Summer's End / Dessert Tea

Wow, now where exactly did summer go?

Although it certainly still remains very hot & humid summer weather!

Now that September is nearly upon us,
it is time to bid a fond farewell to August.

Summer season is officially on its way out and 

becoming just another fond memory.

My DH has lately heard me complaining enough about this heat -

 and also how I refuse to do any fall decorating

 until it starts to FEEL like autumn...............

So he surprised me with this

sweet "transitional summer's end" flower bouquet.

I just ♥ sunflowers - they have just cheered me so!

~~~~~*~~~~~

I found this awesome

 French mustard jar thrifting yesterday!

I tucked a few silverplated old teaspoons inside.

The other day I had a couple friends over

 for a relaxed, casual last minute dessert tea.

It was much too hot to host it outside.

I decided to make those happy sunflowers

 the theme of the table.

We used my fun whimsical little sunflower plates.

For convenience and time-constraints

 I purchased most of the sweets -

 making having this tea about as easy as it gets:


Raspberry macarons
Fruit Tartes
Blueberry cheesecake bites
Zucchini bread
Chocolate cupcakes

So, you see?

 Last minute teas can take less than an hour to prepare

 and means so much to a friend or two!

It tells her that you care for her company.

It reminds her you are never too busy to 

keep from nurturing your friendship.

So don't hesitate to plan one of your own easy teas soon!

And please do enjoy the rest of your summertime while it lasts!

"Summer's End"

~~~by Nancy Hughes~~~

No flowers to plant,
No garden to tend,
As summertime lazily
Comes to an end.

It's time to sit back
and deliciously savor
The beauty of the season
and the fruits of our labor.

Farewell to summer;
for autumn make way,
With this last celebration
We call Labor Day.

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Seasonal Sundays  *  Tea Time Tuesday  *  Make It Pretty

Return to Loveliness  *  Centerpiece Wednesday  * Simple & Sweet

Living Room Tour (Summer)

I have had a number of peeps email me

 requesting that I feature my living room

 that I apparently "teased" about in my last post
 featuring my kitchen for the first time.

As I shall soon be changing things for Autumn
 I thought I had better get with it now

to share how I've had this space for the summer:

