31 Days of Beauty and Quotes Day 4

Welcome to day 4 of 31 days of beauty and quotes

Simple white for a simple verse.  Hope you get lots of rest this weekend. Click here if you’d like to see more of my 31 day posts.

Rhondi xo

31 Days of Beauty and Quotes Day 3

                                          Welcome to 31 days of beauty and quotes day 3.

                          This is a path in the woods behind our house.  It is so beautiful in the fall.

                                                  To see all the 31 Days posts click here.

                                                                       Rhondi xo

31 Days of Beauty and Quotes Day 2

                                                       Welcome to day 2 of the 31 day challenge.

This time of year the dogwood trees in our backyard are the most beautiful shades or red orange and rust.  Today I took a photo of just one small branch in a simple white vase and some simple words.

                                To view all the posts in 31 Days of Beauty and Quotes click here.

                                                                          Rhondi xo

31 Days of Beauty and Quotes

Welcome to 31 Days of Beauty and Quotes.

For the last few years The Nester has had a 31 day challenge for the month of October.  This year I decided to take the 31 day challenge and will post  every day for 31 days.  There are so many beautiful things in everyday life and I like to capture them with my camera and everyone needs encouragement, so I am combining them for this 31 day challenge and calling it

31 Days of Beauty and Quotes

I hope you’ll come back to visit each day!  You can find links to the other days at the end of this post.

I’ve always loved the way the sun shines through these blue bottles on the kitchen windowsill.  I’ve been lucky to have a window over the sink in every home we’ve lived in and these bottles have often sat on the windowsill  with or without flowers.

This is day 1.  Each day I will add another link for you.

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Days 18,19,20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 28

Days 29-31

I hope you enjoy it!

Rhondi xo

Autumn Decor

Outside signs of autumn decor are everywhere: trees are changing color, pumpkins are plentiful.  Time to bring a little of that autumn color inside.  I’m not a fan of autumn colors.  I prefer the blue, white, yellow, green.

                     Fortunately orange goes great with blue, so these poppies and pumpkin are perfect.

                                                                    The mantel gets a new look.

                                                A beaded metal pumpkin holds a little votive candle.

                                    Some green apples sit in some blue and white china.

                                  A $4 stack of baskets  and a $1 metal tin from yard sales sit in front.

A cozy throw, from Restoration Hardware, $2 at a yard sale and a new green cover for the pillow make things feel cozier.

 A pumpkin soup tureen, $3 at GW sits on a table, and an orange quilt is folded below.

 A little coziness for my autumn decor. 

Rhondi xo

P.S. It’s fun to look back and se what I did in the past:  2008, 2009,  2011, 2013

September Garden

It’s September and my garden is a mess!  As soon as it turns hot my poor garden gets ignored, so my September garden never looks good.  Right now it is full of weeds.  The neighbors have a mimosa tree that drops a gazillion seeds in our garden and I think every one of them has sprouted!  But in amongst the weeds there are some pretty things growing.

                                        The sedum is beautiful. This one is called “autumn joy”.

                                  Our beauty berry bush is loaded with these beautiful purple berries.

                                           The blossoms on this solidago remind me of fireworks!

                                 The rain lilies are popping up everywhere and they are so cheerful.

I don’t remember planting this begonia in this planter so it might have seeded itself .  Such a delicate blossom and a beautiful color of pink.

So even though the September garden is a mess there is still beauty to be found. There are still flowers blooming among the weeds. Isn’t that how it is with life?  It can be a mess, chaotic, stressful, but if you look hard enough, you can usually find something to be thankful for in the midst of it.

Rhondi xo

A Perfect Day To Take A Break

Time to take a break from whatever you are doing.   At least it’s time for me to take a break.  Hope you can join me 

 It is a beautiful day here in North Carolina, perfect for sitting  on our front porch.  So I just made a pot of tea to take outside and I picked some zinnias.  Did I show you how big the zinnias are in my garden?

 The plant is almost 3 feet in diameter and it is part of the garden right beside our back door.  Every time I leave or come home I am greeted by all this color.  I am thrilled to have flowers blooming because the deer eat almost everything else!

 Just in case you weren’t able to join me I have a book to read.  I love books by Maeve Binchey.  She writes a good story and I love how she develops the characters.  I’m always looking for suggestions of books to read, so if you have a suggestion please leave me a comment.  I am also reading The Power of a Half Hour by Tommy Barnett, which  is also a good book  about how  how valuable only half an hour can be.

Did I tell you about the great bargain I got in wicker furniture? I spray painted it black and put it on our deck.

 It looks nice but it’s not waterproof so has to be covered when it rains and it’s constantly covered with pine needles that keep falling. I don’t have anywhere else to put it so I’ll probably end up putting it on Craig’s List.  If you live in the Charlotte area and could pick it up, you can have it all  for $45.

 Well I hope that you are enjoying your day.  I really need to get back to work now.  Hope you’ll come back and visit again soon.
Rhondi xo