Summertime Touches House Tour

Hello, friends. 

It has been a long while, and for that I apologize.

My last post was right around the time

 Covid-19 went into over-drive...

and I went into a very real funk.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, today I am attempting to shake it off...

 and say hello and share a few

 summertime touches
 here at Finch Rest.

I do love summer.

 Not quite sure about this

I recently placed a simple bouquet

 of my sister's garden snowball hydrangeas

on our kitchen table.

Right now simple is working best for me.

Because nothing feels very simple right now.

With attempted simplifying, I've added messages
to remind me how life is so very precious.

What I do with my thoughts, words and deeds
matter now more than ever.

It truly IS important
 for our mental state of mind
as we deal with this long-term isolation,
 to be surrounded with things that
 spark joy within us.

I met the lady who made this basket

when I visited Belize last fall.

I tucked in a couple pieces of my mom's coral

and a heart pillow a blog friend made me years ago.

Simple. Joy. Love. Memories.

♥

My orchid is doing well - 
a lovely birthday gift from my daughter two years ago.

We redecorated our dining room
since I last featured it. 

It's been a nice and bright change.

The most recent addition is a new chandy.

I did still love my other one - it just was a bit too fussy
and ornate for this easier style.

I am finding peace in the "less is more" of our decor.

I decorate in nearly all neutral monochromatic tones.

I use about every shade of white, ivory, beige
in varying textures, and use black for contrast. 

The only color I really use in our home is green.

But for this summer I find I am introducing bits of

 a sea glass color of  aqua.

It is a cousin of green.... I can live with that. Ha ha.

I ordered some new quilted bedding in that color

way back in May, but it is back-ordered until October.

Blame Covid.

I hate summer will be over by the time I get it,

but it's worth the wait. I think, haha.

I know pussy willows are for spring

but I liked them so much I kept them out.

(Love it when nature provides the beauty duty!)

A moody dark pic of dining room/ music room
right after a much-needed thunderstorm
right after the sun came out.

I looked for a rainbow!

The cute wood slice birds ornament

 my 3 nieces gave me this past Christmas

certainly brings a smile to my face!

They are three sisters....my three sweet nieces....
three sweet birds.
♥♥♥

Ah, and Bob Marley, mon.

