Thursday, May 31, 2007

lemon chiffon and mango

No.... we're not talking fruit salads or desserts! These are the names of some wonderful plants I brought home yesterday. It was another nasty, rainy, windy, ugly day but I headed over to Landscape Alaska to see their new shipment of plants and came home with quite an assortment. Not a lot of color, yet, but I have hope. Let's see, I got a couple Linaria (mini snapdragons), Nemesia (a great container plant), Dahlias (one of my favorites), Geraniums (another favorite), a couple varieties of Verbena, Snapdragons, Zinnias, and a few others. Three flats.... and $188 later.... Yes, gardening is expensive here but I figure it's my only vice and, besides, my husband lets me! He knows my passion for this and he lets me.... because he loves me.... as he should..... :)

Sorbet Lemon Chiffon.... a yummy yellow viola.... and Mango .... a peachy color Verbena. What a lovely combination they make! I have them sitting on the bistro table on our front porch so I can see them every time I come and go.

Also sitting at my front porch are my old work boots. Sometimes I fill them with hens and chicks but this year I put pink impatience in them. I think they'll look lovely once they grow into the size 10 boots.

I think I have all my nooks and crannies filled with bedding plants. All we need now is some sunshine and warm weather to help them grow.


One of my frustrations today is this picture. Can you guess what it is? Of course you can't!!!!! BECAUSE OUR DOG, SADIE, IS EATING ALL MY PLANTS!!!!!! This is a Hosta. It's supposed to be a Hosta. Hopefully one day it will grow up to be a Hosta. IF OUR DOG SADIE STOPS EATING THE TOPS OFF OF THEM!!!!! Yes, I saw her do it! I was standing right there, exclaiming how things are finally starting to grow. And I watched her do it! I know I'm not her favorite person, but I give her cookies and treats and belly rubs! What does she have against me???? grrrrrrrr As if I didn't have enough strikes against me gardening between my neighbor's raspberry plants invading my yard on one side, my other neighbor's overgrown wild foliage invading the other side, lack of sunshine, Juneau summers, and now Sadie the Sod Hound! Yes, she eats dirt too.... and ashes from our fire pit.... anything she can get her teeth into.... She's a Labrador and a sweetie so it's hard to get too mad at her.

Tomorrow I return to work at LA. They've asked me to be grounds manager on my work days.... Not certain I want that much responsibility and having to train people who ask "what's the difference between an annual and a perennial......" I just want to go to work, play with the plants, and talk to people about plants. That's all.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

my attempt at vintage finds

As I visit all your blogs and drool over all the great flea markets that you go to and picture after picture of great finds, it makes me wish we lived down south so I could find such treasures as well. We do have quite a few garage sales in Juneau, but normally you won't find vintage items so guess I'll have to plan a trip to Texas or somewhere next summer! How fun would that be!

Saturday I had good intentions of visiting some garage sales but got involved in doing nothing that day.... As a last effort to feel like I accomplished something, ran to the consignment shop and found this cute little magazine holder for $10.99. It's not the same as going to a garage sale and finding it for $2.00!

Next door to the consignment shop is a used book store, Our Friends of the Library, and found these fine Gardening magazines tucked under one of the tables. What a find for only .50 each! Now.... I just need to find the time to look at them....

While looking in the gardening section, I also found this great book! I love love love vintage gardening books more than anything. And vintage cookbooks. And vintage bird books! This was published by the National Geographic Natural Science Library: The World in Your Garden, copyright 1957. Look at the pictures! I haven't had a chance to read it but it appears to be a story of which country our plants originated from. I can hardly wait to start reading it.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm not such an artsy crafty kinda person. I would like to be.... and I have done my share of arts and crafts projects over my life time, but then my eyes got bad and doing needlepoint and crochet was no longer so much fun looking through trifocals! But I still see art projects I want to do, drive to Joann's to get the project pieces, bring it all home, take it upstairs to my craft room (YES, I have a craft room!), and there it sits.... But arts and crafts is more of a fall and winter fun thing to do anyway. Our winters are so long and so dark that when spring and summer are here, we're outside as much as we can be, gardening, fishing, walking on the beach, picnicking. Anything to help us forget that another long winter is just around the corner. This time of year all I can think about is gardening. I love to garden and that's where my creative juices come into play.

