Reviving My Gratitude Journal

Daily life has seemed to be contrary lately and even my favourite season of the year, Fall with all the beauty and abundance it bestows on us, failed to inspire me to decorate.

As I was leaving a friend's house, she asked me if I would like the Hydrangea blooms from her garden.

I put them in an antique crock on the dining room table. ~

The crock gave me the idea to add the stoneware jug that was my mother's first antique purchase as a new bride. ~

An antique glass compote filled with apples struck my fancy and a primitive, wooden crow joined the grouping.

These solid lead cast farm animals, a child's toy from the 1800's, always bring a smile to my face and I added them to the side of a berry wreath. ~

It struck me that I was choosing items that gave me happiness just by seeing them. Why not add a bowl of eggs, daily gifts from my tiny flock of chicken friends? ~

And, why not enjoy the sight of an inquisitive cat that has to be part of the decorating process? ~

Grouping things I find beautiful together made me stop and see the beauty I was overlooking. I could have filled that table in minutes with everyday items that bring me joy when I take the time to acknowledge them.

I went to my library shelves and pulled out a book, Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. That book was a great comfort to me fifteen years ago when I was going through a very difficult time. Sarah introduced me to the idea of keeping a gratitude journal.

Each day I wrote down in my journal five things that I was grateful for in the day that was ending. It was difficult to think of anything to be grateful for in that stressful and heartbreaking year. I started with little observances of sunsets, horses grazing in a field or a warm fire. It became a habit to keep my eyes open for nice things in my day so I had something to write down that evening. Soon, I had more than five things to put in my journal. I was seeing beauty, kindness and goodness all around me. My situation hadn't changed one bit; only my way of viewing my world had improved. But, that made all the difference between wallowing in misery and stepping back into life with all its wonder and joy.

Putting together some Thanksgiving Day displays reminded me of all that I am blessed with if I will only stop long enough to see it. ~

Sarah's thought for the day I started decorating was perfect. ~

We all have different ideas of what is beautiful. It only matters that we see the beauty we already have around us. A gratitude journal is the best way I know of healing a wounded soul. It says to the universe, "I appreciate all that is good in my world and I'm offering back to the universe my sincerest thank you for the gifts I receive." 

I pulled out my old gratitude journal and made a new entry. I listed the Hydrangeas first, not just because they were beautiful, but because they were a gift from a friend. a perfect way to begin a Thanksgiving weekend that was filled with love, sharing and happiness.

Today, I will write in my journal that I was fully present and enjoyed every moment of the day spent with my family. Every hug, every joke, every conversation, every snuggle with a grandchild was a gift. My heart and soul were full of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. May you find many wonderful memories to take up a pen and write in your journals!

Did You Know Ovarian Cancer Researchers Need Your Help?

I'm using a new colour for my fall decorating this year, and for a very good reason.

I'm breaking out the colour teal and loving it! ~

Acorns are getting painted teal and nestled in coffee filter roses, beside vintage globes sporting teal oceans. It's all nestled beside a shabby plaster angel on my bookshelves.

It is a daily reminder that the race for a cure for ovarian cancer needs the help of legions of angels and each of us can be one of those angels.

I'm going to do some blatant bragging about my son in law, Dr. Trevor Shepherd, now. He leads a team of scientific researchers at the Lawson Health Research Institute, in London, Ontario.

They have recently made a breakthrough discovery of what is being called a Jekyll and Hyde molecule and this discovery can have a profound effect on treatment protocols for women suffering from ovarian cancer. To read about this discovery, you can click on the link here. Ovarian cancer is a silent stalker, usually not diagnosed until it has progressed to the later stages. This kind of research can save lives and, with 2,800 women in Canada alone being diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, that's a whole lot of women praying for angels to step up and help fund life-saving research.

Ovarian cancer research is poorly funded. It doesn't have the corporate sponsorship that breast cancer research has through the pink ribbon campaigns. Think of all the products you see with a pink ribbon on it. We are always happy to know that a portion of the sale goes to such valuable research. 

Teal is the colour for ovarian cancer awareness and raising research funds. How often have you bought a product with a teal ribbon on it? It's just not out there for us to buy.

Trevor spends countless hours filling out grant forms and drawing up research proposals to keep his research funded. It uses up valuable time that would be better spent in the lab and in working with physicians on clinical trials. Still, there is never enough money.

I've often wondered if local fundraising was truly important to this kind of work. Trevor tells me it is critical to his work. He praises the organisers of fundraising events in his area and considers them important members of his research team. He never spends Mother's Day with his own mom or with his wife, the mother of his six kids. Instead, he gives a speech and joins in the London Run For Ovarian Cancer. It costs $200,000 to $300,000 to run the lab each year. This year, the run raised $189,900 of that money.

This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to be shining angels. Small donations, even as little as $10 can make a big difference to your local ovarian cancer fundraisers. I urge you to look up your local fundraiser for this cause and give a little (or a lot if ya got it to give!). I guarantee you will be encouraging some research team to keep fighting the good fight!

This fall, bring on the teal. Wear it, paint it, talk about it and donate to it! ~

Don't forget to add an angel to the decorations because your help officially makes you one!

