Autumn

Autumnal Equinox came and went on Wednesday.  Booger wouldn't allow me to download pics.  Grrrr.  I have since moved my Booger stuff over to Chrome, where it seems to be working fine.  Hmmmm.  It must know that it's still 100˚, so why bother post about fall???  (Above is a postcard from Liberty of London, sigh.)

Still seems like it's still summer, except for the fact that the air is a lot dryer.  You know I love that!  Humidity?  Pa-tewy!   I have one lone bloom on my azalea.  Poor baby.  Ugh, and look at all those dandelions!  I am so allergic to them, I just let them grow--until I spray them down with salt water! 

Window boxes are still in full bloom.  I just want to rip them out and refill them with mums.

Frankie has been my writing companion.  He sits under my desk all day and even sleeps upstairs on most nights (doors closed, of course).  Bella is getting closer and closer to him.  I think she wants to play.  I don't think Frankie is quite ready for that, yet.  Day by day, right? 

And speaking of day-by-day, I can hardly believe this photo was taken almost exactly a year ago.  Who could imagine that she would be gone within a month's time. I miss her so deeply, words are not enough.  Of course, I still have my moments of melancholy, but I am doing so much better.  She is in almost every one of my dreams.  I don't know if that is bad or good.  Two nights ago, I dreamed that she came back to life, all nonchalant like.  All I could think of was going to get her some chicken nuggets and feeding her!  Too crazy.  Aren't dreams just the weirdest?

Okay, y'all, I promised an after photo of my Brazilian Blowout.  OMG!  It is SO straight.  (Before photo left.)   Now I know what people with straight hair go through.  No thank you!  Hahahahaha.  Us womenfolk are never happy, are we?  Thank goodness, it washes out.  I'm counting the days.  Yea, it looks good once I get out of the shower and let it dry naturally (can't blow dry it, it gets way saggy); but by the end of the day?  UGH!  It looks like a limp rag.  Ok, there has to be a happy medium, doesn't there???? Lawdy me.  Help Larz!!!!

All I can say is, I sure am happy it's Friday!  Yay.

Color My World--Pinky

Here I am redoing the teenager's room, once more. The kid never really did like it, said the paint had a schmere of pink in it. Mmmmk. I thought it was quite the taupe, myself. At any rate, he has moved back into his old room--all we have to do is replace the carpet with wood at some point, and boom, done.

And, so, as I've said before, this is now going to be the "girls' room." Since I have eight nieces, and two that visit several times a year, I'm doing it up dainty and sweet. I've always loved the white-on-white but with some color thrown in.

So, I'm getting this and that together to finish it off. Well, I do have to get mattresses for the beds, in order to really finish it off.

Beth and Janet gave me these gorgeous pieces, and I'm going to frame them for the walls. Love them!

I found these two linen-covered side chairs and this great white pillow to match. Love the wool felt.

And speaking of felted wool, looky at what I found at Liberty of London when I was there! I am SO loving these colors!

Today, these two pillows showed up from Thrifty Miss Priss' Etsy shop! How perfect are they with the linen chairs?

Or even the old rocking chair from a dear friend. It is from her Lake Charlevoix, MI cottage. Sigh.

Of course, Bella has to inspect the "new."

I haven't yet decided how I'm going to arrange the room. With the two beds against the windows (which will have to have different curtains now), we get this wonderful openness when you walk in to the room with my brothers' chest of drawers in the corner.

The two wool throws are from Dublin (Avoca) and Edinburgh (Ness). Love them! The little doggy sachet is from London from years ago. I knew he would end up somewhere pretty.

We went and celebrated the teenager's 21st birthday this weekend in Knoxville. Awwwww. Someone hand me a tissue, please. Ok, ok, I'd settle for a piece of that cake. (BACK on diet here!) Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof.

A Little Bit of This . . .

. . . and a little bit of that.

