Spring Break

Company's coming!

I have to get the laptop off my desk - oops! I mean dining room table!

I'll be reposting a couple of older Spring posts during the week, reason being, my fun-loving brother-in-law John, and his delightful wife, Mary, will be visiting from Arizona. The 'Sullivan boys' love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Our big, noisy, very green downtown parade will be held Saturday, ahead of March 17, so we're hoping for sunshine and blue skies...............along with Irish food and Irish boys who, I'm certain, will be drinking green beer!

Seek the unexpected....

If you shop retailers such as TJMaxx, Marshall's and HomeGoods, you know what to expect. Those of us who have trawled these aisles for years, have found the good, bad and often the really ugly, be it clothing or household items. Those stores have often been lifesavers though and we have found great bargains.......from leather bags and trendy jackets, to fabulous dishes and good olive oil.

While my DH shopped for socks a few days back at a local TJMaxx, I checked the book section which, as you may have noticed, has now become smaller and is limited to mostly cookbooks. I almost yelled aloud when, between some brightly colored notepads and boxes of Thank You cards, I found this 'book', so not TJMaxx! Imagine my surprise, an old yellowed sheaf of pages, wrinkled and stained edges, tied with jute string, the way I like my books. Oh how I wished there were more hidden. The cashier, an elderly French speaking Lebanese lady, wanted to steal it from me.........she swooned as I did, and wanted to know how I decorated my home. She planned to look for more books like this but I know she won't tell me if she finds any........you can bet they'll be going home with her.

I don't shop these retail shops as much these days. I think treasure hunting in antiques malls, flea markets and thrift shops have become much more exciting. I was however thrilled to find this book........one never knows what's hidden on a shelf so always seek the unexpected.

Daffodils from Trader Joe's.

Welcome Carolee to SuzAnna's

There's a fun new dealer at SuzAnna's Antiques.......her name is Carolee and she may have kissed the Blarney Stone because she's traveled in Ireland, home of her ancestors. Yesterday, while she was setting up her treasures in this corner space, we chatted non-stop as the Irish and English often do, but at the same time I was eyeing her framed art, especially the print of yet another English country scene...............with sheep!

The other 'sheep in English meadows' paintings I showed you recently on SuzAnna's wall, stayed in my mind, and one of you told me I needed to go back and buy one if it reminded me so much of home. Of course the prettiest one had been sold to some lucky person. Always remember, if you see something you love get it before someone else snaps it up!

Carolee must have known I was coming................for there, hanging centre stage on her wall was my 'sheep in English meadow' painting, an old starting to crumble in the corner print, in the perfect refurbished old gold French looking frame. I love the sky, the river, the thatched stone farm cottage, the man in his crude little flat-bottomed punt.................and the flock of grazing sheep in the water meadow.

This charming print came home with me, thanks to Carolee's generous discount, and looks lovely here in the dining room. Looking over at it I can visualize the Devon countryside where I grew up................and remember how especially beautiful it was when I was there last Spring.

Do you hang art which brings back memories of your home?

Tulip Pink Saturday

Happy PINK SATURDAY to all.

Yes, it's tulip time......................perhaps not in the garden yet, but at your local florist or grocery store bunches of fresh, pretty tulips have arrived.

I found the pale pink blooms at my local Trader Joe's and the darker pink at a grocery store ~ love them mixed together sharing their lime green leaves.

My tulip post is dedicated to all the bloggers who are still digging out from this chilly Winter's snow. Hopefully this breath of Spring will warm you today. Have a wonderful weekend.

Stop over to visit our charming Beverly at How Sweet The Sound today, her list of participants in Pink Saturday is huge!

Wearing o' the Green.......

It's a sad state of affairs........looking out beyond my front porch at a garden almost totally devoid of green. I'm hoping Nature will soon kick start Spring. This long, unusually cold Winter in the southeast has turned just about everything to shades of brown and tan. Although I love neutral shades, I do prefer an abundance of green in the garden.

Recent visit to SuzAnna's Antiques had me checking out the greens. I loved the old painted mini dresser - a child's perhaps - the faded yellow and green colors reminded me of jonquils soon to be sprouting through the soil.

Then there were the beautiful paintings hanging on a green wall. Pastoral scenes, reminding me of the rolling farmlands of England where sheep gather in flocks across the always green landscape and, at this time of year, start lambing. Last Spring during my visit home, I was thrilled to see so many lambs in the lush green fields......it was the prettiest Spring I could ever remember.

I know that soon with warming days and shorter nights, with snowfalls a memory and bird songs louder, Spring will arrive dressed in a thousand shades of green - I often wonder how many greens there really are, don't you?

So, here's to Spring. It's time to come out of hiding, to lift our spirits, to bring us blooms, soft breezes, gentle showers.....................to paint the landscape green again.

And the Spring arose on the garden faire,

Like the spirit of love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on earth's dark breast

Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

.......................................................Shelley.

Paper Roses.........

.............no these are the real thing after they've faded and dried.

Do you dry your rose bouquets? I know I've told you before that I've been adding mine to this "JARDIN" pot for some time now. The latest ones were these pretty white fresh looking blooms standing in the silver jug............................

As soon as the blooms were fully open and before the petals started to drop, I removed the bunch from the water, stripped the leaves and tied the stems with string. I hung the bunch upside down near the hearth (we burn a log fire nightly during the Winter) and after a few days the blooms were dried.

Different species of the rose apparently decide to live their second life in different ways. Some do not really open, instead their tiny buds stay tightly closed. Others open partially and happily display their ruffled edges. The white ones opened fully and look more like creamy linen fabric. They remind me of flowers created for pins or hat decorations. I love the way the roses look once dried........faded and vintage.

Dried White Roses

Beauty of the beach..............

Why images of the beach today? When it's still cold and windy, snuggling by the hearth seems much more appropriate on the last day of February. Where did February go by the way?

Yesterday I was getting a pedicure, just relaxing as the massage rollers in the chair crept around my back doing something which hopefully is good for old bones. As an angel named Kim scrubbed my feet with sweet smelling salts, my mind drifted away to the beach. Walking in the sand is certainly as good if not better for feet than a pedicure.......and you get scenery with it, beautiful ocean views with waves and pelicans, shells and sandpipers.

If you grew up at the shore as I did, going to the beach was part of everyday life.............you took a left out of school instead of a right toward home, and ended up on the sand looking across the blue bay toward the English Channel and France. Really didn't matter whether it was an early Summer afternoon or a cold, wet Winter day........it was always a perfect beach to a child's eyes.

I love the beach, and my feet do too. I'm past those days of lying in the sun, or eating soggy sandwiches scattered with sand. I love to kick off my sandals and walk along the shore, stopping to gather shells, dip my toes in the cold water where the foam rolls in frothy rills, feel the gritty sand smoothing my soles and heels....................Nature's pedicure, the best.

All images taken at North Carolina's Atlantic Beach ~ looking toward home across the pond.