Outdoor Wednesday: Some Favorite Spring Blossoms

Technorati Tags: Outdoor Wednesday,Gardening

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is hosting Outdoor Wednesday. Please visit her for lots of outdoor inspiration. Thanks so much Susan for being our hostess.

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. In the south we have lots of plants and trees that bloom only in the spring. I look forward to the show these plants put on each year. This is one of my favorites-a dogwood.

This one is a Lady Banks Rose. When we sold our other home several years ago, I had just planted this. Since we sold to a commercial developer, I dug up this plant and brought it with me. With all I had to do to unpack and organize, I didn’t put lots of thought into where the Lady Banks was planted. I planted it by the driveway, and every year I consider moving it, but don’t want to lose it!

Thanks for dropping by today. Please leave me a comment and tell me your favorite spring flower!

Diane

2nd Time Around: Barrister Book Cases

Welcome to 2nd Time Around! If you love antiques, thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and bargains in general I would love for you to create a post and past the direct link to that post along with your name in Mr. Linky below.

If you have been a visitor here before you may know that I love antiques and especially like oak. This set of barrister bookcases was one of my purchases that I made from the Green Door Antiques. I bought these and took them home the day I picked them out even though they were on ‘lay-a-way.’ I would love to find another set of these, and did in New York City, but they were a little out of my price range!

I may eventually line the back of the bookcase with scrapbook paper-the photo makes it look a little drab…like the bookcase needs a facelift! Or maybe I just need to work on accessorizing it!

From the web site ‘What is a barrister bookcase?”

The barrister bookcase is a traditional shelving unit that is distinguished by a clear glass front. Originating in Great Britain, the barrister bookcase has the advantage of being easy to secure to a wall, or several units may be stacked to create the look of an attractive cabinet. The choices of wood, glass, and hardware can give a barrister bookcase a simple or ornate appearance, depending on the preferences of the owner.

One of the attractions of the barrister bookcase is that the construction helps to provide a greater degree of protection than many types of bookshelves. The glass doors help to limit the amount of dust that can settle on the books, which will help to keep the book collection in better overall shape. Along with protecting the books from dust, it is also possible to outfit the doors with tempered glass that helps to minimize the impact of sunlight on the spines of the books, effectively helping to keep the color of the bindings from fading.

Click here to view another one for $800.

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to seeing your blog and your 2nd Time Around Post.

Diane

Tiles for America

Sally at Smiling Sally is hosting Blue Monday. Please visit visit her for more Blue Monday posts.

On one of my recent trips to New York I came across these ceramic tiles that were displayed on a fence near Greenwich Village.

This monument, Tiles For America, is on the corner of 11th Street and 7th Avenue and you can read more about it by clicking here.

This one was especially moving to me. I remember where I was that day as I’m sure most of you do. While in New York City, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to have been there the day this horrible event occurred. Can you imagine what it must have felt like? I remember the fear that I felt, and I was a long way from NYC!

I tried to explain to Pat from Milli Fiori Favoriti where this memorial was, and she had not heard about it, or either I didn’t do too great of a job of explaining it! So, Pat, now you know. It was not far at all from where we walked that day!

The tiles were created by people from all around the world and all walks of life…children, seniors, churches, etc. To find a studio near you click here.

If you are ever in New York City, please try to see this memorial! It was a very moving experience for me!

This video is from the Tiles for America website:

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope you have a great Monday!

Be sure to join me tomorrow for 2nd Time Around-A great place to showcase your garage sale, thrift store, antiques, or heirlooms!

Diane

Greater Tuna

Saturday night I volunteered at the MSU Riley center and had the chance to see part of Greater Tuna. I wish I had bought tickets for my husband and I. I had not heard of this show before, but found out through researching it that it is one of the most produced plays in the US. As the old saying goes, “Laughter is the best Medicine” and after tonight's show, I can see why. To learn more about Greater Tuna, click here.

From their website:
Greater Tuna is the hilarious comedy about Texas' third smallest town, where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. The eclectic band of citizens that make up this town are portrayed by only two performers, making this satire on life in rural America even more delightful as they depict all of the inhabitants of Tuna -- men, women, children and animals.

The show has been so popular that 2 new ones have been added: A Tuna Christmas and Red, White and Tuna. I hope I get a chance to see these too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Diane

Pink Saturday and a NYC Store

Today is Pink Saturday! This event is hosted by Beverly of How Sweet the Sound. Pink Saturday is one of the first blogging events I became involved with and one that has grown the most! Be sure to drop by and visit the participants in Pink Saturday. You can find the list on Beverly's blog.


