~Back Yard Patio~

 Happy Monday, can you believe August is almost over and our weather has finely cooled down a bit. Enough that I can go out and enjoy the patio that is right off our living room.Our patio furniture is rattan and belonged to my Mom and Dad, they gifted us the furniture last year for the patio. The cushions needed new covers (I forgot to take a before photo).
So any who.... a few weeks ago Gary and I went to the fabric store looking for outdoor fabric and found this very colorful and bright material with sailboats. The sails were so pretty  and stripey and full of whimsy. It had all the colors we love, then we eyed a pretty red and white polka-dot fabric and thought why not use both to brake up some of the sailboat pattern.
I had never made cushions covers with zippers before and I was a bit scared, since its been years since I'd  sewn a zipper and I didn't have a pattern. I was going  to have to wing it so with  my heart beating fast and measuring about a million times before I cut, I sat down with my trusty sewing machine and had at it.

 I just noticed that the cushion on the left is upside down...silly old me...just pretend its flipped over and the sailboats are facing you like the other two. See the  white polka-dots peeking out between the seats, aren't they cute...

Oh darn there's that upside down cushion  again.

 Going around the patio is a  swing that Gary bought for me from Pier One. I enjoy curling up in it and just swinging. It even has a place to slip your magazine's in and a place to hold your cup I love the big yellow daisy flower so 60's Peace Baby!!
 I made the two side pillows a while ago and
 used the left over red and white polka-dot fabric to make a quick cover for the pillow I was using for the seat.

The cabinet you see in the back we use for extra pool towel and the side lamp table my Uncle made.

 The top of the swing.

 The rattan  love seat

 See the polka-dots in the sailboat fabric it mimics the polka-dots in the red and white
 polka dot material.

 I made a simple envelope slip cover for the back cushions and used zippers for closers on the cushion bottoms.
 I made the covers a little bit looser, for wear and shrinkage while washing

 Our outdoor curtains hanging in blue and white stripes,
were purchased at Lowe's. We get a lot of sun in this patio so the curtains do there job helping to keep the room cool and the hot sun off the fabric. Even though I used outdoor fabric I still worry about fading so keeping the sun off is important to me.
 The chase received a new pillow cover too.

 Behind the curtains is white lattices.

 The curtains are easily pushed from one side to the other since they are on rings. Our daughter's boyfriends helped installed the extra long rod that was build out of  piping. Next summers projects will be either installing brick, slate or resurfacing the cement floor on the patio. But for now I am very happy just to be able to enjoy one of our outdoor spaces. I can't wait for fall to curl  up under the patio and light the outdoor chiminea
Enjoy your week everyone, I will be joining in with the following blog parties. 




Mary-Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday

Susan-Between Naps on the Porch metamorphosis Monday

Kathryn-The Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday

Alderberry Hill Make the Scene Monday

Linda-Costal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Kim-Savvy Southern Style WOW us Wednesday
Bunny Jean -Bunny Jean Decor and More Bunny Hob Wednesday
Honey-2805 A Potpourri Party every Friday
Courtney- French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
Sherry-The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home Party Fridays

~Dinning Room Tour~

 Happy Monday to you....for this week's post I thought I would share with you our dinning room. Since last I posted about it, Gary and I have purchased a (new to us) dinning table, chairs and hutch, also a new side board and two mirrors.  Are you ready for a peek around...lets go..
 So our sweet neighbors next door to us are moving (sad face) but we are happy for them..decided to sell almost everything and start anew.. Gary saw their dinning room table set and hutch and quickly ran home to get me, to come see! Well of course I love it and since one of our daughters needed a dinning room table (we thought lets buy this one and give the kids ours) such rationalization..don't you think.

 So here she is our new to us dinning table, she looks brand new, just gently used. The color matched our new sideboard and mirror we had bought a few months ago, how lucky was that :)

 The chairs have leather seats and backs with hammered studs, I love all the detail.

 And the feet and legs have a lot of detailed carvings.

In the sideboard that I keep my pink and white rose china in has pretty round sides. I really like how how curvy it is.

 Gary and I found these candles at our favorite lighting store in our town. Can you believe these are electric! They have a faux flame, the wick flickers back and fourth and they have a light sent to them and are called Luminara Candles.
 The picture is by Moncia at The White Bench (I dearly love this photo).

 Who likes Godiva Liqueur...I do!!! The lovely glasses belonged to my Grandma and are dated back to the 50's. They are very delicate and have a such a pretty amber glow to them.

