Vintage Metal Bottle Carrier from Chateau Chic

I won an $100 blog giveaway to Mary Alice's, (from the blog Chateau Chic), online shop!

Woo Hoo!

Is there anything more fun than winning a surprise?

My first purchase with my winnings was this wonderful, old metal bottle carrier.

I've been wanting one for a long time, but wanted a true vintage one, not a knock off as seen at some of the home decor stores.

Mary Alice had it on it's way to me the very next day after I won!

She is so kind, thoughtful, and generous.

Right away I put some French lemonade bottles that I had in it and some old aqua canning jars that I filled with vintage silver and some hydrangeas from my yard.

I'm lovin' it!

It's almost Friday!

HAPPY, HAPPY FRIDAY

and have a BLESSED weekend!

Elizabeth

 

Reunions and Redwoods...

I'm a day late posting my weekly gratitude list, but I have a good reason!

I'm sitting here in a hotel in Crescent City, California, with my second born and youngest daughters and my two oldest grandkids.

Over the weekend we had a family reunion on the central Oregon coast with all of my siblings, and many of my nieces and nephews and their children.

We had such a wonderful time together.

The Hubs was able to come for only one night since we are having the final inspection for occupancy on our new church building in just a couple of days. (YaY!)

So, I thought that it would be fun for the girls and I to continue on down the coast, once the reunion was over, and see the Redwoods.

What a beautiful day it was to drive down the coast!

We drove through part of the Redwood National Forest today, and will drive further south to the Trees of Mystery tomorrow.

Then we'll drive back home to Portland, where my son-in-law will be flying in to meet his family after two weeks apart.

Oldest daughter and her family will get back home from their vacation Thursday, so our whole family will be together in a couple of days, for the first time in a year.

What a blessing!

*******************

I’ve taken the Joy Dare.

I’m counting one thousand thanks in one year.

I hunt for thanksgiving using the prompts Ann gives us each month.

If you are interested in joining in, click the link above or at the bottom of this post.

I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little black journal…

#2226-#2246

3 gifts of serving-

-watching two youngest granddaughters so my daughter can pack for their vacation

-laundry, laundry and more laundry - thank you, God, for my washer and dryer!

-making dinner for my family - beef stroganoff and creamy mashed potatoes

a gift straight-

-on my run, the straight stretch after I leave my house

a gift curve-

-turn right, then run around the curve and up the hill

a gift turn-

-at the dead end turn around and do the whole loop again

3 gifts in light-

-morning sun on dewy grass

-fingernail moon in blue hour sky

-visiting with friends and family around a backyard fire pit at a friend's house

3 gifts old-

-old metal bottle carrier from a wonderful blogger

  

-a pile of old family quilts folded and stacked on top of the armoire in our bedroom

-the grandkids playing with the toys my girls played with when they were their age

3 gifts moving-

-reliable cars

-youngest daughter moving back to Portland

-bike riding with my grandkids

3 gifts fragile-

-relationships

-human hearts

-this life

a gift cut-

-fresh cut flowers from my nephew and niece-in-law at our family reunion

a gift sewn-

-grandson's beloved, favorite stuffed animal all stitched up and repaired by my daughter

a gift buttoned-

-my Hub's favorite button shirts that he has laundered, starched and pressed so I don't have to!

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth

Psalm 36:7

May God's steadfast love overwhelm you today, dear friends.

Still following,

Elizabeth

Friday's Favs…Homegrown Dried Lavender

I've been given a big, beautiful bunch of dried lavender in the past,

but this is the first year I've grown and dried my own.

I planted it last summer, but this summer it really took off.

When it was ready to cut, I simply hung it in bunches from my dining room curtain rod until it was dried.

I love it, its lovely smell, its delicate appearance.

And I love the fact that it was grown in my own backyard!

It's almost Friday!

HAPPY, HAPPY FRIDAY
and
have a BLESSED weekend!

Elizabeth

 

Priceless treasure...

Middle daughter and her two kiddos arrived here from Ghana ten days ago.

They're staying in our spare room, although the kiddos love to camp out on our bedroom floor most nights.

This morning, they all went to spend the day at a friend's house.

I'm home alone for the first time in ten days.

It's quiet, and I did look forward a bit to morning devotions uninterrupted.

But first, I tromped down the stairs for a refill in my coffee cup and a leftover blueberry muffin from yesterday's breakfast.

Then, I decided to unload and reload the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen.

Oh, and shake out the area rugs that the kid's tracked bark dust in on, then run a quick vacuum over the wood floors.

Might as well put a load of laundry on to wash, too.

The kitchen trash needs taken out as well, so I step outside and see…

the kiddie pool moved to a new spot, so a permanent circle isn't left in the lawn…

oldest granddaughter's bike and helmet not put away after yesterday evening's bike ride...

only grandson's bike helmet was left out too, as was the fork from last night's s'mores, made while we sat around the fire...

a paper airplane lies on the patio, while another half dozen are here and there inside the house when I step back in the patio door…

I also see the books we all checked out on a trip to the library yesterday, here and there and everywhere, so I corralled them in a basket…

Finally, I head up to my office and open Proverbs 15.

I'm charting the contrast between the wise and the foolish.

I'm stopped dead in my tracks at verse 6.

"In the house of the righteous, is great, (priceless), treasure…"

I smile to myself, and know it's true.

I've seen it all around me all morning long,

and I can't wait until those rambunctious, noisy grandkids of mine walk back in the door.

Still following,

Elizabeth