Monday, August 31, 2015

Special Memory

When I was a little girl,
 I used to admire a gorgeous treasure when we would visit my dear grandmother, who I always called Nana.


In her kitchen, she had a lovely hutch that stood so grand in the corner of the room. 
It was not a large hutch, for her kitchen was small and cozy, but it was grand in the eyes of myself, the child who loved pretty things even then.



Through the glass doors I always admired her pretty gold tea pot, sugar and creamer and 6 demi cups and saucers. I thought it was magnificent. Nana told me it was from Italy and a gift brought back to her from a dear friend when visiting her home town of Naples. I knew it was very special to her in just the way she spoke of the treasure. 



Nana only used the set for special occasions when company would visit.  I remember a time when she had a gathering of her special friends and my mother and I were included. The ladies enjoyed an espresso coffee from the demi cups and of course I was given juice. oh well too young~~~ but I thought I was so important to sit with the ladies while they talked in a mix of Italian and English.

As the years went forth, the treasured set remained secure and beautiful behind the glass doors of the small grand hutch that stood so proud in Nana's kitchen. As I grew older, I continued to admire the set and the special spot in Nana's heart that it would fill. The treasure that came from her home town of Naples, Italy. The town she would never visit again while on this earth. I used to feel sad about that, thinking that my dearest grandmother would never go home again to visit. Back then, it was a world away, expensive to travel and a very long trip by ship when she first came to America. When talking about this to her, she told me, that although she missed her homeland, her home was where her family was now and that was all that was important. That God had blessed her coming to America, and for this, she would always be grateful.

Earlier in August, my dear best guy and I celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary. My how the years have flown by. Remembering back to that special time just before the wedding, I visited my Nana often to talk and share my dreams of our wedding and plans of a world to come. 
On one visit before the wedding, I walked over to the hutch like I had always done my whole life up to that point and I quickly noticed the treasured gold set with the darling demi cups were missing. "Nana", I said, "Where is the set from Italy?" She motioned for me to follow her into the living room. 

As we sat on the pretty light green brocade sofa, she handed me a wrapped box to open. I looked at her puzzled, but proceeded to open the package to find the gorgeous treasured set from Italy inside.
As I began to cry and tell her, no Nana, this is yours and I could never take it. She held my hand and whispered it is for you and will be in your care from this point on. I was so excited, promising I would always take good care of it and cherish it forever. She said, she knew, I would take good care of the set because she watched over the years how I had always admired the delicate beauty of gold. 

Yes, I had admired the beautiful set and never imagined it would someday be mine to cherish. I never would have imagined the many years of looking through the hutch with admiration, that I was gazing at a wedding gift. Nana gave me a part of her heart that day and it was in her plan to do so. 

Today we calculate this beautiful set to be about 85 years old.
 It means as much to me today as it did when I first admired the delicate treasure as a little girl. 

Left in my care so long ago and a blessing I hold dear.
Not only for the beauty of the pretty set but the precious lady who gave it so generously 42 years ago.
Nana's name was Celestina Marie
and I was named after her.
She was a Godly women and a great teacher.
I hope my blog honors her memory and the blessing she was in my life.

Thank you for stopping by 
and 
sharing in my precious memory.

Be Blessed my friends.
Celestina Marie
Happy September!!

joining
Roses of Inspiration

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Saturday, August 29, 2015

Wordless Weekend

Hi Friends~
Hope your weekend is off to a great start.
Thank you for stopping by as I share vintage hutch views for a wordless weekend.












Thank you for stopping by.
Have a nice weekend!
Be Blessed,
xo


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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Good Fences

Hi Friends,
Welcome back to Good Fences this last week of August.
So ready for Autumn here
and
I am really looking forward to cooler temps and fall days.

How about you?
Are you ready for a change of season?

Recently,
on a good fence hunt,
 we traveled by the Dr. Pepper Ball Park.

Designed with a Victorian style flavor,
 the fences and gate entries around the park
are unique and detailed in a Victorian old fashion style.