♫ ♪ ♫


THREE LITTLE BIRDS - BOB MARLEY

Rise up this mornin', Smile with the risin' sun, Three little birds Each by my doorstep Singin' sweet songs Of melodies pure and true, Sayin', "This is my message to you." Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a ting, 'Cause every little ting gonna be all right." Singin': "Don't worry 'bout a ting, 'Cause every little ting gonna be all right!"

~~~~~~~~~~

I pray you are all 
staying home,
 staying safe
 and staying well.

Wearing our masks when out in public
isn't about our rights to wear or not wear them;
it is about doing the right thing
to try our best to prevent the spread of this awful virus.
We each need to be considerate of our neighbor.

Mark 12:31

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Let's all do our parts to try and
 end this awful pandemic.

We are ALL in this TOGETHER.
And so may also be the cure.


Hopeful and virus-free hugs,

                             ~Michele

Linking:




Charming Homes and Gardens 

Just Love Those Shamrocks!

Hello, my dear ones!

How I have missed you.

♣

Life is just flying by at an alarmingly fast pace, isn't it?

However, winter never seems to go by very fast, does it?

And I no sooner put away all my
 white and silver winter decor things...

and then it starts snowing again!

It's been snowing for two days here!

So, I guess it all depends on how one looks at it, 
(how fast life is flying by, that is!)

So now I am at decorating crossroads dilemma:
It is too soon for spring decor around here for sure,

 and too late for winter because it is now all packed away!

So it got me thinking about St. Patrick's Day!

I thought I would link some St. Patrick's/ shamrock items

I have currently up for sale on ebay.

For years I kept an active ebay store with hundreds of items

but I closed it a few years ago
 (3000+ positive feedback and zero negatives)
 but it just became too much to maintain.

I am trying to simplify my life a little -
 bit by itty bitty bit.

So I started a fresh approach and am just selling
 without a store and the added costs of it,
 and going about selling things on a very part-time basis. 

I like the freedom to list when mood/time/energy
strikes me.

And so long as it doesn't interfere with my grand daughter time!

(Last year at the St. Patrick's Day parade - 2.5 years old
when we visited Fort Myers Beach, Florida for a vacay.)




I did manage to get some sweet shamrock things
 listed in time for someone to enjoy
 for St. Patrick's Day!!!

Sorry for my bleh pics - it was that or 

not get them posted in time. Sad truth.

Everything is MUCH prettier in person.

1.)  Shelley teacup

2.) Sugar and creamer - Royal Tuscan of England

3.)  Set of 2 Adderly teacups/saucers

4.) Set of 4 Ansley Salad plates

5.) Green People

6.)  Shamrock Spoons (to be listed soon)

I expect to be listing more shamrock and green items
as time allows, but wanted to get this post out asap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wish for my friends observing Lent 

a truly meaningful, faithful
and spiritual journey

 as we look to celebrating together
the miraculous day of
 His Resurrection. 

May your Lenten Season be blessed.

As always, thank you for your visit!

Hugs, love and prayers!

~Michele

Christmas Cookie Swap

Every year I host a Christmas Cookie Swap

 and Gift Exchange party.

 I have been hosting one nearly my entire adult life.

 It's a favorite of mine.

Just this evening thinking of posting about it

 I realized that I haven't posted a cookie party post

 since 2014! Yikes!!!

So just to kinda document it, I am throwing in some of the

 cuter pics from last year's party, too.

Everything is dressed so nicely for Christmas swapping!!!

There is always a few who think outside the "cookie box"

 and bring some other clever yummies.

We had gingerbread, raspberry, mint, cinnamon,

 chocolate, peanut butter, coconut, dates, blackberry -

 so many classic flavors - what a great lineup of treats!!!

One just never knows how a cookie

 will be dressed for swapping!

Anything goes - even fun pom-poms toppers!!

We had a White Elephant gift exchange this year -

 and the winning funniest one was a

 colorful wooden picture frame painted on top saying:

 DECK THE HALLS

(Not Your Family)

Thanks for the big laughs, Debra!

We pack individually (usually a half dozen) for swapping

 and bring a dozen loose for the tasting-

this swap really is an easy self-serving kind of party.

All the hostess has to do is provide invites and a variety of drinks.

My staples are hot and cold tea, decaff coffee, egg nog and ginger ale.

I thought of serving hot cocoa, but I figured we had enough super sweet chocolate things,  killing us so I passed.

The gingerbread cookies had JOY written on them

 and then just J and O and Y are others.

My two beautiful daughters attend every year. 

I would like to thank my wonderful husband

 and my precious 3-year-old grand daughter

 for taking all the pics for this post.

 I was too busy eating cookies, entertaining and providing drinks to get out my camera. 

And the wee one was having such a fun time with the camera-

she decided she wanted to be IN a pic so she struck a pose.

She told her Grandpa that she was "thinking really hard"

when he reminded her to smile-

and the gift box prop and background was all her idea.

(I think she's ready for her close-up, now, Mr, DeMille!)

If you missed my last post - it is all about my

Christmas Afternoon Tea Party I hope you check it out, too.

As always, thank you for your visit! 

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Anything Goes Saturday

A Christmas Afternoon Tea

Greetings one and all. 
Please come to afternoon tea!

I recently hosted a Christmas tea for my tea society besties.

It's a pic heavy post, so I will TRY to keep words to a minimum.

(You know that is a real challenge for me, right?)

Thank you, Mary D. for taking these pics with your phone
 while I was busy brewing tea and such.
(You just knew I would get too busy and forget!)


~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~


I made the mushroom soup with 3 kinds of mushrooms
and my bone broth, and vegetable broth as well.

The greens were mixed with candied walnuts and tart apples

 and lots of crispy bacon.

The night before the tea I cooked the bacon

 and made the candied walnuts -

it was all I could do not to sit down and eat it all, it smelled so yummy.

MD either ate her apples or skipped apples in her salad, haha.

And I forgot to put out the Meatball Basil Bites. 
I hate it when I do that. Just sayin.

I think if I do the tree bread cut-outs ever again 

I will use rye or wheat so it shows better on the plate.

The traditional British "crackers" or "poppers"  were fun.

We were surprised they didn't contain a paper  crown inside -
which is highly traditional -  but the silly jokes inside made up for it.

I photo-shopped out my melted mess of holly and berries on my

teapot cookie. Just couldn't bear to post it like they really looked.

My personal fave sweet by far was my gingerbread madeleines.

 I was so pleased how they came out -and they froze nicely, too. 

That is always desirable when one needs to prepare ahead of time.

The dark bits on the lemon truffles were dried lemon zest.

We had some awesome live entertainment, too!

A dear old friend and old co-worker of mine

(who also did the music for our wedding)
came and crooned holiday songs for us.

What a treat it was to have him take the time
 in his very busy schedule for us!

You can find his holiday sampler CD
 by contacting him directly from his website here.

It can also be found on Amazon here or on itunes here.

His City Sidewalks sampler CD is the perfect little last minute

Christmas gift for postal carrier, teachers, babysitters, host/hostess gift, stocking stuffers, etc. 

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

Frankincense and myrrh soap

 and peppermint lip balm favors!

My daughter launched her new company of artisian soaps

and bath products recently and I am so proud to share it!

 She wrapped the favors up so nicely for us with a simple and

fun little holiday theme. (Thanks so much, Evelyn!)

If you get the chance please visit her web site -

it is filled with quirky fun humor and interesting facts.

 Click on company name below for the awesomeness!

FRESHA SOAP COMPANY

Her stuff is PERFECT for last minute unique gifts, too.

Again - great gifts for the person who has everything-

consumables makes the perfect present.

Everything is hand-made and is made with ALL natural goodness.

Her Christmas cut-off day is rapidly approaching 
so visit Fresha Soap soon!

I know she can help finish your gift-giving list -

filled with things for anyone on your list!
(Or just spoil yourself for once. You will be so glad you did!)

As always, thank you for your visit.

Hugs and prayers,

Michele

Linking:

Anything Goes Saturday   *   Tablescape Thursday   *   H and G Thur