Change is Constant

Wanted to keep my blog friends up to date with the store. After a lot of thought & prayer I have decided not to renew my lease at my current location. I did this prior to finding a new location so for awhile I will be closed. I am looking forward to visiting a lot more of your blogs each day and posting lots of things too!
This wonderful sign is by My Repurposed Life another great blogger from Louisville. Be sure to visit her blog and also Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Summer Porch Reading

One of my favorite things to do is read out on the back porch in these white wicker chairs. We've had these chairs since we bought our first house over 18 years ago and they have served us well. Marbles enjoys sitting up high on the porch bird watching.

Recently I was able to catch up on a few of my magazines along with two of my favorite Starbucks items - black iced tea unsweetened and lemon pound cake.

This white wicker table was in our daughters nursery as a side table to the rocking chair - 22 years ago!

You can't beat sipping iced tea on a summer day :)

I'm joining Outdoor Wednesday; White Wednesday ; Show and Tell Friday & My Favorite Things.

Box Collection

Now that the Fourth of July holiday has passed, I'm settling into decorating for that in between time of late summer & early fall.I thought a few vignettes of my collections would be a nice change of pace.

This corner table has always provided a nice base of decor.
Here I've displayed three of the boxes in my collection.

I liked the difference in height & material.

The square gold box with the hand painted

man on a horse was actually the box

that a leather wallet my parents gave my son from

Italy came in. Too beautiful to discard I added it to the collection.

Composed of paper the image of the horse and man

is hand painted onto the top.

This blue toile box is decoupage on wood.
The metal clasp, handle and feet are a weathered silver.

This porcelain box and dish is actually a cigarette box

and ash tray of my grandmothers.

I have often looked for more cigarette boxes, but

they seem to be hard to find.

I love the scallop detail and the roses on top.

I'm joining the following:

Metamorphosis Monday; Tabletop Tuesday & Three of More Tuesday.

Patriotic Mantle

As we wrap up another Fourth of July I thought

I would share the mantle decorated in patriotic pride.
I used a combination of garland and paper lantern lights.


Two blue and white urns anchor each end of the mantle.



I hope you and yours have a safe & relaxing Fourth!


I'm joining Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
& Tabletop Tuesday.

Patriotic Picnic Food

The final post of our patriotic picnic week is of the food -which maybe the best part! I served club sandwiches, cape cod chips and lemonade.

Club Sandwiches are best served with the extra layer of bread in between. Also, I toast the bread and butter both the top and bottom. I find that the mayonnaise on the inside seeps in less if it's buttered first.

Layers of ham, turkey, colby cheese, tomato and bacon make this sandwich a yummy classic!
Here's the history of the club sandwich from wikipedia:

1894 - The most popular theory is that the sandwich first appeared in 1894 at the famous Saratoga Club-House (an exclusive gentlemen only gambling house in upstate Saratoga Springs, New York) where the potato chips was born. Originally called Morrissey's Club House, were neither women nor locals were permitted in the gambling rooms. In 1894, Richard Canfield purchased the clubI served this awesome lemonade I found recently. Sweet Leaf Lemonade is made in Austin, Texas and also makes a variety of Sweet Iced Teas.

I try to always use Boar's Head sandwich meat. They are a little more expensive than some other deli meats, but they taste so good!

Finally, Cape Cod potato chips seemed like a classic to add to this patriotic picnic. Crisp, crunchy salty and all natural, these potato chips are all American!

I'm joining Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday and hope you will too!

Patriotic Picnic

Join us for a patriotic picnic in the park today! Monday I showed you some vintage clipart that I used to make menu and placecards for today's picnic here.

I simply hand wrote the menu on the back of red cards to keep it simple and casual. I used small American flags at each place setting along with blue and white "picnic" napkins.

Here the lemonade bottle is holding down the placecards. You also see the detail of the vintage picnic tablecloth I used to cover the table.

Various patriotic sugar cookies lined the center of the table for decoration and dessert.

Here is the front of the menu card.

A long shot of the table - which was dark because it was under a covered picnic area - but a lot cooler in the shade.

We had a nice view of the lake while we ate, including some local feathered friends.

This bird was spotted while we dined but flew away as soon as we got close to her. Looks like she was borrowing some of the feathers from her friends for her nest!

On the drive out of the 440 acre park we spotted these adorable ducks lined up sunning themselves~aren't they cute! I'm joining Tablescape Thursday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Long Run Park

The site for tomorrow's picnic will be Long Run Park in Louisville, KY. Maintained by the City of Louisville, Long Run is one of 122 parks covering more than 12.000 acres in the city. Long Run is 416 acres and offers an 18 hole golf course, 28 acre lake, horse back riding trails, tennis courts, playground, picnic shelters and grills.

My husband and I began visiting Long Run years ago when we lived in the city and wanted to take our children out to the country to play. In the far east end of Louisville, Long Run has a rural feel with its expansive rolling fields. Even after moving out into the country ourselves, my husband and I still have lunch at the park for a get away from the office occasionally.

Picnic tables are located by the lake and with the shade of plenty of trees it will be a lovely spot for a picnic.

Today I am joining Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.