Welcome Candle Light

A trio of simple mason jars with a little tea light in each hang from the covered porch.

Frame wire looped around each handle ties them to nails on the house trim.

A 'summery' way to welcome our guests.

The little tea lights are great because they just go out on their own - I don't have to remember to blow them out at the end of the evening.

A little sand at the bottom would be cute, too. But we no longer live close to the beach to grab some - and the kids have grown out of playing in a sand box. Those were fun days. Now, it's hangin' out with dudes eating pizza and smores by a camp fire.

Summer Fun!

see these same mason jars hanging in my office HERE

Sharing with - Funky Junk Interiors

The Rest of Our Trip to England

                                                            Hello everyone,
           It is a couple of weeks since we arrived home from England so I thought I would do a quick run through some of the other places we visited while there.
    We spent a few days in the beautiful city of Cambridge -home to many famous universities.

                  While we were there we enjoyed punting down the river by the beautiful universities with a guide to give us the history.

                           We stayed in Rundall House Inn -you can see it in the above photo.

 We had beautiful sunny weather while we were there and we enjoyed strolling around the city taking in the sights.

    We also spent a couple of nights at Bressingham Gardens Inn in Norfolk -home to the famous late Alan Bloom. I had seen him on garden shows along with his son Adrian several years ago and have enjoyed their books so it was a treat to see the gardens in person. However, due to a late spring we did not see them in all their glory but they were still beautiful.

                              This bridge was built by Alan bloom himself.

 This was the manor at Batsford Gardens that we also saw and enjoyed very much.

                                                Chipping Campden

       I enjoyed seeing all the different cars that were driven there-I think the pink one would be perfect for me!

                                                      Loved all the sheep!

                                  Enjoyed a little chat with this charming gardener!

   We don't have these signs here so I smiled when I saw it and then this lovely couple crossing the street.....and no it is not Andrew and I -yet!!!!

                                              A beautiful manor in Lower Slaughter.

           I love all the interesting doors in England so I made a collage to share with you do I wouldn't be keeping you here all day!


Thank you for coming along with me on the condensed version of our trip - I took hundred's of pics so I am sure you are happy with the condensed version!

Thank you for all your sweet comments on our boathouse and welcome to new followers.

 I am joining The Tablescaper for Oh, the Places I have been !

Take care,
Carolyn

The Summer Boathouse

                                                             Hello everyone,
       We had a beautiful sunny warm day here today so after doing some gardening and some painting, I decided to have some fun decorating our new boathouse that my husband and son built last fall. It still has some finishing touches to be done yet but this little nook is ready for summer! I love aqua and have been collecting  bits and pieces for awhile now ,since I knew the look I was going for .

                                       The exterior of the boathouse is on my right sidebar.  

                                           The aqua sail boat  is perfect for our little boathouse.

                          The hand crochet lace curtains were a thrift find  a few weeks ago.

    When I finish the rest of our little boathouse I will share it with you as well but for now I think I will relax and enjoy the view!


                                              Our Summer Boathouse                  

I am joining My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday and Mod Vintage Life for Mod Mix Monday.

Thank you Lauriane for the wonderful review of my my new magazine Aiken House & Gardens available through Magcloud on the top right side of my blog if you are interested in previewing it.

Thank you for visiting,

Carolyn

Shower Caddy turned Kitchen Caddy

It seems like every time we move - I buy these silly bath caddies that apply to the shower surround with suction cups. My shampoo is always too heavy (or something).

So they end up taking up space in my linen closet.

This time, I turned it into a kitchen caddy.

This one is super simple but I like the little hooks. I removed the suction cups then drilled holes into my  kitchen island and used washers and screws to secure the little metal basket to the side of the island.

How simple was that?

This sits close to my stove top so it's easy to reach salt, pepper and utensils while I am cooking. I could store spices or hot pads in the basket, too.

I love island accents. You can see more ideas HERE.

If you like my little island - you can see the post on that junk redo HERE.
Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing with - Funky Junk Interiors and Funky Junk for Rustic Shelving Ideas

A Project I Love...still

I am a girl who changes things around my house pretty often. Less, since our move last year into a rental home but I want to share some more pictures of a recent project that I am so glad I did.

A couple of months ago I painted a checker board top on our family dining table.

You can see that post HERE.

I am just giving a little update to tell my readers that THIS was one project that I am so happy that I did.

One of my favorite pieces of furniture I own - a workbench that was handed down to me from a sweet friend. Sturdy and heavy as anything.

All our homework supplies and games fit on the shelf below for easy access. I wanted to tell you, also, that the top was originally plywood with lots of holes. When I wanted to use it for dining - I went to the lumber store and purchased a thin piece of birch sheet wood and glued it to the top. Then I caulked the seam with black caulking and used clamps to hold it in place to dry for a few days. The birch wood was around $20. It stained dark beautifully.

But the shiny dark finish showed every little crumb.

After I applied the flat shine and distressed white and dark color-

the little messes are so much less noticeable. 

Which - makes me very happy. This table is the center of everything....games, homework, entertaining and family conversation (which is getting so much more interesting as our kids get older - 10 year old boys are so dang fun!).

Plus...we enjoyed our long Memorial Day weekend - not so much at our awesome dining table but in our little backyard. Green grass - I love green lush grass (drives the hubby nuts).

So did Mazi - my 7 month old Morkie. I have fallen in love with her. 5 pounds and so super sweet. She goes potty outside and she learned to fetch.....good girl (said in a high pitch/singsong voice that embarrasses the boys so bad!)

She wasn't cheap but she is worth every penny and more.

I hope you all have projects and 'things' in your life that you absolutely love.

Summer is right around the corner - we have some fun plans - hope you do too!