Rainy Days And Mondays ...

I should finish that lyric with, "always bring me down", but it didn't bother me a bit this time. ~

With a hint of frost in the air, this rainy day was a good time to bring in the herbs and geraniums that won't survive the winter outside.

You surely didn't think Clara Jane would leave me alone to do this job! ~

A few strips of burlap nicely covers a piece of plywood on an old garden table.  The plants get potted up in whatever I have on hand.  It doesn't matter what goes in front of that chippy old door; it always looks great.  It's kind of a no brainer, seasonal decorating crutch.

Nothing is trimmed up until the plants get over the trauma of the move.  In the middle, at the back, is a teeny, tiny bay plant that I am determined to grow into a real tree.  This  is the only place in this shaded house that gets enough sunlight to get anything to flourish and I'm hoping I can pretend garden all winter.

Just in case anyone is in doubt that this is a garden, I have a sign that my sister gave me for minding her pets while she was away. ~

It's seems like a good omen that the sun has decided to shine for a bit.  The $2 thrift store fountain is bubbling merrily and some daisy shaped tea lights are waiting for the granddaughters to arrive next weekend and see them lit.  The girls always do a thorough check of the house to see whatever new, pretty things are out.

It's a rustic look, but I like it. ~

Best of all is looking at the back lit window at night and listening to the fountain.  Or, it may be more appropriate for me to call it the cat watering station.  ~

This kind of day is just fine with me.  Those of us who live in a house with a metal roof love to ...

Listen  to the music of the falling rain!

I'm sharing this with A Return To Loveliness

A Problem With Flying Monkeys

It was a shocking discovery to find the Flying Monkeys from The Wizard Of Oz were hanging around my house.  Wherever they go, no good will follow!

The first fall decoration I added to my front porch was a scarecrow.  I perched her on a bail of straw and a few hours later came out to find this! ~

My poor straw lady. I felt so bad for her.  All her body parts where no longer in the right places. How well I know, from personal experience, the trauma that causes!

I knew right away who the culprits would be. Haven't we all seen what they did to the straw man? ~

Or ....... might these rascals be the culprits? ~

Maybe I don't have a flying monkey problem after all.

Straw lady thinks I have a definite chicken problem. ~

She's got herself pulled together and is keeping a good lookout over her shoulder for whatever it is that rearranges female body parts.

In fact, she has the same look on her face that I have on mine!

Simplicity And Autumn Colours

It was a glorious autumn day in Ontario and would have been a sin to waste the warmth and sunshine by staying indoors.

The muted shades of grasses going to seed and bare earth in the denuded gardens, contrasting with the brilliant colours of  autumn leaves, inspired me to bring a touch of that feeling indoors.

Clippers in hand, I wandered the yard and cut snippets of what could really be considered weeds. ~

A tall vase and some sand is the base for a simple arrangement of grass plumes, a weathered stick and a strand of Virginia creeper.  A little bird perches on the vine.

I thought this height was perfect against the old, chippy door in the family room. ~

Unfortunately, the whole thing was a bit too tippy with two crazy kittens hurling themselves at the vine and had to migrate to the sideboard. ~

I promise to get back to all the indoor painting I'm supposed to be doing, unless the sun shines again tomorrow!

Add Impact With Repetition

They say we have to hear something seven times for it to really sink in.  Decorators know you need to repeat an accent colour three times in a room for it to register in the mind as THE accent colour.  In my years of decorating show homes in seasonal themes, I found repetition gave the most impact.

When I decorated the little 28" long mantel in my library for Hallowe'en, I stuck with the witches and crows theme that was on the bookcases.

Dollarama had 8" tall crows for $2 each and I bought three of them. That's a lot of crow for a 28" space! ~

They are identical but setting them at different angles makes them seem different.  They're big enough to catch the eye.  I feel it has more presence that having a crow, a pumpkin and a ghost.  I tend to lean toward using uneven numbers in this kind of grouping, as well.

In the last post, I showed you how I made this print of a witch from an image I found on The Graphics Fairy. ~ 

I went back to her site for my lovely witch's baby picture, printed it out and tucked it in a silver, Georgian era frame.  Just so you don't think I'm super stingy, I will tell you that I pay dearly for the things that are pre Victorian.  If it comes from the era of one of Jane Austen's heroines, no price is too high for me!  Well, almost no price. ~

The toile wallpaper in this room is so busy that I have to be careful with accessories.  The electric fireplace gets a simple notebook and the paper wand I made last fall.  ~

To see how I made the wand click here.

Here it is all together. ~

I've used repetition in the dining room as well.  When Michael's put these tin buckets, with numbered burlap embellishments, on half price, I bought all nine they had left.  They add some interest to the reclaimed door lintel I hung above the pass through to the kitchen.  Again there is an uneven number and I avoided it being too linear by tucking a pair of Fitz & Floyd pig salt and peppers into the grouping. ~

I guess this is my sneaky way of having clutter that doesn't quite look like clutter.

If I say it seven times, you'll believe me!

The Easiest Hallowe'en Craft Going!