Light.....bright.....a tiny little bit beachy....

~~~~~*~~~~~


This is what you see
 when you first come into our front foyer. 

To the right at the foyer entrance is the guest bath.

To the back right of you standing here 
you will find the home office.

In front of that left column in front of you is our basement door.

Around to the right down the hall is a coat closet,
the laundry/mud room leading to the garage,
and further down hall 
is master bedroom/master bath.

One day soon I hope to feature all of those as well.

This Ballard Design smokey mirror is tucked back in the corner
 to the right of this sofa

The 7 foot tall huge antique wardrobe chest in the background
is one of my most prized possessions.  I bought it 11 years ago at an antique mall in downtown Columbus that is no longer in business.

On top of it are 2 antique huge antique blown wine jugs
and the smaller one is a reproduction.

Also is an local signed original oil painting of dried white hydrangeas.

I use a family heirloom cedar chest 
as a coffee table here.

I bought those neat curvy branches above at
The Country Living Fair Columbus a few years ago.

(It comes back here again in just a few short weeks!)

I bought those 2 fun modern homemade pillow covers recently 
to keep designing towards an easy & more casual space.


My little metal terrarium holds about everything;
sometimes wine corks, pinecones, baby pumpkins -
Christmas ornaments - and has, on occasion
 been a real terrarium!

I already have vintage linen drapes that we just haven't put up yet
that will continue to bring a relaxed look to this space.

I bought this fabulous occasion side tray table this  summer.

I absolutely ♥ the inside of it!

And you will almost always find bird themed items
all around The Nest at Finch Rest!

I also love this artist signed pressed flowers
 on homemade paper artwork.

The ceramic filigree bird holds potpourri.

Once we did had the new floor laid 
 we realized we had to lighten up a few pieces
to avoid the entire room being too wooden and brown!

I love this table so much - now more than ever.

The carved details on this table are amazing!
The inside is all beaded detail too -
 sorry I didn't get a close up of that.

(Thanks, Katie for the awesome painting job you did, honey!)


She used AS Old White and clear wax. She knows I like a little
aging but nothing done on purpose too overly distressed. 

She may be adding some dark wax later in the crevaces
to bring out  more of the great details of this table
 but won't be anytime soon. 

This little vintage tray thing holds a few pieces
 of my mother's brain coral collection.

She collected shells and corals and the occasional starfish
during winters spent "her" beach of Englewood, Florida.

I love it being the center of the mantle,
 just being close  by and reminding me of her.

Thanks for visiting me today!


Be sure to  look at my kitchen tour
if you missed it from last post.

It's been really fun showing you our calm & neutral nest.

♥

~Michele

Linking:

WOW Us Wed  *  Homework Wednesday * Blissful Whites  *  HOME

Open House  * What's It Wednesday  *  Home and Garden Thurs

Share Your Cup  * Show and Tell

House Tour - Part 2 - KITCHEN (summer)

As promised, here is a continuation of more "tour" of our nest.

There is a GREAT deal of kitchen touring going on this week

so I thought, "Ok- kitchen tour post time for me it shall be!"

So....welcome friends to  our kitchen.

The decor in here changes so often that it is quite likely
that it will even be different before bed time tonight.

I know I have issues. But I know I am not alone.

: - )

We've done a lot of renovating to this space since moving here.

We placed black granite on the island to "anchor" the space

 and to tie in the bits of black elsewhere we love so much.

A year later we bought the rest of the granite,
and the tumbled stone for the backsplash.

We still have our original builder-grade solid wood pickled oak cabinets -

 which I kinda actually like, but will eventually upgrade/replace

 and use these in the basement craft area. 

We replaced the chandy and painted.

We have replaced all our appliances.

Our double oven with glass top is awesome to use.

We chose white to keep things bright in here,

 but we did buy an over-sized French-doors stainless steel fridge.

Having our old fridge in the garage is a life saver when
we have dinner or tea party guests!

We're truly blessed to have an eat-in kitchen. 
(I have shown this a few times.)

The kitchen is west-facing to 2 acres.

It's difficult to see all the green

 with this odd sunny bright-but-hazy day.

We also have a large formal dining room

 that I recently shared in this house tour here.

We entertain frequently and this extra seating

really comes in handy sometimes!

There is a very old chippy farmhouse hutch in the perfect little spot.

The upper shelves are for seasonal or favorites -

 this is how it's featured for summer's end.

It is great for added drawer storage

 and to be able to show off 

white ironstone and china pieces.

I ♥ still has it's original key!

(I love me just a little touch of farmhouse.)

So......moving on.......

OXYGEN, anyone?!?

I lost count how many full plants came

from cuttings of the pothos or dividing my shamrocks.

The Pothos is over 20 years old, the shamrocks are over 13, and the bonsai tree is 11 years old.

I've had this chippy Fleur-de-Lis planter since way before forever.

Plants are the perfect way to cover unsightly electrical plugs!

Here is the view from our kitchen sink.

Some of you already know that this is my favorite

FINCH REST feeder....

Those yellow finches keep me company all day long!

They eluded me this time for my kitchen sharing pics tho!

Here is the view when standing next to the island

looking into the living room.

To the right above those columns is the loft area

and upstairs.

More of the living room to come

 in my Part 3 House Tour post soon.

You can glimpse a few bits of our garden produce

 in that old basket tucked in the corner.

We've got corn, zucchini, squash

 and lots and lots of tomatoes already.

 YUM!

THANK YOU so much for your visit today.

Hugs ♥

~Michele

Linking:

Farm Hop

Feathered Nest 

Sunday Show Off

Inspire Me

CARD PARTY - August

It's time for Vee's monthly linky

NOTE CARD PARTY!

--> Simply pick 4 and join in the fun! <--

Added: since some of you asked

 I thought I would share the original image

(below)

to show you what I meant.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

♥

~Michele

Pink Tea Vignette

A simple pink tea vignette for you.

I love how the rose on the teapot

matches the rose in the arrangement.

And how the little blue flowers on the teapot

are the exact colour of the sky today!

Have a truly wonderful & perfect day!

I do hope you are able to find time for a lovely spot of tea-

and enjoy this lovely summer's day

as the gift it truly IS!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Pink Saturday  Saturday Show Off  Sunday Show Off  

Seasonal Sundays     Teacup Tuesday  Tea in the Garden