Spring is Here!!

Spring, glorious spring! (this to the tune of "Food, Glorious Food" from Oliver!)
It started out quite chilly yesterday, but even with the breeze warmed up nicely to around 60°. Today started at 30° but is supposed to get even warmer than yesterday. I'm trying to make the most of it, because I know there will be more cold, wet yuckiness.
Beth and Joshua came over to help me yesterday, and we got a great start on yard work. We even replaced some broken lattice that spans the 12" between the side porch floor and the ground. It's partly cosmetic and partly to keep the dogs and other critters out. Worked on pea gravel paths, mowed, pruned, worked on a flower bed - and then was ready to DROP!
My fabulous son-in-law even managed to remove the post that held the old satellite dish! It was never my favorite yard sculpture, and now it's gone!! HUZZAH!

This quilt was my birthday present from some folks at the office. I had seen it in a thrift shop in Huntsville and liked it, so they dispatched someone to get it! Quite a surprise.
It is truly a scrap quilt. A utility quilt. Much used and worn - it's patched patchwork! I think flour and sugar sacks and wornout work clothes and scraps from other household sewing are here. I'm not even sure which is the front and which is the back.
It has great personality.

I love the wonkiness - from before wonkiness even had the name. Binding? Maybe? She obviously used stuff till she ran out and then used something else.

The colors are really more reds, blue, and yellows. In spite of being outside in the sun (and shadow - oh, well - a photographer I'm not, as Yoda might phrase it), it looks even more faded than it is in these pictures and more purply.

Spring. Yep, it's nearly here. It was 80° and then 26° (with snow) and then 70° and now 44° with wind and rain.
Here's a nice green to make me feel like spring . . . I've been playing with one of Donna Poster's blocks called Block Party. I saw her "do" it on Simply Quilts several years ago and wrote down the simple directions. It's one of those dummy-proof blocks where no seams have to match, etc. and you can be really scrappy or more controlled. Me, I like scrappy. These retro-ish prints are JoAnn's fat quarters. I'm thinking of maybe a fun little tabletopper thingy that will be okay if gravy is spilled on it, etc. It's really just to have some fun requiring no thought or concentration.

In case you haven't noticed, quilters are just the neatest people. They are so creative, and the creativity goes much further than quilting. I've been trying to catch up on some blog reading, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing some of Marlene's work including stitcheries and how she uses it in her house. And Melanie always has such neat things, whether quilts or gift bags or bunnies. And there are so many others that I'd like to mention, but the laundry is calling me, and my internet connection is mostly not working this morning for some reason - most likely the wet weather. It almost always causes problems with the phone lines out in the country.

Blessings: this beautiful, beautiful world awakening with birds' spring songs, spirea and forsythia and peach trees blooming, and a different smell to the air

The Sound of Music!

It's back! The sound of music. Frog music, that is. For the last several nights we have been able to enjoy the lovely sounds of the treefrogs. I don't know how many varieties we have here, but there are several different songs going on. It's absolutely wonderful! I keep a window open at least a little bit all year round, and for the last few nights we've had it open quite a bit....for the air as well as the music.

Beth and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show Sunday. There were many inspirational gardens and displays of various kinds. A few favorites were of the Cumberland Herb Society as well as other folks with displays/wares to sell. One of the best things is something I don't have a picture of to show - a marvelous garden of succulents - in an old enamel bedpan of all things!!
this lovely garden miss had motion sensors to let her tip the watering can and to let the other thingy spin (don't even remember what it was)
This is a wide view of a wonderful display full of delightful vignettes of various herbs and sedums and hypertuffa containers...

And EVERYWHERE were variations on vertical gardening...for small spaces, for folks who have trouble getting up and down, and for every other reason you could imagine! Quite lovely and lots of good ideas.

Are you tired? At the end of the week? Well, me too! It's been a really rough week with end of month with critical people out and it's deductible time so revenue is hurt and after our beautiful snow it's been warm and springlike which means it's terrible to be cooped up indoors . . . but - as Robert Browning said, "God's in His heaven; all's right with the world." There is so much more to be thankful for than to be annoyed with or discouraged by. Sometimes - like this week - I have to remind myself of that more often than other times, but it's true, nonetheless. These lovelies came from beneath the snow...aren't they pretty? Jonquils have always been just about my favorite, and if they made perfume in that fragrance I'd probably bathe in it! I was so tickled recently to read Marlene's mention of jonquils! (most folks here call them buttercups but I grew up with my mother calling them jonquils) I've been able to enjoy several bouquets of them over the last couple of weeks. They are truly THE harbingers of spring to me.



