Bee Happy and Sewing Adventures

 Catching Up On The Latest News

Hi there everyone! It's been awhile since we last connected so how about if we all catch up today? I'll share what's been happening around the blog here lately and you be sure to share what's been happening in your life as well in the comments. I can't wait to hear!

First up is this new "Bee Happy" vignette on the foyer table. I picked up these adorable bee items at Hobby Lobby and I just think they are the cutest! The expressions on the bees caught my attention and I smile each time I walk by the foyer table and see their goofy faces. I think this vignette is fun for late Spring and early Summer. Plus the bee pincushion will come in handy in the sewing room later!

Since Easter, I have been working on planting flowers in our patio pots and in our little backyard garden. Here I am at the garden center at Home Depot a few weeks ago. That place has been hopping each time we go there! I think that folks are doing even more planting this year in the aftermath of all of the storm damage from Helene. So many plants and shrubs and trees were lost from people's properties. 

Here are some of the patio containers. They got moved all around when the roofers were working on our new roof last week so that's why you see bricks where they should not be. We will have gutters installed next week so they will most likely get moved around again. Just ignore the arrangement and look at the pretty flowers, lol!

Because our back patio gets much more sun now, I'm experimenting with some different flowers than what I usually plant. In addition to my faithful impatiens, you will see zinnias, petunias, marigolds and snapdragons. 

The coral bells in our little backyard garden have decided to really bloom this Spring. See the long shoots coming out of them? 

Our rhododendron plants really got beat up during the hurricane but they are bravely blooming this Spring anyway! The Mr. took this spectacular pic of one of the blooms. 

And, our azaleas are blooming beautifully as well. Wish I could keep these blooms going all summer but it doesn't work that way. 

And we have beautiful flowers inside the house, as well, thanks to The Mr. who brought me two beautiful bouquets of flowers on Sunday for being a "fur mama" to our three fur babies. I decided to break up the flowers into three different arrangements. This is a gorgeous pink long stemmed rose. 

And these lovely red long stemmed roses and berries are gracing the bookcase in "my" music room.

And the chrysanthemums and daisies are on the mantel in the living room. Flowers, flowers, everywhere! 

The Mr. has been super busy here lately playing concerts at various venues. He is in five different brass groups plus has a piano/trumpet duo so, as you can imagine, we keep the road hot going to various music concerts. I'm very proud of his musical abilities!

I've also been trying my hand at doing some sewing these last few weeks. This is a gorgeous dress that I ordered from Blair recently in my usual size. But, when it arrived, it was much too large in the waist and top for me. So, I got out my sewing machine and took the dress in on the sides. It fits me much better now. I really like the softness of the dress and the fabric's pattern. 

I also created this stretch waist skirt using fabric from a lounging robe that belonged to my mother. I had kept this robe as a remembrance of my Mom and it was stored in a box for close to 30 years. She loved wearing her lounging robes in the evenings after a long day on her feet at work. I can remember that one of the first things she would do each evening was to get comfortable in one of her many lounging robes. Rather than keep her robe in a box any longer, I decided to fashion a summer skirt that I could wear. I will always think of my Mom when I wear this skirt. 

I also sewed a set of pillowcases for our bed using two fabrics that are so pretty. I don't consider myself a great seamstress, but every once in a while I enjoy trying my hand at creating something new. I thank my friend, Sharon, for her inspiration to try sewing. It continues to be a fun adventure!

We also visited the "Parade of Homes" a few weekends ago and saw this interesting new home. An artist lives in it and she was on site to talk with as we toured her beautiful home filled with her artwork. The Parade of Homes didn't happen last year due to the devastation of the hurricane so it felt lovely and normal to be able to participate in this once again!

So, as you can see, we've been pretty busy during the end of April and the current month of May! Our house restoration is moving along slowly but we are making progress which is a good thing! 

And, I'm always grateful for these three furry members of our family! Cassie, Garden and River fill our days with smiles, laughter and some exasperation on occasion! And that's what family is all about, right?!

I hope this "catch up" post has been enjoyable for you. Just a little bit of this and that. Take good care and be sure to leave a comment letting me know a little bit of this and that in your life, okay?

Until Next Time,

Debbie (This and That)

*Pet photos, rhododendron photo and me in the dress photo taken by Bill Ross. 

