Tales of the Traveling Tote: Friends and Family Edition

Hello, My Lovelies!  Welcome to my Friends and Family Edition of Tales of the Traveling Tote!  We have not been traveling much recently, only to visit friends and family in Louisiana and Michigan.  We went to Louisiana in December because I was a hostess for our niece's baby shower.  We stayed at the lovely Southern Hotel in Covington, Louisiana, which is one of my very favorite small hotels.

La Countess de Monet loves the Southern Hotel, too.

We visited Covington the first weekend in December, and the Southern was decorated for Christmas.

The gardens surrounding the hotel are so beautiful, even in December.

Our niece Molly

I promise we did not coordinate outfits for the baby shower!

It was nice spending time with Molly and seeing her extended family and friends at the shower.  Molly and Brandon welcomed a baby girl in late January.  Shelley and I had such a nice time, and we love visiting Covington with its quaint shops and lovely restaurants.

In February we visited friends in New Orleans for a Mardi Gras ball and a couple of parties.

The weather was gorgeous while we were in New Orleans.  We stayed by Audubon Park and took a couple of walks around the park.  We loved our walks!

We did just a little shopping this trip, and one of our favorite stores is the Tasc flagship store on Magazine Street.

Tasc is a New Orleans based business that manufactures activewear made out of bamboo.  My son-in-law loves their golf shirts, and I love their yoga pants.  I wear them to my stretch and yoga classes.

One of our favorite Mardi Gras parades is presented by Le Krewe D’Etat, a highly satirical krewe that pokes fun at politics and pop culture.  The male-only krewe is led by a "Dictator" (The Dic) whose identity is kept secret (I kid you not).  We have several friends who are members of this krewe, and they invited us to their den party.  A den party allows revelers to preview the floats before the parade.  Below is one of my favorites.  Keep in mind that no one is safe from this krewe's disdain:  They are equal-opportunity lampooners.

Poor Elmo!  He's on fire!

Last month, I went to Ann Arbor to visit our daughter and son-in-law.  It was a working trip to help them redecorate a special room because:

We are so happy!

We are not really able to take big trips until our home renovation is complete.  We are hoping to get away a little this summer to Lake Martin, and of course I will be flying to Ann Arbor a lot!

As far as our renovation goes, I'm still waiting on one project for the library to be finished, and a couple of tweaks in our kitchen.  I'm hoping that in two weeks both will be DONE!  

The Ferguson people delivered our new bath and bath fixtures for our bathroom today.  The bathroom renovation will start soon, and I'm hoping it goes a little more smoothly than our kitchen.  Our library went extremely well, though.

I have been doing a little bit of gardening.  I planted our giant planters out back, and our New Dawn Rose was spectacular a couple of weeks ago.

Plumbago always performs well in this spot.

Our New Dawn Rose

That's all I have to report for now, but I think I shared some pretty big news!  

We are also giving away this lovely tote:

So please leave a comment here on my blog in order to win!

You must have a Google account to leave a comment on my blog; I do no allow anonymous comments.

Please visit the other participating blogs.  Links are below!

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader (You're here!) 

Until next time...

Blessings!

Ricki Jill

Tales of the Traveling Tote: Friends and Family Edition

Friday, May 15, 2026

Spring Shenanigans

Mirabell Garden

Salzburg, Austria

Happy Monday, My Lovelies!  What have you been up to this spring so far?  We have been traveling, gardening, and celebrating for the most part.  Spring is my favorite season, partly because we start going to the lake more often, and baseball returns. 

In spring, we celebrate Easter, our anniversary, my birthday, and Mother's Day.  

We celebrated Easter in Germany this year, but beforehand we attended a few Easter markets in Prague.  

I will be posting about a travels in the coming weeks.  Here is a little preview of what I'll be sharing:

Prague is beautiful at night.  this is a scene from the Municipal House concert hall and café

Göttweig Abbey, Krems, Austria

Most of the gardening we've been doing has been the grunt work of pruning and shaping trees and shrubs; cleaning retaining walls and patios; and putting out pine straw.  We also planted our containers for spring.  I'll share them once the plants grow a little bit.  

