road trip!!!

You will have to excuse my long absence - we got a brand new travel trailer and took her on her maiden voyage last week. We decided to drive over to Sequim, Wa. (pronounced "skwim") and then ferry over to Victoria, B.C. (and the Butchart Gardens!) for the day. The drive took longer than usual because the Hood Canal Bridge was closed, but the drive up the Olympic Penninsula was worth it. The scenery along that stretch of 101 is beautiful - lots of woods and ferns and gorgeous coves. Sequim is a cute little town with plenty of small shops and antique stores, which we explored on bikes. It is also home to many, many lavender farms.The ferry to Victoria leaves from Port Angeles, an easy 17 miles from Sequim, so we grabbed our passports and Monkey and headed out.

The ferry ride is 90 minutes, and docks at one of the prettiest marinas I've ever seen. There is the copper domed government building on the right, and the old ivy covered Empress Hotel steps away, and many pubs and galleries and street artists in between. But the Butchart Gardens was our true destination, so we found a bus and traveled the 20-30 minutes outside the city to find the most amazing place I have ever experienced - truly a glimpse into heaven...

Butchart Gardens is 104 years old, and the site of an old limestone quarry established by Mr. Robert Butchart, founder of the Portland Cement Co. As Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their house, his wife Jennie conceived a plan to bring top soil in to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under her supervision, this quarry blossomed into the spectacular Sunken Garden. Over the next several years she added a Japanese Garden, formal Italian Garden, and a fine Rose Garden. (which replaced the family's kitchen vegetable garden) It is still a family business, and is open to the public every day of the year!

Words cannot describe these gardens, so here are some of my favorites....

so many tulips!







The famous Sunken Garden that started it all...

oh, the cherry trees!

beautiful Japanese Maples
a very, very old Japanese Maple

looking down into the Rose Garden - I can't even imagine what this will be like when it is in bloom in a few weeks...
this little guy was a rose bush trained into an umbrella shape!

I love arbors....

fern grotto in the Japanese Garden...

lovely Italian garden - used to be a tennis court!

If you are ever in this part of the world, do not miss this spectacular place....thanks for stopping by...

PammyJ

mother's memory jar...

Happy Mother's Day! I thought this would be the perfect time to show you another one of my favorite things. (it was inspired by something my good friend Judy Watkins created over at Remnants of the Past) I found this cloche, or bell jar, at a local antique dealer. The base is old mercury glass, which is well-worn and just the way I like it. I decided to fill it with mementos centered around my mother, and started with her old childhood bible. A few years after she died, her husband Bill sent it to me, and I tucked it away safely in a drawer. I looked around for other little tokens and pictures, and began my arrangement. I sat the bible on an easel, and used an old French manuscript as a background (which is perfect since my mother was a French major in college!) I found a couple of very old photos of my mom - one is hand-tinted and printed on porcelain, the other is of her in her horseback riding gear. I had a very old cameo that my grandmother (her mother) gave me many years ago, just sitting in my jewelry box - it was perfect in front of a small nest my husband found. I filled in the gaps with my original wedding invitation, an old rosary, an old bronze religious statue, a silver trophy and some rusty keys - the perfect contrast of genteel & crusty, don't you think? I have it grouped with some other treasures on an old dresser in my dining room, including scrabble tiles that spell out "blessings", some antique school primers, and a bottle of dessert wine my daughter brought back from Italy 10 years ago. One more thing...my daughter, Jaime was also given an old family bible. Tucked inside there was a poem written by my mom when she was 9 years old. Jaime had it photocopied and framed for me years ago, and it is a sweet tribute to what an incredible woman of faith my mom truly was.

Happy Mother's Day mom....I miss you. ...and Happy Mother's Day to all of you too - thanks again for stopping by!

Pammy J

My latest favorite room...

One of my favorite rooms in my home is the powder room. Years ago my friend Brigitte took an old dresser, refinished it, cut a hole in the top and threw a sink into it. I was always impressed with how brave she was to take a jigsaw to a perfectly nice piece of furniture. When we were designing this house a few years ago, I suggested we do this very same thing - surprise, surprise, my husband was totally on board with the whole idea! We found a beautiful old oak dresser in mint condition at a garage sale, brought it home, and after taking a deep breath, Dennis cut a hole in the top for the sink. Before the plumber could work his magic, Dennis had to remove the top two drawers, take the faces off and secure those back to where he had taken them out - this was to make room for the bowl of the sink. He then took out the middle drawer, cut a hole in it for the actual plumbing, and put it back in place as well.

Now for many years I have collected rabbits. (I may have received some of them from you!) In my old house I had them scattered all over the house in different rooms. I decided to make this new bathroom fun and give my guests plenty to enjoy, so I took almost every rabbit I had and gave them all a home in the bathroom!

