GOLDILOCKS IN THE GARDEN

Lysimachia, commonly known as Goldilocks (in the container with the plates and the flag; close-up in the top photo). It's growing fast! It started out this summer in one of those little 4" containers! I've never had any before and am pleasantly surprised---it's doing really well both here at my back door and also at my front entry; I read that it's a heat loving plant and I guess being in this Texas heat works for it!

Your 6 Favorite Spices???

I love reading your comments! Thank you, my blog friends! Nola really got me thinking with her comment to my previous post "Spice Girl!" ( http://dreamsanddecor.blogspot.com/2008/07/spice-girl.html ) . In all the time I've had those vintage spice sets, I never noticed what most of us now would consider an odd choice of spices. Guess those were the spices they used a lot back in the day! What are your 6 favorites that you would include in a spice set today? Right now, mine would be 1) Ground White Pepper (I started using it a few months ago, mostly in vegetables or on baked potatoes, just for something different), 2) Cinnamon (My favorite spice of all time! I'm very addicted to Cinnamon---I eat it in my morning oatmeal, in cold cereal, put it in pastries, add a little in chocolate cake batter, in hot chocolate--in the winter, in cookies......), 3) Ground (Cayenne) Red Pepper (love it in chili, stews, ground beef dishes), 4) McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Chicken (I know, that's a combination of spices! Can't help it---I love it! I use it all the time on chicken breasts in my Foreman grill. I recommend the version with 25% less sodium), 5) Garlic Powder (if not using fresh garlic, then I at least add some to almost everything, except sweets, and 6) Lemon Pepper (I use it all the time in the summer on sliced tomatoes!). What are your favs?

Spice Girl!

I heart vintage spice jar sets! Above are my favorite set! Don bought me these years ago! (There's also a Cinnamon; I was trying to take a close-up & didn't realize he didn't make the photo.) These little spicy chefs hang in our kitchen.....and right below hang these vintage white and yellow ones: I've had these for so long, I don't remember where I got them, which is unusual for me! I also love pansies and these have yellow & burgundy pansies on them!

Scenic Tyler, Texas

Went to Tyler, Texas this past Spring '08 for a little weekend get-away. The scenery was amazing! We love old homes, so of course we had to drive around and look at all the historic houses, which were so beautiful.

We had the good fortune of being there during the Azalea trails----something we had not planned--we were just pleasantly surprised!!!

The azaleas were gorgeous, but so was the other landscaping! In spite of everything else we did while in Tyler, I think we had the most fun driving around looking at the beautiful homes and yards! And I wanted to share my photos with you......

TESTING FLICKR PHOTOS

vintage blue green pin, originally uploaded by pk studio.

Love vintage jewelry, especially pins!

I've been researching how to get larger photos on my blog and read that if you use Flickr, it will automatically bring it over to your blog in a larger size. So, I'm trying it here. It certainly is larger than my other photos. I noticed when you double-click on the photo, it now takes you to Flickr, which I haven't noticed on other people's blogs. (Is that good or bad?) It was very easy to do & even let me write the text in Flickr, then I went into my blog to adjust the text size/color. I noticed it put the photo name and my Flickr name under the photo. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks for any help; as you can see, I'm new to blogging! Hope everyone's been having a great weekend!

FIREWORKS!

Fireworks at the spectacular Las Colinas 4th of July display! We had a great family get-together last night at my brother's apartment, including a cake & gifts for Jordan, who just turned 18. Gloria called from Colorado to tell us all hello! We then moved the party outside for the fireworks. Thanks, Keith, for the fun party! I took the "squiggly" picture shown first and Dad took the rest of the photos. Thanks, Dad!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Edited 7/5/08 to add: By the way, I meant to mention that this cute patriotic display is at Mom & Dad's house.