Saturday morning

I have decided that there simply aren't enough hours in the day...  As I sit here on a beautiful Saturday morning, so many plans and projects come to mind.  I would love to get out and shoot something fabulous in the morning light.  I would love to make a big breakfast for my four man-children, as well as my husband, Gram, and another random child who happened to be here last night.  But then I open my beloved mac, for just a moment, and find this, which led me to this, and off to this.(you know how I adore lemons!)  Now I want to make something fabulous for dessert, which would mean a trip to the grocery somewhere within my day.  And then, I find her, and what?  She is local?  Inspirational *and* local?  And wait, didn't I want to spend some time in the gardens today?  But chez poulez really needs to be cleaned...  And I need to find where the water is leaking from the pond, and where shall we go on date night tonight? Oh yes, dinner - something fabulous for dinner, but what?  And although I would love to make it to the Saturday market (no, I really must make it, not only to find something for that fabulous dinner, but there is always something to shoot at the market!) is there really time?

So you see, in a perfect world, my days would consist of 36 hours, rather than 24.  Wouldn't that be divine?

Happy Saturday friends~

xo

have a dreamy weekend

I am really looking forward to this weekend.  We will all be home, the weather forecast calls for a bit of sunshine (yippy!) and a bit of rain (cozy!), and our schedule is fairly open (read: spontaneous fun potential!).  

Wish you a lovely, romantic, productive, dreamy weekend~

xo

happy thursday

So it has been an interesting day...  

It began something like this~

Then, our friend mr. sunshine visited and it looked a little more like this~

Through it all, I had planned, with this fabulous friend~

To make these~

All in all a wonderful day~

xo

in search of spring color

As today is quite cold, dark, and wet, we decided to take a field trip to our favorite local garden center.  It was so nice to find such bright colors there as we haven't been able to find anything with any color here on the property as of late...  It certainly restored my belief that spring is indeed coming, eventually~

xo~

random love

I'd like to introduce you to Francis~ my new love, thanks to my best love.

nighty night friends~

xo

the end of winter break

Yesterday seems to be our last beautiful day which wraps up a gorgeous winter break.  We spent the day on the property, with a bon fire, just hanging out.  It was lovely.  #3 and I even went for a bike ride, after we tuned up our bikes after a long winter in storage.  Today the rain has returned, which is nice, as it creates a cozy situation where we can all just work on projects and rest and recharge before our routine of the week begins tomorrow.

Winter Break, part deux~

We seem to have a plane theme going this week.  Today we were off to the Museum of Flight. What a fabulous place to learn the history of flight, not to mention see some pretty incredible planes.  

winter break

Most of my boys are home this week for winter break.  I say *most* because my beloved husband is away on business and not able to spend this glorious week with us.  

As our house is in conserve mode, we are enjoying a lovely "staycation" this week.  Although I am not sure I love the term, it definitely describes our week.  We have been blessed with some lovely weather, and so have spent time outside together, having a great time, working on some projects on the property, and taking a field trip or two.  We have also enjoyed some of the *fun foods* that we don't always have in our daily routine.  

Monday my darling uncle was in town and was kind enough to take us on a tour of the plane he flies.  Numbers 1, 2, and 3 came along for the trip to Boeing Field.  Such fun!

love talk

xo

happy *love* day

I will admit - even though I don't totally buy into the Hallmark holidays, Valentines gets me.  I think it is the whole notion of a day celebrating love.  For me, it isn't just romantic love, but love for love's sake.  (It could also have something to do with being able to add all sorts of pink to things and not get any grief from all the males in this house...)

In our house, we will be quietly celebrating our love of family - spending time together.  Not that we need an excuse, but this really is my idea of a holiday~

Have a lovely weekend my friends,

xo

sneak peek...

Here is a little peek into what I have been working on...

Such fun!

xo

MIA

I know that I have been completely MIA lately and for that, I apologize.  I have been working on something that seems to take up every last brain cell that I have.  I am attempting to get a handle on it, so that things will return to normal, as I miss this.  A lot.  I also miss Stella - I feel as if I have neglected her lately.  The last time we hung out was that snowy morning...  Tomorrow - I am so hanging out with Stella tomorrow...  Really.

xo

For Ciara...

