Bicycle Florals

Good morning, Everyone!

Thank you to all of you who have patiently waited for my return.

I have just returned from a trip to France which included an 8-day river cruise up the Rhone River.  It was lovely, to say the least.  While there, we also enjoyed some time on the Cote d'Azur and a few days in Paris.  I have some pics I will share with you soon, but having returned with a cold, laryngitis and sore throat, I have been a little slow getting back on my feet.

So, I think I will post some eye candy today and hope you enjoy!

Have a wonderful day!

All images via Tumblr and Pinterest

We heart it

Gingham and watercolors

Fussy French blog

In Lilly Land

Domenico Gnoli

This artwork was just too incredible to not share.

The late artist, Domenico Gnoli, was just reaching his prime in the 1960s when he passed away.  I had never heard of him until recently when I came upon this article in Vogue magazine.

Not many people have heard of him, but now there is a resurging interest in his work.  And a bit of a mystery as to how he created these masterpieces.......the detail is simply stunning, as you can see.

To read more about this artist, check out the latest Vogue magazine.

Enjoy!

All images via Vogue.com

Some Pinks and Greens

Some spring pinks and greens to enjoy!

Southern Accents

Traditional Home

Jonathan Adler

Diamond and Baratta

Anne Coyle

Fawn Galli

BHG

Diamond and Baratta

Harbor Springs Cottages

Hamptons Cottages and Gardens

Traditional Home

Romantic Homes

Quilted Chairs

Hi Everyone!

I'm back!  I feel like I fell down a rabbit hole and couldn't get back out.

Sorry about the absence, but I've been on the road for the past few days and will be for another week - home for a week and then off on vacation for a couple of weeks.  So my posts may be sporadic until about June, but please bear with me in the meantime.

I came upon these little quilted chairs online recently and thought they were gorgeous.   I found them on Flickr and had to share.  I believe the first five are from Patricia Woods Interiors in Michigan.

Enjoy!

Lovely detail and workmanship.

All of the above by Patricia Woods.

Country Home

BHG

Painted Floors

I am loving the idea of painted floors these days.  It's my next project in our kitchen and I plan to do it soon.....

BHG

Albert Hadley

Casasugar

Country Living

Casasugar

Casasugar

Shannon Bower

Diamond and Baratta

Diamond and Baratta

Diamond and Baratta

Posh Kids Rooms

When I came upon this site the other day, I immediately recognized the nursery for Mariah Carey's twins which I had seen at the time of their birth about a year ago.  I thought it was gorgeous then and still do.

It's such a pretty nursery and struck me as just Mariah's style.  She usually has Mario Buatta decorate her homes, but in this case Art for Kids designed her space.  They certainly have mastered the art of high end kids rooms and all of the following images are via their website.  

Enjoy!

Bluebird cribs

Flower basket cribs

Twin Cherubini Room

 

Playroom

Hollywood Glam girl's room

The Barbie prints are a nice touch 

Trundle bed

Monday Morning Blues

Good morning all,

As you know, I've just had a week off.  I wish I could tell you that I'm back full of vim and vigor and revitalized, but sadly I have to tell you I've just been through a wretched week.

We had come to the conclusion last weekend that we would have to have our beloved big brown boy, Coco, put to rest last week, so I wanted to spend his last days completely with him.

At the age of 17, he had become very tired and was having great difficulty walking with his hip dysplasia, couldn't see very well and couldn't hear at all.  Despite all that, we was still very enthusiastic about his daily walks (even if I had to carry him up the stairs from the street to our house when we returned home and at 50 lbs., it was no easy feat but something I was happy to do).  He still had a great appetite and was always ready for a treat and a visit with anyone.

On Thursday, our wonderful vet and her assistant came to our house and she was able to tranquilize Coco first with a quick injection in his back (which he didn't feel), so he didn't have to struggle having his leg shaved and getting the injection in a vein. Once he was totally relaxed, the vet was able to give him the leg injection and he didn't even feel it or know it was happening. It was the most peaceful and serene euthanasia I've seen (trust me, I know, as Coco was our third dog to be euthanized in the last 4 years).  The other two had become ill suddenly at different times and had to be taken to the vet's office, where we went through the leg injection and it seemed so quick, stressful and sudden, I couldn't bear to put Coco through that.  So Coco was able to be at home on his own little rug in our living room.  It was all we could ask for a little friend who deserved the very best.

Coco was a rescue dog, you see.  The first two years of his life were deplorable and he had sat in a kennel for two months at our local Humane Society after being found foraging in a ditch for food, half starved and afraid of everyone and everything.  He was in very dire straits when our daughter adopted him in 1997 and he came to live with us.  And never again was he forced into a kennel.  We've had dog sitters come to our house for the last 15 years to look after our dogs if we had to be away.  After being at the Humane Society for so long, Coco was always afraid of big buildings......I soon learned he would just put his brakes on and stop dead in the street if I attempted to take him into a large building.  So, we just didn't do that.

Once he became part of our family, he learned very quickly to trust again and he became a dog owner's dream companion.  He loved everyone and everyone loved him.  I can't tell you how many people in town got to know Coco as we walked the boardwalk every single day.  And most everyone stopped to greet him.  Even other dogs loved him and would always run to greet him.  He had a sweet face and a sweeter disposition.  He was the same, day in and day out, never wavering in his quiet demeanor and devotion.

As years passed, and his face became whiter and whiter, he became the little old man of the neighborhood dogs (there are 13 dogs in 9 houses in our neighborhood), so we are a dog loving group of people.

And the only time in the 15 years we had him that he barked was in the summertime, when visiting tourists would drive by our house in Old Charlottetown in a horse drawn buggy.........Coco loved those horses and would hear them coming long before anyone else in the neighborhood.  He would come racing down the stairs barking, through the dining room, through the kitchen and out his doggie door and around the house and be at our front picket fence in time to see the horse go by and would bark happily until the horse was long out of sight.  One day, I was sitting in our living room as the horse and carriage came down the street and I heard the tour guide say, "and in this house on the hill lives Coco" - and everyone in the carriage looked up, waved and said hello to Coco - who replied by madly wagging his tail and barking some more.  Coco had become part of the sightseeing tour and was a regular attraction until he lost his hearing two years ago and then there was silence when the horse came by.

I could go on about Coco, but you get the picture.  All I can say is that it was a very sad day last week when he was put to rest.  Even the neighbors were in tears.  We were devastated.  But so grateful that we had the good fortune of being his caretakers and knowing that we were able to restore his faith in man........and provide him with a most wonderful life and in return, receive the kind of love, devotion and affection only a dog can give.

RIP Sweet Coco

1995 - April 12, 2012