What to do on a perfect May day?

A perfect Mother's Day May day?

Have

pink lemonade 

in the shade 

of a pear tree.

A French-inspired day in the garden...

Gather a quilted floral throw and a couple of pillows. 

Head out to the park bench in the backyard.

Walk through the high rye grass left unmown

that creates your own private meadow.

Head out to the shade of the pear tree 

in a light breeze that barely grazes you,

not even enough to lift wisps of your hair.

A perfect May day...

Take the sparkling Pink Citrus Lemonade from the fridge.

Just the label alone is enough to begin your 

mind on its flight of fancy on this perfect day...

PRESTIGE limited edition...

A golden bubbly Tour Eiffel promises 

a refreshing tart taste of a 

premium French soda,

all natural flavor.

Someone has already had a glass...

Ahhh... The bottle is still more than half full...

and another unopened bottle lies ready

for those who are extra thirsty today.

The bottle has a ceramic stopper to 

keep the lemonade bubbly after opening.

The other shoppers in World Market were 

looking at wines, aperitifs, saki,...

for the flavor inside.

Do you look at the bottles..... 

for their labels and for their designs?

Is authentic all natural French soda a plus for you,

but is authentic French bottle design 

what grabs your attention!

Just the thing from which to serve bubbly pink lemonade

under the shade of the pear tree.

When the lemonade is gone, 

homemade lemonade can take its place.

For such a special lemonade, a special glass is required. 

A long-stemmed pink wine glass is the perfect glass

for this perfect day.

A sprig of garden-fresh mint gathered this morning...

just the garnishment for a final touch

in a glass of lemonade...

Take the Jess Lord pottery to hold a 

scone, or chicken salad on croissant, or strawberry tarte...

Hand thrown and painted with a western motif paired 

with unexpected pastel colors...

No two exactly alike...

Each piece hand signed on the back...

Place a single setting on a white wicker tray...

Add your favorite adventuresome cat, Indiana...

And your favorite cuddly cat, Callie...

 For a French-inspired perfect day in May 

with pink lemonade under the shade of the pear tree...

Time to reflect that this day in May is 

a great moment in life...

For each of us, the great moments are different, 

but, for all of us, we can celebrate a 

perfect day in May with the 

things that make our hearts sing...

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray,

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair...

from Trees by Joyce Kilmer

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

I did not receive anything from anyone for this post.

The French Lorina pink lemonade is from World Market 

and is in a limited edition bottle.

A perfect way to celebrate life 

the way the French do...

Simple things with pizazz...

❧

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

Please join me at these inspiring sites...

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home

the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Tuesdays At Our Home @ Our Home Away From Home

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Cottage Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Real French Doors in Sarlat

All doors in France are

French doors

by virtue of being in France.

If you like the style called
French Country,

then you will love real

French doors.

From a street in medieval Sarlat, France

one can glimpse stone carvings above a door 

just visible over a flower-laden stone wall

hiding a narrow pedestrian walkway.

Just a short distance along the pedestrian way

a courtyard materializes below the greenery

and a better glimpse of the door emerges.

Blue shutters inside the courtyard

and flanking the exterior windows

echo the blue of the door coming into sight.

Real French blue doors.

Not French doors we are accustomed to seeing.

Not glass double doors with wooden pane dividers.

Real French doors.

Real French bleu color.

Massive wooden doors with floret metal studs,

a metal letter slot, a metal keyhole, and a 

single massive iron handle.

All set beneath 

intricately carved stonework

on a narrow pedestrian way

so narrow that a straight-on photo

is impossible to capture the entire door...

A side view captures the stone supports of a

balcony above the doors

and the entire intricately

carved stonework.

What wondrous rooms 

 lie behind the impressive doors and

 open onto the tree-shaded courtyard?

If only someone would open the magnificent doors,

a quick glance inside would be possible.

No one opens the doors, even into the night.

No views of an opulent French decorated foyer.

Or would it be simple French Country decor?

If only someone would open the doors...

Lo, many days, weeks, months,

and soon to be years,

since the first glimpse of the 

French bleu doors in

medieval Sarlat, France,

yet their beauty continues to linger

in my mind, captivating my thoughts,

with the allure of real French doors.

❧

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

A view inside is possible.
The French bleu doors are the entrance to

Les Chambres du Manoir
(bed and breakfast in a 15th century residence)
13 rue de la république
24200 Sarlat-la-Canéda, France
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please join me at these inspiring sites...

Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally

Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings, the Heart of Your Home

the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Concrete Urn and Ivy

Recently this beautiful 

concrete urn 

came to live at my house.

So Jeanne D'Arc Living looking...

So French Country looking...

My inspiration...

French Inspirations by Jeanne D'Arc Living

I'm adding 

more and more white 

and more and more au naturel as spring turns into summer.

So far, the urn and the ivy.

With a little moss added...

Add a large grey ceramic heart...

Add lobelia

in beautiful sky blue.

My favorite color in one of my favorite flowers.

Add the throw pillow with a bird sitting amidst 

blue flowers.

Moving the heart around...

Hmmm...think I'll move it back to the base of the urn.

Thinking about adding wild angel hair vines around the urn...

But for today,

I like the clean au naturel look of

the white urn on the white blanket box

with blue flowers, green moss, and green ivy.

❧

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

The bird pillow is from Pottery Barn.

The gray ceramic heart is from my shop, Botanic Bleu.

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

Please join me at these inspiring linky parties...

Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally

the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Tuesdays At Our Home @ Our Home Away From Home
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

Hico Antique Show and Wildflowers

A long-time friend invited me to join her 

and a couple of our mutual friends

for a visit to her Texas country house.

The visit included

Hico, Texas Antique Show, April 26-27, 2013
sponsored by Sugar Moon Antiques

and

Texas wildflowers.

The view from the back deck of my friend's country house...

Wildflowers and an antique show...

I couldn't say, "Yes!" fast enough.

The entrance into the Hico Antique Show tent...

Yes, that is part of a genuine Texas windmill.

When I first moved to Texas almost 40 years ago,

I saw working windmills on many farms and ranches

pumping water into tanks for livestock.

Maps and globes draw me...

My globe collection numbers about ten.

This display of white stoneware and brown and white transfer ware 

is just stunning!  Looks better than my house!

I love the shabby white wooden awning...

The metal food covers with handles were in all sizes.

Unfortunately, nothing in this booth was in my price range.

I will just have to be content looking at this photo

over... and over... and over.....

Now, I'm studying it for design elements.

The white impatiens in the brown wooden box 

are the perfect complement to the dishes.

Oh, yes, isn't that framed picture also just perfect?

Every time I look at this vignette, I see something 

not noticed before.

Do you think the background is a drop cloth?

Be still my heart.

Blue and white transfer ware in a metal chest with blue interior...

Lots of old metal items including gears...  

See the blue gear on the table in the background?

The attached tag recommended using it as a candle holder.

The old washboard has truly beautiful wood.

The curved wooden frame is one continuous piece of wood.

I love the patina.

Once again, the vendor's vignettes were so much fun to view.

This show was just beautiful with plants mixed in with the items for sale.

Great styling...

After browsing the antiques in the tent,

we went to antique shops in Hico.

One antique mall of several dealers had great prices.

On to the famous

Hico Homestead Antique Store

Started by the same folks that owned the

Fredericksburg Homestead.

The Hico store now owned by someone else.

One of my favorite things in the Homestead store is this 

old iron horse painted white.

I don't think it came from a carousel.  Those are usually wooden.

I think this was used for children to ride.

You know, drop a nickel in a box for about five minutes' ride...

At the end of the antiquing day in Hico,

we drove through beautiful countryside filled with

wildflowers.

My friend graciously stopped the car for a closer look

at these wild foxgloves native to Texas.

So beautiful...called for a photo shoot 

with one of my new found treasures from Hico...

The pink ruffled-edge cake plate came from the 

antique show under the tent.

An Indian Paintbrush is just opening in the foreground.

This one's color is a soft peach, not the 

more common bright orange.

We had banana nut muffins in the car with us for a snack.

While I was sitting on the ground taking my photos, my friends were leaning

out the car windows taking photos of me ... taking photos.

Cars passing by s-l-o-w-e-d for a look.

Yes, I was the only one walking around in the flowers taking close-ups,

styling with my new little dish and banana nut muffins.

We were all laughing having a great time! 

I waited until I was home to take photos of the other treasures found in Hico.

This soup tureen has no lid, but I like the yellow foxglove and tiny purple flowers.

It is hanging at the end of my kitchen cabinet.

The green and yellow floral planter will hold an eight-inch plant,

but I like this small lavender plant in it for now.