When I awoke this morning, my view seemed very white.  Very unexpectedly white.  As I am not nearly as excited as *some people* about it, I will be boxing it up and mailing it across the sea, to Wicklow, Ireland, as the lovely Ciara seems to enjoy it...  

xo

I love it when we discover someplace fabulous that is relatively close to home and supports agriculture from our area.  Today while #3 and I were on a photography field trip, we stumbled upon this fabulous little place just 20 minutes from our home.  Delish!

xo

22/365 Saturday mornings

What a lovely morning here on the farm~

Now we are off to a photo shoot field trip, #3 and I.

xo

21/365

I was blessed with some quiet time this morning and thought I would try to get some self-portraits taken.  I have been inspired lately by her, (I just love her self-portraits, and her sites, like this one, and her photos here) and her site, which I really really really like (and how fabulous are her self-portraits?!?)

a winter visitor

This little lovely was visiting today, quite unexpectedly I might say.  What a treat on a winter afternoon~

20/365 How to end the day

The perfect end to a lovely day~

I *heart* lemon anything!

But this looks especially delish!

Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite foodie sites -  definitely worth a visit if you haven't been...

xo

The time has come...

Our home was built in 1928, and then renovated (totally) in 1984.  There are many things I *love* about our home (the windows and the ceilings are my favorites).  We have a beautiful view from the window (we see the apple trees, the pond, and chez poulez - the hen house). There are also things that I would like to improve upon...  

One of these places would be our master bath.  I hesitate to use the word "bath", seeing as there certainly is not a bath to be found.  Somehow, "master shower" just doesn't seem to truly describe our bathroom.  

The first thing one might notice (considering it pretty much smacks you in the face the minute you cross the threshold) is the brick red walls.  While the previous owners had the room decorated in a way that the red seemed to work (with all of the brass and the yellow toilet and sink for instance), I just can't seem to find a way to like it.  

When you somehow get past the red walls, you notice that there is a very unattractive, yet relatively new shower surround where a lovely tub should stand.  You see, the bathroom once had a tub, with these *fabulous* little gold one inch tiles surrounding it.   Sadly, those tiles were not sealed correctly and not long after we took possession of the house, water began to appear on the ceiling above our dining area.  Funny, seeing as the tub sat right above the dining area...  As we had just taken on a mortgage that was a little overwhelming in itself, there was nothing extra for a major bathroom remodel.  Thus, out came the tub and in went the lovely shower, complete with seat for my husband to relax on each morning.  Incredibly, that seat just didn't quite cut it when it came to trying to soak and/or relax during pregnancy...

When we installed the shower, we had some extra space, which I had hoped to put in some shelving.  Anyone with an older house knows the challenges of lack of storage space.  I still hope to shelf this baby up, but am up for any suggestions on a door as I don't want anything heavy there.  Thoughts?

The bathroom still has that original yellow sink, which I hope to remove/replace with something white - preferably salvaged.  Anyone know anything about that?  Advice is *GREATLY* appreciated.

The current cabinets - which we plan to keep and paint, are currently dark gray and have this awful rough texture on them.  That being said, as I think it is more than I am up for to remove the texture (I am pretty sure it was one of those lovely spray-on jobs...) so painting will probably improve them immensely.

We did have to replace the toilet as the old one just didn't like to flush anything more than two and a half squares of toilet paper.  'Nuff said...

So, here is what I am putting out there.  I think that I would like to paint the walls a very pale gray/blue and then paint the cabinets a darker shade that would match some towels we received for Christmas and have yet to use.  I am thinking black accents, white counter (already there), white sink and toilet, and the carpet is nearly black but actually quite cool (if you must have carpet in your bathroom that is...).

If anyone has thoughts/suggestions/photo inspiration - please let me know.  This is the bathroom I would like:

That being said, I am sure I can do something that I will also love~

xo