Creamy White China Roses

Praise and Thanksgiving

O My God,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects, my heart admires, adores, loves thee, for my little vessel is as full as it can be, and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee

ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,

then thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,

ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,

crowding into every moment of happiness.

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created, for adorning it, sanctifying it,

though it is fixed in barren soil:

for the body thou hast given me, for preserving its strength and vigour,

for providing senses to enjoy delights, for the ease and freedom of my limbs,

for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;

for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,

for a full table and overflowing cup, for appetite, taste, sweetness,

for social joys of relatives and friends, for ability to serve others,

for a heart that feels sorrows and neccessities,

for a mind to care for my fellow-men, for opportunities of

spreading happiness around, for loved ones in the joys of heaven,

for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.
I love thee above the powers of language to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.

Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

from the book: The Valley of Vision
Puritan Prayers and Devotions



I'm honored to be a part of Teatime Tuesday over at
Rose Chintz Cottage and Inspirations
here:
http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/


and also a part of White Wednesday
at Faded Charm
here:
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

Blessings to you all,
Doni

In The Pink

I just wanted to share the first of a project I've started...it's called

CLEANING THE HOUSE!!!

If I understand this correctly, it means that every single object in my house is supposed to be clean and organized and in its place all at the same time.

I choose to disregard the part about 'all at the same time' as well as 'every single object'. I'd kill myself if I had to do that or even tried!

So, in keeping with the abbreviated version of cleaning the house, I've chosen to start cleaning one part of my house at a time, and the pink dishes are the first things to get a bath.

Hope you enjoy them.

I've also had another brilliant idea and would like your feedback on it.
I want to host a weekly post where everyone who wants to participate may do so. I'd like to have one called, "Show us Your Lace Tuesday" or something like that. Laces are some of my favorite things, and when I see pictures of what others have and use, I get all excited.
So, tell me what you think, and I'll start. Give me some good ideas of names too...perhaps I'll start by having a giveaway.


The dried roses are from my awesome wonderful husband. He has been wonderful to me on my birthdays and our anniversaries. I have kept every rose he's given me over the years and dried them for keepsakes. With some I've dried the petals and have them inside this glass vase to hold the roses that I've dried by hanging them upside down. I just love the light pink and cream colors when they're dried.

I suppose now I have to choose another part of the house to "clean", and then when I get it all pretty and dust-free I will take a picture of it. Just think! In a year or two, I will have a blog full of clean objects posted that will stay clean forever in pictures, and then I'll have to start all over again in the house and clean it all over again! (It will take me at LEAST that long to get to it all!!).

Please let me know what you think about the "Show us Your Lace Tuesday" idea!

One more thing...I just want to thank all of you who have decided to follow my blog! I never thought I'd have 20 people decide to actually follow ME! Wow! And I've had so much fun over at your blogs. You have inspired me to clean and decorate and make my house a home.

Hugs!

Doni

The White Stuff

This will be my very first White Wednesday! I'm so excited! It took me a awhile to

decide whether or not to be a part of the fun (by posting my whites on my own blog)

but I have enjoyed seeing what all of you very creative and talented ladies post on your

White Wednesday posts! Here are the items I've found in my home, and will

be adding more as time goes on.

This swan was a gift from a sweet friend years ago. It's just beautiful and has

graced my home for a long long time.

The 'Praying Hands' are new to me, are old and chippy, and found at a local thrift store!
They are the beginning (I hope) of a new collection of praying hands that I've
been wanting to start. As I see more, I'll add to the collection!

This angel playing the violin was a 'White Elephant' gift from a Christmas party I attended
a number of years ago. I threatened anyone who DARED to take it from me!
(I play the violin and collect them!!!)

And this pillow is a new gift from my winning the giveaway by Sharon over at
Pansy Cottage Garden. It's just beautiful!
That's all for now, and hope you enjoyed it!
Please also head over to see "The Gift" here
and let me know what you think.

White Wednesday sponsored by
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

Thanks!
Doni

The Gift

It's really pretty. It was fun to look in all my boxes and find that if I put it all

together, it would look so nice. But there's more to it than that.
Click here to read why I did it.

