I have something very special for you today!
Our final stop on the Parade of Homes tour is this very unique lakefront home called the Pacem In Terres which means Peace On Earth. Again, this is
NOT my home, but was on a tour in northeast Indiana. It was built to a private homeowner's specifications, and it is professionally decorated. Let's go inside and see what is so different about this home!
Remember that you can click on any picture to enlarge!
When you go in, the first thing you see is the most unique thing I have ever seen in any house...a two story waterfall and a koi pond! There it is on the back of the fireplace!
When you come into the foyer, you'll see 4 built in aquariums, two salt water, and the other two fresh water. The owner is a tropical fish hobbyist. These are huge, people!
And here is the koi pond, yes, inside the house! The two story waterfall trickles into it as well as another trickling fall to the right of that. The builder says that the sound of the water is very relaxing. I can imagine so! Either that or I would wonder why I had a continual urge to pee! Although this is an exceptionally lovely feature, I'm not sure I would want it in my home. I would worry about a fishy odor and all the upkeep.
On the other side of the fireplace is this beautiful great room. When I looked at the picture I took, it just about took my breath away. Is so lovely with the turquoise and browns and tans! That's another color combination I love, but I don't have it in my home.
I loved this tablescape on the coffee table. That's a porcelain koi on the mirror.
Here is the dining area next to the living area. Those shelves are so pretty with all the lovely beachy things!
Here is a closeup of this arrangement on the dining table that I just adore! Notice the cute placemats. They are curved on one end to fit round tables!
This had to be the cutest thing I have ever seen...a cat door for the kitties to go through to their litter box out in the garage! It's precious!
There was a half bath that had the kind of sink that just really gets me going! I love these sinks! To add interest, a moon and waves (at least that is what I think they are) are painted on the wall. I do like the touch of green with the black.
This house had my favorite deck! Look at those incredible stone posts! Like the other homes, this has a terrific view of the lake.
There are two decks at the top, and a lower level deck where two adorable orange adirondack chairs live!
Ok, someone is in trouble now! Who let the 1o year old loose with a Magic Marker? Actually the tree is kind of cool, but not what I would choose for my home.
Let's check out the upstairs! Once you reach the landing, you can see the top of the waterfall, and I must say I love the patina of the spout. Oops, looks like someone else got in this pic. It was really hard to take some of the pics as there were a lot of other people touring when I was there.
Here is a lovely stained glass window.
Also upstairs is a big recreation room. I think the wall with the vinyl records is too cool! The bright colors are great!
The bar is convenient so that if you get too tipsy, you're close to your bed. Seriously though, I would be making non-alcoholic drinks here. There was a really cute guy standing near the bar who was helping out with the tour. He moved when I was getting ready to take the pic, even though I said he didn't have to. I tried, girls!
Oops, I got the cart before the horse here and posted the bath before the bedroom. I liked the shape of those mirrors.
I want a shower like this! You can walk right into it and it has a little shelf seat for shaving legs and such. There were two shower heads, one fixed to the wall and the other with a flexible steel hose. It would be a nice shower to share with a "friend."
Next to the shower was another stained glass window. So pretty!
Here is the bedroom. It's pretty, but somehow fails to wow me.
I did like the black dresser and the swirly decoration, and the bamboo blinds.
Hmmm, I somehow missed the kitchen again! I just realized that is probably because in all the houses, someone was always standing in the kitchen! It was nice, but also failed to make a big impression on me.
This concludes our tour. It was so much fun! It was sunny and bright with fluffy white clouds in the sky when I went to the first stop on the tour. What a difference a couple hours makes! Let's take one last look at Crooked Lake before the rain comes!
Can you guess which of the three homes is my favorite? There was a ballot box where we could cast our vote for the People's Choice. I chose the home in Part 2, the Bayview! Which one was your favorite?
Today is the day I travel to Detroit Airport to get my son. He is flying home from Houston where he is finishing up a 7 week visit with his dad and step-mother. Although he had a great time, he misses his brother and sister and I. I'll try to remember to bring my camera to the airport! I might not be on much tonight so that I can spend time with my son.
Who am I kidding? I won't be on because he will be able to be on a computer for the first time in 7 weeks!
Here's to spending time with loved ones, those nearby and those you're seeing after an absence!
I have always collected porcelain plates, but when I saw this, I thought I might start collecting cups and saucers! I had another set that was still floral, but with just a little pink, but it fell and broke. Oh well.
Here is a better view of the Civil War Memorial.
Here is the courthouse. I love the architecture of it!
See that antique shop with the purple awning? I found a couple treasures there! It was chock full of beautiful antiques.
Angola has the most quaint downtown. It's full of small town charm. They have two theaters in the downtown area. Don't they look just like something you would see in a 50's era movie?
Angola is a resort area because of having 101 lakes in the county. It seems everywhere you turn, there is a lake, and people are itching to build on those lakes! That's prime real estate!
They were having a 50% off sale in this shop. My mouth dropped when I went in because it was just the cutest shop! It had gorgeous displays all over and lots of lovely things. I could have spent mega bucks in there. I asked to take pics, but I got shut down. Well darn!
