Do I have domestic issues?

So the kitty pictured above was seen with a dustbunny on her whisker this morning. Which led me to believe that it was time to take stock of my domestic skills and to get out the Swiffer Dry Mop.




Or perhaps I should adopt this philosphy?

Van Gogh's Cafe

The empty space in the common area of my condo was just crying for a table and a couple of chairs. We (me and the guys who own the other 3 condos in the building) had an ugly table at one end of the area and I tried my best to make it pretty by putting fresh flowers on it every week.

I'd been watching a bistro set at Home Goods for a few weeks. I thought it might be on sale in August so on Saturday morning I went back to see if the price went down. To my surprise, it was gone!

I went to a second Home Goods store in the area to see if they had the same set. They didn't but they had another one that was equally as cute. This one was green wrought iron with silver accents. I immediately bought it. And yes, it was on sale!

So as you can see from the photo above, it is nestled very nicely in the corner of the common area. I added a vase of mini sunflowers and voila, the look is complete. My sister came into the common area and said, "Oh, it looks like Van Gogh's cafe!". I think the name will
stick.

To My Sister on her Birthday

I took this photo of my sister Sheila a few years ago. We were at Nubble Light in York, Maine. She was cold and so I gave her my sweater. I love this photo of her because she has a look of pure happiness on her face.

So today was her birthday. We had a little party with a few friends at my condo. We did not have the traditional birthday cake. Instead, we had a mixed berry cobbler with whipped cream. My sister loves lemon so there was a small lemon sponge cake as well.

I didn't have a gift bag for her two little presents so I improvised. Using recycled materials, I tried to recognize the many aspects of my sister. A feather represented herinterest in Native Americans. She teaches classes about Native Americans. I used an accordion pleated bow made of sheet music because she plays the violin, guitar, fife, and penny whistle. The bow had a disc in the middle which had a rubber stamped crown on it. This represented my sister's love of all things British. She's been to England five times (twice with me).

So she enjoyed her gift wrap and I served her favorite Harrod's No 42 Earl Grey tea. We will be returning to Maine soon. We're going to Kennebunkport for a few days at the end of the month.

We like to do the same things and eat the same foods and she puts up with my photography obsession. I know we'll have a great time on our trip because we're not only sisters we're best friends.

Meet Tiger Lily

This is Tiger Lily. She is my friend and she lives with my friend Kim and Kim's family.



I'm lucky because Tiger lives just a couple streets over from me so I get to visit her often.



Compared to my cats, she's tiny. She only weighs about 6 lbs.



Can you find her in the photo? She loves to hide in the foliage.



And she loves to lounge on her front walkway and cool off on the stone wall.



This is pure kitty joy!




Such a sweet little face.



What's that in the bushes?



Rats !! It was a false alarm!



Tiger wants to end the photo shoot. She's got to troll the grounds and look for her next meal. Eek!

One more thing- Julie from Being Ruby awarded me the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you Julie
I am honored to receive this award from you. I will pass it on but not just yet. I need to give it some thought!

Camera Critters #70- Alpaca Farm

Today I am participating in my first Camera Critters Meme. Since I love animals I thought this would be perfect for me. I have endless shots of my cats but I thought I would share some special vacation photos for my first post.



Last August I vacationed on Martha's Vineyard with some friends. A visit to an alpaca farm was on my to do list. These gentle animals stole my heart. I call these two The Gossip Girls.



I think this guy was on vacation too. Or maybe just having an afternoon siesta.



The baby was very inquisitive. She came right over to me. I love her knees.



An afternoon snack sounds good.



They all had different personalities. Do you think this one might have an ego?



This one is stuck in the 80's.

Please click on the sidebar to check out other Camera Critters posts.

Estate Sale Finds

I saw the sign at Starbucks, Estate Sale 10-4 Friday and Saturday. Immediately, my antenna went up and I knew where I would be come 10AM the next morning.



I knew from the moment I hit the entrance. Oh, yeah this was gonna be good. My friend Kim and I were prepared. Sufficiently caffeinated? Check. Cash on hand after a trip to the ATM? Check. Ok, let the games begin.