I found this great website for yard art -- English Creek Gardens -- and can hardly wait to start shopping! I mean, look at this great apothecary jar and just imagine the uses for it!

Marbles.
Vintage buttons.
Crocheted cupcakes.
M&Ms.
Weathered beach glass.
Ribbons and lace.
Beads.
Lemons.
Cotton balls.

Well, you get my point. Anything will look great in this jar!

I hope you all had a safe Memorial Day weekend and did something fun to bring in the summer months. I worked, came home completely exhausted, sat down on the couch in my wet, dirty, stinky work clothes and promptly fell asleep. Today is my day off and I can hardly wait to see what the day has in store for us... besides rain.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

spring has sprung

We have green stuff growing in our yard! A couple sunny days and things started popping. We're still way behind a normal summer but it's a start. Still not a lot of color but my yard is prettiest in bloom later in the summer.

This is one of my favorite "rooms." It's really nothing but an old rotting wooden pallet! This is what all our household and other items arrive in Juneau on. It's been sitting there for a few years and I'm sure my hubby would love nothing more than to throw it away but it has so much character! So much charm! It's so.... so..... rustic looking. That's fireweed starting to grow in front of it.

And this is a circle garden in our front yard. Pretty soon the rocks will be hidden behind walls of ferns and other perennials that grow there. But at least it's a start. It had become so overgrown that last fall I dug up quite a few ferns so am excited to see how it looks this year. And, of course, my gnomes are on alert and making sure everything is norm. I love this circle garden and when it's in full bloom, is so pretty.
You'll notice we have a lot of moss.... I'm not going to say anything about it.... I like it on the rocks, but when it invades my gardens.... that's all I'm going to say about it....
You'll also notice our split rail fence doesn't look so healthy in the background. It's old, there's no doubt about it, but this winter treated it horribly. We had 8 feet of snow piled up on it and I lost several rails. Fortunately I was able to steal from other parts of the fence in the back yard to fill in the front. Next year we'll probably have to replace it...
(P.S. You'll notice some of my paragraphs are running together.... I've tried posting this FIVE TIMES now with it corrected and it absolutely refuses to comply. So fine.)
So that's all I have to share today.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

a rainy day for reading

Today is a Fall day, pouring rain.... dark.... and dreary... a good day to stay inside and putter or read. But my body is too tired to actually do any work today, so I guess it's a reading day since my reading material has been piling up for months now to the point that it's getting out of hand. I've tried to toss catalogs as they've come in but have a new stack of them as well to browse through, attach post-it-notes to "must have's," and then toss knowing I'll never buy it. I've also bought a couple books that are sitting on the coffee table waiting for a day just like today.

I tend to buy too many magazines.... but always with the good intention of actually reading them. But it seems as far as I get is thumbing through them, looking at pictures, tearing out favorite pictures, and then recycling. And because I have some favorite magazines..... like Mary Englebreit, Cottage Living, Sunset, and a few others, I decided to subscribe to them this year for a cheaper habit. But as it turns out, the magazines show up in the stores earlier than I get them in the mail.... and.... yes, I BUY THEM!!! Knowing full well that my copy most likely WILL arrive in the mail shortly thereafter.... and now two of the same magazine sit on my coffee table....

I found a new magazine at the store last week--Flea Market Style. I've not actually thumbed through it yet, but I loved the cover and it looks promising!

Another one of my favorite magazines is Paula Deen. Don't you just love her? I usually try many of the recipes in each magazine and haven't been disappointed yet. They're simple and easy. Everyday cooking. I'm hoping to have a Garden Party some time this summer.... when the garden is in bloom.... all my projects are done.... when the sun is shining..... and all the stars in alignment! I might be asking for a little much to have all at the same time, but we'll see. But we've done so much in our yard the last couple years and I'm just dying to show it off. Most people don't go to this extent with their landscaping here in Juneau and I do love sharing my love for gardening with others who only wished they could. I've already got my menu picked out--right out of Paula Deen's magazine--so we're part way there.
Since I started working for Landscape Alaska, my love for gardening books has kicked back in full gear.... Here's some of the new gardening books I've bought recently. I'd love to have a secret room like the setting shown on the cover of Weekend Homes.... but it won't happen in Juneau. We simply don't have the climate or environment for it to be feasible.... Darn....


