I'll be away a few days~ celebrating 0430!

Sharing a few of our favorite things in Gruene that we celebrate!
Gruene Hall.. magical place! I have been known to "scoot a boot" here!There is no place like The Gruene Mansion~ Fell in love here with LOML, LOML proposed here, we married here on April 30th! This place holds many, many memories.. we come back every year. Nothing like the sound of the windmill on the grounds of the Gruene Mansion Estate. We will sit and watch the river go by and make new promises and talk about our dreams! AND ... what we would do "IF" we won the Texas Lottery!
and finally... we will have more than our fair share of peach ice cream at the Gruene General Store! Hope you enjoyed your tour of Gruene Texas!
Wishing you all a great week!
Valarie

Have a Wonderful Day!

HuGs!
Valarie

Note: Responding to my curious blogger gal friends... The rod to the hanging tree pot can be found here! She know's you all will be calling to order one! You will love Grandmother Moon!

Sharing the Texas State Flower with you!

I thought I would try to grow a few bluebonnets! They are actually blooming! Growing in a old wash pan!
Happy Monday!
Valarie

Sunny day here at 1110!

Happy Sunday to all of you....
Sharing these beautiful yellow sun drops with you! In case you are wondering about the "1110 post" .. I love it! When I pull in the drive .. she says welcome home! The post I found at a garage sale, the iron bracket found at a junk store and the 1110 numbers ... LOML put those on, the spoon chime hanging down.. bought at a Gruene Flea Market one year. (click on photo to enlarge)
ReLaX 2day! HAvE FuN!
Valarie

Quick glimpse of my patio!

Hey all.. just sharing a glimpse of my back patio area. In the tin buckets are pink geranium's.... on the fireplace mantle is an old chicken feeder filled with some of my favorite flowers... petunia, yellow marigold, and geranium's. The birdbath between the two metal buckets, love it found at First Monday in Canton!!
Hope you are having a fabulous Saturday!!
Valarie

Sharing Austin~ it was a fabulous time!

It was a fabulous time at the James Taylor concert last night! Amazing performance... probably the best ever... of course, I say that everytime we see him! I am sharing some of the city with you. I LOVE Austin!
This is our State Capitol! Some of the sights of 6th Street, very hip & cool area! The Driskill Hotel~ Yes, stay here! Highly recommend!
The concert was here~
These beautiful oak trees on campus!
Then LOML drove me through this cute neighborhood on the way out of town this am!


and the final reason to go see James Taylor other than he is so darn cool and his music ROCKS! is the T-SHIRT!
Hope you enjoyed Austin Texas!
Valarie

AUSTIN TEXAS OR BUST... JT IN TOWN!

Hey all my blogging sisters! Heading out early in the am for Austin Texas to see our friend, JAMES TAYLOR!! if you all follow my post you know LOML (LOVE OF MY LIFE) is the biggest fan of JT ever! Be back on Friday!
BiG gRinS!
Valarie

PS... Would one of you gal's come over and water my roses while I am gone?

The beauty of a ROSE!

My grandmother would be so proud of me about now! She grew roses better than anyone! Every year she grew a JFK white rose that smelled heavenly. All of these roses are TYLER ROSES! I can not believe how they are all blooming! I am beside myself which is why I am doing a double post today!
Thanks for visiting my garden!
Valarie

Good Morning!

One of my favorite hanging baskets.. purple and orange color combination.. hung on my favorite bird hook.. hangs outside my bedroom window. I can hear the birds in the mosaic birdhouse and see the pretty purple flowers poking their heads up each morning. A great surprise each morning when I open the blinds... Enjoy..(click on photo to enlarge)
p.s. Notice the little surprise (lady bug on wire) inside the basket!
haPpY tuESdAY!
Valarie

look what i found....

On a curb... free.... these old metal garden planters!
Hope your day was fun!!
Valarie

My wish for you!

Wishing you all a joyful week-end! From my side porch to yours!
Hugs!
Valarie

Old Lance Jar & Baseball's make me SmiLe!