I have been really good about not buying things, but when I saw this sweet little box in a shade of green that I love, beadboard, and a pretty scroll-y top, I just had to have it, and at $17, it was a terrific bargain!
After that, I strolled over to the antique shop. I saw a lot of stuff that I liked, but nothing really grabbed me until I saw this!!! I love the berry dish.
And there were 6 of them for only $20! See how great they go with my plate from Pink Saturday!
I had spotted something else too, but there was no price tag. I have been looking for a good bargain in wicker for a long time, as I just adore wicker, but don't own any. Well now I do as I got this set for just $20! The proprietor said he didn't know if the seller wanted $40 or $20, but as he quoted me the lower price, that was what I could have them for!
Isn't this awesome? I can put the chairs together to make a settee, or separate them for two chairs!
I'm sure I can do something with these! I was so excited I was smiling all the way home! One of the best things is that I got an additional 10% off and that took care of the tax on my purchase.
He had to go through this tunnel in Detroit to get to the concourse where the baggage claim was located. I have walked through this and it's really cool! The colors change and you hear different soothing noises.
My older son Sean and I were eagerly awaiting his arrival, but were enjoying the rest after a 2 hour drive to the airport!
Finally I spotted him! Yay! It had been 7 weeks since I last saw my son! I don't know why he has glowing eyes in this pic.
I was so happy to see him and ran to give him a big hug. He loves being an aloof teen so he just acted like, "eh, no big deal," and acted like I had just seen him yesterday.
We didn't have to wait long at all! We found a parking space that was very close to the terminal. The boys loved the moving sidewalk to the parking garage. They loved it so much that they got way ahead of me. You can hardly see them!
Here they are a little closer, but blurry. Uh, hey guys, just remember, I have the keys!
After another two hour trip back home, we were all very happy to be together again! Sean was happy.
And the Jake the dog was thrilled and jumped all over him! I think he is happy to see Jake too!
This room has stayed a little too clean in the last few weeks. Wonder how long that will last!
Probably not too long! Look at all the stuff in his suitcase! Gee, he didn't listen to me very well when I told him not to put his underwear on the top! I learned that lesson the hard way when my bag got searched once and there lay my dainties right on top as scores of people walked by!
It didn't take him long to get on the computer and get caught up with all his friends!
I'm just happy to have him home again!
By the way, that's a pic from this spring when he was looking a little less scruffy!
When you go in, the first thing you see is the most unique thing I have ever seen in any house...a two story waterfall and a koi pond! There it is on the back of the fireplace!
When you come into the foyer, you'll see 4 built in aquariums, two salt water, and the other two fresh water. The owner is a tropical fish hobbyist. These are huge, people!
And here is the koi pond, yes, inside the house! The two story waterfall trickles into it as well as another trickling fall to the right of that. The builder says that the sound of the water is very relaxing. I can imagine so! Either that or I would wonder why I had a continual urge to pee! Although this is an exceptionally lovely feature, I'm not sure I would want it in my home. I would worry about a fishy odor and all the upkeep.
On the other side of the fireplace is this beautiful great room. When I looked at the picture I took, it just about took my breath away. Is so lovely with the turquoise and browns and tans! That's another color combination I love, but I don't have it in my home.
I loved this tablescape on the coffee table. That's a porcelain koi on the mirror.
Here is the dining area next to the living area. Those shelves are so pretty with all the lovely beachy things!
Here is a closeup of this arrangement on the dining table that I just adore! Notice the cute placemats. They are curved on one end to fit round tables!
This had to be the cutest thing I have ever seen...a cat door for the kitties to go through to their litter box out in the garage! It's precious!
There was a half bath that had the kind of sink that just really gets me going! I love these sinks! To add interest, a moon and waves (at least that is what I think they are) are painted on the wall. I do like the touch of green with the black.
This house had my favorite deck! Look at those incredible stone posts! Like the other homes, this has a terrific view of the lake.
There are two decks at the top, and a lower level deck where two adorable orange adirondack chairs live!
Ok, someone is in trouble now! Who let the 1o year old loose with a Magic Marker? Actually the tree is kind of cool, but not what I would choose for my home.
Let's check out the upstairs! Once you reach the landing, you can see the top of the waterfall, and I must say I love the patina of the spout. Oops, looks like someone else got in this pic. It was really hard to take some of the pics as there were a lot of other people touring when I was there.
Also upstairs is a big recreation room. I think the wall with the vinyl records is too cool! The bright colors are great!
The bar is convenient so that if you get too tipsy, you're close to your bed. Seriously though, I would be making non-alcoholic drinks here. There was a really cute guy standing near the bar who was helping out with the tour. He moved when I was getting ready to take the pic, even though I said he didn't have to. I tried, girls!
Oops, I got the cart before the horse here and posted the bath before the bedroom. I liked the shape of those mirrors.
Next to the shower was another stained glass window. So pretty!
Here is the bedroom. It's pretty, but somehow fails to wow me.
I did like the black dresser and the swirly decoration, and the bamboo blinds.
Hmmm, I somehow missed the kitchen again! I just realized that is probably because in all the houses, someone was always standing in the kitchen! It was nice, but also failed to make a big impression on me. 
