French cookies on Saturday? journey with me!

so cute! found here!

yes...i'm feeling a bit silly giddy!

look here!

yes... i am feeling a little joyous!

how about a little cookie exchange?  here!

i have my reasons to have a little 
spring in my step today!

a perfect French cookie lives here!
:: such sweetness is shared by Manon 21 ::

enjoy Saturday with me!

withLove, love and more love!

French bread on Friday...there's a story!

happy Friday everyone!

a  fun fact about Blogville is that we are birds of a feather. 

we love and share many of the same bloggy friends.

 Gina, at Random Thoughts is one of the dear friends that i see pop up in the

 comment field of many posts in Blogville. she has been a sweet 

 friend of mine for about two years.

last December she had a lovely give a way. it was a mercury glass

Christmas tree.  i won that pretty tree!

when the postman handed it to me, i could not believe my ears.

a box of shatter!  i did make a comment to him..."oh...it sounds broken."

he said..."do you think it's broken?"  for a moment some sarcasm crossed

my mind...but, i remained my gracious and kind self, and in the spirit of

the harried holiday season, i thanked him.

  i felt that i should tell Gina, because it is my tradition to blog about

winnings, gifts, and purchases from my blog friends.

when i told Gina what happened she said, "Lynne, i will make it up to you!"

i told her not to worry as postage was expensive.

on Saturday, when i returned from our family gathering there was 

a box from Gina on the farm table. ( Mr D had placed it there, as

it was on the front porch when he returned home from work.)

just

look

what

was

inside

the 

box!

perfect

French

bread!

beee-you-tee-full!

as most of you know, the farm table is the heart of our home.

Mr D and i bought it in a barn in Alabama about 38 years ago.

it has always been the center of activity. it is our

 place for meals, homework, science projects, art and sewing.

last Fall i plopped Holland Grace onto the table to eat her berries 

under the chandie!  she loved sitting under the crystals!

 here is a peek at our vintage Alabama farm table this morning!

it holds the prettiest French bread!

a perfect fit!

just look at the lovelies...

so thoughtfully

selected for me.

thank you, Gina!

happy weekend sweet ones!

withLove.

Wednesday's wrap! the typical 34th street tablescape!

last weekend we traveled to a big family gathering.

before departing, the farm table was once again, a busy place for wrapping!

 i am pretty much a plain paper wrapping girl, but i folded...when i found

a big selection of pretty, thick, textured paper at Home Goods.

the rolls were 2.99 each...regularly 9.00!

for each family,  i  had collected some edible luxuries to fill craft paper

shopping bags. ( i had a mini assembly line going.)

i chose to wrap the extra virgin olive oil in pink,

and chocolate paisley paper, tied with tiny twine.  i also added cello bags

of novelty pastas, (which i forgot to photograph).

i purchased applewood smoked salt from 

t i g g y  &  g r a c e.

Kimberly's savory seasoning arrived neatly wrapped in...

" brown paper packages tied up with string."

my sister in law fell in love with the diminutive Weck jar inside!

for this wrapping project, i chose to  focus on the gift tags.

i started with simple tags from Besotted.

i applied self adhesive pine cones, from the Jolee's Boutique

collection at Michael's.   each tag was touched with a bit of 

laundry and passementerie from my favorite affordable guilty pleasure...

...Julie Collings at Etsy!

once more, i play winter into spring...

next,  it was time to wrap for the kiddos!

there was a new crop of cousins at the kid's table!

i wrapped the pirate and princess puzzles in plain paper!

the gifts were topped with flashy pom poms and monograms!  

i fashioned blue letters for Ryan and Hudson.

 i knew that miss Brogan would love princess pink!

i love this simple idea for birthday cards and money books.

 i always have plain note cards, cake candles and ribbon on hand.

the pom poms were a hit!

have a great Wednesday and Thursday!

i have some special French bread to share on Friday!

withLove!

a winter's journey is on the horizon...

the last time we were at Whistler,

we were called home after one day and one night.