Just a quick post.. we are on the way out to the ball park! Back in 1972, my step-dad worked for Lance, he use to bring us snacks off the Lance truck and fill this jar with all the chips, crackers, we wanted. I finally talked my Mama out of this jar.. I now have it in my kitchen with Wesley's baseball's! I have moved it all around the house.... once in the bathroom to hold soap, laundry room to hold detergent, and the kitchen to hold my moon pie's! What do you have in your house that is near and dear to your heart that you move from room to room??
Memories... of my childhood..
Valarie

Little touches of happy!

Do you put unexpected little touches of happy in your flower pots? I do.. like this angel watching over my geranium's and pineapple sage! or a little bird seed feeder in this urn.
It is a beautiful day here in North Texas!
Valarie

You are Welcome here at the cottage anytime!

Your "sweet iced tea with lemon" is waiting...
SMiLeS!
Valarie

Roses are Blooming...

My miniature roses are blooming! A yellow rose is a sign of friendship. SO... here is a rose for each of you.
Thanks for stopping by to see me!
Valarie

Blessings.... surround us.....

This beautiful dove landed on my bird bath this morning.. please take time today to reflect on the beauty around you and your family on this special day.
Valarie

Planted.. Planted ... and Planted...

LOML (love of my life) and I started out early this am... We went to 3 nurseries, 2 truck bed's full of plants... and we planted .. and planted. I planted hanging baskets, more hanging baskets, clay pots.. I do not want to plant any more till Fall! This fat girl is tired! This is the sun drop! These are wonderful, love full sun and come back every year. We have them planted in the ground on the front of the house. Let me tell you..
LOML planted 8 hostas, 3 ruffled ferns, 5 sun drops, a huge box of wildflowers, a flat of caladium (24). I planted the baskets- here is what I planted, trailing antique roses, new wonder, petunia', silver dragon, blooming rosemary, asparagus fern,lemon coral, and several pots of fringed lavender. I always plant a herb with each one of my hanging baskets and pots. Today I planted pineapple sage, oregano, basil, choclate mint, and lavender. I love, love the smell of all of these. It's so refreshing to give them a little swish when out in the garden.. I use the basil for homemade pizza! Yummy!
Hope you all had a great Saturday!
Valarie

My Knock-Out Rose bush!

Have you ever planted a Knock Out Rose Bush? They are fast growing, bloom early Spring to late Fall... They are really a show -off!
Enjoy my roses!
Valarie

Mimi Thursday!

We're just doing homework! Taking time out for this little guy!
Thanks for stopping by, all of you.. all your comments... are blessings to me!
Valarie

Time out!

When is the last time you took a "time out" for a yummy bubble bath? Take time to enjoy the simple things!
Relaxin'~
Valarie

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!! ALL CHAIR'S ARE PAINTED!

I finally finished the chair's! I decided to paint 2 ruby red, 2 buttercup yellow, and then had a awesome friend to check the other! and this is how they are NOW! I am a bit out of my comfort zone... most all of our furniture is black. What do you honestly think?? Paint them all black?

Come on now... Please holla back at what you think!!
Valarie

Whirlwind Week-end of Events...

We celebrated Wesley's 9th baseball birthday @a baseball training facility. The boys all loved it! Then we moved on to Jonathan's Sr Prom last night,I loved her wrist corsage! we will finish the week-end tonight to celebrate Jonathan's 18th birthday. Enjoy the photo's.. I love celebrations!
What are you celebrating this week?
Valarie

flowerpot!

look at this adorable "FLOWERPOT" from Laurie Anna's! I bought the hydrangea's from her too.. I love it!
Blissful..
Valarie

In my spare time....

Let's see this week is crazy! Jonathan turns 18! Jonathan's Senior prom is Saturday! & Wesley turns9! So this may be a week of family postings! I made these little goodie bags tonight themed "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" for Wesley's baseball birthday party! Inside the bag, Big League Chew, Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, Baby Ruth candy bar, & a box of Cracker Jack! The kid's really love the goodies!

P.S. I finished painting my dining room chair's! Will share later!
Valarie