 and the quiet times in the classroom,

when we were allowed to sit 

and read our books,

 was the best part of school

 for me.

The book, Little Women, is the original book that I received as a gift when I was 10 years old.

In 1949,

 at the age of ten, 

I was given Little Women

 by Louisa May Alcott.

 I have since found 

a few of her books

 while rummaging through the shelves 

of old book stores,

which is a favorite pastime.

A few years back,

 I found the book, Coming Home,

 by Rosamund Pilcher.

  It was the start of a journey 

of strong female authors 

such as Maeve Binchy,

 Joanna Trollope, 

Gladys Tabor, 

 and Jan Karon,

the creator of the delightful

 Father Tim series,

 to name a few.

No matter

 what type of books you read,

 whether they be

 the old classics or romance novels,

 which I have read my share of 

(and enjoyed, I might add),

 a book is like spending time

 with an old friend 

and I have been known 

to re-visit some of the same ones 

over and over again.

...Judy...

"Good books,

 like good friends,

Are few and chosen;

The more select,

 the more enjoyable."

Louisa May Alcott

I've been busy this week

 and haven't visited like I should have,

 so I missed that Sandi

over at Rose Chintz Cottage,

 last week, 

picked my end table(s) 

as one of her features 

on her lovely party,

 No Place Like Home.

 Thank you so much, Sandi,

 I feel very honored 

to have been included.

Sharing today with:

BTTCG at Bernideen's

No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage

What's It Wednesdays at Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party

Feathered Nest Fridays at French Country Cottage

A FEW SMALL THINGS...

Here we are today,

 sitting at my desk

 in the office car,

composing this post,

 as the poor souls 

are out in the weather 

walking the dogs,

 and the

 Secretary of the Interior 

looks on.

It's a hard job,

 but somebody

 has to do it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You've seen this photo before...

...are you sure?

Look again,

 closely...

Do you see: 

 One photo has

 four shelves

and one 

has three?

The fourth shelf 

is actually a photograph

 stretched on a piece of canvas.

 I ordered it from EBay 

and when it arrived 

I was pleasantly surprised 

at how realistic it looked.

 If you didn't notice it 

right away 

don't feel bad,

 a person who lives in this house,

and who shall remain nameless,

 didn't either!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember

 when I shared this cabinet

 in my last post

 and mentioned 

we had planned on using it, 

and another just like it, 

in a project in the kitchen 

that had since been scrapped.

We have had our eyes open 

for an end table in the sitting room

 to replace this cute little table 

that we have been using.

 I love this little table

but it was really too small

to carry the heavy load 

that was assigned to it 

so when the kitchen project 

was decided against,

 we put our heads together,

not to mention the chests, 

and came up with this...

I painted the two chests black,

 pushed them together,

 and we added a piece of old marble,

 that we had, on the top.

 We were amazed 

the marble was

 the exact size 

that we needed.

My first thought 

was to add baskets in the openings 

for small storage, 

but I wasn't able to find

 four alike 

so decided to use the book boxes

that I found at Hobby Lobby.

  They didn't have

 the best selection at the time, 

so I got what I could 

and added some actual books to the mix,

 and will add more 

of the book boxes

as I find them.

The room is 

slowly coming together 

and when I get

 the two chairs replaced 

that will be

 a happy day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I told you

 I would let you know 

where I ordered

 the old patriotic crow from.

 I found it at www.oldfarmhouseprimitives.com, 

and I want to thank

 Bernideen at Bernideens

 for featuring my post 

from last week 

on her BTTCG party.

 Thank you so much, Bernideen,

 I am happily honored.

Well,

 that's a few small things 

going on around here

 and 

I will leave you 

as the "navigator" 

shows us the way home.

Hope everyone 

is staying 

dry and warm.

...Judy...

Sharing today with:

BTTCG at Bernideens

No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party

Feathered Nest Fridays at French Country Cottage

ON A WINTER'S DAY...

"All the leaves are brown

And the sky is gray...

...California dreamin'

On a winter's day. ..."

