Pie for Dinner? Yeah, you Betcha!

Just what is there not to love about this guy......He is handsome, cheerful, he does a good job cleaning the bathroom, rubs my feet and HE COOKS DINNER! Any of you ladies got daughters age 13 -15 who are sweet, Christ loving, outdoorsy gals.....Keep an eye on this possible future husband material. He is being groomed!!

He made this sweet potato pie almost from scratch. OK, so he did use an organic frozen pie crust from Whole Foods. He also used canned organic sweet potato. The recipe came off the back of said can. I didn't feel like cooking dinner (surprise, surprise!) So we ate it for dinner. Nice and warm with lots of whipped cream, YUMMM!!
I hope your dinner was as tasty!!
Blessings~LillySue

Mama's Got a Brand New Bag!

Yipee! Yesterday, I got in the mail, the market bag I won in the drawing on Anne Marie's Na-Da Farm blog. Isn't it cool!! It is made out of an antique French (let me say that again...French!) linen/hemp grain sack. It is nice and roomy and perfect to carry all my favorite magazines or a current scrapbooking project!

Look.....She even embroidered my name on a little pocket on the inside!

This is Lucky, my second son. (He turned 8 years old this month) He loved the bag too. He was acting like it had catnip on it. He is an environmentally aware cat so he was probably just letting me know he was really excited that it was make of a recycled hemp bag.


Lucky says, "This bag is Bliss". I hope he understands.....That's Mama's bag!

Blessings~LillySue

Pretty Pink Storage

Two of my FAVORITE things.....STORAGE containers that are PINK!

I L*O*V*E the print on all these matching boxes. The shades of pink and red on the muted background are just A Peace of Bliss!

The little bows add just the right amount of sweetness


I got this pretty hat box second hand. The pink stripes and frufru print are too fun!


I love the shades of deep pink and the fancy print on the rim of the lid on this bigger hat box.
I also like wording printed on just about anything.


This little box is like a suitcase. I bought it to use when I am working on small beading projects and want to take them along somewhere to work on. The pink flowers on it are pretty but the robins egg blue accents are what I love best.

I bought this little bath crystals box second hand also. I just love the shades of dusty pink on it. It sits on my vanity and I store misc. trinkets in it......the inside still smells wonderful.

This is my main craft box. I decoupaged it and then used an image of it for my blog header. I have TONS of craft supplies but this keeps my basic stuff I use a lot all together in a handy spot. Plus I can pick it up and tote it to where ever I want to work at the time.

See more Pink Bliss at Beverly's **PINK SATURDAYS**

Blessings~LillySue

A Wonderful Shop: "Paddington Station"

A couple of weeks ago, we took a Spring Break trip down to Ashland, Oregon. While there, we were able to visit one of our most favorite shops of all time...Paddington Station, owned by Don and Pam Hammond. We discovered this shop on a previous visit to Ashland and had been looking forward to returning ever since. They have a great mix of all our favorite things.

This is Stefanie (on the left) and me. She works there and is super sweet and helpful!! She even kept the store open later when we got there just before it closed. We got into town late and didn't expect to find anything open. She has one of my "Dream" jobs...On her card, under her name it says....

Toy Buyer
How cool of a job would that be!!

Of course they were all decked out for Easter....Check out all the bunnies and chicks.
Oh...There's Frodo Too!

See the "EASTER" banner around the edge of the table?
I think you can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger. Sorry for the picture quality, I was using a camera I was not familiar with and tried to do my best.

Here I am trying on aprons upstairs in the kitchen dept.
LOOK at all those CUTE aprons, gals!

This is looking down from the top of the stairs


This is the view from the balcony. Yes, they have jewelry, nic~nacs, signs, baby stuff, garden goodies, kitchen gadgets, figurines, etc.......

Another shot of the kitchen dept. LOTS of potholders, mugs, dish towels, bags etc..

They also had CUPCAKE stuff, Wooohooo!!

If you are ever in Ashland, Oregon... on I~5 down by the California line...Make sure you pop in to

PADDINGTON STATION

125 East Main Street

And tell them LillySue at "A Peace of Bliss" sent you!

Pink Saturdays~Baby Nursery's in the PINK

For my first entry in "Pink Saturdays" I wanted to share some of the baby nursery images I have. I think you can click on the images to make them bigger. I LOVE babies and all to do with decorating for them. Nothing is sweeter than a cozy nursery.

**Oo~La~La **

Can you see the faeries living in the garland?? I can!!

The soft green goes wonderful with the baby pink, don't you think?

I L*O*V*E pink polka dots!

*** Vintage coziness***

.........More polka dots.........

This one doesn't have as much pink, but it is one of my favorites.

Do you like baby nurserys too?

I will post more pink baby bliss on another "Pink Saturday".

Blessings~LillySue

Sunny Ashland, Oregon

Last weekend was the end of our two week Spring Break. This year we have had so much dental work done (think big bucks!) that we could not afford to take any big trips. We live about 5 hours away from Ashland, Oregon and it is a VERY beautiful drive this time of year. Ashland is famous for its Shakespeare Festival but has much more to offer. The weather was a perfect 75* and sunny (WooooHoooo!!). It is fun to walk the main street area and go thru TONS of unique shops, candy and ice cream stores, and restaurants. We ate on a balcony overlooking the creek at "Green Leaf". It was very tasty and the service was great. We had a pleasant young man as our server and I had been talking to my son before he came and set our food down, continuing my conversation with my SON, I said "Thanks, Babe" to which our handsome young server replied..."Your welcome", ....Heehe! The above photo is of my kids in front of the bronze sculpture of many famous Shakespeare characters. When we got to it, someone had hung a beautiful (real fresh flowers) hand made circlet in an outstretched hand. I had Arwen put it on as you can see below!



