Everyday Living

Celebrating October In The Sunshine Cottage

~ Autumn, Decorating, Everyday Living, Faith, Sunshine Cottage

Happy Thursday my friends! Can you believe that today is the last day of September and three fourths of 2021 is now history?

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:28‬ ‭

Tomorrow is the first day of my favorite month! I am celebrating October in the Sunshine Cottage and I am excited that you are joining me.

Y’all come on in. You might be wondering what is hanging from the chandelier. Ella Mae was supposed to help me decorate, but she is a busy girl. With K-5, ballet, and birthday parties with her friends, she couldn’t work me into her schedule. I knew both of our girls would love the fun hanging fall decor from the chandelier. When they walked in, their eyes lit up! “PJ, what is this?”READ MORE

Flowers & Fruit Tablescapes

~ Decorating, Food & Entertaining, roses

  “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:10‬ ‭

Happy Thursday! Is it raining in your neck of the woods? It seems that we are in the monsoon season. Rain, rain, and more rain! We are currently under a flood watch through Friday. I can’t remember a January and February that had this much rain. On the bright side, it gives plenty of opportunity to stay indoors and catch up on a favorite hobby…reading! For the past couple of years I have been reading book after book of historical fiction…I finish one, and begin another. I decided this year to keep a list of all the books that I read. If only I had done that since my passion for reading began in the fifth grade. I could talk about books forever, but that isn’t what today’s post is about. With my Monday Morning Blooms sitting on the dining room table, I decided to set a tablescape. As I was putting the post together, it occurred to me that I had used fruit and flowers on several previous tablescapes. It is so easy to incorporate the two, they just seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly!

  With the floral arrangement in place, it was so simple to add six place settings!

  “Fruit rapture” by Mikasa was my obvious choice. Green placemats add texture to the bare wood of the table!READ MORE

Flowers & A Friendship – Monday Morning Blooms

~ Decorating, Monday Morning Blooms

“Your name, O Lord, endures forever, your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭135:13‬ ‭

Hello sweet friends…the arctic blast has made its way to the Appalachian Foothills!  It’s cold and sunny here, which makes for a perfect morning to stay in and drink coffee!  It’s the third Monday of the month and that means it’s time for Monday Morning Blooms…and today is a really special one for me.  I hope you’re ready for a story of flowers and friendship!

On my search for flowers this week at our local grocery stores, I was having absolutely no luck.  So, what’s a girl to do? I called my favorite florist to see if he could order me coral roses, pale blue hydrangeas, and seeded eucalyptus. He called me the next afternoon to say his truck had arrived and he thought he had what I wanted. When I got there, I went to the back of his shop where he keeps all of his flowers. He had several bunches of roses, but then I saw this particular bunch that I knew was exactly what I was hoping for. Of course I always want to know the name of the variety of rose. It is called “free spirit”, he said. And that led to a sweet time of reminiscing about our dear and mutual friend that fit the name of the roses perfectly. Putting together this week’s Monday Morning Blooms was very special and enjoyable for me as it took me down a road of precious memories and one of the sweetest friendships I have ever known…

It was 1974 that I met this bigger than life, bubbly personality, with a south Alabama accent that would melt butter. She had just moved here, and I was immediately drawn to her charm and warmth. She was one that as soon as you met her, you knew you would become friends.
READ MORE