I've worked on a couple of projects in odd bits of time, always wishing for more time...

pincushions made with teacups from Goodwill @ 49¢ each..don't know if the embroidery's visible on the left one...one of Natalie's birds...

Got the green fabrics for a special project for a special person and then made a few extras...didn't have enough ribbon and had to use something else...typical of me...but I'll figure out something to do with them at some point (having already put the special first one in the mail)

Blessings: beautiful days, DST coming this weekend which means sunshine later in the day!!, a jaunt to the big Nashville Lawn and Garden Show with Beth on Sunday (we'll go up for an early service at church in Nashville and then hit the big show at the Fairgrounds), a sweet and lovely husband who's all for such jaunts

IT REALLY SNOWED!

They said it would! But who knew to believe them this time - of so many, many times when we were lucky to see 5 flakes in the air. Hurrah!!

We've got 3 inches in some places and 5 - 6 in others because of the wind. Beautiful and wonderful as it is, though, the frustrating part is that if it had not been so warm and wet beforehand, we might REALLY have a snow! It must have snowed at least 8 inches to give us what we've got because the first so many inches melted! It was 70° Friday and has rained a fair amount in the last few days, so it's pretty wonderful that we have as much as we do. It's 27° this morning and quite windy, with gusts around 25 mph.

I'm out of suet cakes for the little birdies, but I have replenished the seed feeders this morning and scattered more on the snow. (above you can see evidence of the pitter patter of little feet wanting me to hurry up with the grub!)

HUZZAH!!!

rainy days and Saturdays

(inventory of old rake-like shelf in the stairway: tiny metal pitcher from my mother's childhood tea set, cute little dish of unknown (to me, at least) purpose, tiny brass container with lid - probably for pills?, one my grandmother's pretty fans that doesn't at all show up well in this picture, bird's nest, old chalkware rabbit, enamelled metal purse, handmade diary from big dinner and overnight party my grandmother went to as a teenager in 1915, shoes and sock from my mother's girlhood, metal hanger from a craft show, another enamelled purse)Cloudy, rainy, chilly . . . but it's still going to be a great day! Beth and I are heading to Nashville shortly - we have tickets for the matinee of Riverdance!! The production is on its farewell tour, so we wanted to see it one last time. While the basics are the same, each production has some different things, and they're all fantastic! We're going kind of early so we can do some other things. One big item on our agenda is to scope out the course of the marathon she's going to run in April - find the best route to the drop-off point for the runners, various spots to go to be able to cheer them on during the race and best place to park for picking them up after the race. The starting and stopping points are somewhere in the neighborhood of the Titans stadium, and I just haven't navigated down there since it's been there - never having funds for tickets, why would I? It's down on the river and there are lots of little one way streets and suchlike, so we thought it would be good to do some preliminary checking.

Blessings: finally finishing up with W-2's and 1099's and property taxes and such, new during-the-week Bible study started that will be challenging but very good, sweet husband who doesn't care if I go gallivanting for the day instead of cleaning house, beloved daughter to go gallivanting with

Fairy godmothers and valentines and birthdays

Recently had a great surprise from my fairy godmother in the form of a 40% off coupon at Michael's! I get a newsletter from them via email every couple of weeks, but the only coupons seem to be for custom framing. I found a wonderful book that I wanted to use my gift coupon for, but discovered at checkout that books are excluded. So I reconsidered and decided on this bright and cheery flag to go on my office door instead. I just love Mary Engelbreit stuff and have used this pic from her website as my desktop wallpaper.
A couple of little valentine pillows (including a lavender bag with their stuffing) I fixed for Beth. The redwork heart is one I did who-knows-when and recently found, so I cut some a bit of a red print to frame and back it. The other little heart is one from a recently purchased Bare Roots pattern (I left out the "Be Mine"from the inner heart). I really like it and it worked up so quickly I see several of these in my future...!

This lovely little quilt was a surprise birthday gift from my talented sister-in-law. She just sat down and drew a little house on her computer, printed it out and cut out the fabric! She was going to put "The Hudson House" on the porch roof but ran out of time - I may do it. You can't tell, but the sky fabric has tiny sparkles scattered over it. Each fabric is just perfect for where she used it, including the one with flowers just the right size for the pot in front!

This last little goody is a pillow (complete with tiny pearl button on one of the back flaps) that I got for 50 cents at a thrift shop in Huntsville. It is hand pieced. The fabrics have clearly seen a lot of wear and tear and washing and hanging in the sun (very faded). But I just love it!! There are a few missing squares, but it's just so neat that I know I won't be able to cut into it!

Blessings and gratitudes: loving family and friends
these springlike days to keep us going through the last of winter
knowing Who is in charge and taking care of us