I had to go into the tire place today to get my almost-flat tire repaired. It's been losing air for a couple of weeks (since I returned from Riverside). Did you know that it is now $1 to "purchase" air for your tires? Say what??? Kookie, I know. Got tired of that real quick like. And, they did find a nail. Loverly.

Speaking of loverly, I had a little time to skim the vast array of magazines while I waited. Straight on I found this page.

Which reminded me that Target will soon be getting a selection of Liberty of London products. Tarjey style I know, but still. Who can resist? I do think it's oh-so-brilliant also.

And, speaking of brilliant, the hub and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary on Sunday. He brought this wonderful angel wing ring from Singapore from a jeweler named CUPID. He said it reminded him of mom. Awwwww. Of course, I smile every time I look at it. I LOVE it.

We had nice springy weather today. I went to Costco to stock up on some items and found these lovely orchids, $19.00.

Such beauties. I've been moving them around the house since I got them home.

Oooh, another cloud burst! Yep, spring us just around the corner? Can ya feel it?

xo
ro

Sunday Snippets from the Financial Times

My heart goes pitter patter whenever I see, hear, smell anything Liberty of London. This is my all-time favorite store in all the world. I could spend hours here. Days. This is the kind of store you wish you could hide while they're closing down so you could actually sleep here over night and touch every piece in every nook. Sigh.

So I was quite excited to read a little blurb about a new perfume line in Liberty of London's beauty hall. In the article "Fragrance to Stir You," Lucie Muir tells how you can have your own Le Labo perfume mixed and bottled right there for you and your personal label slapped on the front including a "fresh until date." She likened it to going to a bar and having a cocktail made for you. I like that. There's something very decadent about it. And speaking of which . . .

I quickly went to Liberty of London's site to look for the perfume. Instead, I found all kinds of other goodies. I'll take this medium duffel embossed with the most delightful art nouveau pattern. Thank you.

And then this little darling to adorn my neck.

Perhaps this one too.

Both would fit nicely in here with the new perfume made just for me.

Let's pencil in a shopping date for Liberty of London, shall we?

Liberty of London Fabric

Withdrawals, yes, I admit it. I hit Ebay with a search for Liberty of London after returning home. Low and behold, I found a good price on a piece of vintage LL that goes with my front-of-the-house decor--deco/chinoiserie mix-match. I've been looking for some fabric for use in a couple of valances. I need them in my study and my dining room.

I've been holding on to these old vintage crewel work curtains (left) that were my mom's many moons ago that I had planned on using in my study because of the robin-egg blue walls. Now that I have this new fabric, I may switch the whole thing around and put the chinois LL fabric there and the crewel in the dining room. Geesh, decisions, decisions. (I'm fortunate to have such mundane decisions to make--I know; and I count my blessings!) Any of you artsy souls have a suggestion? Bag all the fabrics and find something better, eh? hehe.

If you look at the chinois with my oriental-- similar motif, both quite busy--it may be just a tad too much. (This is why I don't put anything on my windows--it drives me crazy.) P.S. Don't tell me if you see a hairball I missed! And just WHAT is the ORB in some of my shots?!!!


You may be able to see my little test swatch of sage green (a tad darker than the walls) on my shadowboxing in the dining room. I have yet to start that project (obviously). Personally, I like the crewel work in both room, but there's not enough fabric for both-of course! (Yes, I would definitely take the scroll out with the red if I use the crewel!) Maybe the LL will have to go to another project. It is gorgeous and soft and will go just about anywhere. Hmmmmmmm. Hey, maybe the family room! giggle.

(Welcome to my madness!)

Liberty of London

Take a deep breath and release. Slowly. Again. Ok, ready. Just saying it pulls at the heart strings. Liberty of London. Sigh. Another one of my "must do's in London." Oh, and do read the history in the link above. It is fascinating!