 (Mother's fall.) 

i still remain grateful to our dear Chrislyn, for staying by her side until 
my Dad was located on the golf course. she and little Holland
followed the ambulance to the hospital. i am also grateful to Jason,
who left work early to care for Holland, so Chrislyn could stay 
at the hospital, until Mr D and i made it home. 

the past six months have presented some unexpected challenges and concerns.

Mom continues to recover from her fall last September.

 in April, she will have surgery to remove the plate from her left wrist.

she has almost made a full recovery from the stroke that she

 suffered on Thanksgiving day. Dad has done a remarkable

job as her caregiver. lot's of time has been spent on the road to her

rehabilitation.  he has been teaching her how to cook and bake

once again.  since his retirement,  he has always kept the house

and the laundry. Mom has always done the cooking and the baking.

simple tasks have become a challenge, as attention deficit has

` been the main post stroke symptom.

i have begun to realize that she may not be able to drive again.

last night, i popped in for a quick visit to find her quilting and making

deviled eggs.  Dad stays by her side in the kitchen to ensure that the burners

are turned off, and the refrigerator door is closed tightly.

Mom and Dad gifted us their time share.  it's a lovely mountain retreat.

the vacation home comes with all the amenities, but i plan to take

my Le Creuset oven and my hand mixer.  i love to cook and bake when

i am at Whistler. we buy the basics and meats here. at the Whistler Village

market, we seek Canada's international flavor to add to our meals.

 Mr D has been working lot's of overtime, so we can indulge

 in a dinner out and a couple night caps at the Fairmont for blueberry tea

and our favorite chocolate fondue dessert.

Jay and his best friend, (since grade school), Ty will be joining us for a few days.

Ty is Operations Manager for Bataleon Snowboards and accessories.

Jay and Ty both work hard in jobs that they love!

... time is tight right! 

i have been scratching off my to do lists. i am training

dear Christi, who will be stepping into my place at work, while i am away.

i have some pretty and fun wrappings to share tomorrow!

have a great day!

withLove!

random winter into spring ... and ... back to Camp!

good Sunday, my friends!

i hope all of you are feeling well.

yesterday, was the first day since Christmas, that we were able to

have a nearly complete family gathering, where the only reason for

missing the party was work related, and not due to the flu or a winter cold!

it has been a tough flu season.  those in our circle friends and family who

 boast, "i never get sick", have also landed down for the count for a few days.

 Mr D returned to work on Tuesday. we welcomed the Monday holiday to allow

 him one more day of recovery.  although, i didn't miss a full day of work,

my energy has been zapped since the third week of January.

February has once again gifted the welcome reality of

 leaving for, and arriving home from work...in the daylight!

the day after Valentines Day has prompted the first inkling of...Spring!

the transition of winter into spring...

 reminds me of  George Winston.  i remember adding his

music to my commute to Seattle repertoire in 1982. it was my

effort to ad a little culture to my pregnant self.

  i have been wanting to redo our bedroom for a long, long, time.

i find inspiration in the rooms that have styled and photographed

by Meagan Camp. i blogged about Meagan after i became acquainted

with her in an issue of Rue magazine in 2011.  

i was taken by her layering of mixed style elements in her photographs above.

i love the brass "kiss and hug", the fabulous basket filled with beautiful 

vintage linens at the foot of the bed, and the adorable snuggle-inviting pooch.

the image says  "it's a perfect Sunday afternoon, jump on board

for a read, a blog session...or... why not a little snooze with Fido?!"

(what this space speaks at night, whether it is illuminated by the moon, or that
 very cool wall mounted reading light, evokes additional daydreams. )

recently, another one of her bedroom, (or in this case, bed space)

statements of style popped up on my sidebar.  Meagan is big at defining space.

her latest challenge is renovating and decorating her one room cottage

at Rhinebeck.

the duvet and shams are from Ikea...yes, Ikea.

if you would like, you can read about the design process of this space,  here.

Mr D and i have a queen size brass bed.  we deliberated about replacing it with

 a king size with a wooden headboard and moving the brass queen to the guest

bedroom. it was decided to stay with the brass queen.

the design process begins !

{XO}


enjoy your week!

withLove.