The drive over the pass was beautiful once we got over the top and was headed down into the valley. There were so many blooming trees...big pink and white clouds of blossoms, sigh......The daffodils were out in full force too. On our way down I-5 South from Eugene, we saw a sign that said, "Historic Oakland"..."Antiques". Hmmmm....should I, Yah-you betcha!! It was a very tiny town (about 1 block) with the original old buildings. They were mostly turned into antique shops, Darn....NOT!! We at lunch there at "Tolley's". It was in the old adjoining saloon and soda fountain. We sat in the soda fountain side. All the woodwork was amazing. The homemade french fries were heaven! After lunch, we strolled thru the shops. Most of them were way over priced to me.........I did find one fun shop filled to the rafters with great stuff and the sweet gal let me make an offer of about 40% off of what she was asking for a piece of enamelware I loved and she accepted...SCORE!!


Frodo and Arwen ready to eat in "Tolleys" in Oakland, Oregon

Here is Arwen wearing the black leather "do-rag" she got from her Uncle John in Montana. As you can see she made a new friend at a shop in another historic little town off of I-5. Jacksonville is a beautiful spot to spend an afternoon browsing and eating. Make sure you get some gellato at Mama Mia's. They make their own, right there!
Tomorrow I will show you our most favorite shop in Ashland. It is called "Paddington Station" and I think I could just sell my house and go live there! So come back tomorrow and I will give you a peak inside at all the pretties!
Blessings~LillySue

I'm a Na-Da Farm Chick Winner!!

My wonderful friend Anne Marie over at Na-da Farm has picked my name to win a wonderful market bag! She is really creative and a lot of fun...you need to pop over there and sign up to be a Na-da Farm Chick too! She is a sweet sister in Christ who has her head and heart in the right place. She always has something great to share, whether it is a cozy spot in her home or a corner of her garden. Make sure you take some time to pay her a visit and tell her

LillySue sent you!

XXXX

Signs of the Season

We had planned on leaving this morning for our little trip to Ashland but it has been put off till tomorrow due to ANOTHER SNOW STORM!! Yep, it is coming down. I decided to just focus on the signs of spring that continue to pop up inside!

Here is my Redemption tree finally done for this year. I did not get much input on it so I went with .....A cross at the top with a crown of thorns on it, roses and crystal drops to represent Mary's tears. If you have any other good ideas for it let me know!!


It is more beautiful in person! I was thinking maybe I could add small pieces of "grave cloth" (gauze?) with an image of Christ stamped on it??


This is my foyer. I have tons of stuffed animals and just decided they were all going to have a big Spring picnic here. They are a very cheerful greeting when you walk in the front door! My best bud, GinnySue is going to loan me her dig. camera to take on our Ashland trip so maybe I will get to post some pics of the great shops we find after all!!
Love and Blessings- LillySue

Spring Break Visit to Belknap Hot Springs

One of our fairly local (little over an hour away) fun spots is Belknap Hot Springs. We have to actually go up over the Santiam pass from where we live towards what we call the "Valley". It is still in the mountains though, just up and over a ways from us. The McKenzie River runs wild here and it is VERY beautiful. They have a small lodge and campground. There are two in ground pools that they pipe the hot springs water to. For locals who just want a soak, you pay, change in the locker room and enjoy!

They get more rain here than we do at home so everything is mossy and green this time of year. Here is Arwen, her best friend Miss H. and Me.

Here is Frodo, Arwen and Miss H. by Arwen's favorite tree. It is COVERED in really spongy moss (She LOVES moss......and mushrooms!) When we come to visit here and we get close to where this tree is, she will start running.....like she is running to greet an old friend!


They have a trail you walk on and you come to different themed gardens as you go. This is at the back end of the Roman garden. At the right time of year, it is full of roses. They also have a Japanese garden with a pagoda you can walk up in.

Here are the kids as we cross over the McKenzie heading back from our hike, ready to soak in the pool. Scroll down to see the pool and further down to see more photos of our hike. My kids get two weeks off for Spring Break. I really love it that way.....I like having them home. This weekend Frodo, Arwen and I are heading down to Ashland, Oregon. It is about 5 hours away. They have lots of cute little shops and galleries. We stay in a hotel at the end of the main street and can walk down in to town from there. It is Arwen's favorite little trip. They have a bead store that is like being in a candy store for bead freaks like us. I am hoping we will actually get to see some SPRING time there!

Have a great weekend! Blessings~ LillySue

Let's Soak in the Hot Springs Pool

After our nice hike around the gardens, we were ready to SOAK! It always feels really hot when you first step in......but then it feels W*O*N*D*E*R*F*U*L!!


It gets hotter, the closer you get to the corner where the water comes in. We have been here soaking when it was snowing...That is very fun!!



The McKenzie River is just a ways over the fence....You can here it roaring! Scroll down to the previous post to see some more of the gardens.

Beautiful views of Belknap Hot Springs..Oregon