I thought it would be intrusive to take photos inside the house but let me just say the homeowner definitely had my taste. Tiffany lamps, luxurious bedding, stylish furniture. I could have spent a fortune, but, I was quite controlled.

I bought this little bottle/vase. Very cute.




This sweet print is going to fit right in with some of my other artwork. I have some artwork at the frame shop as we speak, this one is already framed which is a bonus. Yes, I took the photo outside the house!



There were 3 floors and a basement full of items and a separate garage with even more items! I loved the yard and asked permission to take a photo of the swing. Wish I had a big tree to hang it from!



The neighbor who lived across the street decided to have a tag sale to piggyback off the estate sale. Her house looked exceptional so we decided to pay her a visit too. She was so sweet, she let us walk around her garden. It was spectacular. Love this gate!



She had lots of rabbits of stone and metal.




There was a koi pond in the back yard and a shed, a beautiful arch. It went on and on.



Pops of color added a touch of whimsy to the garden.



The woman is trying to sell her home and she said she had St Joseph buried in the front and backyard. Do you see the ray of light shining on her door? Maybe she'll get a little help with her home sale.




It really was a special property. She had some lovely things too. And she said she would be having a moving sale once the house was sold. So I think we'll be back to her neighborhood.



At the tag sale, I bought these mother of pearl handle knives. I put a few in a glass to show you but there were many more of them.



I got an entire bag full of pretty floral cloth napkins for $5. There were about 5 different sets of 4-6 napkins. Great find.



I bought 5 pillows at the estate sale. I put them on my living room to see how they looked. Oscar immediately wanted to investigate.




Here's a closeup of one of the pillows.



I hope Oscar doesn't find that fringe too interesting!



Well, he finished the investigation and it looks like they got his seal of approval.
Oscar thinks it's time for a nap. Me too, rummaging through estate sales is hard work!

Reminiscing about the Illumination Night Tea

Saturday's Illumination Night in Maine brought back memories to me. One memory of last year's trip to Martha's Vineyard and another of an Illumination Night Tea I hosted with my friend Kim back in 2007. At Kim's house we tried to recreate illumination night and the feeling of being on the Vineyard. I thought you'd enjoy reminiscing with me.



Here's a cottage on the Vineyard, all decorated and waiting for the evening's festivities.



And here's the illumination of the lanterns on the Vineyard.



Kim had never been to an illumination night so we decided that I would do the decorating for the party and she would handle the food. After all, she is the better cook.



Here's the tablescape. We served buffet style. Kim made a chicken dish with fruit compote and a dish with corn in it. Sorry, I forgot the details. We also had seafood salad rolls and a spinach salad with cranberries, goat cheese, and walnuts with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. We used paper plates and napkins and a fishing net for a casual feel. The plastic flatware was housed in a Nantucket Basket. Faux hydrangeas were placed in a Pellegino water bottle which served as a vase.



A rice paper parasol was placed over the dining room light.




We made favors for everyone. I had seen an article in Martha Stewart magazine about making beach glass jewelry so I mentioned it to my artist sister. I was secretly hoping she would help us make the jewelry. My sister came through for us. She adapted Martha's idea into something more simple. Instead of drilling holes in the beach glass, we wrapped silver wire around the pieces and made a bale at the top. We then slipped a silk cord through the top and voila, beach glass necklace! We had assorted colors of beach glass and various colored cords.

Then we made little pyramid shaped boxes out of maps of Martha's Vineyard. We wrapped the necklaces in tissue paper, placed them in the boxes and tied the top of the box with raffia.



As soon as darkness arrived, we flicked on all the light switches and we had our own grand illumination. Earlier in the day, Kim's husband had hung those icicle Christmas lights all around the edge of the porch and I covered the bulbs with the lanterns.



I have to admit the lantern illumination came out much better than I expected and it looked pretty darn close to the illuminated cottages on the Vineyard.



The many hours of planning and preparation were all worth it when one of the guests told me the evening was "magical".