I promised some photos of my birthday presents, so here goes, in the order I received them. My husband is pretty darn special and he did such a great job of finding things I love. This was my first present:

Oooh! Tole! I love tole, I do. I believe this is a crumber and I am crazy about it.

Do you see all that chippy, faded loveliness? It makes my heart skip a beat…so perfect. Don is pretty wily – when we were exploring earlier in the day on my birthday, before I opened presents, we went into an antique shop. Turns out it was the shop where he bought this. He pointed out some tole trays and said…what is that? I told him and he asked if I liked that kind of thing, and of course I went on and on about how much I loved tole and proceeded to tell him about all the tole already in the cottage. I’m sure he was mightily amused by all this.

Next: tipped off by Heidi, Don (and the dogs) gave me this:

Heidi got this at auction and when I saw it recently, I went nuts. Knowing my birthday was coming up, Heidi did a little secret work behind the scenes with Don and much to my surprise and delight, this little beauty is mine. I. am. in. love. My friend Donna will be swooning when she sees these photos!

Heidi surprised me with this treasure:

A vintage child’s toy piano. She said that it screamed my name when she first saw it. She’s right! It plays a perfect scale on those 8 wooden keys. Look at the lovely painted design.

Isn’t it wonderful? Oh my goodness, I am blessed. Don’t you love it when friends and family ‘get’ you? I couldn’t have asked for more perfect presents and I treasure them. All that and sugar-free apple pie from The Julian Pie Company and a wonderful dinner? How could I ask for more?

I have other wonderful things to show you tomorrow and later in the week….things I’ve won or bought for the cottage.

Have a wonderful day, my friends.