I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot
George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Sitting Room Garden "Hearth" and "Hidden" Storage

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

I hope Blogger has fixed the issue of pictures disappearing because I held off doing this post.....

So here goes nothing.....

So far, I do not see any missing pictures from this post.....

Please let me know if you do.....

Today I will be sharing the "Hearth" are of my faux "Fire Place" in the Sitting Room......

But first, I want to Thank these bloggers who chose my post,Word of the Month for April, HOPE! ,
as one of their features from last week's Linky parties......

Thanks, Richella over at Imparting Grace, for featuring my post, from last week's Grace at Home Linky party!!!
 Thanks so much, Richella!!!

I want to Thank the authors of Create with Joy, for choosing the same post, as one of their features from last week's Inspire Me Monday Blog Party!!
  I also want to thank them for their kind words about the post!!

And Thanks to Angie, over at God's Growing Garden, for choosing my post  as one of her features from last week's Tuesdays with a Twist Linky party!!!
 Thanks so much, Angie!!

Please stop by and link up to this lovely parties!!!

A few Personal Updates.....

Joe finally decided on what he chose using the Gift Card that our oldest son, Joey, gifted him for Christmas from NHL.com.......

This is what Joe chose......
 His favorite Pittsburgh Penguins players and of course, Himself!!!!

Barna, #1 Draft Pick!!!
 Now, as a joke, he replaced one of the pictures on my Gallery Wall going up the steps.....
Very funny!!!

But SO not happening!!!

Soon, I will be sharing how I had to rearrange his ENTIRE Pittsburgh corner in the Master Bedroom.....
  And how his Collection now expanded over to this wall in my very Victorian Master Bedroom.....
 It turned out to be what I call a Snow Ball project.....kept getting bigger like a snow ball rolling down a hill!!!

On the weekend, Joe decided to trim the Lilac Tree in our back yard that was pushing our back fence forward.....
He cut the smaller branches off with the Tree Pruner....
Here is where I got scared!!!
Yes, he is up on a step stool!!!!
Now, I did tell him to move all the garden things out of his way but did he listen......
NO!!!

Surveying the situation.....
 Apparently, he did not think it would be easier if he had moved all those things out of the way!!!
Oh No!! Out comes the saw!!!
 I was waiting for him to fall and get impaled by that arrow!!!!
 I told him that if that happened , I was in no way going to take him to the ED since he had not listened to me!!!
Peek a Boo!!
Success!!!
And this project also turned into yet another Snow Ball project as I saw more branches that could be cut off!!!
Finally, all done!!!
Looks good from the Sitting Room window upstairs.....

This is why I say that our back yard is our Secret Garden.......
 Because with the trees and the lattice on the fence, no one can really see into our yard and especially not when we are sitting out on the Patio!!

When I was upstairs taking this picture, I noticed a Blue Jay in the Lilac Tree......
He then flew over to my neighbor's fence......
 We have lots of birds in the yard because of the Trees.....

And that's it for my Personal Notes for this post......

 I decorate the upstairs Sitting Room in a garden theme for the Spring and Summer months.....
In my last post, I shared my Fairy Garden Mantel in the Sitting Room.....
Click HERE if you missed it.....
I also mentioned that when I saw this piece of furniture in my MIL' s neighbor's house, I immediately envisioned a " Fire Place'!!!!
And this is what I turned it into.......
This is how the "hearth" area is decorated this year........
I took the doors off and removed the shelf from the middle section and then painted it black inside......
I placed an old Home Interiors mirror in the back......
Hanging from white porcelain knobs are 2 ornaments........
 A Seed packet ornament ......
And a Fairy ornament.......
On top of a large white lantern.......
Is a pretty toadstool........
The lights are a set of battery operated dragonfly lights from Dollar Tree......

On each side of the large lantern......
Are planters I made from these.......

2 Thomas Kinkade pots that I bought many years ago at The Christmas Tree Shop for $1.00 each!!!
I then spray painted these wooden candlesticks, bought at Salvation Army for $1.00, white......
And used my favorite glue, E 6000, to adhere them to each other.......
And filled the pots with some greenery.......

I clipped a pink Butterfly ornament, bought after Christmas one year, to the greenery......
  Hanging on the side door knobs are Garden plaques bought at Dollar Tree......
In the middle, is a large white lantern that was part of a set of 2 that a neighbor of ours left behind in their yard after they moved.....
Joe asked the owner of the house ( he rents it out) for the lanterns who gladly handed them over.....

I cleaned ( scrubbed) them up and put them to good use.......
I have a Bird's Nest filled with pretty yellow eggs and a set of fairy lights inside the lantern.....

On each side of the lantern are Dollar Tree birds set on top of inverted clay pots.....

And this is what this part of the fire place looks like decorated for this Spring and Summer season......
Usually, I have a piece of lumber that I covered with peel an stick floor tiles placed in front to finish off the "hearth" look.......
With my Teddy Bear Tea Party set up on it........
But these are all packed away down at our Storage Shed because since our son, Joey is staying with us now for the duration of the health crisis, he is using this room for his clothes and other belongings and I did not want him to trip over this........

