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Do you shop at IKEA? {and Farmers Market Flowers}

When my girls where just toddlers I would love to take them to IKEA  for some playtime!  Yes. Playtime!  I was a very good mother thinking of my children's social interests first.  See they have a Playroom where your child can try out all the fun things they sell in the Children's Department at this Swedish SUPER-mart.  They had a wonderful time!  {and so did I}

It was NOT so I could browse the wonderful showrooms they have and gleam wonderful decorating ideas for my home.

It was NOT to shop for inexpensive household goods.

Such as this wonderful wicker trunk.  Hey! It would of made a great toy box in the family room or living room. {that mirror ain't half bad either}  See..my children's' interests always come first.

 
Wouldn' t these chairs look great out on a patio with some colorful cushions.  I could just see them eating their Tuna fish sandwiches all comfy and cozy. 

 
We {I}  love their Ektorp couches, this one is a pink sectional, for all you Shabby Chic Fans.  I don't think I could talk Mr. Incredible into one of these, definitely not in pink.  We have a suede-looking sectional in the family room which is NOT that old and it is taking a beating with the cushions becoming sun faded and lots of  mysterious food spills.  It would be great if I could just whip off the slipcover and wash it like the Ektorp ones and when it got too far gone I could go pick up another one.  That is what is so great about them.  They also come in many different patterns and colors if you want to change it up.  I have a regular size Ektorp  in "MY" Living Room.  

I picked up this CUTE patterned pillow for it when I was there.  This floral pattern is one that you can have in a couch slipcover too on any of the Ektorp sofas, sectionals or regular sizes.  This pillow is darn comfortable too!  I {i mean my kids} prop it up and curl up with a good book and it is a little slice of heaven.

 
Pictured here are some of the other items I found in my cart at the check stand.....those darn kids again! 

Those frames came three to a package and they were really inexpensive.  $3.99 to be exact.  The Lumbar pillow was $19.99. 

Here is why I had to have them...the beading.  If you have been following my blog for awhile you know I'm a sucker for beading.  I'm a sucker for the two in the picture too!  Aren't they cute?

 
Here is a close up of the Cream colored plates.  They had them in two sizes, dinner and luncheon.  I picked up 8 of the luncheon and think I'll go back and get some of the dinner size ones.  The plates were $2.99 a piece not bad.  One thing I was looking to get and they did not have was.............

 

this KA-UTE..white enamel pitcher .  They were all sold out!!  Drats!!  They have them in 3 sizes and ranging in price from about $8.00 t0 $20.00.  I was bummed.   I have seem them a lot in my magazines lately.  Great with some Farmers Market Flowers in them..............

I do believe this are  called Lisianthus....

and of course some Sunflowers...would that look very Country French?

  and some Straw Flowers, I love to get these in the fall in Rusts, Oranges and Yellows.  They dry so nicely. 

and some Red Roses for a Romantic look.  {all the flower pictures were taken by my youngest daughter who loves to go  with me to the Farmer's Market, see I've trained her well} 

What have you found at IKEA  lately that has made your heart sing? I would love to see or hear about your "finds" at this very reasonable priced Swedish store.

Green Beans and Shrimp Tacos served on GW Plates

I know..green beans and shrimp do not sound like they go together.  BUT,...you will love this tasty recipe..I promise. It's light and tasty at the same time. It's also fast and so easy to prepare and perfect on a hot summer night. 

Just add a little Salsa if you like a bit more of a kick..I like mine plain.  Served with Spanish Rice it completes the meal. Serve it on some elegant Ironstone and you'll feel like your dining at a fancy restaurant down in Laguna Beach...

{recipe to follow}....and now for my second part of my post. 

I took a detour to my local Goodwill last week, like I tend to do on occasion.  On the bottom shelf in the housewares section of the GW I saw these plates with the a scalloped edge that caught my eye.  I picked them up and turned them over and this is what I saw.

 

Ironstone from England.  Lucky me. 

 
Then I heard on the overhead intercom..that all the blue tags where 50% off that day.  

Lucky me!   Too bad there was only a set of four of them but we only have four in my family so that will work.   At 99cents a piece,  dang...can't beat that price. Unheard of.  Now for the GREAT light, fast, easy, tasty..........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shrimp and Green Bean Tacos~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients:

8   6 inch corn tortillas

80z. fresh green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise

1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning

1 lb. of med. to lrg. shrimp

1 TBSP olive oil

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap tortillas in heavy foil, { i use regular foil} or you can heat them up on the stove like I do because it is too hot to turn on the oven.  Make Salsa from fresh ingredients from the garden or prepared salsa.  In a bowl toss beans with 1/2 teaspoon of jerk seasoning.  In another bowl toss the other 1/2 teaspoon of jerk seasoning. Heat olive oil up in skillet, over med-high heat.  Add beans; cook and stir 3 minutes.  Add shrimp cook 2-3 minutes until shrimp turn opaque. Serve, fill each warm tortilla with 1/3 each of green beans and shrimp.  Serve with Salsa and Rice.  Serves 4.  

