A Williamsburg Inspired Garden

Hello everyone!

I hope that you're having a nice Memorial Day.  The weather here has been nice (except for a rain shower that came by last night). 

 My husband and I went to a going away party for one of his best friends.  He is leaving for Alaska this week and won't be back for several months.  He recently retired from the fire dept and is now taking advantage of a unique work opportunity in Alaska.  So, his parents threw him a going away party at their house yesterday. 

They live in a beautiful area in a town just outside of where we live.  I was captivated by the road they live off of because it was gated with many private large lots with homes situated on them.  It was like driving through a forest on a gravel road.  You couldn't see any of the homes from the road. 

When we drove up to his parents house, I thought it was a charming country style house.

Share Your Style Party #67

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to another week of Share Your Style!  I'm so glad that you decided to join us again. I'm Kelly from The Essence of Home and I am your host this week.

Lilacs and Antlers

Hello everyone!

My post title sounds like a new blog name doesn't it?  Well it isn't.  I just realized how I'm using two different nature elements in my home that contrast yet coordinate well together too.  

I recently added some faux lilacs to my fireplace mantel.

My "Store" in the Basement

Hello everyone!

You know how some people shop their house for items when they're looking to make changes to a room?  Well, I shop my basement!  Recently, my husband and I cleaned out our storage areas in our basement and now we actually have room to see everything and walk.  We took a lot of stuff to Goodwill and to a couple of consignment shops.  I thought I would share my storage area with you so you could see where I store my excess decorating items and holiday goodies.  

My husband built large wooden shelving units to hold my many "smalls".  I didn't want to box them up and then have to look through bins to find them later.  So, this lay-out works just like I'm going shopping.  

Share Your Style Party #66

Welcome to Share Your Style! I'm Julie from Little Farmstead, 
and I'm your host this week. So happy to have you join us!

Less Color More Texture

Hello everyone!

I took a risk and went with all white pillows on my sofas and chair in my family room.  I wanted a less busy, more creamy cozy look.  And even though we're in the Spring season, I didn't steer away from fur and knitted pillows.  I love the texture they bring to the room without being overwhelming.  

Homemade Southern Banana Pudding

Hello everyone!

When I married my husband, I enjoyed going to his parents house regularly and eating a lot of delicious homemade southern food.  His mom was a great cook!  After she had a stroke, she was no longer able to cook her delicious meals anymore.  So, in order to enjoy some of the foods she used to prepare, I had to learn how to make them myself!  One of my favorites was her banana pudding.  Now, when I asked her for a recipe, she was the kind of gal who just knew it by heart and whipped it together quickly.  So, I didn't really ever get a specific recipe to follow.  But, I did remember that she made it completely from scratch with meringue on top.  So, I went searching for a comparable recipe online and found one that seemed to match what she made.  You can find it HERE.  You can actually print the recipe from this site and you'll be able to make it yourself.  It is so GOOD! 

Now, my pictures don't do this recipe justice, but I wanted to share the step by step process so you can see it's not too difficult.  It's just time consuming.  

First, preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a saucepan.

Share Your Style Party #65

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hello everyone!

How was your weekend?  I hope it was a good one.  I hope that you had a nice Mother's Day with your family too.  Mine was good.  My oldest son brought me flowers and my husband cooked out a great meal on the grill.  He fixed one of my favorite meals for me.  

After such a relaxing weekend, it was difficult to re-adjust to Monday morning coming so early.  I nipped that in the bud though with a good work-out and then ran some errands. 

I thought I would share some pics of our yard since we're finally getting some pretty flowers blooming around us.  The weather has been so nice lately, but today is a bit too hot for me.  It is in the mid 80's today!  I prefer the 70's.  

Our house sits up on a hill with lots of trees around it.  So, I'm thankful for the shade it provides us during the hot months.

What's Been Happening Around Here

                              Hello everyone!

This week has been a very busy week.  I wasn't able to post on Monday because we were having new carpet installed all day!  It was for our upstairs bedrooms, hall, and stair case.  I can't begin to tell you how much I love the new carpet!

Share Your Style Party #64

Happy May to you all and welcome back to another Share Your Style link party! This week your party host is me Barbara from 21 Rosemary Lane.  I am so happy to be hosting our 64th party!!!