Christmas Lights at the Civic Center in Denver, CO

Wakefield-Scearce Galleries

On a recent visit to Kentucky to see my daughter and her family, my son-in-law took us to the most amazing place.  I should have started this post by mentioning that Kentucky (as well as all the other Eastern states) are really amazing to Coloradans like me.  Here in the west there are few buildings more than 100 years old, and antiques older than 100 years are few and far between, so when visiting Eastern cities the old buildings and their furnishing are amazing to see.   

Getting back to the point, my son-in-law took us to the Wakefield-Scearce Galleries which specializes in fine English antiques.  A visit to the place would be amazing any time of year, but beginning in November, they decorate the whole place "to the nines" for Christmas.  Fortunately, I was totally captivated by the Christmas decorations (not to mention that I was keeping up with a certain little someone who was leading me through the maze of rooms) and wasn't tempted to buy any of the gorgeous antiques!

I didn't get a very good picture of the building, because it was so huge and I couldn't get far enough away...

Here is a view from the second floor... 

Beautiful, huge Christmas tree...

Every mantel was beautifully decorated...

and almost every room had a beautiful Christmas tree...

and of course, delightful things for children to see...

Christmas Cookies

Costello Street Coffee House

Last summer, my husband and I stopped at the cutest, most quaint coffee house I've ever visited.  It is located in the small mountain town of Florrisant, Colorado.  Besides coffee and a variety of baked goods and breakfast items, it also serves a brunch (at least on Sunday) and several interesting sandwich concoctions.  We arrived there at lunchtime, so we each ordered 1/2 a sandwich (since they were rather large).  My husband ordered a BLT and I ordered a grilled vegetable and cheese sandwich.  Unfortunately, since I was soaking in the ambiance of the place and we were fortunate enough to have a dining room to ourselves, I forgot to take pictures of the food, however; here are pictures of  Costello Street Coffee House (I didn't know they had a website)...

Cuckoo

It seems I've always had a fascination with cuckoo clocks.  When I was in 8th grade, my parents bought this little clock for me.  It doesn't actually "cuckoo", but the little bird moves back and forth.  

It's hard to believe I've had this little clock for 45 years and the only damage it sustained happened when I was a teenager.  If you look closely, some little flowers fell off.

Anyway, I've always wanted a real cuckoo clock - not one of those plastic quartz ones they have now - but a traditional one made in Germany.  I couldn't justify paying for a new one, so I started looking on Ebay and just received my recent purchase.  

If you look closely, it is missing a bird on the right, but it is really cute.  Not only does it cuckoo, but the bird(s) at the bottom feed the baby bird on the hour and half hour.  Now I just need to find a proper place for the clock where I can enjoy looking at it and hearing the gentle "cuckoo".

DIY Silver Candlesticks

A couple of years ago, I got this set of candlesticks and a pedestal bowl from my husband's aunt and uncle when they were downsizing.  At first, I thought I might sell them on Etsy, but then I decided to turn them into faux silver candlesticks.

This is the before picture...

 Then, I spray painted them flat black...

The next day, I applied Silver Rub 'n Buff...

Voila!!

Healthy Summer Lunch

Caprese Pizza Toast and Fresh Fruit Salad

From my Garden

Words to Live By

Words to Live By

Flutterby

Super Moon

The super moon rising on May 5, 2012, taken around 8 pm MST.  It was too cloudy later to see the moon, so this was the only photo I got.

Words to Live By...

More About My Lilies

Last summer, my red lily was blooming beautifully, when all of a sudden I noticed there was hardly anything left to it.  It had been in my front yard, so I moved it to the back yard since I thought my husband had run over it with the lawn mower.  Fortunately, it is coming up this year and so far looks great.  However, the pretty pink lily that I planted last year started coming up for the first time and I was very happy until I noticed that two of the 3 tops were missing.  It isn't near the lawn, so I know my husband didn't run over it with the lawn mower, so I've deduced that the little wild bunnies that I see in my yard sometimes, must really like lilies.  I put a little plastic fence around it, so hopefully that will keep hungry bunnies away.

Amazing Grace...

These are a couple of products from an amazing line of high-end beauty products.  I usually use Suave products, so you'll understand why it was such a treat to get the Philosophy Amazing Grace Body Lotion and Shampoo/Body Wash from my sister-in-law.  I thought I'd share with you all, since I had never even heard of these products.  For more information about these products, click here.

Thanks, R.

Words to Live By...

Jo-Mama's No More

Last weekend we drove up to the "ranch" to check on things (since it is not a winterized cabin & we don't use it during the winter months).  We planned to stop at our very favorite pizza place, but found out that it "bit the dust" over the winter.  It formerly had been a "Pizza Factory", then was privitized a few years ago - and we've been going there for years.  It's almost as sad as the "Miceli's" Restaurant in my home town going out of business years ago...