A Little Bit of This and That for April

 Easter/Spring Decor and More

Tiered Bunny and Egg Tray

Hello friends!  Well, here we are in April and I'm ready to share a little bit of this and that with you here on the blog. First off, is some Easter/Spring decor around the house. I'm using the colorful ceramic bunny, yellow and blue bunnies and some new yellow and blue Easter eggs to grace the tiered tray on top of the curio cabinet in the dining room. 

My little tiered tray fits just perfectly with the amount of bunnies and eggs I have to display on top of the dining room cabinet. I have a larger, round tiered tray but, more and more, I prefer this one. I picked it up at Target a few years ago and find that I use it throughout the house for different seasons. 

These colorful bunnies are on display on the side table in the living room. The green Easter egg is a new purchase from a fun day out in Hendersonville, NC awhile back. 

And on the foyer table you see one of my Longaberger baskets filled with a pretty placemat, bunnies and an Easter egg wreath. Using a wreath as a basket filler is a unique way to use wreaths. 

I don't have a ton of decor I use for Easter and Spring but I really enjoy what I do own. It's wonderful to know that we are in Springtime now and we are already starting to have some really warm days here in Asheville. Today, it's been in the 80's and it's only early April!

I've been doing some card crafting this Spring and this is a display type card I created recently. I covered the card with scrapbook paper in teal and gold and then added stickers that have sayings I really like. "Trust the timing of your Life" is especially meaningful to me.

I used butterfly scrapbook paper on the inside of the card with more lovely stickers. This isn't a card to send but, rather, a card to keep on display. This one is now on the shelf in "my" music room. 

In other news, how cute are these two "furever" friends?! I call Cassie and River the two amigos because they are typically not far apart. We don't let Cassie go outdoors by herself, but she likes to be carried out to sniff the great outdoors and sit on the big rock with her dog brother. You can't see it, but The Mr. is holding her with one hand and taking this pic with the other! Garden, our other cat, prefers to remain indoors. 

This pic, with River's tongue hanging out, makes me laugh! He can be such a goofy dog! But, he's a very good boy!

And, finally, I thought I would share a post-Hurricane Helene update report. Folks are still trying to rebuild and repair and get rid of storm debris over six months since Helene roared through Western North Carolina. The sounds of chainsaws and huge trucks and heavy equipment doing debris removal have become a normal part of each day here. I'll share some pics of our own property to give you an idea of what things look like here at this point.

This is a huge root ball from a very large tree that blew down during the tornado that spun out from Hurricane Helene in our neighborhood. It left a gaping hole as you can see. This is behind the big boulder that Cassie and River like to sit on.

And remember the waterfall and my sitting rock where I have taken many pictures for the blog? This is what it looks like now. You can see another huge root ball on its side right next to the creek. This is the creek where The Mr. got water for us to use right after the storm. Our entire driveway was covered with downed trees so he had to climb over and under the trees to get to this stream with buckets. This went on for many days until crews could get through all the fallen trees on our road and get us cut out of our driveway. Just on our property, alone, we lost hundreds of trees.

Signs of tree cutting are everywhere on our property. This is next to the hiking trail on our land where we hike with River. 

We continue to have piles of wood laying everywhere. We have had several crews come in to cut plus The Mr. is out frequently cutting. More and more our property is looking better even with piles of wood everywhere. 

And, good news, we are finally on track with a roofer to get a new roof and new gutters in the next 4-6 weeks! The trees hitting our house caused damage to our gutters and roof. You can see some of the damage here. 

So, that's the update. Things are moving along and slowly returning to normal. God is good. All the time!

I hope you have enjoyed my this and that post. I hope you are able to get out and enjoy some beautiful Spring weather. Take good care and, if you can, leave me a comment which I will surely read and enjoy!

Until Next Time,

Debbie This and That

Subtle Green for St. Patrick's Day

The Wearing Of The Green 

Hi friends! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Yes, I know it's not until this coming Monday but I wanted to extend wishes a little early so I could share an idea for wearing green that's a bit more subtle in my opinion. Remember when we were in grade school and we would tell other kids that if they didn't wear green we would have to pinch them? All in good fun of course!

