Simple Pleasures

It's been a crazy week for us with out of town guests, a late Father's Day celebration, 8.5 hours of driving for me on Wednesday . . .

But even on busy days, I take time to look around and enjoy life's simple pleasures.

I am loving the canna lilies

that are slowly blooming all over the garden.

Steve and I escaped the heat and hit the water in our kayaks.

That long drive on Wednesday (4 hours each way) for a reunion planning meeting led to me spotting a gorgeous garden.

I moved a little table onto the back porch - 

it needs to be painted, but for now it's dressed up with a patriotic display.

Out shopping the other day, I came across these little pieces of wood in one of my favorite shops

and that led to me writing words on a piece of driftwood.

I gathered shells, sea glass and starfish

to create a summer centerpiece for the dining room table.

Along with shells and starfish, my beach bucket collection is on display for summer.

While tackling the jungle the other day, I propped a shovel against the house - that gave me the idea of displaying my father's old garden tools all over the garden.

My final pleasure was actually Steve's - while I was driving in LA traffic, he spotted our resident bluebird hanging out on the most recent addition to the garden.

What were your simple pleasures this week?

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Fluffing on a rainy day . . .

With spring almost here, it's time for spring cleaning.

and I interspersed my cleaning with a bit of fluffing on this rainy day.

Flowers are my favorite way to fluff, but until the garden is in full bloom, I need the help of Trader Joe's.

One bouquet of asters went far - a few on the mantel,

a few in a bucket and

a big bouquet in the entry.

The bouquet is part of my Easter vignette

complete with chalk eggs in a wire chicken I bought in Tijuana 40 years ago.

Snips of flowers grace old spoons that have been passed down several generations.

 They are engraved with Carl and Bates - quite close to my maiden name - Carol Bates.

I stretch the life of flowers by drying them - the bunny salt and pepper shakers I just received from an Instagram friend Kim of @kimih801 keep the Easter theme going in the entry.

A few wooden and ceramic eggs found their way into the dining room - dried roses and hydrangeas add color to the shelves.

Flowers are all over the living room like these pink flowers I spotted at a vacant house - I just had to snip off a drooping branch .

Daffodils adorn the mantel

 and a bit of greenery

sitting on a scale adds color to a bare corner.

Yesterday, our walk was at Rincon (referred to in Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys) and all the shells and sea glass were found on the beach.

It's pouring down rain as I type this late at night and more rain is expected so it looks like I will be fluffing on a rainy day again tomorrow.

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Stuck Inside

I have been stuck inside the house the last few days because my lips are sunburned and blistered beyond belief.

I really wanted to be in/on the water because it has been SO HOT, but the doctor said the best solution to heal my lips was for me to sit in a dark basement for a month.

My house isn't quite a dark basement, but it is out of the sun, my lips are feeling much better and remarkably, I have gotten a lot done.

After arranging all my clocks on the mantel, I had a lot of "spare parts" so yesterday I gathered things from all over the house for a bit of rearranging.

After putting a very simple display on the hallway cabinet, I tackled the guest room.

I thought of the lyrics, "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to" as I decorated the ladder.

My lyrics became, "it's my house and I'll use coastal decor if I want to" even though it's nearly fall!

I live in a beach house, so it works for me.

I bought the beach bucket on our vacation a few weeks ago.

If our guests want to see beach houses, there are plenty of books for inspiration

and no shortage of nautical trinkets.

Once I decided that the theme for the guest room would be the beach, I even went so far as to switch the paintings.

This is one of my favorite paintings - our old kayaks at Little Beach where we launch.

Both of these displays were in the living room all summer, but now they're in the "Beach Room".

The screen over the bed has a simple WELCOME message

with a few beachy touches.

The painting above the dresser is of our family in Kauai several years ago and is one of the paintings Steve will never sell.

A few of my buckets decorate the dresser 

and my shopping cart is full of shells we have collected on local beaches.

More shells decorate the side table

and my heart rock collection is in a prominent spot - the big heart isn't a found piece, but I added it for size.

The guest room is ready for family coming next month.

But, I won't be be using these spare parts today because two days out of the sun helped my lips

and I plan to be in the water 

or on the water escaping this crazy heat wave.

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