Kinda Rustic!

It's time to play on our tables again! Just like a little kid, I am excited!

I have had these little brown pottery plates (could they be salad or dessert?) and stemmed cups for a few months now. I bought them from an antiques ship in Roxie which was more like a junk shop really, but I like them. I kept them inside a cloche for a while until I decided to do a tablescape with them.

Using hobnail plate chargers, Pavillion by Princess House dinner plates, I layered the rustic smaller plates and cups on top.

I added small birdcages all around, which are actually place card holders. They are from Willow House.

I thought my bone handled flatware will go well with the rest.

Rustic looking bird napkin holders

The tea light candle holders are also from Willow House (formerly Southern Living at Home)

I alternated the bird napkin rigns with this rustic angel wings.

Linking with our ever gracious hostesses

Susan's Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Sherry's Open House party at http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

Sherry's Home Sweet Home Friday at http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Thanks all!

Sightseeing and Snorkeling in Cozumel

If you stopped by for a visit last week, you would know that we took a short Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Triumph.

We arrived in Cozumel at dawn, still dark, but I was just happy to see land after sailing for 2 days.

The tourists are now ready and headed out after breakfast.
The port is always lined with shops but we could not stop because we were running late for our excursion. We will hit those stores when we get back.

We signed up for a Buggy ride and Snorkeling in Punta Sur. Unfortunately, Punta Sur beach was not clear so they took us to Chankanaab for snorkeling and promised to take us to Punta Sur at the end to swim. This was our blue buggy and guess what! It's a stick shift and John has not driven one for who knows when. So, who ended up driving but me! I have not driven one either for ages but I guess I am more adaptable than him.

My buggy had a problem too which I just discovered when we were already on the road and I could not stop as we were following each other in a group. There was no way I would be left behind in a place where I would not know where to go.

Do I look stressed? Indeed, I was! I did not know AJ took this picture, lol. My seat lock got released so everytime I step on the clutch, my seat gets pushed all the way back and since I am short, my foot cannot reach the break nor the clutch. So, I had to constantly pull myself forward holding on to the steering wheel while driving, and it was not easy because I had to shift gears while stepping on the clutch and I had to pay attention to the buggy in front of me that I was following. Needless to say, I stalled quite a few times.

Mexican beer anyone?

Well, we made it and the tour guide fixed my seat.

Here we are getting instructions from the guide and getting ready to snorkel.

Do you see that school of fish? Amazing! Last time we came to snorkel here, I wasn't able to go because the waves were so strong and I got nervous. The water is very deep. AJ and John went and I wanted John to concentrate on AJ's safety instead of watching both of us.

But this time I was able to go and I had a lot of fun snapping photos here and there, mostly of AJ cause she kept doing tumbles under the water.

After snorkeling, we went to the Crocodiles Zone to look at crocodiles in the wild. Do you see that one in the last picture of the mosaic?

John is so stylish, NOT! LOL! AJ and I always say we will hide that gray and red shirt because he wears it all the time, even if the shorts do not match. It's his favorite. Notice the bird flying over his head.

There were iguanas everywhere.

a small Mayan ruin

Then we drove to the lighthouse. And yes, my buggy seat lock got released again. This buggy driving was really stressful because of my seat problem. AJ helped by pushing the seat forward from behind from where she was sitting.

We headed for the lighthouse.

There were 156 steps to the top of the lighthouse so John and I stayed down and went shopping instead. AJ took pictures from the top.

Then, off we drove again, this time to Punta Sur Beach to eat and swim.

We found t shirts saying "Peepee Station" so we bought one for each of John's employees. So appropriate since he is a Urologist, lol. Chicken fajitas and chips with cheese were served, but John and I could only eat the chicken cause we were still on strict diet then.

Here is the beach. I did not swim, I just watched AJ.

Off we went again, this time back to the port. My seat problem never got resolved. The tour guide will fix it when I am parked but everytime I go through a bump, the lock releases. Hmmmp! And believe me, there are a lot of bumps on Mexican roads.

Back on the port .

We shopped a little and got tired so we went back to the ship early. I couldn't wait to take a shower.

We had a lot of fun and I am glad I got to share the trip with you.

I am linking with the following memes:

Susan's Outdoor Wednesday at http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Watery Wednesday at http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

and I am very happy to be a part of Laura's new meme, Wayfering Wednesday at http://decortoadore.blogspot.com/2011/07/in-good-ole-summertime.html

Thanks to out hostesses and thank you all for coming!

Another Cloche Party, Egg and Ocean Inspired

It's Cloche Party time again! Thanks to Marty for throwing these parties every season and we are all invited to join the fun. To visit Marty's site and see more creative cloches, click on the cloche banner on my side bar.

I have 2 domes with similar sizes and and I have a decorative brass scale. I tried fitting the domes on each weighing tray and they fit perfectly so I thought I would use them and decorate inside them. And here's the outcome! I just took 2 small busts and took the 2 eggs I bought from Russia and Scotland and here goes! Hope you like my little creation.

It's on our family room coffee table.

Next I took a cheese dome and just placed different types of shells in it. Placed that on the shortest nesting table in the family room. I also added a turquoise glass bucket filled with shells in there.

