New Curtains...

I found this perfect fabric - perfect color, perfectly nubby - to make curtains for the dinning room patio door. But alas! there was not enough to do the job. I found it at a fabric outlet so I waited, thinking there might be some more showing up. I waited a year and no luck so finally decided to add another color. I've been intrigued by the striped curtains and decided to give it a shot. I'm mostly pleased with the finished results.

 I added ruffles at the seams - however, if I'd do it over, I'd leave them off.

Closeup of the nubby fabric.

The fabric was inexpensive, the ruffles were easy to do and all-in-all, I'm happy with them!

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I have a "change the furniture and house" bug!

It's finished but more pictures will have to wait till another time.

2012 Summer Roundup

Summer 2012.

It's written in the pages of history.

Good memories of reunions, ballgames, mini golfing with the grands.

Dealing with the hard stuff of a second diagnosis of cancer.

Disappointment. Tears. Fear. Rebellion. Anger.

But in it all, we're again finding our God is bigger than any of this!

Our summer in picture.

My seventh garden tour in eight years.

A private tea for a fundraiser.

My new strawberry bed made by Mr D.

Mr D getting his first chemo treatment.

He has very minimal hair loss so far and has three more treatments to go.

Tea party with the girls.

A basket of beans from a local farmer are now in our freezer - I hadn't done any for some time!

 My experiment in Back to Eden gardening was very successful!

Did you know that unwashed homegrown eggs do not need to be refrigerated? I didn't.

And I've been doing this for six months...

and losing weight for nine months and feel wonderful!

I've fallen for the 'skinny belt' look but refuse to pay ten bucks per belt -
I find mine at thrift shops or do without. :)
(more on this journey in another post)

Autumn and Candles

Today the east coast is getting a soaker as a cold front flows through it. It's a good day to light some candles! This time, they're lit sitting inside containers outside our door in a cupboard under the eaves, lighting up my autumn decorations.

All of these items here, including the cupboard, are yard, thrift and GW finds with the exception of the sign, which was a gift from daughter J. I tinkered around with Krylon's Looking Glass Spray on the glass candle containers and was disappointed with the outcome. I used them outside this summer and they weathered into their own kind of look which was better than mine!
One does not need to spend a lot of money to have seasonal decorations; however one needs to keep an eye out for off-season or yard/thrift bargains and a vision for how it can be used. The pleasure of The Hunt is as fun (or more!) as setting a vignette up!

The cupboard was five dollars and has been sitting here for at least five summers. This summer I dragged it through the laundry into the back of the house for a garden tour and hated it there and missed it in the front!

Mr D helped me move it back and it promptly fell apart! Bless his heart, he spent thirty minutes fixing it - I don't think it will ever come apart again!

Now it sits in its rightful place under the eaves by the front door to welcome our guests once again! 

Sunday Service

Our church had baptism services yesterday - six young souls put a stake in the ground as a committment  and a testimony to their love for God. As always, I am moved to tears on this occasion. The potential that is represented here and the responsibility as a body of believers that is promised to walk along side of them...

Yesterday Mr D wasn't feeling well. It started on our way to church and it was a 'new' symptom. During the praise and worship '10,000 Reasons' by Matt Redman was sung. The words were comforting and sobering in a significant way to me.

10,000 Reasons

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning,

It's time to sing Your song again.

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,

Let me be singing when the evening comes.

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger,

Your name is great and Your heart is kind. 

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing,

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

And on that day when my stregnth is failing,

The end draws near and my time has come,

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years and then forevermore!

{chorus}

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul,

Worship His holy name.

  Sing like never before, O my soul'

I'll worship Your holy name! 

Autumn Mantel

Our autumn mantel.

Simple.

Organic.

Lovely!

Recent painted picture frames. 

Pears picked up at a local thrift shop.

Grasses from the field behind us.

White pitcher a yard sale find that was stuck in a box.

(I love simplicity!)

Blog Facelift

Robin at She Makes Hats has done a beautiful job of tweaking my  blog site. She's easy to work with, VERY reasonable, accomodating and kind with my ineptness with techie stuff. I'm really pleased with the results.

One request I had was to combine Fleur Gardens with Fleur Cottage. All Fleur Garden posts are in the link on top of the page under the header. I enjoyed sharing my gardening posts in a blog but it was time to bring the two blogs together. Thanks to my twentysix faithful followers who joined me on that journey!

I eliminated the Linky Connect as well. It felt like 'clutter' on my page and was too cumbersome to go to that link. Robin gave me face book connection as well as a few others which are located at the bottom of each post. An email link is also an option, located on the side bar along with GFC follow button. I really like the clean, simple results on my blog!

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Mr D is doing his third round of chemo tomorrow and in two weeks he'll be getting another CAT scan in hopes the tumor has shrunk. He's been doing well with the treatments, though he tires quickly. We are very grateful for the community of friends and believers who are lifting us up to our Father's Throne in prayer!I update our journey on Fleur Cottage face book.

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A few projects I'm working on.

New drapes for the dinning room.

 And painting chairs with caned backs I'm collecting - it's a slow process! So far, I have three.

Picture Frames

Empty wooden picture frames recycled into a work of art are a classic. I like the clean look of white, which is what I chose to use in my small collection of frames. I placed them on the mantel and really like the simplicity the frames adds to it.

- Before -

 - After -

 - With and without greens -

Which do you prefer...with greens...without greens?

Linking to: hometalk

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This blog is undergoing a few changes and tweaks. One of the tweaks is choosing to get rid of the Linky Follow button. The steps one needs to go through to get to the Linky Follow site just is not worth my time. I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing for my newer followers; however, I can be followed via facebook at the bottom of each post, email or the GFC button which are on the side bar.