 

Back home, the pink cake plate will be great next Easter.

Two small metal printers' stamps will make wonderful little

cards and clay tags.

Who's up for a road trip May 24-25 to Hico?

Homestead is sponsoring another Antique Fair.

Very likely, many of the vendors who were at the

Sugar Moon Antiques' show 

will return for Homestead's fair.

Maybe a second chance at some of the transfer ware

I passed up in April...

But, for sure, there will be some kind of wildflowers

on the road there and back.

❧

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

Please join me at these inspiring linky parties...

Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally

Tuesdays At Our Home @ Our Home Away From Home

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

Featured at

the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Pine Table Refinished

Severe water damage to my French Country style table made from reclaimed English pine boards required stripping the wax finish to sand the table top. 

For me, there is a fine line between 

distressed

and

damaged

Our farmhouse pine table was made from reclaimed antique English pine boards. The scrapes and marks on the table when we bought it in 1988 added to its charm and character and verified its age and previous life.

Over the years we added our own character/distress marks...

Like when the floor refinisher set our couch atop the table and dug long grooves into it with the couch's feet that had lost their protective pads.

Like the marks into the waxed finish made by pressing the grading pen really hard while grading papers. I could almost read the comments I wrote on students' papers. My handwriting was akin to what you see on aged documents. Layer upon layer of comments had a distinctive pattern, but the words were indiscernible since each day's comments were written over the top of the previous day's comments.

These character marks/distressing I could live with. 

They added our lives to the table. 

The water stains recently added to the table, however, were another matter.  For me, they did not add character or chapters of our lives to the table. 

What to do? 

 

How do I repair the finish, but keep the mellow distressed look?

How do I keep the patina from its previous life in England and its life with us?

The table was not finished with a stain. Protective wax allowed the distressed natural grain of the wood to show through. 

First, I tried sanding the water-stained areas. The waxy finish just gummed up the sandpaper. I needed to get to the original wood below the wax to sand the water stains.

Deep breath....... 

I needed to remove the wax finish.  

So, how do I do that?  I have never done this before. How do you remove old wax? No research, no tools, no one to consult ...

Using one blade of a broken pair of scissors, I began scraping the wax off the table. I used the backside of the blade, not the sharp cutting edge.

Hours later, I was only about half way finished scraping. Keep breathing...

My arm, elbow, shoulders, and back ached.

In for a penny, in for a pound. No turning back, cannot stop now. But not on this night... tomorrow... Went to bed and began again the next day... 

As I scraped the wax, I thought,  

"I'm scraping dirt. Patina is really a fancy name for dirty wax. Am I ruining this table?"

After scraping began the chore of removing the water stains. Hmmm... sanding helped, but did not eliminate them completely. How about bleach?  That helped remove a lot of the stains. Back to sanding some more.

More stains removed...

Here is the stripped, bleached, and sanded table. 

Character, distress, and couch-dug groove still visible.

Handwriting from grading gone. (sigh) 

Water stains almost eliminated. Hmmm... should I keep working?

No, the remaining stains will add another chapter of our lives to the table.

First coat of Minwax as a finish to the table... Hmmm... again... not as much patina (depth and shine) as before stripping. 

Re-read directions on Minwax. Oh... buff the wax with a soft cloth. 

Here is the second coat of Minwax after buffing. This is the area of the worst water stain. Looking much better... 

After the third coat of Minwax and buffing... There is a definite nice looking PATINA with character (distress) still visible. Major water stains (damage) are not visible.

Oh, what a relief!

Below are photos of AFTER refinishing the table, set with the chirping birds. 

Look at the patina! 

This past weekend I went out-of-town antiquing with friends, and we ate lunch in the town's locally well-known barbeque cafe. A sign on the wall caught my eye. 

I think it is just the quote needed for my chalkboard and pine table. 

Is this a tutorial of how to refinish a pine table?

No!

Experienced furniture refinishers reading this are probably shuddering at how I did the refinish job. I think I was pretty lucky with how the table turned out. 

~~~~❦~~~~ 

S o u r c e s 

French Country Pine Table Refinish No. 2  shows how the pine table was refinished a second time due to water damage again

April Chirping Bird Table Setting 

Pine Table - English Pine Company, Fort Worth, Texas (no longer in business)

White Chirping Bird small plates - Home Goods, several years ago