Blessings,

Doni

"Meant" to be Mine!

I guess I've always love glass...I went to garage sales a lot when I was just a kid (thanks mom!), so I've always wanted to have a home of my own and collect all the beautiful

pieces I saw and display them. This first picture show a recent find at a

local shop near me. It was so sweet, it had to be a part of the collection.

The rose jar on the right also came from the same shop, and of course I fell in love

with it at first sight! Do you ever do that? Just see something and KNOW that it

was meant to go home with you? The piece on the left was from a garage sale,

and as usual, it just had to come home with me!

This is a cool jar. It's large and it's heavy. It has a spigot down at the bottom (like for tea),

and seems to work. BUT, I wanted it for all my LACE!!!

Perfect! It looks cool in there! The bottom of the jar says ITALY, and

I found it at the GoodWill store near me. Cost me 5 dollars, and

I almost left it behind....but it just caught my attention and I KNEW...

It had to come home with me!!!

They were meant to be mine!

I'm still working on my Guest Room, and have SO far to go, but it's a work in

progress and looks as if it will only progress slowly. I've redone the dresser my

Grossmutter gave me, so it looks a whole lot better. I used the new dresser scarves

I bought at the Estate sale, and I've moved the purple violet tins to another

place in the room. More pics as I get them all done!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Doni

Garage Sale Find!!

OK...it cost a bit more than I'd normally spend at a garage sale, but

seriously, I've wanted one for AGES, and when I saw this, I just fell

in love with it.

The base is nice and heavy, it's pretty, and it works.

No, it's NOT a Tiffany lamp, so Antique Roadshow will NOT

be seeing it ever!! BUT, it's here in my home and my husband and I

both just love it! Price??? 30 bucks. And it's missing

the screw on the top that attaches the shade to the base (anyone know of a

source for that??), so right now I've stuck a pencil in the space to

hold the shade on.

Daffodils on a snowy Texas Spring day!!!

Snow, snow, snow...I've never ever seen it like this!

I know we got over 3 inches today.....

Another thing:

I was over at Donna's website at Brynnwood Needleworks (see my favorite places on the

right for the link), and she has shared a VERY user friendly version of how

to add a Page to your blog. It was so easy to follow her directions the I even

could do it!!!

Please check out my new page labeled "The Gift". (Also a link to it at the top right of this page).

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe week!

Doni

My Gifts from Sharon @ Pansy Cottage Came!!

First, y'all need to go check out Sharon's blog over at Pansy Cottage Garden! http://www.pansycottagegarden.blogspot.com/

She sent me this box full of lovely items for winning her giveaway.

Aren't they fabulous!!! Look at this beautiful pillow...it's just gorgeous! And isn't this bird hook the cutest thing you every saw!!??? And even a little nest for the birdies to sleep in at night. How thoughtful. These little hangings are so cute...I can't believe the color on them! Thank you Sharon for your sweet giveaway and for picking ME!! I was so excited...even my husband had to take a few minutes away from Basketball to see my goodies, and was impressed!!!

The pretty tissue paper was such a sweet touch, and each piece was wrapped lovingly.

Hugs!

Doni

Lovely Lace with Handpainted Beauty!

So this blogger business is really making me read a lot so I can do what y'all do on your blogs! I've tried so many times to get my pictures in the right spots, and finally just used the help button! (I don't like reading directions either!). SO...hopefully in order, are a few of my finds this week. I'm so excited about these! First is a hand painted plate of purple flowers

on a blue backgroud. It's so sweet!

Next I found (in the same booth), this precious blue forget-me-not plate and just couldn't decided between the two, so I bought both of them!

Aren't they just yummy?

See the lace in the background of the picture below? I found it today at an Estate sale.
Don't you know that the dear lady it belonged to just relished her laces?
Just like us! Just like I will.

The next picture really shows the lovely coloring of the lace.

Here is a darker backgroud behind it so you can see the beauty of

the lacework.

There were 3 pieces of lace in the set, in 3 differing sizes.

All are in pristine condition.

Behind the pieces of the set is a piece of cut and frayed lace

that I just couldn't leave behind. It was just 50 cents...

So...for a song I now am singing the virtues of lovely lace!!