 The four tiered tables were my Grandma's, they are hand carved Asian tables dated to the 1940's. and when she passed my dear sister took them into her home and cared for them with loving hands. Since my sister's passing  they now reside in our home and I will take very good care of them for Sister and Grandma.

 I think they are so lovely. A true family heirloom.

 The hutch/buffet fit very nicely in our entry way, we were unable to use the beautiful hutch top since our ceilings are a standard 8ft. The top would have touched the ceiling, so now the top sits in our garage.

 The mirror is vintage not really sure how old it is, my sister and I were shopping at Sandi's The Green Pea Boutique located in Escalon Ca.  and my sister called out to me (come here seester)...that is what we called each other (seester). She was so excited to show me what she had found for me, since we were shopping specially for a unique mirror for my entry. Well as you can see it came with us. It is hand carved and very, very heavy! If you are ever near Escalon stop by The Green Pea there is always something fun to see and something vintage to  bring back a sentimental childhood memory.

 Lots of fine detail to this piece.

Oh no....Henri.....what are you doing in the dinning room I thought you were in the kitchen! silly, silly Henri the Rooster he loves to roam from room to room. Henri has free rain of the house and we never know where he will show up!. Henri used to live at Penny's house The Comforts of Home until he came to live with Gary and me. Since its been so hot here I think Henri has been trying to go outside to jump into the pool. (Can Rooster even swim?) But we keep the air on for him and the fans blowing.

Wishing you all a sweet week

Joining in this week with the following gals.

Mary-Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday
Susan-Between Naps on the Porch metamorphosis Monday

Kathryn-The Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday

Kim-Savvy Southern Style WOW us Wednesday

Honey-2805 A Potpourri Party every Friday
Cindy- My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday
Courtney- French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday

Sherry-The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home Party Fridays

~Yellow, White & Blue~

 Good day and Happy Monday to everyone...Boy oh Boy has it been HOT in our neck of the woods..106 this weekend, our poor plants and grass. How's the heat been  in your area? I am so ready for fall. Fall  and spring are my favorite times of year.
So anyway on with post...I got side tracked  Hehehe
In July Gary and I had our home painted, we live in a 1970's ranch style home that is 1900 sq ft. that sits on corner  and is 1/4 acre lot.
Our home is not a fancy home but comfortable one. We choose yellow for the body of the house white for all the trim and blue for the front door.. I know I bet you all thought we would go with a red door, since we always have a red front door.
But this time we wanted to do something different for us and so after purchasing 10 different colors of sample paint we decided on Royal Blue by Sherman Williams for the front door.

 Our front entry has a new lock set and light.  We really love the new color!

 This is the  front of our home, we are still working on the landscape and are saving our pennies to have brick work done. (we have a lot of pennies to save) LOL

 The very Tall antenna you see off to the left does not belong to us, it is our neighbors...not to pretty to look at, but whats ya gunna do..

 

 This is a photo of what our home looked like when we first purchased it in 2010. There were more trees and old brick work that formed an island on the corner, we had to tear out and rebuild the island, also the trees had to be cut down, due to fungus and tree rot.  We planted new trees and now we are just waiting for them to grow. Also the very big tree to see off to your left was also removed it was in our back yard.

 This photo is of the new island and trees also you can see that we painted the trim around the windows and the trim around the garage door red to match the front door, we were trying to make the house color look better but it really didn't work so well, so after living with the green house and red trim alone with some taupe color around the trim of the front door, Gary and I decided it was time to have the house painted in the colors that make us happy Yellow, White and Blue

 The before entry door with a basic silver look set and small light off to the right..oops I kinda cut the light off..sorry, but you get the idea.

Home is Where the Heart is...and my heart is any where you are, anyway where you are  is home...I don't need a mansion on a hill that over looks the sea, any were you are is home...

Before I close I just wanted to say "Thank You"  and tell you  how very special you are to us, you bring smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts. We enjoy reading your notes of encouragement and advise.

Joining in with the following blog party's;

Mary-Boogieboard Cottage Masterpiece Monday


Susan-Between Naps on the Porch metamorphosis Monday

Kathryn-The Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday



Kim-Savvy Southern Style WOW us Wednesday


Honey-2805 A Potpourri Party every Friday


Cindy- My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday


Courtney- French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday


Sherry-The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home Party Fridays