This is why I'm doing nothing today.... we finished hauling gravel and spreading the walkway yesterday and this is how big the gravel pile still is.... You don't know how badly I want this pile gone! I even woke up this morning and looked out the window in the hopes that someone came during the night and hauled it all off!!!! I'm not certain where I'm going to put the rest of this.... I'm hoping the kids need some.... or the neighbor.... I'm just thankful to get as much done as we did. I can't take all the credit though. Bucky, my son, and his fiancee Michelle stopped by and in about an hour's time hauled and spread more gravel than I would have been able to in three hours time.... I am so grateful for them. It felt like the Calvary had come in to save me! And all I wanted to do was cry, I was so thankful and so tired.... I don't know why I do this.... start such big projects that I know are over my head and more than my body can handle.... guess I'm just not ready to concede.... that I'm not so young anymore.... Too, any woman who loves to garden knows how strong the desire (?), need (?), and/or will (?) is to continue making little rooms, beautiful settings, and an enjoyable place to just escape and think how lucky and blessed you are to be able to still do this type of hard work. I am truly blessed and simply am not ready to give up!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

how much is 9 yards

This is! At 8:00 a.m. this morning a dump truck delivered gravel for my walkways. I was so excited as have been wanting to do this for a couple years now. But the other part of me knew it would be a lot of hard work. We contacted Juneau's high school to see about hiring a couple football players (they hire out to earn money for travel) but was told that since it was Memorial Day, no one would be available.

We asked to have eight yards of D1 gravel delivered and they gave us nine, just to make sure we requested enough. All I could think of was ohhhhh my poor aching body! After hauling gravel to the back yard for, ohhhhh, about six or seven hours today.... I managed to get about half way through the pile. This is strenuous work; not work for a 55 year old woman. I started out putting 20 shovelfuls into the wheelbarrow and that quickly decreased to 15 shovelfuls and by mid-way through the day, it was down to 10. This is some heavy heavy stuff.

But it looks really good and hopefully will keep the weeds under control. Regardless, I just love walkways, especially walkways that wind! But that's my goal when gardening anymore, building maintenance-free gardens. My husband used to work side by side with me but he can't anymore. After working 30 some years in the masonry trade and four surgeries later, he is limited in what he can, or should, do. He's not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds or push or pull anything that is vibrating (like a lawn mower) ordo anything vigorous or strenuous. So our roles have changed these last couple years where I try the best I can to take care of all the strenuous and heavy work and he takes care of the lighter duty. I think I've accepted this change in roles better than he has. It's still extremely difficult for him to watch me do such hard labor. And I love him for that.

Mike canned fish today. Here's Kona, Sadie, and Dixie Cup assisting! Dixie isn't our's. She lives behind us and is the fattest little beagle girl I've ever seen. Somehow she manages to scoot her fat little body under our cyclone fence but we continue to be amazed at how. There can't be more than 4" to squeeze under! Dixie Cup.... what a funny little pork hound she is....

Today was an exhausting day. Think I'll go hop in the hot tub for a bit and soak my aching body....

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

my secret rooms

Yes, I'm at a loss for words today.... Things have been so hectic around the house recently between work, company, my step-daughter moving out, and working in the yard that I haven't had time to do much writing, or thinking about writing, or reading other's blogs, or taking interesting pictures to share. But not that there's anything interesting to share either. We've had a few really nice, sunny days--in the high 60's--which means I'm working long hours and hard hours out in the yard on those days I'm not working working. But we don't have any color yet, shrubs are still struggling to come to life. So much to do and so little time.

Here's a few of the outdoor projects I'm working on right now. My secret rooms.... I love secret gardens with little rooms independent of the other and pathways winding throughout.

This room is my Berry Patch with lingonberries and blueberries. I'm hopeful for a good spring crop.... although it may be more for looks....





And yard art is an important ingredient in my cottage garden but I have some wonderful old objects that I display in my gardens. This is an old garden plow that came from my kids' great great uncle's place. I love it!