Here are Maeve and I happily going about our household chores. ~

Okay, so it's not really me (unless you're talking to my ex husband LOL).  I may be a witch but I NEVER go happily about household chores!  It's a vintage print that caught my eye at The Graphics Fairy.

I started playing around with it on Picmonkey and added some witchy words in a spooky script. ~

I printed it out in an 8 X 10 size.  It still needed a little something and I sprayed it with glue and added glitter. Doesn't everything look better with glitter on it? ~

I popped it in a document frame.  I have a stack of these that held decorating awards in my office and no idea what to do with them all.

A couple of Egyptian cats that I picked up at an antique store for $6 and a crystal ball and I've a little Hallowe'en display for the bookcases. ~

Just above my sorceress is a glittery spider crawling down an antique, leather bound copy of Edgar Allen Poe's poetry. ~

Add some Martha Stewart crows and Poe, himself, would be trembling at this awesomely scary display! ~

This was ridiculously easy, but if you don't want to go to the bother of doing it yourself, click on the printable of the altered witch and print her out.  Done!

Now, how easy was that!

I admit I do sissy Hallowe'en decorating!

I'm sharing this with ~ Uncommonly Yours Link Party, Frugal Friday, Potpourri Friday, Saturday Nite Special, Feathered Nest Friday, Sunny Simple Sunday, DIY Project Parade, Open House Party

The Ultimate In Thrifty Decor!

I know I said my front porch was entirely done with thrifted items, but I think the side porch is the ultimate in thrift, gift, reworked and found!

You see, the porch itself is a found object.  I set out to repair a broken step on the porch.  When I removed it, the boards underneath were rotten, so I removed them as well.  By the time I finished removing all the rotted boards, I had - ummmm - NO PORCH LEFT!  This is not a good thing.

As it happens, my neighbour was replacing his porch with a deck and gifted me with it.  A couple of guys carried it over to my place and there it sat, on it's side, for a year. That's attractive and oh so useful! This summer, I hired a couple of teenage guys to lay patio stones I pulled up when the landscaping was done in the back and move the porch into place on top of them.  It's set on deck post blocks that my BIL gave me when he pulled his deck off.

A couple of coats of white paint, some stencilled house numbers and Kellswater painted on the top step and she doesn't look too bad! ~

Then, I was given a very ugly, old window box. ~

Haul out the paints to give it a weathered look and draw some lines on to simulate boards with a permanent marker and it's not half bad.  Even the cascade petunias were gifted as seedlings! ~

To switch it out for Thanksgiving was about a 10 minute effort.  The old, wooden ladder was salvaged from my Dad's garage and held planters of watercress all summer.  I love the layers of paint and plaster that show how well this ladder was used!  I strung some dollar store garland, faux grapes and grapevine on it to celebrate the season. ~

I've had this wreath for several years and added some blue, silk hydrangeas to it for summer. ~

The simple switch was made with four bunches of silk leaves, from the dollar store, that I already had on hand. ~

Here she is all done. ~

Total cost for porch and decorations = $0.  I did pay the guys $60 to install the porch and bought two quarts of white paint to spruce her up.

The porch looks over the hosta bed I planted from the ones my sister pulled out of her gardens. ~

You must admit this is the ultimate in thrift, gift, reworked and found and that I have stayed true to the commitment to it that I made last summer!  Feel free to clap and shout Bravo as I take my bow!

I'm sharing this with:  Tweak It Tuesday, Cottage Style Linky Party, Saturday Nite Special

A Thrifted Fall Porch

As I was working on a little project for the front porch farm theme, I realized that the whole thing was put together with faux fruit and garlands that were several years old, natural elements and thrift store finds.

I copied an old egg sign I saw at a farm market. ~

The canvas I used was found at the Salvation Army for $1.99. ~

It did not come with the helpful cat but it was quite sturdy and a nice size for what I wanted. ~

A few swipes of white paint covered the original lettering and left enough of the old background to look worn.  The lettering was done in craft paint and I dry brushed some white over it for a faded look. ~

Just in case you are wondering why I chose a quarter for the price of a doz. eggs, I did a little Google research to check out prices over the years.  In 1927 they cost 24 cents.  In 1940 they were 27 cents.  By 1960 they had reached 42 cents and, by 1980, soared to 69 cents. Even at today's average of $3.00, that tells me we aren't paying farmers enough for eggs!

My table and chairs are a roadside find and I used a couple of cans of spray paint to turn the peeling, white metal matte black.  The table top is damaged and I cover it with a hand, cross stitched tablecloth that I picked up for $1.  I don't want to put anything expensive on it because either my cat or strays always seem to be snoozing there! ~

It has a homey, country feel when I add an antique Majolica pitcher with some sunflowers. ~

The mirror was another Salvation Army find and cost me a whole $3.99!  It started out looking like this. ~

I aged it with paint that was either sample pots or boo boos and you can see how I did it here. ~

I was trimming rose bushes and draped a branch with rose hips across it for some colour.

With a little effort and almost no cost, this is a nice place to sit and have an afternoon cup of tea.

The spectacular view is free! ~

Doesn't everyone have an adorable, little white church next door?

Special thanks to Lavender Garden Cottage and Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olsen for featuring my front door swag!