Books and Blooms

.....This is a favorite Spring picture.....

It's currently on my refrigerator where I like to display something seasonal and lovely. These old books and jonquils speak quietly to me. I am in the process of aging some used books I brought home ~ and will display them on my shelves.........but only if I can get them to look this beautiful.

'Daffodils that come before the swallow dares,

And take the winds of March with beauty.'

...........William Shakespeare..........

Hang it up!

Today we're headed West................to Asheboro, home of the North Carolina Zoo. Meeting friends there and hoping for a fun day out, lunch with the animals, and dinner in Tuscany, well that's the name of the restaurant we plan to try this evening!

My friend, who always picks out the sweetest gifts for me ~ such as fabulous bunny slippers and that gorgeous iron card holder for the wall I showed at Christmas ~ will hopefully enjoy this Spring gift I made to take to her today.

I found these large wooden French Provincial style hangers in a vintage shop last Fall and have started playing around with them. I added French words by rubber stamping, a small lavender bag, assorted ribbons, a silk rose, and my latest fun thing ~ tea dyed cheesecloth, torn and shirred, twisted!

Wearing o' the Green

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

~Palest pink camellias in my neighbor's garden ~

~Tulip pics from a magazine ~

Remember in my "green" post I mentioned vintage garden furniture ~ how about this 'Springy' yellow and green set just waiting to grace a garden..................and those amazing corbels....more treasures spotted at SuzAnna's last week.

Enjoying all shades of green today but I'll pass on the green beer ~ make mine a glass of red wine please!

The Green Path

Before we turn green..............not with envy...........more with 'wearing o' the green' for St. Patrick, hanging out the shamrock flag, sighing at Spring buds bursting and new grass growing, how about a quick word on truly GOING GREEN.

Many of you are already making changes in daily living with your cleaning products, your choice of vehicles, your food purchases, composting your scraps, buying natural fiber clothing, carrying reusable shopping bags, recycling your plastic ones, etc.

According to this edited article from Country Living (US edition) magazine ~ "these days it's easier to shop for environmentally smart items, thanks to an increased effort from both well-known and niche brands. The trend is conscious consumerism, and manufacturers and retailers are catching on. Try using kinder comforts in your home."

According to Graham Hill, Founder, Treehugger.com & VP Interactive, PlanetGreen.com

"Everything you already do in your day-to-day life - home decorating, your clothing, the food you eat - can be done with a modern green twist. Green is more than just 'stuff'; it's a real lifestyle."

Notice 'home decorating' mentioned here. As many of us are really interested in this happy pursuit, how nice to seek out lovely things for one's home without even having to buy new. Do you know that a huge percentage of all new furniture is now imported from China. Living in North Carolina, once the center of the US furniture industry, we have seen thousands lose jobs as their lifetime manufacturing careers have been pulled from under their feet. Using cheap materials and labor in other countries also has an impact on the planet, and when those items quickly fall apart here on our shores, they end up in our landfills, destroying our air and surroundings.

OK, I'm off my soapbox now ~ just wanted you to do your part to make and keep our country environmentally safe.

I am reusing and thoroughly enjoying my old stuff, especially when it comes to decorating around the house. I love my cotton doilies made by my English cousin ~ they line the shelves in my linen closet instead of plastic shelf paper, and look so pretty. I'm using old twine and string to wrap packages, found at the vintage/thrift shops in place of costly ribbons made overseas by child labor, they can be attractive when faded to sepia tones.


I'm decorating the cottage with vintage finds ~ it can be so much fun and extremely satisfying.

Remember, you don't have to shop for new garden furniture for the Summertime ~ vintage places in your town will have plenty just waiting to be given a new home. Anyone can point and shoot a spray can of touch up paint ~ or better still use a brush and one of the new 'green' environmentally safe paints.......which of course come in other colors too!

Old wrought iron garden furniture spotted at my favorite place to shop ~ SuzAnna's Antiques

Are you with me? Let's all do our part and take the green path to save our planet for our precious grandchildren ~ and all future generations.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary..........

...................how does your garden grow?

Yesterday afternoon I walked out on to the deck where daffodils are now popping up in containers..........................

...................over to the potting shed where the five leafed Akebia is sprouting and even has a few tiny purple bell flowers in bloom. I love this climber.

More daffodils pushing up through the mulch of oak leaves, golden buds bursting open.

These are King Alfred - huge blooms on strong stems.

This is a favorite ~ Ice Follies, pale and frothy like an ice skater's dress! A butterfly bush growing rapidly by the back fence.


This dainty blossom on a bush which is getting very large, fills an entire corner now ~ not sure of the name, it was a pass-along from a neighbor. Please can anyone tell me what it is ?

..................and this which is actually my current painting project! A perfect day to be outside armed with Heritage White spray paint. I'm almost ashamed to tell you how long I've taken to finish this piece. It is a sewing machine cabinet inherited from a dear friend five years ago! I've always intended to make it my bedside table. A yucky brown, I first painted it green about three years ago, but then.................well I decided to change my bedroom colors so it wasn't right. It's been stuck in the potting shed until yesterday when I carried it outside, washed it down, and took aim with the spray cans. It took three coats and looks quite good. I'll distress and wax it with BriWax once the paint has cured. Instead of replacing the metal decorative handle on the front I plan to add a resin applique such as a swag of roses, painted and distressed to make it look old and shabby. Maybe then, at long last, it will come inside and be put to good use.

Spring in my step

pring has come to

North Carolina!

I hope all snowbound friends will soon have scenery such as this in their neighborhoods.
~~~~~ Sending Spring your way ~~~~~

Thatched Cottages and China (Part II)

Have you noticed how old thatched cottages seem to wink at you? Their romantic roofs have curves and eyebrows that tease and draw you close, making you want so much to be invited inside. You know there will be low ceilings, broad window sills for your vase of Spring flowers and your cat, large hearths with wood piled around ready to feed the welcoming fire, doors where you must duck your head, a narrow staircase and uneven floors. The warmth of a special home will surround you ~ that's just the way a cottage is.

So, needless to say when the call came ~ "didn't you say you were interested in motto ware with cottages and words" ~ I was all ears! Susie, at SuzAnna's Antiques, said there was a man with lots of Torquay motto ware standing in front of her at the shop and would I talk to him. Long story short ~ Sunday morning I sat surrounded by motto ware trying to decide which pieces I wanted and could afford! I'm not planning to start a collection but am going to enjoy these few pieces I will use. The seller was most generous as he wanted me to have something reminding me of home.............his prices were below what I saw on the Internet, plus he gave me a 50% discount which was wonderful.

These are the six pieces I purchased, all in excellent condition, all with cottages. Because the mottos are in regular English, not the Devonian dialect, I imagine them to be pieces from the early 1900's, and all came from two of the Torquay potteries.

The large jug is my favorite, the motto being "Say Not Always What You Know But Always Know What You Say". The egg cups, "New Laid" and "Laid Today", for our soft boiled eggs, are so cute with attached heavy bottoms so will not tip over. The sugar bowl "Say Little But Think Much" and creamer "Fairest Gems Lie Deep" will be used at teatime, and the handled mug "Heaven Send Thee Many Happy Days" is already holding daffodils on my narrow kitchen window sill.

And so, from beautiful Devon, England via Canada, Minnesota, New York and then here to North Carolina (and sold by a gentleman from Honolulu), came these little treasures to remind me of home.

These two cottages were in an East Devon village - one of many I passed through last October. Now if only I could get my roof thatched..............................well we all have to have a dream, right?

Wink, wink!

(Please scroll back to my previous post to see Part I)