This is my Room in Bloom. It's still a work in progress as I need to plant a few more perennials and then make it pretty with bark dust and a piece of yard art or two. It's hard to tell how much sweat and tears I've put into this little room and it's much prettier in real life than this picture. But I have a couple classic rhododendrons, a dwarf rhodie, a Tinkerbell Lilac (isn't the name cute?), a Marisee Pink dwarf rhodie (the white ones in front) which I bought strictly because of the name! Also a hydrangea, a red leaf rose, peonies (my all time favorite), azaleas, and so much more. This little room (about 20x15) has 24 shrubs planted and almost that many perennials, but it was necessary.... With up to four dogs in the yard at any time, running as if there was no tomorrow, I had to plant as dense as I could otherwise all I was doing was creating an agility course for the dogs to run through..... In time, shrubs will have to be rearranged as they grow and, hopefully, as the dogs learn this is not part of their playground! The best part about this little room, besides all the color and nice scents, is it's right next to a little sitting area and our fire pit. Ahhhhh, my favorite secret garden.

Yes, I love to garden! But I'm sad this year as I've come to the realization that I'm no spring chick anymore and I have way too much yard work for one person, or two or four! My husband has damaged arms and can't help much. So I need to keep him busy doing light work and leave the heavy and repetitive work for me. As sad as it is, gardens need to be removed but it seems for every one removed, one or two new ones surface....

So that's been my life these past few days. Hardly time to think straight. Tomorrow's another day.

Friday, May 18, 2007

simple pleasures

Some of life's greatest treasures are simple things. Take my latest purchases.

Meet Frazzle the Bluebird. Isn't he so so cute! Course Frazzle was his given name.... his new name is Rigby. Rigby Miles when I'm mad at him but I don't expect to use his middle name often. He's just so darn cute, I can't imagine him doing anything wrong! He arrived today, tired from the long flight... and a little sad having to leave his family behind. But what a trooper! He has a wonderful window to look out and I'm sure my Jays won't mind.... For only $10 you could adopt one of Frazzle's family members at the Splendid Designs shop.


Also arriving today from Splendid Designs, was this adorable crocheted cupcake and pin cushion. I apologize for the not-so-good photos.... they certainly don't do them justice and I'm just too tired to try to get a better shot. You can always go to Splendid Designs to check them out. They're just so cute and I am so glad I purchased them. I love creative people who love to share their creativeness with others!


Frannie is my vintage kitty I got from e-Bay! Okay, here's the scoop. I've never ever bid on anything on e-Bay. In fact, I've never actually spent anytime on e-Bay. But one night I was bored... doing on-line shopping.... and found this adorable little vintage chenille kitty pillow. My first thought was Tracy.... She would absolutely love it.... but it's just too cute to give away, just yet... Keep in mind this was just a test and I never had any intention of bidding to win. As I plugged through all the do's and don'ts of bidding, I decided I would just put $5.00 as the highest I would go on this item. Someone had already bid $3.00 and I figured it would eventually go for $15.00 easy. And remember, I didn't bid to win, just to experiment. Imagine my surprise when I won the bid--for $3.25 plus $4.75 shipping! She's just such a sweetheart and loves to look out my bedroom window.

Anyway, those are my simple pleasures for today. Hope you enjoyed them!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

mother's day

Happy Mother's Day! The greatest gift my children can give to me, is the gift of their time. As they grow up, move out, and have lives of their own, our time with them is now often limited. I no longer talk to my kids on a daily basis. I usually send a daily email, just to keep in touch, but we don't talk on the phone. I know they're busy. I know they have lots of friends that occupy their time. And work. And dogs. And other family members. It's called life. But that's how it should be; it's the natural progression of growing up.

But as a mother, our love hasn't diminished or the fact that we worry about whether they made it back from the bonfire at the end of the road, or whether they're managing okay, or how their cold is, or or or.... If I hear a siren, I worry that my son has been in an accident or if I see smoke, I hope it's not their place. Just because my kids are grown, doesn't mean I no longer worry about them.

But they have lives of their own now and I need to believe they are doing just fine. That if they have good news, they'll call; if they need a shoulder, they'll come by; if they neeed an ear, they'll call; if they need to raid the pantry, they will. I think my kids know I will always be there for them, during the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I know they will always be there for me as well.

