Pottery and Antiques

Well, I don't really have antiques
but I did go to the Antique Fair downtown and 'look'!

I love all the vintage things and love to
spend time looking through old linens and pretty hankies
and I spend even more time looking at vintage dolls and toys.
(I found a little doll that I will share with you another day!)

I bought this beautiful plate by Crooksville China Company, made in Ohio
and enjoyed finding out more about it by doing a google search.
I love this photo of the factory ... HERE!


I thought I would show you some of the pottery in my china cabinet.....

Most of my pottery comes from Sea Grove, NC!
It's an amazing place to see potters at work
and to SHOP!

Have a wonderful Monday!
***my favorite day of the week!***

It's PARTY TIME !!!

Are you ready?

Is it TIME?


Has the party started?

Follow us.....



Should we go this way.....

or that way....

down so far.....

into the dark recesses?

What will we see?

Who will be there?


Look through these.....



see what you can see!


Meet you at the Mad Hatters Party.......

HERE at A Fanciful Twist !!!

"Wednesday Wee Ones"

This "Wee One" is helping me with my art!


I have wanted to try sketching for a long time


and finally bought a sketch pad and some watercolor pencils


and sat down long enough to draw!

( and yes.... I found her at Goodwill!!! )

I have found so much inspiration on the blogs that I follow
and I would like to mention a few.


Janet at The Lavender Loft is an amazing artist
who is always trying new things
and encouraging me to try!

Erin at the Painted Garden creates the most beautiful art I have ever seen!
Her's is so colorful and cheerful and she is always giving tips and giving us some
instruction and showing some of her art in steps! I love that!
I looked at some of her paintings to figure out how to put my bird on a branch! lol!

And Lisa Lectura paints and draws some of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen!

And of course A Fanciful Twist and A Whimsical Bohemian
and Diane at Diane Knotts Musings!

Many others have inspired me so I hesitate to even mention these few
because I know I am leaving others out that make such a difference in my life.

Thanks to all of you!
And a MOST special thanks to the artists in my family!
They AMAZE me!!!

Quotes from "Life is a Verb"....

"Nine tenths of education is encouragement."
_Anatole France

"We don't see thinks as they are.
We see things as we are."
_Anais Nin

"If you are irritated by every rub,
how will you be polished."
_Rumi

Have a Happy Wednesday!

And take time to PLAY....or DRAW!

Have FUN!

"Junk Beautiful"

"Junk Beautiful" by Sue Whitney

I had so much fun reading this book
and wanted to share a few pages of it.


This cottage reminds me of Kim's Daisy Cottage!

Doesn't this look inviting!?

Another neat idea ....

And I love the idea of making a Fairy Garden.

I've made a Fairy Terrarium and I'd like to make one of these, too.

Little gnomes would look sweet in this garden.

Materials needed.....

A few quotes from "Life is a Verb"......

"...With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony,
and the deep power of joy,
we see into the life of things."
_William Wordsworth

"You become what you think about."
_Earl Nightingale

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-
real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way,
something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business,
time still to be served, a debt to be paid, then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
_Alfred D'Souza

Happy Father's Day!

I hope this day is extra special for all the fathers!

This is one of my favorite photos of my Daddy!

I am so happy sitting in his lap
and my cousin, Sue Carol is in the photo, too.
We lived in the Houston area for a couple of years
and it was taken there.

Quotes from "Life is a Verb"......

Celebrate what you want to see more of.
_Tom Peters

Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight:
Always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?
_Sir James M. Barrie

Have a wonderful day everyone!

*** especially my hubby and sons! Happy Father's day to them!

"Wisdom begins with wonder."
_Socrates

"Celebrate what you want to see more of."
_Tom Peters

These are quotes from "Life if a Verb."

And I really wanted to share this page of the book....

"One afternoon a few weeks after Emma started first grade,
I picked her up from school and drove to my husband's bookshop
to say hi. When we pulled up, John ran out to see us, leaning in the
car window to give her a kiss. "How was school today, buddy?" he asked.

"I had my first test today!" she exclaimed brightly.
(How wonderful, I thought. A whole lifetime of testing has opened up for you!)

What was our first question to her?

"How'd you do?" (Yes, let's get straight to the bottom line.)

"I got 30 percent! she proudly shouted, a huge grin on her pixie face.
The body language between me and John was unmistakable. Oh my Lord,
we were both thinking, she's an idiot. She'll never pass first grade,
we'll have to hire tutors her whole life, she won't get into college....

