Brotherhood Winery.

The oldest continuing operating winery in the US. Note the "continuing". They produced sacramental wine during prohibition.

Did you notice the link to the August break that I'm participating in? I'm going to have less words and maybe just a photo each day in August. Click on the link, there are many great blogs you may enjoying looking at.

Last day of the Bar Exam.

At the dinner after graduation I had a good idea that Kristen wished for success on her exam. Hope her final exam day goes well.

Wordless Wednesday

NEW YORK BAR EXAM

Today is the first of three days of the New York Bar Exam for Kristen.

Please be thinking of her over the next three days !!
I gave Kristen a 6" x 6" scrapbook for her birthday last year and I continue to make pages to add to it.

Bird Feeder

I bought a new bird feeder and it's filled with peanuts. I bought it for the wood peckers that I've occasionally seen and always hear in the yard. Within two days I had two wood peckers at the feeder, one at a time. They won't share.

I wasn't able to photograph a wood pecker but I did get a blue jay.
With my camera not working properly it's very difficult to get any shots in focus. Especially shooting at a distance.

I do like how this shot looks, broken camera and all.

Wicker Cleaning

Once a year I take all my wicker baskets outside, hose them off and let them dry in the shade. I read that drying in shade is better since the wicker has time to absorb some of the water.

I like how all the wicker baskets look in the house but they are big dust collectors.
Every now & then I'll dust off but nothing beats a good cleaning. This is what Martha Stewart suggests

Wicker: For both traditional and "outdoor" wicker (woven from resin or coated paper), the chief challenge is dealing with the textured surface. To remove dust, vacuum or use a soft-bristled brush. When that isn't enough, scrub with soap and water. If traditional wicker cracks, the fibers are too dry. Apply boiled linseed oil, and wipe dry (the used rags are flammable; soak them in water and wrap tightly in plastic before disposing). To repair traditional wicker, apply a damp towel to any loose strands until they become flexible enough to reweave (about an hour). If necessary, tack with an exterior brad.Read more at Marthastewart.com: Outdoor Furniture Cleaning and Repair and more decorating ideas, organizing tips, and homekeeping and cleaning solutions on marthastewart.com

I would love to polish all the baskets with linseed oil. If only I had that staff that Martha has.

Wordless Wednesday

Two new chairs.

We only had four chairs around our kitchen table. Chairs that I bought at an antique store in the late 1980's. I've been looking for two more chairs for years and years. Finally, finally I found two that I like at a price I was willing to pay.

Of course we hardly ever use the table since we eat sitting on the stools around the kitchen island.
It's all about the look thou!

Rain, rain don't come so hard or so much.

Our weather has been hot & humid and when we get rain it comes down hard and fast.

The photos were taken last Sunday out the family room window.

The poor Clementius didn't far to well.

How does your garden grow?

I was able to pick a few ripened grape tomatoes from my garden.
There are many more tomatoes to come!
I wish I hadn't just planted grape tomatoes. They don't work very well for BLT's. Darn. There is always the farmers market.

Bachelorette Party

Ellie's bachelorette party was held in the evening on the same day as the bridal shower.
Per the invitation we were to dress nautical. It's my entire breakfast club this time. We are not used to getting together in the evenings! The group prior to leaving the hotel for dinner.

The beautiful bride-to-be.
Ellie was given a to-do-list for the evening.

Hitting the downtown streets.

There were four or five other bachelorette parties also out that night. Every other party was quite jealous of the fun this group was having.

See everyone again on September 4th.

Wordless Wednesday, in honor of my daughter's Wordless Wednesday honor

Bridal Shower Game

Amie suggested the game we played at Ellie's shower. The idea came from Leigh Anna's shower. It's my favorite bridal shower game.

Every table got a bridesmaid or a flower girl to make a wedding dress out of toilet paper with a time limit of five minutes.
Looks like she is checking out the competition.

Katie, the maid-of-honor. Did she have a tooth ache?
I loved the flowers on the shoulder.

A very long train. I also liked this idea.

Ellie had a hard time choosing her favorite dress.

I don't think there was anyone at the shower who had played this before & it was a BIG hit.

The game does leave a bit of a mess.

Bridal Shower

Ellie's bridal shower was a wonderful brunch at the Sherwood Inn.

The bridesmaid's minus Terra.
Ellie received so many wonderful gifts. Aren't bridal registries great!

Her favorite flower is the Hydrangea.

My breakfast club less Ellie's Mom.

We all left with a message in a bottle.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the one & only game we played. A game that has been featured on the blog before.

Hats, hats for sale.

We called this one the "bee hive."

We think, this should be worn pinned to the back of the head.
The queen of England wears hats that look like the below.
Hot, hot pink.

Maybe a Jackie Kennedy hat?

Beautiful millinery flowers on this one.

I loved this one. To small for Amie's head thou.

We think this is why there were so many hats at the thrift store.
We did buy one. I wouldn't pay full price thou. The salesclerk called the owner & I got just what I wanted, $3.00 off the price. Well not what I wanted. It's Amie's hat. Last time I wore a hat was at the Kentucky Derby about 20 years ago. Can you guess which hat we bought?

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July.

If I wasn't spending my day flying from Nashville, I would have loved to have put on a Fourth of July celebration the looked like the above. The cutest party decorations! I want a cupcake now.