Mr. Honey's Dream Come True

After a year and a half of Mr. Honey being unemployed, Mr. Honey and his friend Eric Geye decided to open their own business. We are so excited and are praying God will bless this partnership and make our new venture prosper! This coming Monday we will open for business.

After designing and making their own sign Mr. Honey and his friend hoist it up and get it hung.


I think the awning needs yellow and black pennants hung all away across the front, don't ya think?
Our youngest daughter Lindsay came home to film her Dad and Eric getting ready for the opening on Monday.

In November Mr. Honey will celebrate his 60th birthday, so Lindsay also interviewed and filmed friends and family for a birthday commentary to share at Mr. Honey's birthday bash in November. We have so much to celebrate this year!

There's not that much hung on the walls yet, but the floors sparkle after being stripped and waxed and buffed to shine.


Eric's wife Tammy has been scrubbing and painting for two weeks now.

Doesn't Mr. Honey look happy? Anyway I'm happy for him. We are so lucky to have partnered with his long time friend Eric and his sweet wife Tammy.

Girls Day Out

I haven't had a girls day out with my eldest daughter since the Remnants of the Past Antique Show.

My daughter's latest project involves redoing a sun porch to use as a home school learning space for her three sons. We've been painting and cleaning and now the floors are being sanded and refinished by my favorite son in-law (actually he's my only son in-law). When the painting was finished it was time for my daughter and me to have a girls day out. You can't have a freshly redone room without a few accessories, right?

We headed off to Ikea, with a few stops in between along the way. Our first stop was Wood Ranch for some yummy salads and sweet potato fries. If you've never been to Wood Ranch you're in for a treat.


I'm sorry that my photos for this post are so terrible but I just wasn't focused on the photos.
Before leaving Valencia and heading to Ikea we stopped at Urban Home. Neither of us had ever been there. We resisted buying anything because we wanted to save our money for Ikea.





We found a great parking spot and made our way inside.


My daughter is planning on remodeling her kitchen next summer and wanted to check out this farmhouse sink. The price was fabulous, so we'll keep that on our list of favorites for later.

This is how the back of my car looked filled with some great deals. I will post more after the room is finished and all the goodies we found find a home in the newly decorated room. We bought a couple of colorful rugs and some fabric for curtains that was only two dollars a yard! The lamp shade is for me. It was only $15 and looks a lot like a one I've been admiring at PB. I also bought some tea towels for 59cents each and some great candles for my fireplace.

When we returned home my son in-law had a yummy dinner ready for us. Tri-tip, green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. After all, all that shopping was hard work!

Be My Guest

I've never shown you where my friends and family stay when they come for a visit, so here it is. The guest bath has a wall with words that evoke what I would like my guests to think about when they stay with me.

I've never really had time or money to go in and do a complete overhaul on the guest bathroom, so I've simply worked with what I've had. We did put new tile behind the bathtub because there was only a painted wall. I love the added detail with the black rope tile. That was an expensive decision at $7 a tile, but well worth it.


Fortunately, when we bought this house, I really liked the little antique dresser that the previous owners put in.




I purchased the bed below when I worked for J.C. Penney's and I got an amazing discount, paying only $400 for the bed. The painting above is of my mother's father which I inherited when my mother passed away three years ago.

I'd love to change out the bedding but since that's not an option right now I just bought a monogrammed pillow to suffice.

The painting above the trunk which I've had since high school is of my grandfather's mother on my mother's side. I'm so thankful to have these precious paintings of my ancestors.

There's an old chair in the corner that I threw a quilt over and an armoire that I keep all my sewing supplies in and a desk that had belonged to my father which I did a collage of photos under glass to make it my own.

The dresser in the corner was taken from an apartment I lived in when I was a newlywed and the apartment had been sold.

It's a guest room that is also used as a sewing room when we don't have guests and also a place to fold laundry because it's close to the mud room.
It's not updated or fancy, but I do want my guests to feel like they have a comfortable place to rest.

Happy Birthday Dad July 11, 1927- August 31, 1998

I found this pretty little angel in Carmel when I was there, on a trip, to reflect on my father's life after he passed away in August of '98. He was born on July 11, 1927. This angel beckoned me to buy her and take her home with me. I kept telling myself she was too expensive. I went into the shop where she kept calling my name, in fact, I must have gone back into that little shop ten times before deciding I must have her. She sits perched on my back porch and reminds me of my father and the reconciliation of the little girl within and a father who desperately wanted to make things right after many years of absence. I will always be thankful for the second chance I had to feel my father's love.

No matter the absence and the feelings of abandonment I felt as a child, I will always remember my father with kindness. Happy Birthday Dad!

Friends for life

I have a story of friendship that started over 40 years ago. We met in cooking class our sophomore year in high school. You never know when you will meet a friend that will become a sister. Some call it luck, some call it destiny... I'm just glad my friend still calls. We were just young girls, full of hope for the future, unsure of where our paths would lead, when we met.

We spent many a Christmas and Thanksgiving together, with our single German mothers, celebrating every possible occasion.

Just recently we reminisced about the time we auditioned to be on the Dating Game (a popular show in the seventies). I didn't understand why Sybil got selected and I didn't. She laughed and told me I was the reason she got on. She said that I had told her that they picked the outgoing talkative and animated types to be on the show (I had told her that I wished I hadn't been so shy on the audition) , and so she determined to laugh and be animated and she got picked.

Now years later we have had many adventures, separately and together. We have laughed and cried together and even traveled together. The first time I saw Paris was with my friend Sybil.

We took a cruise on the Bateaux Mouches on the Seine to witness the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, a most memorable night, for sure!

We drank cappuccinos and ate croissants at Sally Clark's cafe in London. Don't you love the bistro chairs in the photo and all those big hunks of cheese sitting on the counter?

I love the way Europeans display their fruits and vegetables in big baskets.

Below we lunched at the Orangerie outside of Kennsington Palace. It was a fabulous place to lunch with my dear friend.

This restaurant called the French Horn out in the English countryside was loaded with charm.

This place made us as giddy as schoolgirls inspired to take silly pictures of ourselves.


I toast to you my dear friend! I haven't posted on my blog for a while and your phone call has inspired me with happy memories of a deep and lasting friendship and sisterhood!

Happy 4Th of July

"The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction. ~ Laurie Colwin

I hope you all have a joyous 4Th of July, with memory making moments that enrich your lives!