Everywhere I go I look for pink to feature on my pink Sat. posts. I have run out of pink around here a long time ago so I try to look for it everywhere else!

This picture was made on March 17th in Lower Manhatten. You can see my friend Janet and Pat from Brooklyn walking ahead of me. I just had to stop and and snap this picture of this store with the pink flag. Janet or Pat didn't know I stopped to take a picture. Pat would have known exactly what I was doing, and Janet would have thought I was nuts!

Later I researched the name 'Thomas Pink' and found out what the store was. Click here to read about it.



This may seem insignificant to most of you, and at one time would have been to me too. But I have enjoyed participating in Pink Saturday, and have learned alot by doing creating Pink Saturday Posts,including this information about Thomas Pink. I thought the name referred to a person, but found out otherwise.

Our history

Pink was set up in 1984 by three Irish brothers – James, Peter and John Mullen. Their idea was to reinvent the traditional Jermyn Street shirt, taking it to a wider, aspirational audience. The brand name Thomas Pink came from an 18th century London tailor known for making sought-after red hunting jackets. If you were lucky enough to own one, you were said to be ‘in the pink’.

Our first store opened in Chelsea, London, offering classic-cut shirts in stylish, bold weaves and colors. Further stores soon followed in the West End and City of London, their distinctive interiors, pink-and-black packaging, and much-admired shirts quickly attracting a loyal clientele.

Thanks for visiting and hope you have a great Pink Saturday!

Foodie Friday: Edamane

Gollum at Designs by Gollum is hosting Foodie Friday. Please visit for lots more 'Food Related' posts.

Not too long ago, I didn't even know what Edamame was! As part of a nutrition class I go too weekly, our dietitian introduced us to this product as a way to get more protein with fewer calories in our diet. Click here to learn more about them.

They are not like other beans...you open the pod and eat the beans. They taste almost like boiled peanuts. You can buy a smaller package at Walmart, but this package of 8 is a great buy at Sam's Club. They are a great low cal snack-good to satisfy the craving to munch on something!

Here's a great article titled the Secret of Edamame that is an interesting read. See if you can find out which famous singer snacks on them!

Have any of you tried them? I would love to know your reaction!

Thanks for stopping by!

Antique Fountains: Outdoor Wednesday

Susan from A Southern Daydreamer is hosting Outdoor Wednesday. Please visit her for lots of outdoor fun posts! One of the things I would love to add to my garden or my porch is a fountain. Recently while in NYC we visited some antique shops in Brooklyn and I photographed this fountain outside an antique shop.

I love the base of the fountain and the circle of cherubs at the bottom!
I would love to find something affordable similar to one of these in our area. I always wonder about the history of antiques...where they were and who owned them and such. If money had been no object, I would have had the fountain shipped to my front door!

Do you have a fountain in your garden? If so, I would love to hear about it! Thanks for stopping by today!

2nd Time Around Tuesday: Oak Mantel

Welcome to 2nd Time Around! This is a great place to show off your antiques, heirlooms, thrift store, flea market, or garage sale finds! Just create a post, and add the link to Mr. Linky below to your post.

This week I'm featuring our fireplace mantel. It was painted white when we bought it but is tiger oak like so many of my other antique pieces. My son Jonathan helped me locate it, and we had it refinished. If you want to view the before pictures of the mantel, click here.

My son thinks I have too much oak, but I just can't help it...I love the look of the oak and the warmth of the color. Check out this small hall tree I found last week in an antique store in Brooklyn! I really fell for this one-especially the round mirror. No, I didn't buy it, but if money had been no object I might have! The owner was so nice, and said me would ship it to Mississippi!

Thanks for coming by today! I look forward to seeing all of your 2nd Time Around Treasures!

New York City Highlights & My Favorite New Yorkers!

I just returned from my second trip to New York City! One of the special highlights of this trip was meeting two blogging friends that I enjoy keeping up with.

Laura, from Shorehouse Chic, and Pat from Mille Fiori Favoriti met my friends and I at Grand Central Station for lunch on Saint Patrick's Day. This was my first time to meet blogging friends in person!

We had a great time visiting and eating lunch at Juniors in Grand Central Station. From left to right: Laura, Pat, and myself.
We had pickles for an appetizer, and famous New York City Cheesecake for dessert! Best of all, we enjoyed meeting each other and talking. They are both just as nice in person as they are in blogland!
Pat brought me the cutest little salt and pepper shakers that will remind me of her and New York City every time I see them!

After lunch, Laura went back to work, and my friend Janet and I went with Pat to the Saint Patrick's Day parade. I followed Pat around like a little puppy, and took lots of the same pictures she took, so I'm going to show you my favorite one-this cute little Leprechaun!
After the parade, Janet and I went with Pat to walk around Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan. We walked through several parks....

