Cheery Finds From Summer

Hello Friends! I thought I would share a little of golden August before it's all gone! I think this is the only month that I can appreciate a little stronger color inside for awhile. In fact I think the month of August demands it. Maybe I just need cheering up at the thought of summer's passing, but sunflowers on the table seem to do the trick!

We have been getting to the local grower's market lately too where I got this bundle of garlic. We use it of course, but I love the way it looks as well.

I bring out one of my favorite tablecloths this time of year. It's an older season cloth from Williams Sonoma that I found irresistible when it went on super sale ages ago. I like the graphics and the lettering, but the design never shows enough for me, so I have it folded like a runner for better effect.

Makes me feel like I am in an old French country house. (But then I have an enormous imagination...)

You may know that I like to gather up other old things to give me that feeling too.

One of my recent thrills was to come across this old set of "french ivory" flatware. I have wanted some for ages! I am showing it off here on top of a couple of old dishtowels that my late MIL gave me right out of her kitchen drawer on one of the last times that I visited her. She told me they were her grandmother's and that she didn't know why she had saved them, because she felt they were nothing special. They really are quite ordinary with a few spots and stains that one might expect from many years of even careful use. A great many years, as my MIL was in her nineties when she herself passed. Yellow was one of her colors. And the towels are now so soft, and of course now remind me of her.

Another old sugar bowl from the flea market. I wonder if I will ever stop collecting these? Not that I have that many yet!

Another of my cheap thrills was finding this little English mustard pot. Just adds a little something to the scene.

And maybe you spied the little set of Staffordshire dogs that came my way a couple of weeks ago. These don't turn up much here, especially the little ones, and so I was ridiculously excited to find them at a good price.

I am over stocked at home since moving from a big shop to a little one, but that doesn't upset me so very much! Haha!

I keep finding great deals like these Mason Cash bowls that you can never have too many of. The old ones are of so much better quality!

So this is me at home at the end of summer, trying to keep my spirits up with things that I love, and a splash of cheery color! And it's working!

I hope for you the many bounties of the season too!

Best wishes,

Jacqueline

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Between Naps on the Porch~Metamorphosis Monday

Summery Musings

Hello Friends! Here we are in August trying to squeeze out what is left of the last of our summer days. We still have plenty of hot weather left this month, but there is no denying the changes that will creep up soon. Fortunately the next few months are some of the absolute best to be had in New Mexico!

One last blush of the rose garden, and the colors turn to fall. And this is the last celebration of pink for me in the shop for a while. Shop keeping keeps me a step ahead of things, and I have a pile of autumn flavored goodies all ready to go!   

I took these few shots just before heading out on a recent trip through the colorful Utah desert. I almost think summer hasn't happened until I get out for at least one exciting road trip of the season! Moab, Utah never disappoints. There is such young energy there. And the change of perspective is as refreshing as a dip in the sea! (Well, okay, that is an exaggeration! LOL!)

But I also love returning to routine and the usual old textures of home. The worn and weathered comforts of a vintage life. One that seems harder to find than it used to be. This thought struck me most as I traveled down the summer highway across fields and towns. How much of human experience has changed over one generation!

We move on, as one month flows into the next. And each passing summer. Savoring what each turn of the calendar brings to the landscape. Grateful for another family visit and a hug from too distant loved ones. 

I don't often look forward to fall. As much as I love it, I love summer more! But this time I feel happy to embrace both worlds at once. A foot in each season. (Did you notice the turkey design in the napkin above?)

So I let myself feel nostalgic in August. As if I actually had a choice! Feeling each cool morning afresh. Enjoying the still too warm evening air, if not the still too hot August nights! An occasional rumble of thunder and flash in the distance, or the brief violent crash of rainfall. Knowing how quickly it passes.

Letting go, and looking forward. Always.

I hope these are lovely August days for you!

Jacqueline