 My idea of wearing green includes more of an olive/dark green approach this year. I'm wearing olive green skinny pants with a patterned top by Indigo Soul that I found on sale at Cracker Barrel. The top is tunic style and has pretty patterns of leaves in many colors including green. It matches well with the pants and contains colors that can go through all seasons. I'm glad to have such a comfy and pretty outfit to wear, not just on St. Patrick's Day, but also on many other days as well. 

What combination of greens do you like to wear for St. Patrick's Day or for any other day for that matter? Be sure to wear green next Monday. You don't want to get pinched, you know!

The Mr. snapped this pic of me on our trail yesterday. It's the first time in almost six months since I have hiked. After the hurricane, and then my broken wrist and surgeries, I just wasn't able to go out on the trail. I kind of lost my confidence in being able to do so after falling and breaking my wrist. It all just seemed like too much. I'm told those feelings are normal and soon pass. So, I'm getting back on the horse, so to speak, and starting to hike again. It feels good and I'm using my walking sticks to support myself and they do help me feel more secure. The Mr. has worked really hard to get the trail clear of storm debris. You can see where trees had to be cut off the trail. There's still a lot of "mess" to clean up but it's much, much better than it was. As you can see, we have a beautiful sunset view on the trail now. I really like this picture. It speaks of hope and courage. 

I hope that you are doing well and having a good end to your week. May you feel God's blessings in your life.

Until Next Time,

☘ Debbie☘

A Few Lovely Things

 Enjoying Lovely Days

Hello friends! Today's post is picture heavy and includes lots of photos from lovely days and lovely things that have made me smile lately. I find that many days lately haven't been filled with lots of lovely things, especially if you watch the news. So, this is my attempt to get myself to focus on things in my life that are truly lovely. 

Philippians 4:8 says:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."  So, here are some praiseworthy things in my life.

A few days ago, my dear friend, Sharon, and I went to lunch and tea at 

tea at The Book and Bee Cafe in Hendersonville. What a lovely afternoon

it was. 

The steps leading up to the cafe have titles of famous books inscribed. 

Such a fun theme for a cafe to have. 

Each room in the cafe has a particular theme. We dined in the "British

Room."  This theme was right up my alley as I love everything British

and Royal!

Here's another wall in the "British Room." Even the tables in this room 

were covered with British photos and memorabilia. I just loved it all!

Lunch was absolutely delicious as was our pot of tea. I highly recommend

the veggie quiche!

Each tea cup is a little different. Mine was a very pretty blue flower

design. I didn't ask for my favorite color, it was just given to me!

Sharon and I were all smiles during the whole visit to this

sweet cafe!

A few days later I was doing some thrifting and was inspired to

purchase this cute little teapot and the saucer to display on the

foyer table. It makes a very simple "in between" display for early

March. I say in between because Valentines is over and it's still

a bit early for Easter decor. I don't usually do much in the way

of decorating for St. Patrick's Day, but since the teapot and saucer

contain green that would fit the bill for St. Patrick's Day decor.

And next to the foyer table is our front door with the flower

basket and butterfly hanging on it. Again, a kind of "in between" look

for March. 

This past Sunday I was blessed to be able to bring the message and

worship with the lovely folks at Tabernacle Methodist Church in 

Swannanoa. 

This was the second time I was invited to bring the message here. This

is such a sweet, historical church with a small congregation. They

are always so kind and welcoming. This church reminds me of the one 

I attended during my growing up years. 

And, finally, a few individual photos of lovely things that I just feel

like sharing......

This beautiful frozen waterfall with sun rays hitting it that The Mr.

snapped a photo of during one of his recent hikes. 

These beautiful window toppers that my friend, Sharon, created by

hand for her living room. She is so very talented! The fabric material and 

colors are just gorgeous.

This sweet photo of Cassie that The Mr. took recently. She is such a beautiful girl!

My blue/green butterfly necklace that I enjoy wearing with a 

favorite blue sweater. 

The necklace was a gift to me from my AIG group when I 

retired eight years ago. I know! Can you believe that I have

been retired for eight years already?! Where has time gone?!

And, finally, a picture of the British style phone booth in front of the 

cafe where we dined. Isn't that a fun thing to have on display?

I really hope you have enjoyed a "this and that" type post on the blog

today. And I truly hope that you have smiled as you looked at the photos. That is my goal. To bring a smile to your face today. 

I'll be back again with more from Debbie Styles Life. In the meantime,

take good care of yourselves!

Until Next Time,

Debbie This and That