Steel and Roses

A few days ago, I went to one of my favorite places in my town – the Rose Garden. Usually, I walk between the neat rows admiring and smelling the roses. But this time, I had a different scheme.

I walked on the perimeter of the garden exploring the roses that grow by the steel fence. Some of the sights were just stunning. There was something magical and dreamy about the steel and rose combination. The mightiness and coldness of the steel bars and the loveliness and fragility of the roses balanced each other so well.

I wonder how come the idea of exploring the steel fence never occurred to me before. It’s really worthwhile seeing.





This week, I'm joining Claudia at Dipity Road for Friday Finding Beauty.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Handmade Monday: A Little Dress for a Sweet Little Girl

A friend of mine recently had a newborn. Her little girl is so sweet and precious. I wanted to make something just as sweet for her. I searched the Internet and found lots of knitting and crocheting patterns of baby girl clothes.

After some deliberation, I decided to try crocheting a dress. I chose a somewhat easy pattern and got to work. However, it didn’t go smoothly. Somehow the dress came out much smaller. After completing half of it, I had to tear it apart and start all over. The second attempt wasn’t successful either. And only the third attempt brought the desired results.

The tiny buttons that I used for the dress I bought a few months ago at Joann’s Fabrics. The store was moving to a new bigger location and they had a good sale there. I bought several sets of five buttons for only twenty-five cents each. At that moment I had no idea what I would use the buttons for, but I knew that some day they would be useful.



Now it is your turn. Do you have anything handmade to tell us about? Please link below. If you are joining Handmade Monday for the first time, the guidelines are here.

Gerbera Daisies

I always associate summer with flowers. Sadly, this month there aren’t many flowers in my garden to admire. That means I need to find other places full of pretty blooms; for example, city parks.

In one of them, I found a lovely flower bed of gerbera daisies. I didn’t expect gerberas at this time of year; I thought they bloom in early spring. But I was glad to find them.

As I took a closer look, I noticed other creatures admiring them too. I love this picture of an orange gerbera daisy with a praying mantis.



And this one with a bee is cute too.



Here are a couple more pictures of gerbera daisies. It’s funny how the mantis and the bee chose the most beautiful ones to sit on.





I am joining Macro Flowers Saturday.



Have a great weekend!

Handmade Monday: Baby Bits

This week for Handmade Monday I want to show two baby articles that I made about a year and a half ago when I was expecting my son.



This cross-stitch needle work hangs on the wall in his room. It was one of those kits that come with cross-stitch fabric, threads, and pattern. The cute little boy with the lamb caught my attention right away. I thought that picture was perfect for a little boy’s room.



The other article is a knitted blanket. It was the first (and the only one so far) blanket that I made. Basically, I just knitted a big rectangle. Little did I know about making baby blankets! Now, after being in use for more than a year, the blanket has completely lost its rectangular shape and turned into some imperfect polygon. But it is still soft and cuddly, and those are the characteristics my son cares about.
Below is a picture of my cutie-pie (when he was about three months old) all snuggled up in his blanket.



The guidelines for Handmade Monday are here. You are very welcome to link your handmade items or DIY projects bellow. I cannot wait to see them.

Have a great week!

How Does the Garden Grow? July

My garden is not at its best this month (the reason being the hot weather), but it’s doing all right.



I recently harvested my garlic. They aren’t very big or pretty, but homegrown and organic.




My tomatoes look nice and healthy. And my cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen.



At this point, there are no flowers in my garden suited for bouquets, but there are still some blooming plants that cheer the eye.



For instance, these little flowers are so delicate and pretty. Last year, I didn’t notice how beautiful they were. But this summer I’m loving the lilac color, so I paid closer attention to them.



And here are a couple pictures of white flowers. I love white any season.





I am joining Tootsie for Fertilizer Friday. Can't wait to see other gardens this weekend.

Handmade Monday: The First One Ever

I cordially welcome you to the first ever Handmade Monday.

For the past few months, I’ve posted about handmade items my mom made. Among them were two summer tops. Today, I am very excited to show a summer top that I made myself.



Let me tell you the story of this lilac top. The upper part of it is knitted, and the bottom lacy part is crocheted. It took me about eight months of work just to find out that I didn’t have enough yarn. Bellow is the picture of the pattern (from a Russian magazine), which I used.



It’s more of a beach robe to wear on top of a swimming suit. But I thought that it would look well on top of a tank top and a skirt too, so I intended my top to be much longer. But not having enough yarn (my mom brought me that yarn from a trip to Ukraine) and not being able to find anything even close, I had to make my top much shorter. It’s a pity; I’m sure it would’ve looked much better if was longer. I didn’t follow the pattern precisely for two reasons. First, I didn’t have the exact kind of yarn as in the pattern. Second, I have a bigger size than the one in the pattern. As a result, my top looks significantly different. I also decided not to add the fluffy balls on the upper part.