Still.... I miss them. I miss that they are no longer living at home where I can cuddle them if need be, help them, love them. Mostly I just miss time with them. I love my kids. They are good kids; kind and compassionate. I am so very proud of them every single day of their lives.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

red tuesday

I feel like I need to make up for blue Monday since I haven't posted anything yet. But I've been so busy at my job.... and I use that term lightly because working at a nursery is anything but a job. On the worst of all days, it's still the best place to work. Needless to say, I go when I'm not scheduled to work, because they need the help, and when I try to leave, it seems it takes two hours to get out of there. So today I'm tired. I know I should stay away on my off days but.... they need me....

I love oddball saucers--any shape, color, or size--and find them useful in many ways. IF I had posted on blue Monday, here's what I would have shown--blue dishes. There's a story behind the one on the bottom.... As a child, this was our dinnerware. My mom gave me what was left of it; I don't recall that it was much of a set of anything, but mostly sentimental. Eventually I had only a few pieces left and I gave them to the Salvation Army. One night we were at a friends for "happy hour," and she had served us on similar saucers. Tracy commented, "my mom used to have dishes just like that!" of which I replied, "but I took them to the Salvation Army...." Sherry (our hostess) exclaimed with excitement in her voice, "THAT'S WHERE I GOT THESE!!!!" Okay, all I'm going to say is my daughter was not a happy camper that I actually got rid of something without her getting first dibs and I've never ever been guilty of that since....

But Tracy takes our family heirlooms to heart. We don't have anything of great value, but if it's been handed down from family, it has value. I love her for that.

Okay, red Tuesday. I don't have a lot of red, but I love red as an accent. I wanted a red couch when we moved into our present home--one from Pottary Barn--but didn't have the courage to get it.... That would have been way out of my comfort zone! But I think I could pull it off now.... I am, after all, older and wiser, and really don't care so much about what other people might think.... But I don't have a red couch and my red accents are limited. These are little cheese spreaders. I love cheese spreaders; you can find them all year long; and are useful for so many different things. They're fun!


And this is an old jar with a real old (not newly painted) red lid. I love how it looks with marshmallows in it :)

And my lady. I'm sorry to say, I don't know anything about her but here's a closeup of her head. She's so precious; such a classic beauty with her delicate features. She's 12" tall. She's not porcelain; I'm not certain what she's made out of; and the material is a little pitted like it's soft. There aren't any markings of any kind on her. Here's what I know though.... When my mother was a young girl, she lived on a farm on Pete's Mt. in West Linn, Oregon. They didn't have a lot of money but one day she walked down the mountain (which had to be a couple miles), all the way to Oregon City (which had to be several more miles), with 15 cents in her hand. With this 15 cents she bought this beautiful lady. My mom entrusted her in my care many years ago and she's one of my most beloved treasures. I did find information on her on the Internet several years ago but have spent the last couple days trying to relocate the site, with no luck. I'm glad you enjoyed her. I have no plans on relocating her.... to Tracy's home.... for very long time. Like I said, this is one of my most valued treasures from my mom.

Hope you had a good day!

Sunday, May 6, 2007

white sunday

milk glass pitcher






lady in the wind figurine






music box






These are some of my favorite things.
But on this horribly windy, rainy, nasty Fall day, my white Sunday is brighter simply by looking at this beautiful dining room.
It's from one of my favorite blogs--Cherry Hill Cottage. Tina has such clever decorating and crafting ideas. I drool over her blog every single day..... aahhhhh

Saturday, May 5, 2007

black saturday

What a depressing thought.... black Saturday! But it is dark and dreary here in Juneau. I'm hoping it will clear up some as I need to work outside this morning. I walked through the yard the other day, with tablet in hand, and made a list two sheets long of new and continuing projects and repair work that needed to be done from the harsh winter. Now, I just have to hire a staff of 14 to get it all done! :)

I love a good, strong cup of coffee in the morning. Don't give me weak coffee! And a bold taste, not something whimpy. Whole beans, not canned. My husband loves Starbucks Sumatra and that's what we buy but it can be any brand of good coffee for me. Tracy will give us Heritage coffee for different occasions and it's just as equally good, but you can't convince my hubby to mix and match all on his own. Funny man. I very seldom will drink more than a cup or cup and a half but sometimes, on an ugly day, will long for a second cup.

