Ready for their close up

Sorry, I couldn't resist hinting at the Gloria Swanson quote for my post title ;)

Have you seen Sunset Blvd.?

Great movie.

Anyway...

The other day when I posted my hutch, quite a few of you asked about the plates.

Well, they have been on great grandma's hutch since my mom had it in her home and I rarely ever saw her change them out. So when they were passed on to me along with the hutch, I put them right back where they have been most of my life.

Actually since 1979, to be exact.

You can just make them out in this picture of my last house as well.

They're Franklin mint and show the seasons.

January, February, March, April...

May, June, July, August...

September, October, November and December.

Although, they're probably not worth much monetarily, they're priceless to me.

Also up there are some little plates from my dad's mom and some cups and saucers.

Shhh... don't tell the others, but the one below is my favorite of the three ;)

They all live happily on the hutch with a couple tea sets from my great grandmother and a couple pieces of Ironstone :)

And that's where they will most likely reside for the rest of my life and hopefully after that.

I'm kind of a sentimental gal, if you haven't noticed ;)

xo

rue

Pumpkins and answers

As I've said before, I'm not much of a seasonal decorator, with the exception being Christmas, and as much as I had tried to get in the spirit of Autumnal decorating this year, it just really isn't going to happen.

I did create a pinterest board for it though, which was fun, but honestly, we celebrate Thanksgiving at my mom's house, so there's really no reason to pull out all the stops.

Plus, how much fun is it to decorate with paint cans everywhere?

I suppose I could put some pumpkins on them and call it a vignette ;)

That said, I did buy some cute mini pumpkins and scattered them a few places.

Oops! I forgot to turn on the light ;)

And I know how much some of you like seeing pictures of the same thing over and over again, so I'm indulging you.

Can you hear the dripping sarcasm? :p

Do you spy the little white pumpkin, on the bottom left?

Here's a closer look:

I bought it from my dear friend, Celestina, who I've known for a very long time. She creates beautiful things for her Etsy shop and sometimes shows them off on her blog Southern Daydreams.

Even her packaging is beautiful:

I like to support my friends, when I can, if you haven't noticed ;)

By the way, some of you have asked whether or not certain pieces of furniture are antiques.

Yes, almost all of them are, with the exception of the grandfather clock and chairs in my dining room, the daybed in the family room, and the coat rack below.

But, aside from the daybed, all of them are pretty much vintage, considering that they're all over 30 or 40 years old.

Also, some of you were curious about the antique book in my office that I showed last week.

It's a Family Bible from 1767

Not my family's Bible sadly, but the Hirschbek Family.

I bought it on Ebay for a song, so if anyone knows anyone with that last name I'd be happy to return it to their family.

It's gorgeous inside, but very fragile.

So that's it for today.

I haven't had time to answer all your questions or sweet comments from non-bloggers, or visit everyone's blogs, in my last few posts, but I plan to catch up soon.

I hope you understand :)

xo

rue

Camping

I just got back from yet another camping trip.

Guess which lady in this picture represents me, while I'm out there in the wilderness...

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No, not the one with the big smile.

It would be the little lady to the right of her.

Sans the hair net though ;)

I wish I could be like the gal with the big smile and I've tried so hard.

Really, I have.

I don't hate it, but...

For one thing, it's dirty and there's no getting away from the dirt no matter how much water or baby wipes you bring. 

Washing pots, pans, flatware and dishes... forget about it.

Not taking a shower... yuck.

Weird bugs.

Getting up in the middle of the night to go out and use the potty... shoot me.

Although, I never camp where there isn't one. This girl is not going out behind a tree.

 Thank. you. very. much.

I suppose this makes me sound high maintenance, but I can't help it. My mother's idea of roughing it was sleeping at a hotel without room service.

I mean, look how happy this woman is...

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I did however find happy people camping, but I want you to guess the theme of just exactly why they're smiling...

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Booze.

And I have to say that it does help, but not entirely.

The problem is that I had never been camping until I was 24 years old, unless you count sleeping out in the back yard when I was a kid.

But, I was the one that ran to the door at midnight ready to hop into my own bed.

It's just not my thing.

I keep trying though.

It was better when I was in my 20s, but now that I'm 45, it's not as easy.

But I do it anyway, because I get sucked into doing it I'm nice like that ;)

What I probably need is a sweet vintage camper like this:

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Then I might be as happy as that lovely lady in the picture.

A few of my bloggy friends have gotten one and they seem pretty darn happy about it.

Have you seen Cathy's or Amy's Campers?

So stinkin' cute!

Anywho, that's where I've been.

Now back to painting, after I get all our stuff washed and put away.

Do any of you like camping in a tent?

xo

rue

Random bits and pieces

Cooler nights and scrabble.

Just waiting for it to get cool enough to light a fire ;)

Lunch with the last good white nectarines of the season.

A very sweet gift of vintage cookbooks, from my dear, sweet, friend Benita over at Chasing Quaintness.

Have you met her?

She's funny, talented and one of the nicest gals in Blogland.

Bubba in his new sombrero that my (now blonde) daughter, Annie bought him.

He looks a little unsure about it ;)

A new partition to hide the trashcans.

Paint decisions.

I finally found mini pumpkins!

And a little bit of Halloween sneaking in.

But not too much until October ;)

xo

rue

Not the dining room

The other day, I asked you to guess what room I was painting and some of you guessed the dining room, because I said it was a mess.

Wrong! ;)

I was working on my office/sewing room.

And this was the dining room, while I was painting.

Oops! Sorry about Mini's butt under the table ;)

Here's the before that I showed in this post.

And here's the after:

It took me four very long messy days, but it's finally done.

The dining room, not so much, but I'm working on it.

More on that later ;)

Anyway, the first picture in this post shows the colors pretty true to real life, but for whatever reason, the yellow looks super bright in most of them.

(You'll see what I mean when we take a look at the opposite side of the room.)

Here's the little built in desk area, where I write letters and do calligraphy:

I'm looking for another chair, but this one will do for now.

All my reference books, paperbacks and some biographies are on this side.

Most family pictures were grouped together on the top middle shelf.

On the other side, I have my childhood books...

two of my favorite horse show trophies and the ribbons that came with them (I used to compete in Hunter/jumper and dressage) ...

I also brought out all my photo albums, so that they were easily accessible and I grouped together all the school projects that my kids gave me over the years, when they were little.

My shelves are not really "decorated", as you can see.

Instead they are working shelves that also hold precious memories.

Since you can see this room from other places in my home, I did try to make them look as nice as I can, but without making it impossible to get anything off of a shelf and it's organized, so I know where everything is :)

Here's the before of the other side:

And the after:

Wow, that looks bright! lol

I swear it's not though.

I took a few pictures so that you could get a better look at my desk, that some of you had asked for.

And here's the reality:

Well, kind of....

I took the papers and bills off the desk ;)

So that's it.

I wanted a cozy, cheerful, but kind of serious room and I think I achieved it.

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it ;)

See what I mean about the colors in the picture below?

That's pretty true to what it looks like in person, as well.

Weird, huh?

I think I've said this before, but the drapes in my house always seem to look grey in pictures and they're sage green.

Oh well, I never claimed to be a great (or even good) photographer :p

Anywho...

If you look at that picture again, you can kind of see a little bit of yellow next to the spoon rack.

I'm testing out another yellow in there, that's a shade lighter, but it seems kind of bright, so we'll see.

What I want is the rooms to flow from one to the next, but not be all the exact same colors, just variations, if that makes sense.

Wish me luck!

xo

rue

PS 

Just in case anyone wants to know, the colors are Behr's English Custard and Olivine.