I enjoyed working on this top very much even though I had to tear it twice and begin again. It was a long but pleasant process.

Bellow is the pictures of what it looks like on me. With a new lilac top, even my decade old shoes got a second chance to life (so what if they are out of style! I don’t really follow the fashion).



If you would like to join me for the Handmade Monday, the guidelines are here. I’m linking my own post just to see if the inlink is working.

I wish everyone a wonderful beginning of the week.

New Plates and Spinach Salad with Cherries

I have two things on the agenda today – I want to show off my new salad plates and share a spinach salad recipe.

I bought four (they didn’t have more) of these green salad plates from a thrift store for only 49 cents each. They are not vintage ones but plain, made in China kind. Nevertheless, I liked them and especially their price. I love green, so I’m trying to collect inexpensive items for a green tablescape.

The spinach salad that I recently tried looked great on my new plates. And it tasted just as good. In the recipe, it says that feta cheese is optional, but in my opinion it makes a big difference. I tried the salad without feta, and it felt like something was missing. Once I topped the salad with feta cheese, it was perfect.

Dressing:
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Dash of black pepper

Salad:
5 cups cleaned torn spinach leaves
1 cup bite-size fresh pineapple wedges
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup thinly sliced red onion
Crumbled feta cheese, if desired

For the dressing, combine oil, vinegar, honey, and pepper in a medium bowl; mix well. For the salad, combine spinach with pineapple, cherries, and onion in a large salad bowl. Spoon dressing over spinach mixture; mix to coat salad with dressing. Serve topped with feta cheese, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

I'm linking to Foodie Friday and Vegetarian Foodie Friday.

Mama Takes a Break

Usually, when my son takes a nap during the day, I spend that time doing the house chores. Today, however, is different. Today I’m taking a little time for myself.
I am going to enjoy the tranquility of the house with a cup of tea and a book about her majesty Rose, which I checked out from the library a few days ago.



For my little tea setting, I am using the doily that I recently crocheted.



This is the only fine tea cup I have. Actually, I have eight of them; they come from the only fine china dining set I have.



It would be nice to have a little sweet treat with the tea. A few Raffaello coconut candies would be perfect.



A red rose from my garden to decorate my little tea setting. It is not as beautiful and perfect as the ones in the pictures in the book, but it is still lovely and smells wonderfully.



I guess I’d better put away the camera and enjoy my tea and the book before my toddler wakes up.

For the first time, I am joining Tea Time Tuesdays at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations and at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor .





Also, if you like handmade stuff as much as I do, you might want to check my announcement about Handmade Monday here.

Happy 4th of July!

I was not born in America, and I will never be a real American. But I was privileged to choose this country to be my home. Happy Birthday, America!

And Happy 4th of July to all of you, my dear blog world friends!

California State Capitol, Sacramento

While visiting my mom in Sacramento, I simply could not leave the city without visiting one of my favorite places there – the Capitol.

I had been there a thousand times when I used to live in Sacramento. Yet I could never get tired of this beautiful place.

The Capitol was built in the Neoclassical style between 1861 and 1874. I don’t have a profound knowledge of architecture, but one thing I can tell for sure is that the Capitol is gorgeous. The snow-white building with the 234-feet-high dome looks stunning on the background of clear blue sky.



The interior of the Capitol is just as elegant as its exterior. The Capitol Museum is open to the public free of charge.

On this trip to the Capitol, I didn’t go inside as I was short on time and I had been there before. But I enjoyed a morning walk at the Capitol Park.

Shady fir trees and magnolias surround walks on the front side of the Capitol. On the back side, an alley of orange trees makes a spectacular sight. The park is the home to numerous species of fascinating trees and plants. Bellow is the picture of one of the blooming trees that caught my attention.



There are several monuments throughout the park. Among them are tributes to veterans of Spanish-American War, Civil War, and Vietnam War. There is a monument to everyday heroes – the firefighters and another one to Father Junipero Serra (an important figure in California history) at the park.

And, of course, every beautiful park must have roses. On the opposite side of the park, the World Peace Rose Garden is located. The beautiful fountain in the middle was turned off on the day of my visit. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed the calm and serene atmosphere of the garden.



I love California State Capitol because to me this place represents all the greatness of America, remembering and honoring the past and striving for peaceful and just future.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of California State Capitol. I wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July!

I'm joining Claudia at Dipity Road for Fourth of July edition of Friday Finding Beauty.