Something nice and light for a beautiful hot summer night.  Perfect served with a nice Chardonnay.

Edited to add:  I'm going to hook up with Rhoda for her weekly thrifty finds party, have a looksie and see what all the peeps are finding and repurposing or getting great deals on finds... 

T's Cool Pool

I love this intricate bird cage with some flowering plants inside.

It is very lush in her backyard with lots of vines growing on the wall.

My favorite item in her yard is this old concrete urn.

 
it is made out of concrete so very sturdy....

She dug it out of her neighbor's trash cans {yes, I hang out with fellow trash diggers}..surprised?  I bet not!  I love the peeling paint and shape of them.

 
  In another area of her backyard there is a patio with a waterfall, seen here and a fire pit.  At night the umbrellas are all lit up with white Christmas lights.  It looks like Disneyland!   I love hanging out over there during the summer and  so do the Mermaids.   Hope you have a place to get away and cool off.  
  

My Mermaids...

My girls LOVE the water...I mean do you know one kid that doesn't?  Here in California we have had extremely hot weather.  First time we had to turn the air on.  During the day we try to go to one of our friends pool or head to the beach. 

Even my friends' dog Bella had to jump in the pool to cool off.

Now,  does that face say "I'm enjoying LIFE or what?"

 My freckle face girl.....love her "polka dots"...

I was trying to get an action shot..but it came out a bit blurry.

It looks like she is standing on her head...

 
 My friend has a Salt Water pool..no chlorine..it's great, no one's eyes sting anymore..it's is great!  She also recently put this pool in and landscaped it..I'll show you pictures of that on my next post...Stay cool, my friends.

My Summer Garden

Over at "A Cottage Industry"  Tracey is having a Garden Tourof many Cottage Homes in bloglandia.  I thought I'd join the tour and share a few of the foliage I have from my Gardens and Porch.  I already shared with you my  Herb Garden.  

Here is my Mop Bucket, full of fresh herbs for cooking.

A basket full of Exotic Inpatients on my Cottage Bench.

 Here is my iron wall urn with a fewsucculents.  Need to plant more to fill it up.

My beloved Lady Banks Rose..I'm trying to get to bloom again.  Any tips?

the French Lavender is looking mighty good.

My cute child's shopping cart in aqua blue.

My front porch "container" gardens.

  This white, wicker, hanging basket has the most unusual yellow flowers, there is like a cluster of four of them bunched together.

I forgot the name of this plant but I picked it up at Armstrong Nursery. 

Hope you enjoyed my Summer Garden, If you missed my "Hydrangea" tour go here.

Now go check out all the other beautiful gardens on the tour, I'm sure it won't disappoint, it will be like going on a "real live" tour in your neighborhood, even though it is the "internet" neighborhood.
 

Hope you enjoyed my Summer Garden, If you missed my "Hydrangea" tour go here.

Waterside Cottages...

Have you seen this book yet? It is by  Barbara Jacksier and the photos are by Dan Mayers. It has beautiful pictures of beachy type homes.  I mean who would not want a home by the beach? I was that lucky girl a couple of times.  Once when I went to college in San Diego, Ocean Beach to be exact and when I lived in Hawai'i in a beach cottage/shack.  I have always been, for the longest time a lover of all Beach Type decor. But even if you don't have a home by the beach you can have that Sand and Sea feel if you want.  I never took pictures of my homes before so I can't prove it that this has been my decorating style for a long time.  But here are a couple of recent snapshots of my home.

What is it about beach glass?  I love the cloudy muted colors of the blues and greens.

Gardenias, my favorite flower {cut a couple of them off to bring home from the Vons Market Garden, shhhh}  keeps company with a knubby seastar.
 

Here I have some green moss with shells, some pencil stars, knobby seastars and some of my hydrangeas that have dried up.

a basket nest with a some more sea finds.

a corner in my home....

At our last trip to the beach we found another piece of sea glass and some dried seaweed that almost looks like fan coral.  

My Beach themed hutch....

more dried hydrangeas in a small cloudy vase with some robins eggs in the pedestal.

Coral dyed the color of the Caribbean.  So soothing and tranquil.

A Glass ball picked up on the sandy beach on Kaua'i by Mr. Incrdible.  In 10 years that I lived there I never found one.  He lived there for a year only and came across it one day while fishing.  Lucky Dog.

 
    a collection of old aqua ball jars with zinc lids in a chicken wire basket.   If you haven't picked up this book these are the types of images you might see in it.  I only wish I could take pictures as good as Dan Mayers and write as well as Barbara Jacksier. 

French Garden House! A Giveaway!!

