A Day in the Life

My sister Toni offered me some dahlias this weekend.






There was a time a few years ago when I would have said no thanks. I would have had dahlias on my least favorite list of flowers.







Have they always had this many varieties or have they "come along"? I remember when people I knew had giant dahlias the size of plates or cars they were scary. They reminded me of monsters that have taken over the garden and if they came alive who knows what they would devour. Strange that I have always loved sunflowers but everyone knows they are suppose to be big and they are very friendly...


Now I want dahlias I especially love that they are late bloomers and have soooo many blooms. They have the most beautiful colors and shapes of any flower I can think of. I still don't like the giant ones but maybe I will someday. I would still have to say peonies are even better, but that might be because they are early and I am so ready for flowers...

I absolutely love cut flowers in the house, however the house needs to be clean and tidy. I like to think of it as icing on the cake... But seriously when there is stuff everywhere, who wants more even if they are pretty? Most of the things around my house are pretty, but it looks bad when it's in shambles..





So, this was the catalyst that it took to dust and rearrange the dining room. Not a quick procedure when you consider the places and things that dust gathers on in my dining room. And of course once I start playing with my "pretties" you can see what happens. I also have been considering the idea of getting a different dining room table. I want a long narrow one, a farm table you might call it. I like to try things out if I can because sometimes I think I want something really really bad and then I get it and yikes!!! It either looks hideous or it doesn't fit. So I moved in the picnic table from the deck, covered it with a couple of table cloths and put on the vase of dahlias. Naturally I couldn't stop with that, so I added a couple of plates and you can see where it all led..





What I really wanted to do was move in a long shelf from the shop. It is about 8 feet high and about 10 feet long. It is only about 12 inches deep and it is a beautiful shade of pink on the shelves and white on the sides. I measured the room and even with the hutch that is in there it would fit... I made the mistake of asking Dave if he thought it would look like I turned the house into a store? Naturally he said it would... do you think he remembers how hard it is to move???
Why did I ask?? Actually I remember how hard it is to move too, and I do think it would look like a store, otherwise I wouldn't have asked..



Here are some of the areas that got cleaned and moved around. I have lots of dishes and glassware. I try to stay with only pink and green. I love to mix them together and I also like them separately.








The platters on the shelf are the latest of what I "need" more. I have always loved platters, so I have lots of them. I think I will only keep ironstone with flowers, pink of course and those that have the raised design. I might have to keep a few others until I get all I "need". Someone was telling me that they use platters for plates to serve meals on... Well, I have also heard that you eat less on a smaller plate so I don't think eating on platters is a good idea for my family. If we make a change it will be to saucers...






















This is the hutch where I have been putting my pink dishes. It is nice to have them behind glass. It doesn't photograph as well but it does cut down on the dust.























Today I hope to finish the dining room and move on to the living room. I am looking for inspiration... I have been known to move the rooms around making the dining room the living room and vise a versa. I don't think that is on the schedule for today.

I am still working on getting my mailing list changed to a new program. I am sure you understand that is HUGE as I don't have a very good relationship with my computer... I thought this morning my camera was going to cause me fits, but it only needed new batteries..

The funniest thing about electronic gadgets and me... I am always the last person that wants one. It started with VCR's and cell phones. Computers, digital cameras, all those crazy things, no thanks I don't want or need one. Then finally I concede that it might be nice, make things easier... And of course I love them and want the pink camera phone, laptop, and DVD player for the car!! Why don't I just get them and learn to use them when everyone else does??