Castle Walls I've built them All!

I've had a lot of comments about my bathroom walls and Pat of Mille Fiori Favoriti thought they needed a post of their own so here it is.
It all began when I decided to host a tea party at my house for my wonderful volunteers. I started planning my menu, picking which china to use, and how I was going to embellish my tables. I was suddenly struck by a horrifying thought... all my bathrooms were a disaster! How embarrassing! Friend's who come over often are used to it but, these were my darling volunteers who had never been to my house.

I'm one of those people who has years of design magazines piled in every nook and cranny of the house and sometimes it's a bit scary how I remember a particular article and what issue it came from. Anyway, I have this one favorite article where the homeowners granddaughter's bedroom is painted like castle walls. That's where I found my inspiration.

When I told my husband what I was planning to do he decided to replace the toilet at the same time. One disaster led to another and by the week of my tea party the new toilet still wasn't installed. I had to cancel my tea party but, it was OK as I was happily painting my castle walls.

I worked anywhere from 2 to 6 hours per day for about 8 weeks and took the weekends off but.
It's a teeny tiny bathroom so I had to get creative when it came to the towel racks. My sweet hubby built the cabinet mirror from a mirror I found in an old junk shop. Oh, the funny thing... people still use the ugly torn apart bathroom instead of this cute little magical one.

There are two other pictures on the post below.

Fun Monday!

I was over at Ellen B.'s of the Happy Wonderer yesterday and noticed that she's participating in a "Fun Monday" that's being hosted by the Prytz family. So I asked if I could join. This Monday's topic is "Walls."

Or what's hanging on your walls. I've included some pics of what's hanging around my walls

(not including the Dust Bunnies at the base of the walls).

My first picture is a sign I painted years ago that hangs over the door to the back bathroom. It says, "Enter with a Happy Heart." I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture of the entire thing...oh well!

This is the little bathroom that the sign hangs over. It's the service porch bathroom and no one ever uses it so I thought if I painted it more people would be inclined to go in there.

This is another shot of the little bathroom. It has a Castle Wall theme.

A clock hanging in the guest room.

A Lovely Lady hanging in the hall way.

A needle point done by my grandmother that actually leans against the wall.

The Lady of Shallot. I think I need to redo the mantle.

A small mirror hanging in the dining room.That's it for my Fun Monday Wall Display.I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any suggestions for the sad mantle feel free to let me know :)

The Thrill of the Hunt

I have this terrible tea fetish that can't be ignored and yesterday was the perfect day to go in search of tea things to mix and match with my other tea things. I'm not comfortable spending too much at one time so I buy little things that coordinate with what I have.
I was really on the lookout for a small dresser to fit in the little alcove of my bathroom but when nothing turned up and my gaze drifted to these adorable silver forks I thought, "Oooohhhh tea time!"
I started collecting silverware some time ago by buying 6 spoons here, 8 sugar spoons there, and so on. But every time I go to serve tea I'm always one fork short...go figure!
I also found these darling Bavarian Rose teacups and saucers. I thought it rather odd as there were 12 plates, 8 bowls, two soup tureens, and various other pieces for sale but only 2 teacups and saucers. For Southern California the price wasn't too bad...a mere $7.5 per set.

Aren't these darling!

Here's a close up.

And they will go perfect with these!

I hope your weekend has proven to be as rosy as mine!

Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thy sight, show me now thy ways, that I may know thee and find favor in thy sight. Consider too that this nation is thy people.

Exodus 33:13

God gives us direction that is clear-cut and specific. He promises us, as He did Moses, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." He leads His children today just as specifically and definitely as He led His people out of Egypt. How does this work? I've found that if I'm reading the scriptures, if I'm in fellowship with other Christians, if my prayer life is up-to-date-- all these factors enter into giving me guidance. God can speak to me through His people and His Word to show me His will. Sometimes circumstances indicate God's direction to me, too. When He closes a door, it's the height of foolishness for me to force my way through-even though I sometimes do it!
Taken from, "Today, Lord, I will."

A Restful Morning in the Garden

Yesterday morning was spent in the garden. It was the first time since January that I had time to work among the roses, flower beds and the vineyard. Most days I come home from work I'm too exhausted to enjoy my yard so it's often neglected but, I'm turning over a new leaf (hee! hee!). I've decided that for my sanity I'll have to go directly from work to the backyard accompanied by a tall glass of lemonade.

The front side of the vineyard looks like a tangled mess and after yesterday's work it still looks the same. I spent the majority of the morning on the other side of the picket fence hacking down the grapevine. It was so overgrown that you couldn't find where it started and where was it's end. It had attached itself to my beloved wisteria and was weighing it down.

The darling lavender Adirondacks that sweet hubby built for me couldn't be seen through all the mess and there was no where to sit and enjoy the humming of the bees.

This little door leads to the bunny run where my bunnies once lived happily. It has now become a storage shed for everything "gardeny." My hubby used to park his lawnmower in plain sight but, now it's tucked away out of sight.

The foxglove with their sweet little freckles have begun to bloom all over the yard.
Every garden needs a fairy or two. This is Gwendolyn with her little sea shell. She stands watch over the vineyard day and night.

Hollyhock's, another one of my favorites. My mom once told me that when she was growing up in Missouri they were everywhere so I grow them for her in hopes that she might come see them. She lives in Arizona and hates the California freeways so mostly she just gets pictures of them.

You can never have enough roses.

This is the vineyard with the pink Adirondack and the pink flamingos. I keep trying to convince my hubby that my little vineyard is in need of another double Adirondack but, thus far I've been unable to get him started on it.
This pathway was completely covered with vines and impassable. I still haven't made it around the backside yet but, while I was cleaning around the base of the ladder I found a baby snake. YIKES! I live in the middle of a huge mega metropolis! THERE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SNAKES! When I first discovered it I thought it was a worm but, on closer examination I thought it was the tail of a lizard. After poking it for several minutes with my rake I thought it was strange that it was still wiggling and then I noticed the head. SNAKE!!! I hacked it to pieces with my shovel. When I told my husband about it he said, "where is it? I want to see it." "Well honey I hacked it to pieces. There's nothing left to see." He was a little horrified that I behaved so violently but my thought was "if there's a little one then there's got to be a large one!" Hopefully it's mother is in someone else's yard!

Enough about the snake...the grapes are growing nicely and hopefully this year they'll be big enough to enjoy.

This is the lovely little potting bench that sweet hubby built for me. We designed it after a headboard I once saw in a design book. I love the little Gothic influences and the color is oh so sweet! The quatrafoil in the center was used in religious architecture and represents the four gospels. The top has a tray on it so I can pot plants and any extra soil falls to the galvanized bucket below. Very clever.

By the end of the afternoon I was able to sit down and enjoy the fruits of my labor and now this morning I'm off to do some more cleaning. Then I think I'll visit some antique stores. Happy Saturday!