This is our climbing New Dawn rose outside our dining room and my art studio.

I haven't been doing much decorating indoors lately.  But I have been repotting houseplants and bringing in a few blooms.

Kalanchoe and campanula 

Our daughter Shelley loves to go to antique shops, vintage stores, and flea markets.  Lately she's asked me to tag along with her, and look what I found in excellent condition and at a very good price:

It's a MacKenzie-Childs storage box.  I use it to hold my many spools of ribbon in the art studio.

I also found this beautiful 1972 illustrated edition of Black Beauty.  Isn't the cover gorgeous!  It has beautiful black and white and color illustrations inside.  

This book is in excellent condition.  I love books with pretty covers like this!

Shelley is very good at finding beautiful things.  She can enter a huge warehouse and literally find the three prettiest things in there.  I'm impressed that she has such a great eye, but she gets it honestly from her grandmother who owned an antiques store in New Orleans.

We've been to Lake Martin a couple of times so far this spring.  A gander was following me everywhere because I like to feed the turtles, and apparently geese love turtle food.  The following weekend, he brought his entire family including his wife and eight goslings.  I recently posted a reel on Instagram if you'd like to see it.  Please use the link below and follow me.  I will follow you back.

A gaggle of goslings

Lake Martin, Alabama

I've been involved in my regular art class this spring and a class at church.

Our class at church is based on this book:  The Friendship of Women by Joan Chittister.

In my art class I finally finished the realism colored pencil book.  It took me a little over a year to complete.  My last drawing is featured below.  I am currently painting with oil paints again.  :D

I've seen beautiful art this spring, and one of the best museums we visited was the Albertina in Vienna.  The painting, below, is inspiring me.  I'd like to try my hand at pointillism. 

Paul Signar (1863 - 1935)

"Venice, the Pink Cloud"

1909

Albertina, Vienna

I've been visiting friends and going on outings with them this spring.  It's been nice getting reacquainted with childhood friends who've moved back home to Alabama.  They have been blessings to me!

A friend and I enjoyed decadent slices of chocolate cake in celebration of my birthday.

The General

Birmingham, Alabama

I got a new desktop computer.  My old one had issues, and my laptop completely crashed.  Right now I'm not planning on replacing my laptop because I am LOVING my new desktop so, so much!  Now that my computer frustrations are behind me (let's hope they stay there) I'm planning to blog more than I have been.

I've been reading a lot this year, and on Friday I will share my three favorite books of 2024 so far in my Literary Friday post.  Please come back and read it because all three would make fantastic beach and/or lake reads!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Spring Shenanigans

Monday, May 6, 2024

July and August Update

 

Happy Monday, My Lovelies!  Is it hot in your neighborhood?  It sure is hot here in Central Alabama! 

I guess y'all wonder where I've been because I haven't blogged since June!  I have been traveling a little to visit family and friends.  I was able to spend eleven days at Lake Martin at the beginning of July, and it was so nice to get to do that.  While I was there with my family, I learned that one of my dearest friends had passed on July 3rd.  It was unexpected, and I have been in a state of shock.   Her sister in law called me on July 4th to let me know.  Other than church, we did everything together: We were in the same sorority alumnae group, DAR chapter, art class, and we belonged to a couple of other community groups, too.  It has been so hard to continue going to these meetings and events without her.  She was laid to rest in New Jersey in her family's mausoleum, but her family will be holding a celebration of life for her here in Alabama in early fall.  Everyone misses her, and she will be honored at our DAR Chapter Meeting in September.

Here's a synopsis of my summer activities so far...

What I've been reading:

This is our new devotional we started this month.

It isn't too late to join us HERE.  We are all in agreement that this devotional is so positive and uplifting!

What I've been reading and streaming:

The adaptation on Amazon Prime is very close to the book.

Starring Jennifer Garner, I liked the mini series more than the critics.

This is the only show we've watched this summer because it's baseball season, and we watch almost all of the Cubs games.

What I've been doing while in Birmingham:

I've been gardening in the early morning hours, and I've been doing floral arranging, too.

Large arrangement with mostly greenery

Before:

After:

The above photo is before a very pregnant deer thought that this container was her own private salad bar.  She destroyed it!  You can see the reel on my Instagram account, just look for the cover photo of this container.

