Roses are Orange, Hydrangeas are Blue

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much for all your kind comments about my photo shoot.  As I mentioned, the photographers left me several flower bouquets, so I thought I would show you where they ended up after the shoot.

In my kitchen, the pitcher of orange roses now sits on the counter top beside my sink.

They are such a vibrant shade, so I liked them in my sunny kitchen.

They smell wonderful too!

My favorite flowers, though, were these beautiful deep blue hydrangeas.

I love them so much that now I'm on the hunt for some more (except that they will be fake)!  I know these will not last long enough to please me. These are potted in soil, so I'm hoping to get these planted outside when the weather permits. 

In the meantime, they are enjoying the light in the sitting room next to a chair.

And last but not least, are these pretty light green hydrangeas they brought for my bedroom.  I left them just the way they had them.  

So, inside my house, it looks like Spring!  Luckily, our weather is warming up too, so this is a much better week than last.

  No more snow......No more snow......No more snow.......

Just click your heels and say that three times.  Maybe it will work!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Linking to:  Wow-us-Wednesdays

My Photo Shoot

Hello everyone!

I've been keeping a secret from you.  I was contacted by someone about having a photo shoot at my house for my home to appear in their magazine!  Oh my goodness, what a thrill!  I'm not sure if I can disclose the name of the magazine yet so I will wait.  But here are some photos of my big day yesterday!

Gridley + Graves are the photographers that came by to shoot the pictures.  They brought so many nice things to use as props as well.  

Look at all the flowers they brought!

They brought orange roses, sunflowers, blue and green hydrangeas and greenery.  They also brought red and orange peppers, tomatoes, green apples and bread.  It was fun to see how they used them in various rooms.

This is a glimpse on how they restyled the dining table. (Just overlook the other stuff on the table.)

Here is Gary getting the camera angled just right for the sitting room.  

They also brought pillows, throws, rugs and table runners as props. 

The biggest challenge was keeping my dog, Max, out of their way!  He was so excited to see them bringing all their stuff in and moving things around the house.  He knows no strangers!  We eventually had to put him on a leash inside the house, since we don't have a crate, so he would leave them alone.  

They even took a picture of my front porch after staging it to look pretty.  It looks so bare in the winter time.  These pretty sunflowers in the pitcher were part of that shot.  They let me keep all the flowers when they were done!  So, now I have beautiful bouquets sprinkled around my home.

It was a great day!  I'm so honored to have been chosen and can't wait to see it in print when the magazine comes out.  I'll keep you posted as soon as I know when that will be.  

And a HUGE thanks goes out to my sweet sister, Kim,  who passed my name along to the person scouting homes for the magazine!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Happy Valentines Day!

Hello everyone!

Well, we survived the big snow/ice storm and now the sun is heading our way for this weekend.  So happy!  

I'm sending these pretty images of flowers to you on this romantic holiday.

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I bet there will be a lot of engagements and weddings this weekend!

Do you have special plans?

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Valentine's Day!

~ Kelly ~

The Storm is Here!

Hello everyone!

Well, the big ice storm is officially here. But so far, at my house, it isn't too bad.  Our trees are fine and there is a light coating of snow on the ground.  However, the weather is supposed to continue to deteriorate throughout the day, so, we'll see. 

This is my back deck.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that my son finally saw a specialist and we have a tentative diagnosis now.  It is believed that he has reactive arthritis.  After reading more about it, we feel certain that is what it is.  The doctor ran some other tests, but we don't have the results back yet.  If you want to know more about it, I included a link for you.  Click HERE.  It can explain it better than me.  He is taking stronger meds now and is on the mend.  This may rear its ugly head again in his future, but is not something he will have to deal with every day of his life like some other forms of arthritis.  We are thankful for that!  

So, in the meantime, I am sitting here listening to some freezing rain hit my windows and praying that we don't lose power!  

Got my first cup of coffee with me to keep me warm and the news is on to follow this ugly storm.  

Hope you all are warm and safe today!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly~

Snow and Ice

Hello everyone!

Well, it looks like Atlanta, and it's surrounding cities, will be hit with snow and ice this week.  Look out!  

It came at a bad time too.  I had something exciting planned this week it is getting postponed.  Hopefully, the bad weather won't last too long.

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We're expecting bad weather to come in tonight and last through Wednesday.

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Hopefully, our roads won't become too treacherous for travel.  The ice is the scary part.  I don't want to lose power!  I live in North GA where we tend to get more of the bad weather too.

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I sent my husband to the store this morning for necessities just in case too!  He will be working at the fire station throughout much of this so I won't have him to help me out at home.  

On a better note, I will be taking my son to see a specialist today.  I'm so excited to begin getting him proper medical treatment.  He has been hobbling around ever since we picked him up last week.  It's very unusual to see him like that.  I'll let you know what the diagnosis is.  So, today is going to be a long day!

How is your week starting off?  Better than mine, I hope!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Orchid Confusion

Hello everyone!

This orchid is the only live one I've ever owned and I was nervous about getting it in the beginning.  But, now 2 yrs later, it has proven to be hearty.  It is now blooming for the 3rd time.  

I moved it next to this wall just so you could see it better. It normally sits by a window.

What I'm confused about, though, is it's root system.

Here are the roots at it's base. 

And here is another root system at the top!  What????

This didn't exist during it's last blooming cycle.  And of course, with it's additional set of roots are additional leaves too!  

Does anyone know if this is normal and am I supposed to leave it or cut it off and replant that section?

These are the beautiful blooms hanging off to one side.

This is where it normally sits........beside my bathtub.

But, I have a feeling that those leaves and roots shouldn't be at the top of the plant too.

Would love any advice you have to share about orchids.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~

Homecoming

Hello everyone!

Just dropping in to show you a few pics of my son's homecoming from the Marines boot camp yesterday.

My husband decided to go pick him up and arrived on Parris Island shortly before noon.

Isn't it beautiful?

I wasn't able to go with him because of my son's school and our dog.  It was just too far to go with all of us crowded in the car. My husband did bring a friend along to pass the time with though.

He finally found the correct building to pick him up from.

  These are the first set of doors that all new recruits go through upon entering the island. No one else is allowed through these doors.

Now, he's loaded up in the car and ALREADY on his phone!

Heading home.....

Back at home, he's finally able to open his birthday and Christmas gifts that have been waiting for him.

(Yes, that is a Smith and Wesson hand gun).  I think he earned it!!  

He got lots of goodies.  He couldn't stop smiling.  His dad stopped and got him a new haircut at the barber shop on the way home too.  He looked so handsome.

We were so busy with showing him his new room and reintroducing him to our dog etc. that we forgot to get pictures of everything else!  We had a big dinner and a cookie cake.  I made a welcome home sign for the mantel.  It has been so nice having him back home.  

He will see a specialist about his inflammation problems on Monday.  He is still not walking well.  After looking at his medical records, I know he has suffered greatly.  I suffer from a chronic inflammatory disease myself, but his levels were off the chart 2 mos ago when he was first sick!  I hope this new doctor can get him completely well and give us a definitive diagnosis.

I will be enjoying some time at home with him as we all get re acclimated to him being back home.

Thanks so much for your support through all of this.

~ Kelly ~