John Phillips and Michelle Phillips

December, 1965

Performed by The Mamas and the Papas

I love the four seasons

 and we usually get

 the best of each one 

here in the foothills.

 What I don't love

 about winter though,

 are the gray skies.

 I can't tell you 

exactly what it is

 or how it makes me feel,

 but there is a change in myself 

that I have heard happens

 to a lot of people

 at this time of year.

I have come up with 

a fairly simple solution 

to my dilemma and

 that is spending money.

  It doesn't have to be 

a lot of money, 

in fact the less the better,

 but to have a small treasure 

to show for my efforts 

goes a long way

 to boosting my morale.

This past weekend 

was full of those gray skies 

and, with a little dose

 of California Dreamin',

I was out the door 

and on to the thrift shops!

This little candlestick

 made my day. 

 I love the dainty lines

 with the rustic finish 

and sometime ago

 I had two of these same candlesticks.

 I would display them 

on the dining room table 

in the large hurricanes

and they looked so pretty.

 Somehow,

 one got broken

 and the remaining one

 was mostly stuck on a shelf 

after that 

-- until this weekend -- 

I found this one 

so once again

 I have a perfectly matched set.

I quickly put

 this pretty little dish 

in my basket.

 One of these days

 I will use it in a photo shoot,

 displayed along with 

a fresh bunch of basil or parsley 

after a trip 

to the Farmer's Market.

I liked the shape and size 

of this candlestick 

and think a coat of Old Ochre, 

and some distressing, 

will go a long way 

in freshening it up.

I can visualize 

this cookie jar 

on the kitchen cupboard 

filled with a bouquet of

 wild flowers and a few American flags

 for a 4th of July 

celebration.

So,

 for around $10, 

I had brightened 

up my day 

considerably.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are a few projects

 that we have been working on:

We bought this little white stand,

 along with it's identical twin,

 a while back

 to use in the kitchen

 for a project 

that we have since decided not to do.

 We now have in mind

 a different use for them 

and will share that later on.

This little hanging cupboard 

was on the back porch out of sight,

 so we decided 

to bring it inside to be enjoyed.

 I have displayed 

my Christmas gift to myself,

the larger patriotic old crow, 

along with some other

 prim-ish items

 that I dearly love. 

 I am so sorry 

that I have misplaced the paper-work 

on my Christmas patriotic crow order.

 When I find it 

I will certainly give the maker credit 

as it is a great little collectible

 and the price was right.

I do remember 

that I wanted to order more from her,

 so I will keep looking.

Another piece 

brought in from the cold

 is this small pie safe. 

 Such a cute example

 of an

 'old-time' appliance!

We usually don't exchange 

Christmas gifts with the kids (except Jake).

  Our Christmas consists 

of enjoying each other's company 

and a good meal,

 but Tami and Tim

 did give us this sweet sign this year

 - just because- 

along with the sweetest 

tiny little white paper church

 that, unfortunately, 

got packed away without a picture.

 I love the gifts 

and can't wait to enjoy the sign 

this summer in the 

Secret Garden. 

 Thanks, TNT.

As I said,

 we have always 

given gifts to Jake

 for Christmas.

 He is our only grandchild 

and just because he is grown 

doesn't mean we would ever stop. 

 The sweet thing about him 

(not the only one)

 is that now that he has his own money,

he buys gifts for us too.

 It is something that he wants to do 

and just another reason

 we are so proud of him.

 This is the prettiest sconce

 and I can't believe

 how perfectly it fits inside 

the old chippy frame

 on the dining room wall. 

 I just love it and thank you, Jake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I mentioned earlier,

 we do get the best of each season 

and today is one of the very best.

 No gray skies, 

just sunshine and blue.

  The kind of day that

California Dreamin' 

is all about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to thank my good friend, Barbara, at 21 Rosemary Lane for honoring my Snow Family of Downton Abbey in her Share Your Style link party. I think it might have been a couple of weeks ago and I feel so badly that I am only now acknowledging it. I appreciate it very much, Barbara.

...Judy...

Sharing today with:

BTTCG at Bernideen's

No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party

Feathered Nest Fridays at French Country Cottage