A Treasure Chest

My three year old grandson will celebrate his fourth birthday on the 3rd of July. His party is going to be a pirate's theme. He came over with part of his costume to show his Papa and me.

Papa told him to stand in front of our "treasure chest". lol

His costume and the Pawn Shop Show on cable TV inspired me to share my old travel trunk with you. It is in it's original state. I just couldn't bring myself to refurbish it. I thought it would lessen the value of it.

I got it at an estate sale years ago for $100. A friend later told me how to determine the date by looking on the hinges. Sure enough, there it was---Pat. March 1880. (enlarge pic to see better)

Hubby was watching the Pawn Shop show the other night and hurried to tell me that our trunk was even more valuable because it has the removable compartments still in tact.

This trunk has side handles and is on small wheels for transporting. They used these to travel overseas in the 1800's.
I wonder what journeys this trunk has been on. Maybe Europe--who knows!

It's a treasure to me. I don't even know if I could part with it but hubby says if the price was right he would. lol I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at it today.

I'm joining Cindy @http://romantichome.blogspot.com/ for Show & Tell. Please pay her a visit to see many other treasures.

Until next time--stay safe!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July to Everyone!

We had a couple over for casual dining the other night and I did a patriotic theme.


I bought the stars and stripes plates at Homegoods this year.

The silverware is from TJ Maxx.

My napkin rings came from Homegoods, as well. Napkins are American Living from JC Penny.

I bought this flag plate at Hobby Lobby a couple of months ago.

I cut little bowl for nuts or mints.

I'm joining Susan @http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for Tablescape Thursday. Be sure to pay her a visit. It's always an inspirational visit.

Thanks for dropping in today. Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!

Summer in the Backyard

The grass is having a hard time staying green in this 98 degree weather. The flowers are constantly needing a drink of water but I love this time of year. I love things when they are alive and so colorful. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Our backyard brings us so much enjoyment. We watch the birds having their breakfast while we are eating ours. I thought I'd share a few pics with you today.

I'm linking to Outdoor Wednesday http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ . Be sure to go visit and be inspired.

Follow me and we'll take a little tour. Visitors are always welcome!

Come, have a seat, and visit awhile. We can put up the umbrellas if it gets too hot.

We may get to see a hummingbird while we talk.

We've been busy this year resealing the patio and repainting all the furniture.

We usually eat breakfast and sometimes lunch at this table. We do barbecue for dinner but usually have to eat inside with the extreme heat we've been having.

We escape to the other side of the patio where our gazebo sets when it is too sunny and hot.

Thanks for visiting today. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for all the prayers for my hubby's recent surgery. He had a slight set back. They had to drain the knee after two weeks to relieve the pressure and alleviate the pain. He is doing physical therapy again and making good progress.

Forgive me for not being able to visit you lately. I'll be around soon!

Tablescape Thursday

We invited a couple over for dinner the other night and I put together this tablescape and thought I'd share it with you.

There's flowers and fruit on the tablecloth , so thought I'd stick to that theme and use a candle centerpiece surrounded by fruit.

I bought these monogramed plates at Kirkland a while back. I also used monogramed coasters from Tuesday Morning with cyrstal stemmed glasses.

Pretty floral napkin rings from Penny's, slipped onto black napkins.

A little candlelight to set the mood for the evening.

Stop by Susan's @
Between Naps on the Porch for lovely tables that have been posted.

Thanks for taking time to let me know you paid a visit. Love hearing from you!

A Few Changes

It's been a couple of weeks since I mentioned we were going to redo the front landscaping. It and a few other projects have gotten done -- just in the nick of time. The heat wave is upon us! It has been cooking down here in the deep south. Today feels like a 100! The actual temp. is a couple of degrees below that but after 95 who's counting. lol The humidity is almost as high!

Here's a couple of pics of the before landscaping. ( Well, maybe more than a couple. You may want to grab some ice tea. ) lol
It had become overgrown for the space.

We pulled out everything but my Japanese Tulip tree.

Here are the guys working at pulling and then transplanting some of the shrubs.

See this little tree? We had to be very careful with it. It was carrying precious cargo.

We couldn't believe all of these came from a tiny sparrow. Ouch! She was not a happy camper that we were moving her nest.

We kept them in tack and put this tree on the side on the property.

Here's the the Tulip tree with a fresh haircut and all new plants surrounding it.

We love the way it turned out.

We brought an old fountain from the backyard and hubby gave it a fresh coat of paint and luckily it still worked.

Some new petunias around the front tree.

I'm loving these Coreopsis. They come back every year. They are always blooming.

These are Callie deep Yellow.

I bought this tricycle at Home Goods.

These are Penstemon Red Riding Hoods.

An Astra African Daisy

Cryptomeria shrubs

Hubby worked so hard at planting, spraying and cleaning up the mess---all with a torn meniscus in his knee.

That's why I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. He finally had surgery on it and he has kept me hopping for the last couple of wks. lol

When people see him on his crutches, he tells them it's the result of too much housework!

Funny fellow--but there may be an element of truth there. lol

Since retiring he has kept very busy with many projects. The injury, however came from playing basketball.

He says he is retiring his number now. lol

Speak of the devil. Here he is with his pouchy lip. Poor thing! This too shall pass.

I'm hooking up to Outdoor Wednesdayhttp://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Have a good week y'all! Try to stay cool!

Thanks for popping in!

Memorial Day

Celebrating Memorial Day this weekend, let's remember all the great men and women who HAVE and ARE serving in the Military to insure that we remain safe and free!! Let's SALUTE THEM ALL!!!

FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS----HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!----- BE SAFE!

Fish Fry

It started with an all night of fishing for my hubby and some men from church. They were on Lake Jocasse in NC for 12 hours. It's about an hour and half from us and a gorgeous lake to fish or boat on. Hubby (on the right) loves to fish but had not done trout fishing before. He was so excited that he caught his limit and the biggest of the night.

When he arrived home, sleep deprived and still with the feeling of rocking, from being on a boat that long, (lol) he was ready to clean those babies and pose for pics.

They weighed in from 3 1/2 to 4 lbs.

We asked some friends to come over for a fish fry and fun!

Home made hush puppies frying in oil, compliments of our guest. She brought everything for them, including her cast iron skillet. They were so light and yummy!!

I did an ocean theme tablescape for the occassion.

Cute little plates from T.J. Maxx.

Sea shell salt and pepper shakers.

Little fish serving dishes.

I added sand and sea shells for a centerpiece.

Home made cole slaw.

The wonderful fish.

This was a new dish for us--Nassau grits. They were soooooo good! Not like regular grits at all.

We took an evening off of working outside and had some fun.

What's going on with you this week?

Thanks for visiting!!