I recently took some dried herb bundles and made a simple little bouquet. Anyone can dry herbs.......................just snip the herbs and secure with rubber bands into little bunches. Hang the bunches upside down to dry. I do this all summer long so I have a lot of dried herb bundles for crafting. 
..................and marjoram.....................
This is the first year my bittersweet vine has bloomed. 
You must have a male and a female plant growing close together to get the berries on the vine. The berries are covered with these golden pods that pop open to reveal the orange-red berry inside.
That's why there is no picture of the bittersweet vine itself as it is pruned and ready for next year.........................so..............
Aren't these roses just about the most gorgeous 
Wasn't that sweet?
I knew the Paris Flea Markets would be sweet...........................
Just didn't realize how totally sweet!
As soon as I started to focus my camera on this beautiful shop with ivy, this lady came out and stood for the picture.
OMG..........this is such amazing stuff
As soon as the door to our tour van opened we could smell the lovely fresh Lavender...............
We could hear the bees buzzing too.......................such happy bees I'm sure!
A natural French quilt of lavender and green.
This Lavender field has just been harvested the day before we arrived. They leave the bundles in the field to dry. Would have loved to see the harvesters in action.
The Lavender fields in France are a must see. I'm so happy to have experienced the sight and being surrounded by the frangrance of my favorite herb.
Oh well............now on to one of the highlights in Paris.......SACRE COEUR. 
If you ever go to Paris, this basilica is a must see. 
From singing sideshows..................
to a whole square full of artists and their awesome paintings.
Here are the two paintings I bought there...
.....a simple Eiffel Tower 
{my silhouette was hand cut}
and a gorgeous lavender field.
Stay tuned for more Paris/France postings to come.
Next will be about the lavender and sunflower fields in Provence.
I started planning and saving money in 2008 and it is finally here!
We are staying for 12 days in an apartment in the 7th arrondisement just 5 minutes from the Eiffel Tower. 
I'm so excited to see the Provence lavender fields in bloom and be surrounded by the fragrant blooms. 
This past weekend hubby and I went to Gatlinburg TN for his nephews wedding. We stayed in a really nice Chalet up in the mountains. There were three chalets all together as the wedding party stayed in one, the bride's family in one, and the groom's family (us) in another. We had a super fun time. Here is one of the living rooms in the chalet
It was way too hot for a fire in the fireplace as it got up to 97 degrees!
Something always goes wrong when there is a wedding...right? The groom is in this vehicle that ended up with a tire off the roadside. There's hubby and some other guys trying to get the tires back on the road. They finally managed and the other front tire was smoking as the driver put the pedal to the metal!
The groom made it in time and the wedding was super pretty in a mountainside chapel.
The excitement of the weekend was when this black bear came right up in the yard of our chalet..........
We could not believe how close it came. 
Lucky for us, we were on the second level deck instead of the first level one or we could have been eaten alive!
It was a bear of a wedding weekend!
PINK FIREWORKS
I have no idea what variety of climbing rose this is as I bought a tiny start at a yard sale a few years ago.
Last year I whacked the rose canes way back and cleaned out all the dead ones and this year it is thanking me with this beauteous show.
I must admit though that every year I get really upset with this climbing rose...............upset that the blooms don't last nearly long enough!!!!
I've so enjoyed the fresh asparagus this year and never tire of those delicious green stalks.
I don't have a favorite asparagus cooking method...........................any way is OK with me.
YUMMO
I'm really excited to see all the creative gardening ideas. Mine involves decorating with plates and shells.
Both are super cheap to find at yard sales, flea markets, and of course, Goodwill. 
The plates have to have a floral design to go in the garden. I've also decorated potted plants with broken plate pieces. As for seashells, they are a super way to fill space in a garden. 
This year I filled my birdbath with shells as I never seem to be able to keep the water clean for the birds.
Now I'm outta here to check everyone else's party post.
HAPPY GARDENING!!!!
When you come to visit you will be greeted by this beautiful front door. 
When I yell, "Come on in...the door is open" you'll reach for this lovely ornate door knob surrounded by the prettiest metal backplate.
I'm glad the wood door has never been painted. I'm not sure what type of metal the knob and backplate are and can't even tell if it was ever painted or has just aged to this beauteous patina.
Does anyone still use a skeleton key? 
We do!
I'm feeling some Front Door Love!
Iris and chives which look like blue and pink in the pic but they are really purple.
The False Blue Indigo is ready to burst with color and more irises.
I'm thinking of making some chive blossom vinegar. It always turns out to be the loveliest shade of pink and looks so pretty in the bottles.
More iris and allium.
Anyway, my favorite purchase of the day is this so adorable vintage key necklace. I got to chatting with Kama,the designer/jewelry artist and discovered she has a blog too! 
I just love my new 'B'!
Can you believe that I saw this creamy white soup tureen, picked it up, put it down, and walked on!?!? I came to my senses an isle over and back-tracked to grap it up! 
I love the way it looks against the red toile in the kitchen.
Also found out the local Goodwill is expanding........
I saw this box and spotted something pink under the carhart hat and the childrens wall hanger. SO I dug deeper in the box and look what was there..................
Large vintage prints of art
A very old book.....Stories of the Bible. 
Another very vintage print
A pristine poster advertisement for the City Market in Indianapolis
More vintage prints and postcards. 
Can you believe your eyes? Look at these vintage linens!!!!
Two pink tablecloths, an unopened box of 4 pink and white hand towels, a white embroidered linen tablecloth, 3 smaller lace and linen doilies and 'His' & 'Hers' hand towels.
What a score!!!!!
Would you believe all this for $5?!?!?!
Thanks hubby for making me go
This year for the first time they featured Parties In Bloom that showcased four themed party vignettes designed with a table, seating, linens and tabletop features.
Love the color scheme here...white, black and yellow........kinda retro modern
LOVE this one..................very chic elegant
This is the one I voted for.
Wouldn't it be awesome to go out your back door and find this beauteous table waiting for you!
I'm getting an early start on Joy's blog party on May 1. She is featured in the soon-to-be-released issue of Artful Blogging magazine.....how special is that? 
She knows that I also love New York City and the times I've traveled there that is all I could talk about then!
Please let me know if there is some place in Paris that we must see or any info I can not get from a book!
I had a lot of dried herb and flower bundles that I hadn't done anything with so I decided to frou-frou up this left-over Christmas wreath. The wreath was made with pine and boxwood and had been hanging in the 'manwood' room since the holidays.
I used lavender, marjoram, and a few hydrangea blooms...all dried from last years garden.
I didn't realize the wreath was actually a teardrop shape until I hung it in the kitchen. 
Hartford City, Indiana is my hometown...
Since I only live a block away from it, I hear the clock bell in the tower ring. The bell rings one tone for every hour {one tone for one o'clock, two tones for two o 'clock, etc} so I especially love it when working out in the gardens as it helps me keep my time.
This is the old City Hall and Fire Station. 
My parents were married in this church 50 years ago 
This bouquet will brighten up a shelf in the bathroom this winter.