So this is how my faux fireplace is decorated for this Spring/Summer Season......
This Sitting Room is where I store all my Decorating books and magazines along with the books that I would like to eventually read once I find time.....

I found the storage provided in this piece of furniture was perfect for storing my old decorating magazines!!!
Magazine holders, that I have bought at yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets, fit on these shelves behind the side doors, perfectly!!
Now over the past year since I stopped working, I have gone through and weeded out a lot of these magazines......
But these are the ones that I will keep as long as I can......
The Country Victorian magazine holder is empty because I have moved them downstairs to look through........
I rotate the magazines that I keep downstairs in the Living Room and Den to look through when watching TV.....
I always thought that this piece of furniture was a Martini Bar......
The shelves on each side could have stored stemware and the shelf that was originally in the middle could have easily been used to store liquor bottles......

And I could see this top shelf that opens up this way, being used as an area to mix drinks......
I have stored quite a few photo albums that I need to go through and re-organize, putting the pictures in acid free containers that I recently bought.......
So I think I have made good use of the storage that this piece provides.....
You may have noticed this on the left side.......
I will very soon be switching out the magazines that I keep downstairs for these Garden and Porch/Patio magazines.......
And one other thing I want to share today is the Garden wreath on the door that I made a few years back.........
I like to hang wreaths on all my interior doors........
 In my next post, I will be sharing my Garden Tea Table in the Sitting Room.......
So I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......
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 SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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 MONDAY 
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Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
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11 comments:

  1. Sandi@ Rose Chintz CottageApril 22, 2020 at 10:49 AM

    Hello Debbie! I haven't been by in such a long time; sorry! I had been sick and I also lost my beloved brother in March, so I wasn't blogging a lot. Anyway, things are getting better.
    Your Joe certainly took a chance on the stepstool. I'm glad he didn't have an accident. Now my hubby is all about safety and I'm so glad. I have enough accidents for the two of us combined. But that is my body's fault. It doesn't always cooperate with me.
    It must be lovely to have your own secret garden where you can sit out and enjoy the garden without everyone seeing you. We are not supposed to have fences in our neighbourhood although two of them do. What a great piece you made out of the bar! I am ashamed to say that our photograph albums are limited to my boys' baby pictures. I have pictures that need to be put into albums and that will be a project for down the road in the wintertime. I hope you and your family are staying well. Hugs...Sandi

    ReplyDelete
  2. mamasmercantileApril 22, 2020 at 1:24 PM

    Must admit my heart was in my mouth with Joe on the steps trying to cut the tree back. Glad to see he was safe and well. What an amazing collection of magazines you have and such a good idea to rotate them. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Miss MerryApril 22, 2020 at 3:19 PM

    Your magazine storage is so pretty! I love your secret garden. We will need to do something in our yard for this summer. We have new neighbors who are very irritating and I need more privacy than my picket fence provides. I am thinking of attaching 4x8 lattice panels together to form an 8 x 8 square and screwing them to the fence posts. I am hoping they will be abducted by aliens at some point and I could take the lattice down. Love your Blue Jay!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kim | Shiplap and ShellsApril 23, 2020 at 1:50 PM

    I just love your garden wreath Debbie! It's so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AbbyApril 23, 2020 at 2:15 PM

    Love the lilac tree it's going to be gorgeous all leaved out! And great storage idea for your magazines, a gorgeous transformation!
    Thank you for the heads up on the pictures, I think I've resolved it :/
    Abby, from Abby's Way

    ReplyDelete
  6. Judy at GoldCountryCottageApril 24, 2020 at 3:39 PM

    Hi Deb. Men!!! How many times do we have to tell them. Mine does the same thing only on a much higher ladder. Everything is looking pretty for spring and summer. I really haven't done much of anything yet. I miss my shelf over the sofa which I could change up for different seasons. Now, that it isn't there I think I might have to put it back up. I can't believe all the storage you have for your magazines. So much better than boxes under the bed! UM, wonder who does that?! Take care and stay well my friend..xxoJudy

    ReplyDelete
  7. KathyApril 25, 2020 at 4:31 PM

    I had to smile when I saw Joe's picture among all your pink, pretty daintiness! He is a brave man! I cringed watching him cut down the in branch, on a stepstool, no less. Here in Maine, they call cutting a branch off over your head like that a "widow maker." My late ex explained the term to me while he was using a CHAINSAW, and believe it or not, the branch came down and hit him in the head, just like he had been explaining (no injury, thank God)! Like Judy (above) said, "Men!!!" Loved your gardening wreathe--gave me ideas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble ChristmasApril 25, 2020 at 9:43 PM

      Kathy,
      Thanks so much for al your visits!! I am glad that at least Joe wore safety glasses when cutting those branches...The last time he did not and almost lost an eye!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
      Hugs,
      Debbie

      Delete
  8. My thrift store addictionApril 26, 2020 at 5:41 PM

    You have been busy, busy, Lady! Love your pretty garden wreath--pinned! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!

    ReplyDelete
  9. KimMay 2, 2020 at 8:00 PM

    Thank you so much for joining us at Charming Homes & Gardens Debbie! I so enjoyed you blog post.

    ReplyDelete

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