My first impulse was to say, You must feel terrible, but by some miracle
I stopped myself. Instead I asked, "How did that make you feel?"

"I got some right!" she burst out without hesitation,
so proud of her accomplishment.

WOW. What a fantastic way of looking at the world.

I'm not suggesting we aim for 30 percent, but why don't we stop to celebrate
the successes we do have?


Thank you Patti Digh
for sharing this story!
It sure gives us LOTS
to think about!

Here's a collage of flowers
I have blooming right now!

Enjoy your weekend!

A New Quote

Quoting from "Life is a Verb".....

"We all deserve to have fun, live large, and be ridiculed by less imaginative
people existing under the erroneous assumption they get extra credit for
being prudent and safe. If I recall correctly, the death rate for people who
play it safe and for people who live boldly is the same: 100 percent."

" The good life is a process, not a state of being.
It is a direction not a destination."
_Carl Rogers

"When you have only two pennies left in the world,
buy a loaf of bread with one,
and a lily with the other."
_Chinese Proverb

And to share another cute thrift find from the same day that my hubby went to
Old Towne Market with me...
I found these!
My hubby is the one that noticed they were salt and pepper shakers.
I stood them in front of a Kleenex box so you can get an idea of their size
......TINY!

I just thought they were CUTE!

Have a happy day!

Happy times!

A quote from "Life is a Verb"....

The opposite of play is not work.
It's depression.
_Brian Sutton-Smith

And part of the assignment for today was....
"Go to the grocery store and buy 5 packages of birthday candles.
Use them with wild abandon.
Find a cause for a birthday candle celebration every day ....etc."

Which reminds me......

this is an old photo of my 6th birthday party.
The little cutie in the background is my sweet sister!
I have just opened a gift and it is the 45 record
" Paper doll "
and I had the piano music that I learned to play, too.What great memories!

So when I was at Old Towne Market last week (with my hubby)
he looked through a box of old sheet music and found THIS!

I almost cried!

And yes....I gave him a BIG HUG!
Right there in the store!

Happy times!

37 Days and 37 Quotes!

Well, anyone that knows me knows
that I get super excited when I start a project.

The book, "Life is a Verb" works with 37 days of exercises and assignments
but of course the first few days I will do more than 'one day'! heehee!


I would like to post quotes from this book every day for the next 30 days or so
and share some of the gems from this book!

Please let me know if you are reading it so that we can compare notes!

So far I am TOTALLY and completely impressed
and have high hopes for improving my 'everyday' life!

Just a few of the quotes from this remarkable book......

"Happiness is not something ready made.
It comes from your own actions.
_the Dalai Lama

We're fools whether we dance or not,
so we might as well dance.
_Japanese proverb

Anyone who keeps the ability to
see beauty never grows old.
_Franz Kafka

My favorite so far is this last quote about beauty.
I chose Beauty for my 'word' of the year!
I am trying to add beauty this year...that is my goal!

What is your goal?
We are about halfway through the year,
what would you like to accomplish?

Happy Wednesday!

"Wednesday Wee Ones"

I'm not sure Kathy qualifies for a 'wee one'!

She's the biggest doll I have!

She is a sculpt by the artist, Monica Peter Leicht and is 32 inches tall!


She sure is cute in her summer time duds and yellow floppy hat.


Enjoy your day and take time to PLAY!

Books and Blogs and changes....

I love to read and always keep at least 2 books going at the same time.

Right now I am reading a mystery, Careless in Red by Elizabeth George!

Thanks to my girlfriend , Lila at Indigo Pears
for recommending these mysteries!
Lots of good characters and a intriguing mystery (not blood and gore!)

I am also reading "life is a verb...
37 DAYS TO WAKE UP, BE MINDFUL,
AND LIVE INTENTIONALLY" by Patti Digh.

Have you heard of it?

I just started reading it today and did Day #1 which is "Dance in your car".
You can do your little dance in your bedroom like I did
and then do a writing exercise using the questions she asks in the book.

So far I am very impressed and really want to continue through all 37 days.
I just googled the book and came up with her blog, too.
I'm anxious to spend time on her blog and see what else I can learn!

"Each of us literally chooses,

by his way of attending to things,

what sort of universe

he shall appear to himself to inhabit.

_William James

Have a nice evening!