Here are just a few moments from recent days…

These wild thistles that grow behind my house, next to a busy street, were a pretty spot in the overcast gloom today.

I passed by Sabrina's room and got excited that she'll finally be home from school this Friday. I've missed my girl.

I also miss my Bre, who left to start her new life in a new town with little Tilly.

When I painted my bedroom recently, I also painted my bathroom, so I decided to have some fun and add a few new accessories.

I absolutely love handmade soaps, and I found these on Etsy.

I also found a lovely blue vintage Ball jar with a glass lid…

I got this wire bread basket at Kohl's, but decided to use it for fluffy wash cloths instead of bread.

Here's a new handsoap I got a Trader Joe's. Its fragrance reminds me of hotel soap.. it leaves such a clean smell on my hands, and I love it.

I found this tiny cloche at Hobby Lobby, and it sits on the side of my bathtub now.

I'd like to put this one in a cloche!

But Tasha's a sweetheart. Poor, friendless Tasha.

If you've been checking my mom's blog lately, you know she and my dad were the proud grandparents of 4 baby cardinals this spring. However, these little creatures weren't meant to grow to adulthood, as none of them made it past this downy phase…

Spring brought lots of beauty with it, as usual…

And I have no idea what this plant is, but I do remember putting it in the ground last year… I'm glad it was nice enough to return! I think those tiny pink flowers are so sweet…

Here's another welcome visitor to the back yard… Mom doesn't much care for the mourning doves bc they kick her mulch out of place. But even though they do that to my landscape as well, I think they're charming little creatures.

Speaking of Mom, look at this restaurantware she surprised me with! I love the feel of diner-style coffee cups, and this one was from the Coronado Hotel in California…

When Bre moved back into her room, I moved out my fledgeling collection of Colonial-style accessories. And now that those accessories are settled in my dining room – and she's moved back out – I decided I needed some new accessories in the room. So Mom and I headed to Weathered and Worn and we each picked up these candleabras (mine is red, while hers is black) and battery-powered candles. I love these candles bc they've got built-in timers in them; every night they come on at the same time, and stay on for 6 hours before turning back off again.

I'll leave you with one more thing I added to the bedroom. Thanks to Miss Tanya (The Scarlett House) and her powers of persuasion, I bought my first antique sampler, and I'm ever-so-in-love with it.

I wish so badly I could sit here and blog more. I miss hearing from you all and sharing little things that happen here in this crazy house of mine. Truth be told, though, I just can't sit here like I used to, thanks to some hip pain issues I've been experiencing for a while now. And what stitching I get done is actually done standing up at the kitchen counter! Yes, it can be done, and isn't nearly as uncomfortable as one would imagine. 🙂 (As a matter of fact, I stitched nearly all of The Flood standing up!) 

And as for stitching, I've been working away on models, as well as doling others out to some very sweet model stitchers. 🙂 I'm going to pick up a Halloween-themed one tomorrow (thank you, Connie!), and have two others (Salem Sisters 3 and Vexation Sampler) that are being worked on (thank you, Rindy and Karen!).

My little Sophie would like to borrow my computer now, so I suppose I'll get off of here and let the dogs out before heading to bed early.

It was fun visiting with you all. I've missed you!