A few collection of raw gems and natural stones in a glass box and an amber egg in a small cloche.

I have a small wooden "Stations of the Cross" that I bought from Rome in the early 90's. It reminds me of my father because it was the last time I traveled with him before he passed away and he bought something similar too. I placed it in a cloche with a small Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I created a religious grouping adding the 2 religious eggs I bought from Russia, inside the TV armoire in the master bedroom.

I am having a BBQ/swimming birthday party for my mom and friend this Saturday and the theme will be ocean side so I created this wire cloche with a light house and mermaid and added rocks and shells.

Hope you enjoyed my cloche creations. I have been busy so I wasn't able to create much. My granddaughter AJ spent the last 3 weeks with us and just flew back home yesterday. I still have a lot of cleaning up to do. I had forgotten how messy it gets with a 12 year old in the house, lol.

And here's my little traveler as I said goodbye to her at the New Orleans airport. I miss her already. It was our 8th trip to and from New Orleans in 1 month, lol.

Thank you, Marty, for another fun cloche party and thanks to y'all for stopping by.

Fun in New Orleans!

Last weekend, we went to New Orleans for 4 days for hubby's medical meeting. I have both my mom and my granddaughter AJ with me so we had to take them. I know we would be doing a lot of walking so we brought a wheelchair for ma, if not, we would be walking very slowly.

The meeting was at Roosevelt Hotel. I love their door and portico. We stayed at Marriott's Renaissance which was just around the corner and it was right next to a Jesuit church, Immaculate Conception. The location was so convenient that we were able to attend mass twice while we were there. It is also very pretty and so I took a lot of pictures inside. I will share them on one of future Sightseeing Saturdays.

I am linking with

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Scenic Sunday at http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/


Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday at
http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/

And here is my contribution, a shadow shot of St. Anthony's Garden, behind St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, Louisiana. The statue casts a magnified shadow of Jesus Christ onto the cathedral at nighttime!

The first day of the meeting, AJ, ma and I took a walk and came across this spa. AJ and Igot a massage and it felt so good. New Orleans is a very busy place and there were so many people walking around.

The shops are very colorful. I think we entered every shop downtown, trying on masks and hats.

My mom will be 93 on the 24th of this month. Doesn't her skin look so good. She hardly have any wrinkles. Must have been all that moisturizing cream she always asked us to buy for her when she was younger.

John has a lunch break every noon so we always

strolled the French Quarter with him too. I love this Hotel Monteleone building. I think it is on St. Charles where the antique stores are.

Do you see the horse post where I am posing? They were used in the olden times to tie their horses there when they park.

The supreme court building is quite impressive too.

You can pretty much wear anything there. And do pretty much anything too!

Lots of pantomimes around trying to make money from tips. They reminded me of those at the Ramblas in Barcelona. How can I ever forget that place when John was pickpocketed there?

They still have horse carriages and cable cars. And one night John and I were walking around, we saw a bunch of cops in horses and also in police cars. We later on found out that there were 2 poeple shot at random. That's one reason we do not take AJ and ma with us at night. We leave them at the hotel. New Orleans is fun but is still is a high crime area.

Harrah's casino

Nope, we did not gamble, just passed by.

Window shopping the antiques stores. I like these dishes but not for $8000.

Bling everywhere! I love the chandy with a big crystal ball hanging. Vanna, are you looking? I took these pics for you!

I took AJ to the Aquarium. I took a lot of pictures inside but I will share them on another Saturday.

St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square is the oldest continual operating Catholic cathedral in US.


Cafe du Monde is famous for their beignets and coffee.

AJ was hungry so we stopped to eat
in a cute little cafe right on St.Charles St. next to the Supreme Court.

Still on a high protein diet, John and I both

ordered crawfish omelet and they were really
good.

AJ also ordered beignets. I had 2 bites. I know! I know, I cheated. But you cannot NOT have beignets when you are in New Orleans, lol. They were so good. I wish I was allowed to eat all of at least one. As you can see, the tray got emptied pretty fast.

The Natchez Riverboat is parked right on the Mississippi River. The ticket line was very long. Don't you think we should have one like this in Natchez? It existed in the olden times and I think they are trying to bring it back.

John spotted some street musicians. He brought ma close to be serenaded and she really enjoyed it clapping her hands while they were singing to her.

I did not buy anything in the antique shops. John spotted something he likes and he was thinking he would pay up to $200 for it. When he checked the tag, it was like $3600, lol. You see why we did not buy anything? Their prices were too high.

However, I bought a teapot with fleur de lis on it and a matching salad plate (intending to use it as a tray for the pot or for serving dessert) and a set of 2 cups and saucers. I also bought some veggie ceramic napkin rings.

Sorry for the picture quality. I used my small digital camera because I did not want to walk around with a chunky one.

I love their window planters. They remind me of London.

More pictures of stuff in antique shops to share with you.

On our way home, we passed by the dome. if you remember, during Hurricane Katrina, this is where most people evacuated to but then the water went so high that it took a long time before the people were rescued.


Thank you so much for stopping by and going on a New Orleans trip with us.