We went into antique stores and were surprised to run into this lady from our hometown.....
We went down Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange and wondered where all the money has gone!You may be wondering why I have visited New York twice since January. My son, Jonathan, is an intern at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been there since January, and really is enjoying the city.

The theaters for JALC are on the 5th floor in the Time Warner building next to Columbus Circle.
Here's Jonathan and I by the elevators-he took us up to the lobby of the theaters and showed us around a bit. JALC is a first class beautiful facility in one of the prettiest parts of New York City.
The lobby of JALC looks out over Central Park and Columbus Circle. To the left is one of the Trump buildings, and according to one of our tour guides, he lives in the building adjacent to the Time Warner building.

We were not able to go into the theaters, but you can see the inside of the Allen Room, which has a 50' by 90' wall of glass overlooking the New York City skyline by clicking here.

The pictures in this post were made on Tuesday and on Friday morning. In all I made about 300 pictures and put 33.70 miles on the pedometer!

I love New York and really enjoyed each of my visits there! Spending time with Jonathan, and meeting Pat and Laura helped make my second trip very special!

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Jimmy Buffet Saying!

Welcome to Pink Saturday!

Are you a Jimmy Buffet fan? I love his music. I think this sign photographed in Gulf Shores at the Jazz Fest pretty well sums it up!

Have you ever seen him perform? I had the opportunity 2 times at Jazz Fest. He usually performs at Jazz Fest in New Orleans every other year!

Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for other pink posts!

2nd Time Around Tuesday: An old auditorium seat

Welcome to 2nd Time Around Tuesday. If you have a second hand treasure you would like to share, please copy and paste the link to your post in Mr. Linky below.

This week I would like to show you another one of the 2nd hand treasures I bought at the Green Door Antiques that I told you about last week. This auditorium seat was one of the first purchases I made there. It has a home right by my front door, and is great for extra seating when needed. The piece is tiger oak and was already refinished. It also folds up for easy storage.
From another view.....
I'm scheduling this post ahead of time since I will be out of town this Tuesday, and may not have access to a computer. Let's just hope that Mr. Linky cooperates! I'll be sure to visit you when I return!


Thanks for stopping by and for being a part of 2nd Time Around on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday Mama!

Today is my mom's birthday!

Here's one of the few pictures I have of her as a child....

And one of my favorite pictures of her as a young woman.
She is pretty isn't she?
I'm sure she would love reading your comments and birthday wishes!

Happy Birthday Mama!

Magic Tree House the Musical

Friday night I took Connor and my nephew Austin to the MSU Riley Center for Performing Arts to see the Magic Tree House the Musical. It was awesome! Click on the picture for more photos and a schedule of performances.

Connor and Austin during the intermission. Please excuse Connor's shirt...we had been to a new pizza place!

You can see just a little bit of the beauty of the theater in the background of this picture.

I often do volunteer work at the Riley Center, usually as an usher or in the box office. Since I had tickets for this production, I volunteered the night before to help set up the dressing room and work with the costumes. I have to say that it gave me a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into these productions!

I am so glad that our small town has a venue that supports the arts for all ages!

Thanks for stopping by today, and hope you have a restful Sunday!

A Pink Slip for Elected Officials

I usually don't do too many posts on politics, but found this to be interesting, and since it is Pink Saturday, it fit right in! Visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for other less controversial pink posts!

Do you sometimes wonder how on earth our country has gotten into this economic mess we are in? Read on to learn about a Grassroots movement to change things!


If you are sick of some of the corruption and lack of responsibility of some members of congress, you might be interested in the Kick Them All Out campaign.

This statement from the site really hit home with me:

So you see, the real problem isn't the Congress. The real problem is US. We never hold any of them accountable. We just keep allowing them to be reelected over and over and over. We NEVER FOLLOW THROUGH WITH OUR THREAT.

Sounds interesting doesn't it? Check it out!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Pink Saturday.

Family Foto Friday:

Deborah of Pictures Pots and Pens is hosting family photos on Friday.

This is a picture of my sister, my Aunt Gloria, and myself made probably in the late 50's or early 60's. Aunt Gloria had been to the Bahamas and brought us back the little hats we are modeling.

This picture was made at the first house I remember living in.

I have wonderful memories of living in this house. We had wonderful neighbors that had 2 daughters that I used to play with.

This past week, the lady that lived next door to us died, and at the funeral I got to visit for a short time with 2 of my childhood friends. I wish we had had more time to visit and share our memories!

Thanks for stopping by today!