~~~The POD is gone!!!~~~~

 HI everyone! We knew they were coming today to get the POD, so Joe went out and tied the Japanese maple tree back as well as possible. They had broken off a BIG limb when they brough the POD so we didn't want any more damage done. Then when they got here, Joe held onto the branch and pulled it away too.

 He was actually worried that they might not be able to life it up, it is FULL and HEAVY!!!!!

 But up in the air it went, thank God.

 And onto the truck bed. Away they went to store it for us til the new house is done. This is a wonderful way to store things for a move! They will deliever the POD to the new house when we say we are ready.

I hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend. We will be working outside, mostly. This house goes on the market on Wed. the 6th. PLEASE keep your fingers crossed that we get a good buyer fast!!! XO, Pinky

~~~Santa in the T-Bird!!!~~~

 This is the Santa that sits in our sleigh on the front porch at Christmas. Sadly, we will be getting rid of the sleigh since we don't have a place for it at the new house. BUT we wanted to keep the Santa so had to transport him to Pat's house. Pat has graciously allowed us to store some things in his basement til the house is ready.

 The best solution was to have him ride in the passenger seat of the T-Bird!!!

 Amazingly, Joe said it didn't seem anyone really noticed when he was riding to Pat's.

 Maybe they just thought I had REALLY gained weight and put on a hat:):) Oh and the beard.....let's not go there:):):) XO, Pinky

~~~Summertime: Front porch and Back Deck!!!~~~

 HI everyone! I hope you all had a fun, long weekend and remembered those who have and are serving our country so that we have our freedom. The weekend isn't just about cooking out and burgers but all about those fallen soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for US! Now, I am linking to "The Great Outdoors Linky Party over at Thistlewood Farms so wanted to show you the front porch and back deck all ready for SUMMER living and dining! We are starting at the front door. I made this wreath, new this year in the spring. I removed the tulips and hyacinths that I had in it and added some imaptiens, because that is what is planted in the pots. This second picture is our front porch.

 The copper pots were a gift from my son several years ago. I love the patina they are acquiring. PLease excuse the empty hook. It now has the hummingbird feeder on it;)

 The black bamboo lanterns on the tables, I purchased last year at Home Goods. It is so nice in the evening to light them and the ones hanging above. It provides a nice welcome for guests or just wonderful ambiance for Joe and I when we sit out there. The pillows on the chairs were purchased at CTS last year. They are SUNBRELLA fabric and were only.....$4.99 each!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't get them in my cart fast enough:):)

 It has been sunny and HOT and humid the last 3 days so I couldn't get a real good picture in some of these shots.

 When I went to plant the spikes I had to plant them off center because the spikes from last year were coming back!!!! That has never happened before and it might be due to our very mild winter! I hope they just grow together and fill in.

 I plant salmon (really wanted ORANGE) and red impatiens in these pots so that it still looks pretty in the Fall! The colors go great with the fall decorations.

 In this pot is impatiens and ivy. I love to have something trailing down.

 This is a fushia. I love them and usually don't have great luck with them but had to try once again:):)

 Now we are moving out to the back deck. I got this wonderful bench at Lowe's 2 years ago. It is metal and has the branch motif. It is so pretty, I just love it.

 The green bench cushion came with it and I added some other green pillows and 2 more of the ones that match the front pillows.

 The table and chairs are all set for eating breakfast, lunch and dinner out here. I LOOOOOVE eating outdoors when the weather is nice. In the morning this is shaded and having breakfast out here and listening to the pond waterfall and the birds is the perfect way to start the day.

 In the corner I have a hibiscus tree. It has wintered over in the house for 2 winters now. I had to cut it back but it is now covered in new growth and hopefully will begin to flower again soon. I also have a gardenia and a ponytail palm here. They were all in the house for the winter.

 In the 2 corners near the house I plant palm trees. I wish I was in a tropical place so I pretend!!!! These past few days have FELT like we were in the tropics though!

 On each side of the bench I have tuberous begonias. As you see, I also have several ceramic frogs sitting around. We have real frogs in the pond so it seems appropriate to have the ceramic ones on the deck.

 This is a white lantana. I have never tried one here before but thought it might trail soon too.

 In these shots you can see the pattern on the bench too.

 Across from the bench is this little table and chairs. There is a dahlia in the pot and a pair of frogs. One is telling the other a secret:):) I think he might be saying, "let's go jump in that pond"!!!!!

 Joe built me window boxes on all the decks the first year we lived here, because we had no yard yet! And, I wanted to plant some flowers. Last year he made new ones and we stained them black. They look so pretty against the color of the house and decks.

So that is the tour of the porch and one deck. We also have a deck off the breakfast room where we grill and one off of our master bedroom. I will show you them in another post. Have a great week everyone!!!!! I will also link to these parties:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Meet Me Monday http://youaretalkingtoomuch.blogspot.com/

Motivated Monday at Be Colorful

Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter

More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home Project

Savvy Homemade Monday at Home Savvy A to Z

Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

It's A Party on Thursday at A Creative Princess

Show and Share on Thursday at Southern Lovely

Open House Party Thursday at No Minimalist Here

Share Your Creations on Thursday at Kristen's Creations

Remodelaholic's Anonymous on Friday at Remodelaholic

Addicts (not so) Anonymous on Friday at Addicted 2 Decorating

Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Sew Darn Crafty Sunday at http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Thanks so much for stopping by! XO, Pinky