I'm playing along with everyone over at My Romantic Home

http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com

for Show and Tell Friday! Y'all really need to come over

and see what some very talented and lovely

people are showing off!

My husband just came in here and told me that it felt balmy like Florida outside right now,

but that in the morning it will be cold and possibly we'll get some snow soon!! YUK!

And here I thought Spring was here~!

Doni

Ode to Grossmutter

Not sure about this setup...in fact as I look at it closer, it's just tooooooo busy! Too much lace or something. Now how y'all do it, I just don't know. Maybe I need to take lessons on how to set up a beautiful vignette. My dresser belonged to my Grossmutter (grandmother) we pronounced it "Growshmudder", who was my biggest fan. She lived 3 doors down the street from us. She was born in March in the late 1800's. When I was a young child, she moved to a retirement home and couldn't take all of her furniture, so both my sister and I got her bedroom suites, mine including this dresser. I've always loved it, mostly because it was hers. I can remember the top middle drawer. It was where she kept her clip-on earrings and a picture of her son who had died too young. It was a school picture, of a young man with a silly grin on his face. At the time, we didn't have a clue...he wasn't there for us to know. What we did know was that it was special to Grossmutter...and now that I have two sons of my own, I know just HOW special. So the drawer is special. And those earrings..she kept them on a plastic earring holder like a short wide ladder. The pairs of earrings clipped to it, and my sister and I got to play with them like dressup. Grossmutter was always finding little things for us to do or enjoy. So many memories of my childhood with her were made right next to this dresser. And her favorite color was purple, her favorite flowers violets (she raised some GORGEOUS African violets!). So the purple tins with the violets are because of her. I guess a lot of her favorites rubbed off on me. I loved her house, the smell of the mothballs (yes, I'm wierd), and the crystal chandelier over the dining room table. The cedar panelled room with all the windows. The plastic Christmas Tree for the table that you stuck the gumdrops on every year. Her CATS! TONS of CATS! And her sweet smile, gray hair, and wrinkled face of love for me. I miss you Grossmutter. Thanks so much for letting me have your dresser...I love it and always will.

Doni

Thank You for my Apron!

Look at this lovely apron! I was one of the winners of a beautiful apron given away by Deb over at Linens, Lace, and Lattes!!http://linenslaceandandlattes.blogspot.com We each got to choose one from her Etsy shop, so y'all go over there and have a look at all of her lovely items!! Thank you so much Deb! It's soooooo pretty! I love it! Even my hubby thought it was pretty!!

See all the pretty detail in the stitching? It's so sweet. Just think of all the work that went into making it!!

I've so enjoyed seeing all of the blogs out there and entering contests! I've just won another one too! Found out this morning! I'll be posting again when it gets here! Y'all have a great week!

Doni

Blue Blessings

What a blessed day I had! Look at what I found, close to home, and from a dear lady who was having a moving sale. This 3 piece set of vanity boxes are precious! Her treasure has become my treasure. Isn't it beautiful? God gives us gifts every day. It doesn't always have to be a found treasure from a garage sale or flea market, it's as near as the air we breath, and so is HE!

After I got home with my finds, everything got a nice bath and I've just had so much fun arranging this little vignette. It's not where it's going to end up, but for picture taking purposes I posed some recent finds with some new finds, and this is what I got. Hope y'all enjoy the pics. Have a blessed weekend!

This will be my first time to be a part of My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday! Please go to this site and check out all of the lovely blogs out there participating! You can visit it here: http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2010/03/show-and-tell_11.html

Doni

A Big Texas Thank You!

I have found that people want to please others; at least most people! Not all, but most. With that in mind, I have also observed that the best things in life are the little things that sometimes go un-noticed. When someone smiles at me at the grocery store for no reason except we just notice each other, it's really nice. It makes you feel good that someone takes the time to actually smile at you! Another thing is when you drive down the street. In my community which is a small town in east Texas, an old farmer driving an equally old truck lifting a few fingers from the top of the steering wheel to say 'howdy' is a usual thing. It used to be more frequent, but it still happens. That makes me feel good too. It may be a small thing, but to me it's big. And the day is better, because someone took the effort to make it so. That's how I feel about the comments on my blog. When I got my very first comment, I didn't know what to do!! How do I 'Smile' or 'Wave' back?? Well, commenting on your blogs is one way, but I want to do more. I want to thank you. I know I can't write a personal thank you note to each of you as the time goes by, but please know, I read every comment and I appreciate every one of them. I've been so excited to see you new ladies actually sign up to 'follow' my blog!!! It's so cool!