Interesting post details and fencing all in a dark green finish.

Simply charming!

Thank you for stopping by today.

Wishing you a wonderful last weekend in August.

Be Blessed.
xo

Joining,

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Monday, August 24, 2015

Window Curtains Swap~

Hi Friends,
With fall just around the corner,
 I've been making changes  for the season.

I love a new fresh autumn cozy look 
and
decided the window curtains in the dining room would be better suited 
in the master bedroom.

Do you remember when I added these curtains to the dining room?

 Pretty with rust and aqua and blues, 
but after having them pulled back during the day 
and closed at night,
they took on a bad wrinkle from their heavy thickness 
and in the middle, that wrinkle
would not hang out and be straight when the curtains were down.

Not a pretty look in the evening and I wanted the privacy at night.

So I decided they would work better hanging straight behind the bed in the master.


This room arrangement in the master bedroom is the only one that works for this room
and
the bad placement of two short windows, right in the middle of the wall,
leaves a huge challenge for window treatments.



Through the years I've worked the area several ways, 
but over the last several,
 I decided to extend the look by raising the curtain rod,
bringing it across the size of the bed and added 6 panels to the floor making a back drop.



So I steamed out the wrinkles in the middle of the 6 panels
used in the dining room and they look much better here.

 It works, and even with the windows covered, the room has plenty of natural light 
from the sitting area across the room and the bathroom to the left.


Now the sitting area has 4 long to the floor windows
that I also needed to dress.

I did not want to cover them to the floor like the bed area and try and purchase 4 more panels.
Plus it would be overkill to add more long panels in the room using the same design.

So I planned to put valance toppers just on these windows  like the toile I used previously.
Still love the toile but had grown really tired of it in this room.

Anyway,
I went back to World Market and found the original curtains I purchased were now on sale for fall
and even lower then the first sale price I found for the long panels.

So I decided to purchase 2 panels for the fabric at 15 dollars each planning to sew valances.


It worked perfectly to sew 4 valences for the sitting area.




I had enough fabric to sew the 4 short valances 18 inches long and 40 inches wide.
This sitting area over looks the pool and I did not want them longer to hide the view.

It was really sunny when I took these pics, so sorry for the blur,
but you get the idea.

 The 2" blinds help when the temps are really hot
and when closing for privacy at night.

Also had enough fabric to sew to pretty chair pillows
Love the touch of aqua here with the rust color and a crocheted throw I created this summer.


Next, I created another valance to carry the look into the master bath~
I used a shower curtain rod or pressure rod to gather the valance and hang inside the glass block window.


And I still had enough fabric to sew another topper style valance 
for the  "La Toilet" area window.

And, after all that sewing, I still have a few yards left from the 2 panels that were 84" long.

So in the end,
this entire 2 room update for fall and beyond cost less then 30 dollars with fabric left over.
Not a bad return for a window swap project.


Above accents from around the 2 rooms.

I'll share what I swapped out in the dining room in another post.
In the meantime,
don't you just love to shop your home and use what you have to decorate and
change out looks for the season?

The changes can be better in another area then first planned.


Another update project marked off the list.

Thanks for stopping by.
Hope you enjoy a great last week of August.

Blessings!
xo


joining



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Saturday, August 22, 2015

Wordless Weekend

Hi Friends, 
Sharing some home view photos without words.









 Thank you for stopping by.
Wishing you a happy weekend.

Blessings
celestina marie

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Thursday, August 20, 2015

Good Fences

Welcome to another Good Fences.

Today I have some shots from the pretty August country side scattered with
beauty and hay bales.
It is great to join Good Fences once again after being on some time away from the computer.

Stepping away from the computer for a couple weeks
does one good

Time to enjoy these gorgeous blue skies.


I thought this Live Oak Tree was gorgeous just beyond the fence line. 
How proud it stands with it's straight trunk and beautiful canopy.

Thank you for stopping by and welcome to all new followers.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone this week.
See you soon!


Joining

Have a blessed day.
cm




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