Coming Soon . . .

Hello, all, I hope your week has gone well so far.

I've been looking ahead to switching out the Valentine decor and moving on. That will happen tomorrow, but meanwhile, here is a mini project in honor of the season:

Starting with this:

add a little glitz and nail polish, and voila, you, too, can have a:

portable, pocket Mardi Gras kit! You've got beads and confetti and are set to let the good times roll!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Michele

A little touch of green

Hello, friends, how is your week so far? Ours has been cloudy with a chance of car repairs, but that's okay. Our wonderful mechanic stayed late to replace a bearing in my car's wheel, then delivered it when it was ready. What a guy!

It has been cool, gray and dreary most of the time during the past few weeks. Not to complain, we'll have way too much blazing sun before long, but still, it's a little bit old at this point. Even though most of the Valentine's Day decor will stay up until March 1, it seemed like a good idea to jump the gun with the terrarium on the dining room buffet.

I found two big fake plants at the Salvation Army store Monday, and added the little fern bought last year. Flossie seems to be critiquing my arrangement. It would be nice to have real ones, but the cats always, always eat anything live brought indoors, plus in this room with only limited north light they probably wouldn't make it anyway.

A view with no cat in it. The four bird stone coaster are lined up in front for a touch of color.

That's my minor effort for today. It's been raining all afternoon now, so welcome for the live ones that survived the winter outside.

Take it easy!
Michele

A Book Review - The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

Hello, all,

Can you believe it's nearly the end of this month? With all the cooler and wetter than normal weather we've had in February I've spent a lot of time inside with a book.This was a title I'd heard about and wanted to read, so it was great to find a copy of the ARC at a sale a few weeks ago. 

Told from the points of view of three women involved in a chain of events stretching back years, this is a gripping account of the results of an unforeseen "what if" taking place. The characters are believable and engaging. The setting of Australia makes for an interesting backdrop to the working out of the plot. Things crank up when Cecelia finds a letter from her husband addressed to her to be opened after he dies. She reads it, and life as her family knows it is forever changed. Some people will not like the ending, although it works, because it's heartbreaking. I like following the way the three protagonists dealt with the sudden upheaval and unexpected shocks dealt out within a relatively short period of time, their behavior, motivations and thoughts. The epilogue was very satisfying for someone who often wonders about details not covered in the pages of a novel, or what happened after the last page. 

The author has written four other books; the only one I've read is What Alice Forgot, but it was excellent, too. If you've never had the pleasure of reading this talented writer from Down Under, get online or to a store and check her work out. I predict you'll be glad you did.

Happy reading!

Michele

New on Thursday

Hello, all,

First new is a rainy afternoon. Since the area is still officially in a drought, this is a welcome event. Yesterday while meeting a friend out of this neighborhood it seemed a fine chance to check out a couple of thrift stores I don't get to often.

Some artificial pears, two little bowls, a Mardi Gras mask and more books. A vintage apron, pedometer, two print napkins and little box of puzzles and questions. The bag with an H had to come home with me for oldest daughter, Hilary. I forgot that inside it is a movie, of  (at least it used to be) her favorite Anne Tyler book, Earthly Possessions. I am really taken with the brown metal squirrel, and am pondering how best to utilize him. It just occurred to me, not shown is a huge fancy bar of soap, new from Neimann-Marcus. Flossie is checking out the mask. 

How has your luck been lately for finding treasures? We have great hopes that yard sales will start to appear on Saturdays any week now. 

Happy hunting!

Michele

Late and little

Hi, folks,

An unexpected visit from Middle Daughter Mary this afternoon derailed my plan to write a blog post then, but at least a picture had been taken already. Now that it's time to move on from Valentine's Day, my thoughts turned to the next holiday, after hearing a news segment about Mardi Gras in Galveston on the radio. Mardi Gras colors are purple, green and gold. Something from Christmas and a few hearts from this month and I came up with:

A mini-cloche to start our thoughts turning in the direction of "Laissez le bon temps rouler". 

Till next time,

Michele

The last gasp, I promise!

Hi, Friends,

How is your Monday so far? We have warm sunny skies, so it's quite a relief from the past couple of weeks.

Heading to check the mailbox it occurred to me in all the Valentine frenzy, you never got to see the hanging peg rail by the front door, so here it is:

An ornament, a love bird sign, a decoration in the fake fern and an old heart-shaped pillow. That was bought years ago at a store called Iowa-Guatemala. 

It was split down the middle; all merchandise on one side was from Iowa and the opposite from Guatemala. It was fun to visit and I was sorry when they went out of business.

Now we're on the downhill slide to March which = Mardi Gras all too soon followed by Lent. Is this year skipping days or something to be going by so fast? I'll be sorry to see all my red things put away when the new month arrives. How about you?

Take it easy!
Michele

TGIW

That's Thank God It's Warm, in case you're confused. It is a beautiful day here, heading into what looks like a beautiful weekend.

You may notice I seldom show whole rooms or sections of this house. Nor is it ever featured on other blogs, where people have gorgeous, well put together rooms and inviting spaces. Because of size limitations and the fact that it's a rental, that isn't likely to happen, either. However, I can claim points for honesty. A recent trip to Goodwill offered us a chance to state the obvious:

See? I rest my case.

Have  a good one!

Michele