~~~ CA RAAAASSSHHHHH!!!~~~

 Well! I thought I would share our mini disaster today!!!! We had a FULL mirror over the double vanity in the downstairs bathroom, but it was cracked. So, we thought we should replace it. We borrowed 2 mirrors that would fit in this space. So, today Joe decided to take the old one down and paint around where the 2 new mirrors would go. He started to take the mirror down but thought maybe it would be too heavy for one person. So, he put the clip back in, ran to the workroom and heard CRASH!!!!!!!

 The mirror had come out of the wall and broken into a ZILLION pieces!!!!

 They were on the bathroom floor, in the closet that Dave is using, in the bar area and even out to the rec room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERY WHERE!!!!!

 So, Joe got most of it up with a dust pan and brush, then I used the shop vac then the central vacuum.

 This is a big recycle bin and it is half full!

 On the bright side: we were going to throw it out anyway so now it is more manageable;):):)

I will show you the new mirrors when Joe gets them hung, he is working on that right now. Thanks for stopping by. XO, Pinky

Continuing the Tour, the master bedroom

 Hi everyone! Today I am continuing to take you through the house as it is staged and ready to sell. Today I am showing you our master bedroom. It is a LARGE room. I will start by showing you how we arrange the furniture in the winter months. The bed and nightstands sit on this wall under the sloped ceiling. There is a sky light directly above the bed in this configuration. It is just out of this shot.

 On the opposite wall  is my dresser. I have taken off the pictures of me and my Mom and the one of the kids. NO personal pictures allowed:):) To the right of the dresser is my jewelry armoire. I got it from Winterthur Museum catalog and love it. Our furniture has asain scenes painted on the fronts and so does the armoire.

 On this wall sits Joe's dresser and a love seat. The love seat is now gone, as you will see down below.

 Do you see the railing outside of our door? That is the bridge that overlooks the living room downstairs. I will show you the bridge in a post later this week.

 So, now we go from this to.....

 This arrangement. The bed is now on the wall that my dresser was on. It is MUCH better for summer, as we are now right under the ceiling fan.

 The table was a gift from my son, the piece on the right is a lantern and the 3 pieces on the left are green pottery.

 My dresser is now where Joe's dresser was. I am so sorry about the darkness of these but it was cloudy and rainy yesterday.

Do you see the picture of Mt. Fugi over the dresser? I also have a PHOTOGRAPH of Mt. Fugi that my FIL took from the cockpit of his plane!!!! He was a pilot all his life.

 We have a small deck under roof right off the bedroom. It is so nice to sit out there in the morning or whenever we have a rain storm!

 I just saw that I missed taking a mask down. SHAME on me!!! I also am supposed to only leave ONE plant over each window. We'll see:):):)

 This chair was out on the bridge but came in here now since the love seat is gone.

 I actually stood on the bed to take this shot cause the loveseat is still sitting in the middle of the room til Joe and Dave can get it down the stairs tomorrow night. This is "keeping it real" folks:):) You can JUST see the edge of the loveseat if you look carefully:):)

We didn't have to do any painting here thank goodness. We actually had recently painted the wall that the bed is on and the rest of the walls are a light tan. Thanks for your visit, I appreciate it and all the comments you leave! XO, Pinky