I have a tiny rabbit that is a pincushion, a bronze rabbit with wings that holds a special rock my son found for me when he was a child, ("mom look! I found a hole with a rock in it!") rabbit bookends, and a huge white rabbit from an old deli display that holds towels and shampoo. I have a beautiful crown moulding shelf that Dennis made for me, and many of my favorites sit on that. I have guest towels with "le lapin"printed on them, and I even have a mirror that is hung from a be-ribboned (is that even a word?) rabbit head. I guess what I am trying to convey here are a couple of ideas - think outside of the box when it comes to how and where you display the things you love. Also, when you have a collection, try not to spread it throughout your home - you achieve a much bigger impact when you group them all together - this is not a case of less-is-more!

You'll have to excuse me now - I need to go powder my nose. Thanks for stopping by....

Pammy J

two of my favorite things...

Many years ago, my mother inherited this bird sculpture from friends of her parents. They had no children of their own, loved my mom, (who didn't?!) and left her several interesting treasures. She always had a pothos in a terracotta pot nestled into the cracked egg, and it never failed to attract attention. Now I have it in my own home, with my own plant tucked inside, and it still is a conversation starter! The detail on this piece is amazing - a grasshopper and spider crawl up the back, and the bird is incredibly life-like.It was made from quadruple silver plate by the Meriden Co. but that was as much as I had ever known about this unusual treasure. Years later I was in Nashville at an antique mall, and lo and behold I spotted another silver cracked egg, but this time it was a"basket". It looked a lot like my bird, so I snapped it up. The dealer knew nothing about it except that it was made by the James W. Tufts Silver Co. and it was also made from quadruple silver plate. I have since done a little research, and learned that both of these were made in the late 19th century, and were perfect examples of the Aesthetics Movement at that time.

The Aesthetic Movement in America lasted just a few decades (1870-1900), and served mainly as a bridge between the high Victorian sensibility and the radical shift to the Arts & Crafts style. This movement helped to popularize the idea that everyone should be able to enjoy beautiful, well-made homes and furnishings - not just the very wealthy. Artful homes could be composed from brilliant antique store finds, discriminating department store purchases, and gems hand-made by the ladies of the house. The term "art for art’s sake" was born, and followers of this movement thought that a beautiful environment could actually enhance one’s quality of life - that if they make their homes more artful, their lives would be better. I love that! The most creative women I know and admire embrace this philosophy wholeheartedly, and you feel it the moment you step into their homes - they can take any garage sale or thrift store find and turn it into a masterpiece.... No wonder I love these odd pieces so much. They were designed with no real purpose in mind - just for me to enjoy! Now it's off to Goodwill for me....

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm linking to Gypsy Fish Journal for January Silver Sunday!!!

PammyJ

May Day!

At Washington Avenue Elementary School in the early 60's, May Day was kind of a big deal. We would make cones from brightly colored construction paper, attach pipe cleaners for handles, and fill them with flowers to be hung from door knobs on May 1st. We would carefully bring them home to our moms, who would ooh and ah and proudly display them for the neighborhood to admire. What a sweet way to cheer someone up - so why don't we take the time to do those simple things after we're all grown up?
I decided this year to bring back that tradition. I happen to collect old sheet music, so I thought I'd use that instead of construction paper, and I used French wired ribbon instead of the pipe cleaners. Here are all the materials I used, but of course you may use whatever you wish....

First I made a pattern by wrapping a large piece of scrap paper around a styrofoam cone and trimmed it to fit. Place this pattern on a sheet of old music, wrapping paper, an old map, or anything else that strikes your fancy - trace around it and cut it out. I drew a line from the left top point to the right, and scored it for folding over. This just gives the cone a little more stability. Wrap your paper into a cone shape, adjust to fit, and tape it in place. I punched a couple of holes at the top point for the ribbon, using a tiny heart punch I had in my junk drawer. I then took a scrap of wired ribbon, fed it through the holes, and tied it into a bow. I looped a narrow piece of ribbon through the bow for hanging, but you could just tie the bow around the door knob. Now for the flowers...

Up where I live in Idaho, it's a challenge to find much in bloom this early. The only color in my yard right now is the daffodils that Dennis planted in the fall - see how cheerful they are under my church bird feeder? (more to come about that...stay tuned!) So I cut a few of the pretty cream-colored daffodils, snipped a couple of sprigs of evergreens (life!) and wrapped them up in a wet paper towel. I placed my little bouquet into a small zip-loc baggie, tucked it down into my cone, and hung it on my front door. Think of how happy you would make someone if you quietly snuck over to their house and slipped a May Day bouquet onto their front door knob!

I am sending my May Day greeting through cyberspace this year - to Yvonne in California who needs a lift. You have been through so much these past several weeks, and I hope this makes you smile.

Thanks for stopping by....

PammyJ