Weekend in Massachusetts

We were in Massachusetts this weekend visiting our daughter, Katie. We have not seen her since January when she left after winter break to go back to school.

It was so great to see her and it was like a mini vacation.
That's Katie with George and her boyfriend, Corey, in front of the map at Historic Deerfield.
We spent a good part of Saturday in Deerfield, about 20 minutes north of Amherst, MA. It is one of many historic areas in the state which was lovely and educational. It was a nice way to spend the day, learning and exploring.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day, but very chilly - in the 30s and windy. What does one expect in New England in March though!

I love colonial and traditional and nothing says colonial New England like a saltbox house.
Beautiful in my opinion!

I love all all of the colonial architecture.
Look at these old bottle windows we saw on a number of the buildings. Amazing!
I could not believe the slope on the side of this house - can you see it?
We spent some time inside a really impressive museum, the Flynt Center. I managed to get a few pictures, which I'll share next time.
It was a wonderful weekend and I hated to see it end.

Lonesome Soldier

I noticed this one lonesome daffodil last night when I came home. It is all by itself....none of the other daffodils are anywhere near ready to bloom however this one was so anxious to pop, there it was all by its lonesome self!

We had a very windy spring day today. It was almost difficult to walk when I took my walk at lunchtime. When I got home tonight, there was this poor lonesome daffodil, like a casualty of war, just laying in the garden.
I hope the calm environment inside will make it happy for another day or two.
We'll be good companions!

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!
We have finally entered spring and in my area we are experiencing an unusual taste of June weather today - Sunny and in the 70s!

We have endured a terrible winter and I'm so glad for spring to be here. As a tribute to spring and some talented Etsy sellers, I'd like to share with you some of my favorites that say "spring" to me.

The Wind in the Willows from DornickDesigns. Just the name screams spring to me and I love the colors and the tree ready to burst with green.


Talk about green - don't you love this contrast of green and blue?

Vintage Compote from GingersGirl, a great new shop on Etsy.



How about this wonderful bird house?

It is so peaceful to watch and listen to the birds in warm weather. I would love to have this awesome bird house (just look at the detail) in my yard! This Primitive Chicken Hen House, by Birdhouseaccents is one of my favorite bird houses on Etsy.

Look at this adorable fairy window -

This window with flower box is just one of the many neat little fairy or gnome architectural pieces from NothinButWood. You won't be disappointed with their creative pieces.
I just love this funky ring holder and purchased one similar to it last year from TwistedRiverClay. I love having it on my window sill in the kitchen to put my rings when I do the dishes.


What a colorful spring pendant this is, Bloom Where You Are Planted by Tekaandzoe.


And last but not least, Karen Fields always delights with her bright and cheery paintings. My latest favorite of hers is Tree of Life Birds. Such magic and whimsy with Karen's use of color.



I hope you have enjoyed some of my favorites. Are any of your favorites inspired by spring?
Happy Spring my friends!

Fun Friday

Eggs!







TGIF and be kind to your eggs!

My Own "Vintage" Eggs

I know I have mentioned that even as a child I found so much pleasure in being creative. I will always remember the day I made these eggs. I was proably 10 or 11 years old so they must be at least 40 years old by now!
I decided to cover eggs and really challenged myself at an early age with this task. I used real eggs and put pin-pricks at each end and actually blew the liquid out of the eggs.
I covered each egg (a total of 6) with little squares of calico I cut with pinking sheers. There is no finish to these eggs, simply fabric glued onto the shells, however they have lasted these many, many years.
I keep them carefully packed away in an egg carton and marvel at them each spring when I take them out of the carton and enjoy them. These simple eggs have given me so many years of pride and pleasure. I hope you like them too!

Fun Friday

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans...

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

TGIF my friends!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

She's Beautiful!

She arrived and she's beautiful!
I love her and feel so lucky to have this incredible painting!
I "won" her from sweet Silke Powers. Thank you Silke!
Silke is a talented artist and if you'd like to see some of her incredible paintings visit her Etsy shop, silkepowers. I can't wait to find the perfect space for her!
I have watched the evolution of Silke's work and I'm amazed how each piece is more incredible than the last. I just love Silke's style.

Our weather here has remained lovely. I have gone out the last 3 days at lunch and walked a brisk walk for 45 minutes! I may be able to get a walk in tomorrow too, hopefully, if the rain holds out. Rain is coming!

Snow, Snow Go Away!

What a beautiful day - 3rd day in a row and our 50-plus inches of snow are finally disappearing!

3 days of sunshine and 5-6 days of well-over freezing makes fast work of melting snow. It is 54 degrees right now (5:30 PM) and it was this warm yesterday too. Tomorrow is forecast to be a carbon copy. Finally pay-back for our awful record-breaking February.
I worked at the shop yesterday - it was a nice diversion from my regular job and I had not been there since December. The downside was I missed the beautiful day, but at least I could take advantage of it today.
Hope you all had a lovely weekend too.

Fun Friday!

Last night, my husband and I were sitting in the living room, and I said to him, 'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

He got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

He's such a %#*+#&%!

32 Years Ago

Some days I struggle to find topics to talk about and think, I doubt anyone would be interested in.......

Being at a loss again tonight, and not blogging since Sunday, I've decided to share a photo of me from the past. This is me 32 years ago.
I don't often go on facebook however the other day my college class was sending stuff back and forth so I went on and enjoyed the pictures and memories from the past.
Anyway, here I am, 32 years ago in my senior year in college.