The Real Victoria is back!

Have you seen the current issue of Victoria Magazine? I would have to say in my humble opinion that this is their best issue to date. I am talking about issues since they started publishing Victoria again.

I felt as if the editors were inside my head. It was as if they knew exactly what makes me tick. There are so many reasons why I adore this issue. They touched on all my favorites.



Page 16 featured a beautiful vintage inspired suitcase set. In a prior post, I had a photo of some suitcases I collected from a consignment shop. This photo was taken at my favorite store Nesting on Main in Concord.



Lately I am really loving lavender. The little postcard sachets on page 20 are so sweet. I am definitely going to purchase one or two. My photo was taken at Wilson Farms in Lexington.



The Flavors of Fall article starting on page 36 whetted my appetite for all those wonderful desserts and drinks made with apples. Cider, streudel, pies. Yum! These apple cider donuts are made fresh at Wilson Farms. They are a Fall favorite.



And don't forget the apple streudel!




Page 46 featured Leeds Castle. I was happy to read all about this castle because I went there in 1998. My sister, two friends and I had tea on the grounds. It is breathtakingly beautiful! Here are a few of the pages from my scrapbook for that trip.



I like to make a scrapbook for each trip. And use some quotes as well as photos.



Yes, that's me taking tea on a beautiful July afternoon at Leeds Castle. Don't you love the perm? My hair is tamer now. Sorry for the poor quality photo.

There were many other goodies in this British issue of Victoria. I loved the French Laundry vintage fabric carry all bags on page 19 and the European inspired bath canisters with apothecary script. I found out about a Fall shopping and train excursion that I would like to attend and there was a nice article about the store French General.

If you don't have the current issue I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy. You will be in awe of the photography and there's always something of interest on every page.

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!