Paisley Party

I'm joining the party of my friend, Leah, over at MoxiePhotoDesign... she's having a paisley party so here are some of my favorites...


A tablecloth I bought in Isfahan, Iran, many, many years ago. The Persians were the first to use the paisley design... who knew?


a duvet cover on my bed... in fav colors.


a vintage Vera Bradley scarf in awesome orange and purple... I actually bought this from the estate of an old lady here in town... I think there may be a motherlode of paisley in the homes of our town matrons... wouldn't you just love to snoop through their closets?


a modern Vera Bradley paisley pattern from a 2009 calendar. I love these colors... could pass for a Lilly Pulitzer too.

I think paisley is here to stay!

Snow Angel

So we're up with the sun this morning, nursing our coffee, and surveying the back yard from the warmth of our kitchen, when Jack notices an angel in the snow. Yea, a little angel just squatting there in our yard. It wasn't there yesterday nor anytime ever before that.... so how did it get there? did the wind blow it there? or was this a neighbor's practical joke? Thoughts of a divine messenger crossed our minds too. Jack took photos, I took photos.... then the duhhhhhhhh gobsmacked me. .. it's a bird feeder with an angel figure sitting on its rim. I'd placed it there in December to feed the birds and then forgot about it when the snow started falling around that same time. We've had so much snow, the thing has been buried for two months. In the last couple of days, the snow melted enough to expose the angel, but not the dish. Mystery solved, while Nature played with us.

Winter White Inspiration

Lately I've been thinking about color... I'm a bold color person, not a beige and white minimalist at all, so falling in love with winter white, kind of surprised me. Not the winter white of snow... there is plenty of it around here and more falling as I write, but the creamy, mellow, soft white of aged lace, pale linen, and bleached seashells. It all came together when I popped into Jill Ruth & Co.'s blog and saw her amazing banner made from bits and pieces of linen and lace and trim, all in winter whites... a thing of beauty, I say!

Looking around my space, I find "my" collection of winter whites and learn to love them all over again... thanks to Jill for the inspiration.

My dining room table display with a bleached deer antler. When the snow melts enough to see the ground, we'll often find one or two of these lying about the yard.



Arturo paper by Cartiere magnani = Squisito! Made in Italy, nothing finer.



My MIL's Bible, small, sweet, ivory, leather-bound, Eastern Star imprinted = heirloom.



A chippy, wood-carved kitty with a cheshire grin. His tails opens up to become a bird feeder = too weird to pass up.

SoCal seashell collection... reminds me of beach days gone by and beach days ahead.

Very special vintage lace collection... no two whites the same.

Vintage swan lamp I bought at auction for $1.00 with a very cool porcelain finial = mine, all mine. Still not sure about the shade I chose though...



A sweet little bone-carved box I bought in Sirmione last September... for trinkets and dreams.



The birch trees in front of our house. I love these trees... they are always winter white.


Miss PeachyDeva.. she stays winter white all year long too.

I love blue and white...

...in flow blue china and blue willow plates and toille and decorative tiles and Monet dinnerware (they all remind me of France). So when I saw these blue and white carpet balls at the auction, I knew they had to be mine. Lucky for me no one else was loving blue and white that day so I bought the entire dozen for $2.00. This winter I'll display them in a white lotus-leaf bowl or maybe this orange basket. In the Spring, I'll add some fresh lemons... love blue, white and yellow together, a sweet mix.

As to what they really are... I had no idea beyond a faded memory of seeing them in decorating magazines nestled in baskets and bowls, just for nice. It was only after researching them that I learned they actually had a purpose way back when. In the Victorian parlor, refined ladies and gentlemen would arrange the balls like pins across the carpet for indoor bowling.... thus, carpet balls came to be. Actually sounds more like indoor bocce ball, but hey, I don't argue with experts. Mine are ceramic reproductions, of course... the original ones were made of glazed hard-fired clay decorated in a variety of colors, often in plaids and stripes (not the chintz patterns like mine). So just in case you ever run across one or two at a thrift shop or auction, snap them up, they're worth around $100.00 a piece in good condition. And if you find a blue and white one, let me know.