I've been nursing three carpet roses back to health.  They're looking much better!

What I've been organizing so far this summer:

I bought these MacKenzie-Childs canisters during the online Barn Sale.

They are holding supplies I often use in photos and art/craft projects.

Shelley cleared out a lot of her art supplies, and she moved them into the library where she likes to draw and do lettering.  It freed up a lot of space in my studio, and I've been able to reorganize some of my supplies in the armoire.

I also took everything out of my closet and Mr. Bookish's closet and reorganized, donated, and threw out items. 

It feels so good!  Mr. Bookish says it's like Christmas whenever he opens his closet!

Having separate closets is the secret to a happy marriage ;P

Where I've been going:

We've mostly been going to Lake Martin and Louisiana this summer.  Our niece is getting married, and she's had a few parties.  Also, we attended a special birthday party at Commander's Palace for Mr. Bookish and a few of his friends.

Oak tree in New Orleans

More on our trip in a later post.

What I've been drawing:

I'm still working through a realism book in my art class.

This rose was drawn with (mostly) German-made oil-based colored pencils.

Blog posts I'm writing:

Sweet Rita @Panoply is hosting a "Welcome Fall" tablescape blog hop next week.

Come back this Friday, August 25th, for a review of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.

Our next Tales of the Traveling Tote link party will be Friday, September 1st.  

I'll be reviewing a cute Halloween cozy mystery and sharing an easy (and the most delicious!) pumpkin spice latte recipe I've ever had.  Really.  You won't want to miss this post!

What have you been up to lately?  Please let me know in comments.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

July and August Update

Monday, August 21, 2023

Summer Decor and Container Gardens

 

Happy Monday, My Lovelies!   Did you have a nice weekend?  We enjoyed celebrating Father's Day with Mr. Bookish.  I think he enjoyed himself, too.

Today I'm sharing a little summer decor in our family room.  I decorated the Pressed Flower Work Table with tiny boxwood wreaths (the boxwood kind that doesn't smell bad) and maidenhair ferns.  I kill too many maidenhair ferns, but I love them so much!  I have actually been reading a book about how to care for them.  They're my favorite of all houseplants, and I like them in our home especially during summer.

This little planter holds a ribbon fern and a brake fern.

I also divided an arrowhead plant that was in one pot; now it's divided in three pots!  I've placed them on our hearth for now.  I might keep them there.

In our garden I had three small heirloom roses in a large container.  In years past they were doing well, but our trees have grown larger, and they weren't getting enough sun.  I moved them to their own individual pots, and I'm attempting to nurse them back to health.  I'll share an update later in the summer.

I needed to purchase replacement plants for the large pot that gets more shade than sun.  I asked for advice from our local nursery, and here's what we planted.  (We chose a few begonias that don't mind shade, and caladiums that doesn't mind a wee bit of sun.)

Large Container Recipe (Mostly Shade)

Begonia "Doublet White" (smaller flowers)

Begonia "Big White Green Leaf" (X2)

Heuchera "Berry Timeless" Coral Bells (attract hummingbirds and butterflies) (X2)

Wishbone Flower "Catalina Grape-O-Licious" (X2)

Variegated Large Leaf Periwinkle Vinca (X2)

Caladium "Aaron" sun or shade (white)

Caladium "Frog in a Blender" part sun

Aaron caldium

Frog in a Blender caladium

If you'd like to see the container garden recipe for our giant pot in the sun, please click THIS LINK.

I've been reading about Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life:

This little gem of a book features not only her gardens, but her illustrations and her garden journal.  

The same week I received this book, I got an email from Substack, and in the email I discovered my (now) favorite Substack blog called Noted.  The writer (Jillian Hess) features famous people's journals, diaries, and notebooks.  It's a fascinating read, and the featured notebook in the email was Beatrix Potter's!  I thought it was a sign, so I started following Noted.  Another favorite Substack blog is Sean of the South.  Do you follow anyone on Substack?  Please let me know in Comments if you do.

Here's to hoping our heirloom roses make it!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Summer Decor and Container Gardens

Monday, June 19, 2023