Sisters First Best Friends.

Making friends when you are little.

Before I was a glimmer in my father's eye, I
had a sister who longed for twin baby siblings,
dreamed of the twin siblings, and pestered our
mother.

Dulce was 14 when my brother was born
and 16 when I was born.  Not a set of twins,
but a boy and a girl born twenty-three months apart.

Unlike our older sister, who had to warm up
to the idea of, gasp, more siblings. Dulce welcomed us
and helped raise us.  Dressing us, bathing us, she was
a little mama to us.  Spending her hard earned cash
to spoil us and help our parents.

My precious, sweet, obedient sister
has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.
The second most feared diagnosis after cancer.

At 40 she survived an aneurysm, a few years ago
she was diagnosed with skin cancer.

Remnants of the Past show 2014

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”  Picasso

 

Blooming Pumpkin Cottage

Where has the time gone?
A viral attach hit the whole household.
One by one each of us went down
for the count.

The insidious attack, thankfully, hit me
hardest.  Ankylosing Spondylitis' inflamation
is at its worse when fighting invaders
of the body.

We missed Memorial Day celebrations.
Riverside honors all who have served with
the West Coast Thunder.  It is something
to hear and see. 

To cheer me, Mr. Lee worked on
tiny urban garden and here are some of the blooms
a few weeks later. 

Welkom to Pumpkin Cottage in June

Words.  Writing. Stitching.
Add embroidery to found vintage linens.
Just add a word or two in your own stitching.
Welkom, is Dutch for Welcome.

See the frame peaking through?  The layered
paint is CeCe Cadwell and the idea came from
Debi's Design.

Pumpkin Cottage is in creative bloom.
Painting frames using tomato cages. 

Holly's black tulip.  Add words.

ABCs sampler design by Alicia Paulson stitched by moi.

Sheros

Mary Randolph Carter, oh how I have loved you from a far.
Authentic, family, and a love affair with her husband.
As she speaks of her mother her voice catches,
ahhh, my eyes well with my own understanding.
Click on the link under her name and see for yourself.

There are times when the contents of
Pumpkin Cottage overwhelm visitors.
But for me it brings inspiration, my mind bounces, and
creativity blooms. 

If you watch the video, look for a Shari Elf  portrait.
We've gone to visit Shari's World Famous
Crochet Museum, then to celebrate with music
and art at the Art Queen.
Shari is genuine and lovely.

Carter's latest book, Never Stop to Think
Do I Have a Place for This?

If you stripped my rooms, tabletops, walls and floors 
of all the things I have yearned for and collected
over the last fifty years, and left just the thing that were 
required to survive, I am quite sure I would shrivel up and 
die.

Kindred spirits always find each other. 

Kitchen Gardening

Memorial Day weekend, while I was down with the flu,
Mr. Lee headed to a favorite antique store, Precious Times
Antique Mall, in Redlands.

To purchase this tub for me.  This is our kitchen window.
In the tub we'll plant, night blooming jasmine,
scented geraniums, and lemon verbena. 
It's a treat to have scents float through the
window.

 

 

The scented geranium, in the foreground of Holly
is Lemon Meringue.  It smells divine.  The
metal planter will be filled with vegetables lettuce and
radishes.  So easy to grow.

Mr. Lee has moved the white rose filled tub to in front
of the kitchen window.  In the evenings, the white roses
radiate a powerful glow.

Powder Room Refresh

Pumpkin Cottage requires a refresh.
She needs a little sprucing inside and
out.  Progress is slow.

It would be wonderful if everything
were completed prior to the winter
holiday season.

Before:

The lovely ball jar light fixture is from LampGoods.

There is a bit of a romance with faux finishes
here at the cottage.

Holly and I are painting a faux rug.

The rug may need some tweaking.
I had originally wanted to paint tassels and
it may still happen.  The walls are painted
a pale yellow. Ceiling white.

My mother gave me the mirror above the sink.
It was salvaged from her beloved
Hollywood Court cottage
before they were renovated.  

We just found the little shelf.  It's a bit dingy,
may just need a good old fashioned washing.

What's next:

1. Baseboards.
2. Paint clouds on the ceiling.
3. Paint the back of the purple door with
    chalkboard paint. Old school green.
4. Put up the trinkets of the room.

The Thrill of the Hunt

Uncle Joe and I are on the hunt for
Virgin Mary statue in blue.  She needs
to be substantial enough for
a collection of thrifted rosaries.

This beauty was spied at
Matilda's Mouse.