~** Happy 4th Of July **~

Hope you all have a wonderful day planned. We're heading off to the beach for a day of sun, sand & waves. It's not often the four of us all have the same day off together so I'm looking forward to some time together!
Friends might go with us, still waiting for their daughter's softball schedule. If they go it will give her and I time to catch up and have some girl talk, sounds wonderful!! If they can't I'm hoping that book stores are open today because I'm on the hunt for a magazine my mom used to get called "True Story". Wonder if it's still published?? I grew up with that magazine coming every month. My mom was an avid reader & always had a book going...it's how she spent her first quiet moments of the morning...a cup of coffee in one hand and her book in the other.
The magazine was a collection of short love stories, hoping they still have it! I'd be more than happy to lose myself in sappy love stories for a couple of hours  :o)
 Packing up some turkey, bacon,cheddar, leaf lettuce & tomato sandwiches, chips, watermelon, grape & strawberry salad, cucumber spears & dip and I'm cheating with some store bought cookies!! Wish I could take my coffee pot to the beach....I'll have to make due with iced tea! My plan is little cooking...no cleaning!!
We went to see fireworks last night. There's a wonderful 50's themed diner-ice cream place by the beach where we park to watch the show put on by our local amusement park. Ice cream & fireworks on a warm summer night, what says summer more than that?
Took a few quick pictures of some of my garden displays. My home is very neutral in color inside, I love beiges, browns & blacks, but outside I love to use splashes of red and carry an Americana theme.

Bench display on the end of my front porch. Check out the Bee Skeps...I made these this weekend, they are so expensive but I've always wanted some for my garden so I plotted, planned & here they are! I'll be sharing these in pattern/direction form in the future for you!

Side door display. This door will be painted the same barn red as my front door. These steps are in desperate need of painting!! The flag on the ladder was my husbands parents, he found it in the attic...old & worn just the way we like it!!

Very simple display on a small table on my back deck, I want to add some white daisies to the jar with the flags.

Bench display on my back deck. I have collected a few of these blue mason jars and although I love them I just didn't like them in my kitchen. I decided to use them outside and really like the way they are pulling things together......I have a few "rustic primitive" pieces like this tray too that I've decided to bring outdoors. The inside of my house is more of a colonial feel but I didn't want to give up any of these things and have found that I love the way they work outside. I found the coolest solar lids for these jars but am waitinf for a sale as they are WAY too expensive.

This still needs something in the right front corner, thinking a trailing ivy plant in a terra cotta pot.
 I have the cutest display I'm working on that I'll be using next to my pool, I found a picture of a prairie dress that someone used as a "scarecrow" in their flowerbed...cute!! I painted a birdhouse I already had the red that is the color of my front door & am going to wrap grapevine around the pole. the dress will go next to it and I'm going to plant some white shasta daisies, blue salvia and hosta in the bed underneath & accent with a small bench & potted plants.....I'll post when it's finished!!

I'd like to extend a big Thank You to all the men and women who have dedicated their lives to our country. We have the freedom and blessings of this country because of them. Wish they could all  spend the day with their families and friends as we will....their sacrifice is our safety. God bless them all past, present & future!!

Enjoy your day...indulge in too much picnic food, some fireworks & hopefully a little relaxation!!
  ~Kriss~