I've always thought of Liberty only for their beautiful fabrics and had purchased them either online or at one of the London department stores. My idea of Liberty was mostly small "English" florals and beautiful art nouveau patterns on cotton. The last time we were in London, we went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with the kid; and it just so happened the theater was right around the bend from Liberty. (Carefully planned or coincidence?) I only had about 10 minutes, so I did my best speed shopping ever. I was only able to get my mom a little leather pouch filled with a shopping bag in one of their pretty purple chintz patterns, purple being her favorite color. I swore that next time, I would spend a lot more time in there! Which I did--at the objection of the kid, of course.

First of all, it is housed in a beautiful old Tudor building. We walked by it twice before finally asking. (It had already turned dark my last visit, and I missed the whole Tudor thing somehow.) I just want to giggle and pinch myself every time I go in there. This time, there were antiques--mostly art nouveau and arts and crafts items--cased in various parts of the Gift Room. I could walk around and around in here, but the kid put an end to that after about 30 minutes of doing so.

There is a little nook in the corner where they sell their hand-blocked Italian papers and stationery. Look at the detail of the sheet I brought home. I just may have to frame it--it's that beautiful. It's kind of like the shop itself. You can look and look and see something different every time you blink.














After many "c'mons" from the kid, we decided to take the beautiful elevator (lift) to the next floor. This was an adventure to me as I had never been outside the gift room. Look at how beautiful the detail is on the lift. I wish I had taken a photo of the floors. They look ancient--the original wood flooring in all it's well-used splendor.

We came out near the china section. Oh dear. DANGER, DANGER! I could have purchased a set of everything on display. Instead, I settled for photographing it. Everything was so pretty; and I was in my own little world when I was approached by a salesperson. She enlightened me by telling me there was no photographing allowed of "items for sale." Ooooops. So funny, these stores. I was very careful at Harrods and asked specifically. The guard informed me there that I could photograph anything except the "fine jewelry." Since there was no "fine jewelry" here, I thought I was good-to-go. Nope. Oh well, no harm done, just a little embarrassment, that's all. And I had already photographed a few items to show, shhhhh. Now, take a look at this display. (sniffle sniffle--brings tears to me eyes!) Is this beauty or what?


Here's the kid looking out the beautiful leaded glass window--bored to death. (Note Sinatra playing across the street.) I think he would have been happy to have stayed here while I looked at everything. But he didn't. He stuck with me and let it be known how absolutely miserable he was. (grrrrrrrrrrrr)

This is the ceiling--now that's a skylight! (Note the beautiful colored chandelier blurred in the middle bottom. I was shooting for that one because I WANT IT! I was shaking from the thought of breaking the law--kidding.) We never made it up there. The kid would have nothing to do with yet another floor of girl stuff. Hssssss. (Well, it gives me something to look forward to on my next visit there, ALONE!)


In a last-ditch effort to shop, I made a bee-line over to the notions section ignoring the kid's resistance. I have always wanted to do some needlepoint and this was my chance, buddy. Oh, and there was plenty of needlepoint to be had, I tell you. The beautiful, traditional English needlepoint. I am getting anxious just thinking about the rush job I did in this area! By this time, the kid was ready to kill me--his eyes burning through my flesh. I grabbed two tiny beginner's kits with colors that caught my eye; and we were out of there! I'm sure the sweet older saleslady was remarking something bad under her breath at my urgency to pick a couple of patterns! (I'm getting too old for this speed shopping stuff, I think.)

He made me leave so much sooner that I would have liked to. (Could he have been planted by the hub to keep me from spending? hmmmmmm. Now there's a thought!) I have to admit to being just a tad perturbed with him, to say the least. (Sorry kid.) Liberty was not his idea of a fun time. But, hey, he's just a kid, and a boy at that. What's a girl to do?

On our way out, we exited through the flower entrance. I bought a little bouquet of lilies of the valley for the hotel room. They smelled divine. Why don't we sell these tiny bouquets in the States? Why? I ask you, why?

A few window displays for your viewing pleasure. The chosen colors were magnificent!





I miss the beauty of London, pout.