Now as I go to your blogs and enjoy your posts, I'm going to smile at you as I comment. Picture a big cheesy grin on my face, and a wave and a hope that you have a great day. I've loved getting to know you all better by going to your older posts and catching up with you. Wow! What awesome and talented people you are! I've had so much fun and gotten so much inspiration from each of you. It's kind of like I am getting a new magazine in the mail EVERY DAY and it's one of my favorites!! I'm really looking forward to the future too, because I know that y'all are going to have some of the most beautiful blogs for me to look at!!!

Doni

Treasures in a Tiny Box

Friday I went to a local garage sale and found a few little items...one being this sweet box of Scripture cards! They are in great condition, but it was the "used" aspect of them that sold me on them. Some person used these for a time, as can be seen by the edges of the cards. God's Word will never come back to Him void. Where He sends it, it will perform His will. God's Word is a Treasure, each verse a pearl or diamond, a ruby or sapphire of wisdom, love, history, and salvation that has stood and will stand throughout all eternity, for God's Word is His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. The inside of the cover on the box was wonderful too, hopefully you can read it in the picture. My hubby is a pastor, and one of the things he's mentioned over and over at our church is this: We see so many books available for a lot of money at the 'Christian' book store on the topic of "self help", when in reality the only book we need is the Bible, God's Word. It's available in its entirety at the Dollar store in town, for ONLY A DOLLAR! Just think...we spend countless hours watching television, reading novels or magazines or those expensive 'self-help' books, and we spend so little time actually reading God's Word. If I put a little tiny Scripture card by my kitchen sink, I will probably read it over at least 6 times during the day. If I pick up my Bible and read IT every day, I have read what God Himself says about who I am, who HE is, and what my responsibilities as His child are. Keeping His Word in my mind throughout the day is the best "self" help I can give myself!! Pick up your Bible today and read it...I dare you!!



Doni

He REALLY loves me!

My husband is the most wonderful, awesome, magnificent, loving and caring man in the world, and I'm so thankful he's all mine!! To show some of these traits, while we were travelling to Missouri to pick up a new puppy earlier this week, he made time during our trip to spend hours (and do I ever mean HOURS), happily poking around flea markets along the way. No time constraints except closing time! I've had a blast! My feet ache more than I can remember, and I didn't get to see ALL of the whole huge building full of lovely antiques and cool stuff, but my mind is full of things I've seen, my home now has a few new treasures, and my hubby has a very happy wife! This picture shows a few of the items I picked up on our trip. I'll show more later.

See the little plate with the bluebird on it? Well, when I picked it up to look closer at it, he came up to me in the booth and right there in public hugged me and told me he loved me! What a perfect plate to commemorate that event. I'll always remember it now!

Now I've got to get busy and work on the house. It really needs to be cleaned and I have a whole room to get ready for company! Not that anyone is staying yet, but they couldn't if they wanted to...we've got all kinds of boxes and dog crates sitting in there right now and I have lots of new treasures to display!!

Doni

More Giveaways to Check out!

I found another cool blog out there! You ladies have some of the most beautiful and artistic ideas!! Pop over to Debra's blog at
http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/ and check out her giveaway. You'll be tempted I know!!

Also check out Deb's new blog at http://linenslaceandlattes.blogspot.com/
for her giveaway. It's wonderful!

Well, and if those interest you, head to http://gypsyfleamarket.blogspot.com/ and check it out too! Wow, what a lot of talented people y'all are!

Found another one!!! http://grandmayellowhair.blogspot.com/ is giving away CHOCOLATE!!!!! Enough said!

OK...here's another one...it's so sweet!! http://vintagejunky.blogspot.com is giving away a cute little jug and an awesome pillow! Get over there to check it out!