Mosaic Monday: A White Christmas

As you may have noticed, I have not been posting here for many a week.  I've been so busy with my etsy shop and other projects that something had to give and it was my blog posting.

Well, I'm back....and in an effort to get into the Christmas spirit, I'm posting some photos I took 2 years ago around Christmas in Spokane...hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting...please take a look at all the other participants in Mary's Little Red House Mosaic Monday.

Mosaic: More Fabulous Fall Foliage

It's Mosaic Monday and I'm continuing with my wonder at the gorgeous colors of nature.

(click on the photos for a better view)

Can't you just see yourself wandering down the road in these lovely settings?

 

 I love to see all these fabulous colors reflected in the water

Please join our gracious host Mary, over at Little Red House for much more Mosaic Monday fun.

Thank you for spending a bit of your time with me today and I always appreciate hearing from you. 

I must tell you the Blogger is giving me FITS today...I can't get the spacing right and I've given up...hope you excuse the blunders.

 

Mosaic Monday: A Sad Farewell

Recently a former neighbor and friend for over 3 decades passed away way too soon.

After her funeral on Friday, I took some of the beautiful roses home to dry for her daughters but thought I would enjoy them a few days before I started the drying process.

 Goodbye dear friend!

Please visit Mary over at Little Red House for more fun Mosaic Monday.

Thank you for your visit and your kind comments.

Mosaic Monday: Fabulous Fall Colors

Today I 've put together a couple of mosaics  that I couldn't resist the fabulous Autumn colors...hope you enjoy them also.

(click on photos to enlarge)

 Wow, can you believe these colors?

 I'm always in awe of the beauties of nature!

Thank you for stopping by...your lovely comments are always appreciated.

Please visit our hostess Mary, over at Little Red House to view lots more Mosaic Monday.

Mosaic Monday: Fabulous Fall Wreaths

In an effort to get into the Fall spirit,  today I'm presenting some wonderful wreaths that are just so perfect for the season.

Please join Mary over at Little Red House for more wonderful Mosaic Monday lovelies.

 Don't you just LOVE this idea of double wreaths on your front door?

All these lovely wreaths should start to get me in the mood for Fall!

Thanks for spending a bit of your time with me today.  I appreciate and read all of  your precious comments.

Mosaic Monday: Wonderful Colors of Fall

Fall is here and I've scoured the web searching for some examples of garden and outdoor decorating and I've put them together for Mary's wonderful Mosaic Monday party over 

at Little Red House.

Please enjoy!

How I love these wonderful colors

 Check out that crazy sign! 

You must peek at all the other wonderful bloggers joining in Mary's Mosaic Monday.

Thank you for your visit...I always appreciate and read your lovely comments.

Mosaic Monday: A Nod to Autumn

Since we barely had a summer here in San Diego this year  I had hoped that we still might have some hot weather, but now that it really looks as if Fall is just around the corner, I'm somewhat getting into the mood for all the beauties that season has to offer.

Here are a few photos that just shout "Fall"!

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Don't you jut love all these wonderful colors?

I'm so fascinated with the white pumpkin that I had to include them too

Thanks for stopping by today and please take a look at Mary's Little Red House for lots more lovely photos in this wonderful Mosaic Monday party.

I always look forward to reading your comments. 

Mosaic Monday: Summer's End

It seems as if all the bloggers out there in blog land are breathlessly waiting for the commencement of Fall and it's much cooler weather while I'm lamenting the end of what little summer we had here in SD.

These seashell photos are a reminder of the glories of the summer season and, seashells happen to be a favorite of mine.

Thank you for dropping in today...please take a look at Mary's Little Red House for all her wonderful Mosaic Monday participants.

I always appreciate hearing from you and look forward to reading your comments.

Show & Tell Friday: Great Grandmother's Clock

Do you ever just not know what to post???

Well, that's where I've been the last 2 weeks beside being very busy with my etsy shop and trying to get a website up and running...that is quite difficult when one is as tech challenged as I am!!!

Today I'm showing you Mr AVO's great grandmother's mantel clock that he remembers sitting in his grandmother's living room.

 The photo on the right hand side is Great Grandmother...the left hand photo are Great Grandmother's parents

I use a glittered clothes pin to hold the photos to an old door knob...I like to display lots of vintage photos that way and then I can change the photos around when I feel like it.

I purchased these glittered clothes pins at a lovely shop on Etsy  called 

The Cottage Market...you can view all her items by clicking on the shop's name.

Thanks for stopping in today for a visit...please pop on over to Cindy's My Romantic Home for more of her wonderful Show & Tell Friday.

Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Mosaic Monday: A Few Old Photos

Here are a few vintage photos from my collection for Mosaic Monday.

 (Click on any photo to enlarge)

 These are old family photos

I love these little children photos from my archives

Thank you for spending a bit of your time with me today.

Your comments are always appreciated!

Mary is having a Mosaic Monday party...please join her at Little Red House.

Mosaic Monday: Just Another Day at the Beach

Last week our son and DIL rented a house at Newport Beach for the week and we joined them for 2 days...here are some of the photos I took...

 (Click on any photos to enlarge...you'll be amazed!)

 I've possibly seen star fish in a marine world type setting, but not in their natural habitat

 These guys don't look like star fish to me

 I've never seen this color of star fish either

Okay, so taking a photo on top of a yellow sand bucket isn't exactly photographic genius...lol

Lots of mollusks right where we found the star fish

I must tell you that while taking these photos, I was still wearing my jean shorts and a blouse because it was cloudy and a bit chilly for me...I stepped backwards to avoid getting hit by a wave and stepped into a huge hole and fell down on my backside...not a pretty sight!

