Summer has hit swiftly with the temps soaring into the 90s and above. Walks now must take place in the early dawn to avoid the heat. Being a morning person, I do not mind heading out before much of the world is awake. I like the quiet stillness that surrounds the neighborhood.

With the heat here driving me inside, I have just been busy as ever as I continue to clear out, rearrange, and refurb the house. The biggest project this week was making a sweet little coffee bar. I happened upon this old microwave cart for pennies and thought it would do just fine. Although I do eventually want to find a little chippy cabinet. The color I chose was curry. Ever since I saw a You Tube tutorial on chalk paint in which the color curry was used, I have been dreaming of painting a coffee bar in that tone. I was a bit unsure, and still think perhaps I will evenutally go ivory, but I am enjoying the pop of color. I still need to find knobs for the doors. But overall, I am happy with it. It is nice having a dedicated space just for my coffee fixins. Plus the cupboard area provides extra storage.

Oh those darn tiles with the white grout….yet again I was down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush cleaning them. With two dogs and the traffic in and out the back, the grout just gets nasty. So periodically I have to get down and go at it. But when it is done it just seems to brighten up the entire space. I am pretty much finished with the kitchen breakfast nook clearing out, cleaning up, refurb. The last chore is to touch up the paint on the cabinets and respray the pulls and knobs. Yet, I am sure when that is done I will find more bits to change around.

When shopping I happened to see fresh rhubarb so grabbed a few stalks and came home to whip up some strawberry rhubarb jam. It is so yummy! I had left over rhubarb so also made up a batch of my sisters wonderful rhubarb bars! Oh how I love those and have not made them in years. It made quite a large batch, but I am confident we can eat them all…

I have been out and doing quite a bit of thrifting and yard sales. I am always scouting for items for the girls houses, and of course for the grands. I made quite the haul of decor for Becca’s new home. I did find a few treasures for myself as well.

My mom had these salt and pepper and we used them forever. So when I saw them I just could not resist grabbing them. Although since I use kosher salt these actually won’t work, but I bet my sister would love them also!

My older sister has the sweetest traditional old farm house filled with antique and vintage treasures. When I see things she would like I can’t resist getting them to add to her collections. She especially loves old cookbooks, so when I saw this I knew she had to have it.

Now isn’t that just so clever and cute? It hangs on the wall and is that lovely depression era greeen. I think it is just the cutest thing ever!

I have been resisting adding anything to my own collections, but at .10 I had to add this darling red transferware piece. I use it as a yarn bowl.

I also found the perfect frame of a piece of needlepoint I picked up quite some time back. I just love needlepoint and pick up little bits whenever I find them.

I so enjoy finding little treasures for myself and others. I know my girls just love that I am such a dedicated thrifter. Many times through the years they have shopped my house to decorate their own as they set up their own homes or changed decor. Now my eldest granddaughter is doing the same as she sets up her first college apartment. It does give me such joy. I also send regular care packages and this is one way of adding thoughtful little gifts to brighten their days and shorten the miles between us.

I did receive several happy mail packages this week! The first is from my sweet granddaughter Emmy. She asked her mom for an envelope and stamp and this is what I received! Never mind that the money was her brother’s toothfairy money… That Emmy is something else. But it is all so very very sweet and I love it all!

When I lasted visited Erica I had purchased some soap by the Indigo Wild company. Their Zum bars are honestly the best soap I have ever used and the Frankincense and Myrrh bars are beyond yummy. Mine was used up a bit ago and I finally sat down and ordered up some new bars. Imagine my surprise when the box arrived filled with free goodies! OMG!! And the lovely lovely smell, it has my entire house smelling delightful! I am so excited to try the laundry soap! And look at the two sample bags/boxes of all their soaps! OH I am in soapy heaven!! What I love about this soap is that it lathers up amazingly and then leave you squeaky clean but not dried out. It is such a lovely product!! It has given my entire house a lovely smell.

I also rather gave up on trying to keep up with knitting enough dishcloths as they wear out so quickly (we are famous for cutting into them when cleaning knives). I had been reading so much about Swedish dish clothes and ordered some up. Oh they are lovely and look at these darling designs! I am a total convert. I love how absorbent they are.

The gardens are all doing very well and I have a nice little harvest. The tomatoes are slowly coming on and are so very delicious. The flowers are all abloom and filled with busy bees. I will make many changes in my veg beds next year however. I didn’t stake my beans right and they overshadowed my other plants. I also just didn’t put in enough lettuce, spinach, and chard. But gardens are always a work in progress. I love the way my little cottage garden is shaping up and I think nasturtiums may just be my newest favorite annual. They make great ground coverage while you are slowly building up your perennials.

And now I must off to get the gardens watered before our heat hits. I am not a hot weather gal and prefer to stay in the nice cool house until the heat of summer passes into fall.

Stay Cool!

Patricia