Oh Wow!  you know I have a "thang" for ruffles..no?  Let me refresh your memory...see?  Well over at French Garden House Lidy is having a wonderful giveaway....oh my!  

See!!  The placemats and napkins are made with Belgium Linen!  Love it. Hurry over there to enter...the giveaway ends tonight at midnight!
 

Hydrangeas...say Summer to me

I have a few different species of Hydrangeas in my home so I thought I'd share them with you. 

I'm not sure what species this one is.  I got it at Trader Joes..where I get most of them.  It's kind of a muted green with lavender with a small head of flowers. 

I would like to say this maybe is an Annabelle Variety.  I also got this one at Trader Joes...it is in a Terracotta Pot like the majority of them that I have.  I love the white ones best.  It only has one bloom on it wish it had more so I could cut them and put them in vases all around my home.  Maybe it would be happier in the ground instead and it would make more blooms for me to cut.

This one is a Lace-cap Hydrangea.  I got it at Target, it was nearly dead.  It was marked down to 40 % off.  I usually never buy plants that are that bad off because I didn't think then that I had a green thumb.  Well...man I gave it a little miracle grow and nursed it back to glory.  She has dark, dark green leaves and is very delicate.  One of the girls got pushed into it and it looks a bit weak now with some bruised leaves. 

 

This one was a gift from my good-friend -with -great- taste, Renee for my birthday. I love the purple and green color of the flowers. It's flowers have since faded to a muted green color.  

Here it is in it's home..the old enamel bucket, a yard sale find on the black stool that was given to me by my neighbor who also has some beautiful plants.  I often study her yard in order to know what to plant in mine.
 
This lovely pink beauty is the only one planted in the ground.  It has grown so much since last summer and has several blooms on it.  I have been feeding it with a formula to turn it blue like so many of the ones I see in Southern and East Coast Gardens.  I don't know why it is not working this special mix  of turning them blue, my other neighbor told me to plant fish heads in the ground. Anybody ever here of this?  Maybe I need to feed it more often with that special Blue Hydrangea food.   

This is one of the newest additions to my Hydrangea Family, I got it at Trader Joe's and could not pass it up.  I thought it had the most interesting flowers on it.

 
 Look at the flowers, like layered Stars...it is called Shooting Star Hydrangea and it is in the Lace-cap Family.  They had them for sale right before Independence Day...very fitting for this holiday.  Go here to find out more about this type.  If you liked to find out more about Hydrangeas in general..here is a good site.  The one thing that I know about Hydrangea is that they require a lot of water.  Which makes sense..hydra means water.  So if you get one..be prepared to keep them well  hydrated and they will live a long time either in a pot or in the dirt,  I love mine all of mine expecially when they are full of blooms in the summertime! 

Will you be watching?

the World Cup?  Who will you be rooting for?  I am sure it is not a surprise to you but we are Soccer people over in the Mader household.  I have played soccer ever since I can remember.  I  remember that my parents signed my brother up for AYSO when he was about 7 and I used to go to his practice every time he had a practice.  I loved it!  The coach would joke with my parents about  cutting my hair short like a boys and putting me on the field to play with my brother's team.  The next year I got put on my very own  soccer team.  Then I played every year after that.  I loved the game..really really loved the game.  I was fast and mighty.  Tiny Might.  I played pretty much all through High School and was so tempted to try out for the Boys Soccer team, we did not have a girls soccer team back then I was very bummed about that.  Then I went on to college and when I moved to Hawai'i I played there for several years.  It was then at one of the championship games that it came to a screeching halt.  I was dribbling down the right field getting ready to shoot...and the opponent and I got our legs all mangled together and I heard a "pop" in my knee.  Well I ended up tearing my Meniscus and that was the end of that.  Now I live vicariously thru my two young daughters as they continue to play the game and excel at soccer.  I love watching them play.  They both have taken on characteristics of my soccer attributes.  My eldest is super fast and has her daddy's long legs, she runs like a Gazelle.  My youngest is feisty and mighty on that soccer field. I do feel sorry for the goalies sometimes because she sometimes runs them over...and has scored many goals this way.  Very tenacious.  Today we will be  watching the World Cup with many other soccer "people".   So are you rooting for the underdogs...the Dutch?  or the well put together team of Spain?  We will be rooting for Spain!!!  After all it's in my blood.

Oui, oui

Yes, yes..I love the french...you have to say this with your lips pressed together like the ass of a chicken....that is how I learned how to speak French.  Really I did!   Now look at these beauties...

They make the most gorgeous things..Oui, oui?  How about that Zinc Pitcher in the first photo?  What about the grain sack pillow all knubby and cute...and of course Lavendar satchets.  Well if you would like to win these beautiful items French Larkspur is having a giveaway honoring her friends opening of her new store Dreamy Whites and her one year Blog's Anniversary.  So head on over and put your name in the drawing..hurry, hurry it ends soon.