Mr AVO said "Oh, that was the hole I told the kids to avoid"...well, you get my train of thought here I'm sure!!!  And of course, there were plenty of spectators watching the entire episode.

The great part of this was that I SAVED my camera from getting wet!!!

Oh, and a disclaimer here...NO star fish were injured in the taking of these photos!

The kids took those 2 on the bucket back to where they found them...hopefully no worse for the wear.

Thanks for the visit today...your comments are always appreciated.

I'm joining Mary's fun Mosaic Monday party today...please give her a visit at Little Red House

Show & Tell Friday: The Amazing Hummingbird

After several attempts to lure some hummingbirds to our yard, we finally hit the jackpot!

Mr AVO read an article about these lovely creatures online and decided to make his own 

sugar water for our feeders.  

On the first attempt, the ants got into the mixture so quickly, they clogged up the entire feeder.  We were reluctant to use any chemicals around these little guys as it would be toxic for them.  He sprayed the fence post with ant spray and soaked the bottom of it where they would start their trek upward and then waited a day or so for the chemicals to dissipate.

This is an amazing shot for me...couldn't believe I got it.

Those tiny little feet are used only for perching...not for walking.

I know that the feeder doesn't make for a great shot but wanted to show him up close

Well, now that these little creatures have found the sugar water, they pretty much ignore the flowers we planted to attract them!!!

They are coming in droves...hubby says that they must have alerted all the hummingbirds in our area.  One would think by looking at them that they would be delicate little things...they swoop and swerve and knock each other off the feeders and squawk the entire time...I never realized that they were such noisy little guys.  If I look out in the early AM, I sometimes see as many as 12-15 of them flying and squawking and feeding.

I've also read that our birds here on the west coast come from Mexico City...they are migratory.  The round trip is about 6,000 miles...amazing!  Also read that they have the largest brain for their size in the bird world.

Thank you for visiting with me today and I hope you enjoyed yourself.

Please leave a comment to let me know you were here.

I'm joining Cindy's lovely Show &Tell party today...please take a peek at all the other posts over at My Romantic Home.

Mosaic Monday: Birthday Flowers & Blueberry Buckle

Last week I celebrated a big birthday and we went to the Palm Desert area to spend the day.  

The next day we spent at Newport Beach in a house that my son and DIL rented for the week.

We have been having a VERY cool summer so I wanted to visit the desert for some warmth and the beach house was great too except for the overcast mornings.

The orchids are  flowers I received from Mr AVO...I like to receive plants as they last much longer than a bouquet and of course, I'm partial to orchids.

 I also decided to bake a blueberry buckle as my birthday cake and here is the result...

This buckle came out just great...I meant to cut and photograph it artfully, but it got eaten before I had a chance to do so.

If you are interested in the recipe, you can find it here...

I would be interested in knowing if you tried this recipe and how you like it.

Please drop by Mary's Little Red House to view all the other participants in this Mosaic Monday party.

Thank you for visiting...your comments make me smile.

Show & Tell Friday: Flea Market Treasures

Okay, I know how most of us love a great antique flea market, estate sales and even garage sales, so I thought I would show a few of the items we've picked up at these places.

Lots of old watches and watch parts here

A closer look at these vintage pieces

Who ever though that grungy old silver plated spoons could be a treasure?

Some rusty old French keys

And if you're thinking that maybe just MAYBE some of these pieces will show up in my etsy shop.....you would be absolutely right...it all depends on which items I can bear to part with.

Thanks for joining me for a little while today and please be sure to hop on over to Cindy's My Romantic Home for all the other Show &Tell loveliness!

Your comments make me smile.

Mosaic Monday: Covered Bridges

With my great interest in genealogy and history I've also come to love all the old covered bridges that can still be seen, particularly on the east coast where we visited a few months back.

Hope you enjoy a look at these lovely old pieces of history.

(click on any of the mosaic to enlarge)

Thanks for stopping by.....your comments are always greatly appreciated.

Please visit Mary over at Little Red House for lots more fun mosaics! 

Mosaic Monday: Southold, NY

I hope that all of you my wonderful blog readers out there don't get too tired of all the history and genealogy that I've been posting lately.

This is again from our recent trip to the east coast...

Old Burying Ground of 1st Presbyterian Church in Southold, NY.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

 This church was organized in 1640 and the burial grounds are kept in nice condition

This is a monument to the founders of Southold, NY and Mr AVO's 10th great grandfather, Philemon Dickerson and his son, Peter and grandson, Thomas are all named on the monument...

They are all my hubby's direct ancestors

Philemon Dickerson arrived in this country in 1637 aboard the ship "Mary Anne"

There are headstones here for 9 of hubby's ancestors.

I was really taken with this beautiful little church

A few different views on the burial ground

This is the area where the oldest stones are located

and close to the monument

When we made this trip we didn't realize the length of Long Island, NY....120 miles

This Church and burial grounds are almost to the tip of the island.

Thanks for stopping by today for Mosaic Monday and please don't forget to pop over to 

Mary's Little Red House for more party fun.

Your comments are wonderful!

Show & Tell Friday: Vintage Bottles Anyone?

Like many of us reading these blogs, I am a collector of lots of different vintage items..today I'd like to show you a small part of my vintage bottle collection.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Love this beautiful aqua color....it reminds me of the Mediterannean and the ocean off the south Florida coast.

I've decorated a few of these bottles and they can be seen in my etsy shop.

Of all the bottles shown above beside the ones I've decorated and the vintage sea shell bottles, these are my favorites.

You might recognize the bottle on the right as I've used it for flowers cut from my garden

Thanks for coming on over to visit today...I always appreciate the visit and you kind comments.

Please visit Cindy over at My Romantic Home to view lots more of this lovely party.