This is my favorite display of black. My first husband brought these face plates from an old door back from a hiking trip one day. He found them up in the mountains where I suspect there were some old mining shacks. I absolutely love them. They're so ornate. The picture on the left is of a magpie. Not only is this a pencil drawing in black and white, but magpies are a gorgeous black and white as well, with a longggg tail. We only see them in the late fall for a couple days and then they move on. The picture on the right Michelle (my son, Bucky's, fiancee) gave to me. It's of whales and I think are a perfect addition to my black display.

Have you ever gone clam diggin? As kids we did all the time. We had a cabin at the coast (Netarts, Oregon) where we spent our summers. We just had to walk across the street and down the bank with shovel and buckets in hand and dig to our heart's content. Course, I suspect.... as children we didn't think it was so much fun.... but more drudgery than anything! I can just hear us whine..... do we have to.....! But as adults we have the privilege of remaking our memories as the need arises..... I'd rather remember getting up at the crack of dawn, stumbling down the hill with sleep still in our eyes with shovel and bucket in our hands, wading knee deep in tide water digging for the elusive clam, and then hauling full buckets of steamers and quahaugs back UP the hill, scrubbing, and cleaning as a good memory rather than one I disliked. Anyway, THIS old wire basket was used for collecting clams. Another treasure I inherited when my parents passed away. We could easily set this on the beach and the tide would flow in and out of the holes and the bucket would stay put. Good memories.....

That's all the black I have to share today.

Friday, May 4, 2007

brown friday

Looking around my home, most of my favorite things are brown or framed in brown, or its brown furniture, or brown tones of something or other. I never realized how non-vibrant my house was before! Hopefully the cute little items from Splendid Designs will bring a little color into my life. I can hardly wait to get them!

Take this nest. It is a real bird's nest that my husband found down south when he was working and house sitting. I love bird nests and have several real ones laying about the house. They work so well for holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving as well. They're perfect as a simple nest or with some tiny bird or eggs set inside. I particularly love Jeanetta's Live Love Laugh eggs in her nests and may have to consider doing something like that, just to add a little color.

And this vintage cheese container. I think it's an old cheese container. It's another memory of my parents. My mom had it in the dining room for as long as I can remember. The wood lid comes off and inside is an amber color glass jar. It has copper trim around the top and bottom. Don't tell anyone, but when I was young, this is where I hid my money....


This is an old garden plow that belonged to my ex-husband's great uncle, Stan Price. He lived at Pack Creek on Admiralty Island here in Alaska and was known as the Bear Man of Pack Creek because he lived peaceably with the brown bears. This is one of my favorite treasures and makes perfect yard art.

These are just a few of my favorite "brown" treasures. I hope you enjoyed looking at them.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

pink thursday

I told Jerusalem that I wanted to play her color of the day game.... but sadly my house isn't so full of color. I went around to take pictures of different things yesterday and it was a struggle to find anything but muted colors. You see, our house is more Alaskana mission style with collectibles thrown in. My house is very eclectic and everything goes well together, but it's not the cutesy artsy stuff of pink.

I can offer up this precious little dish. It's such a pale pink and clear to boot, that it was hard to get a good picture of it. It's from my mom and I don't know if you can tell but each handle is a swan head and then the wings form the bowl. I had this for 100 years before someone pointed out that it was swan.... I never realized.... Sadly, I don't use it often. I would imagine it's for nuts or little mint candies but since we're not such dainty people, it seems an overkill. But I do believe in using all my treasures rather than showcasing them. I'd rather use a family heirloom and enjoy it and risk the chance of breakage than keep it tucked safely away never to be used or enjoyed.

My mom made this little doll quilt when I was very young. I had it framed to preserve it. Peter, on the Clean Sweep, always said that if something had value, to bring it out in the open. You don't keep things tucked away in a drawer or a box if it's important to you. I've tried to do that over the years--framing for the purpose of preserving--but have so many more items to showcase.

I guess that's all the pink I have to to share today.... Tracy has such cute things on her site and Jerusalem and Jeanetta, that I'll try to do better tomorrow.

I just discovered Jeanetta's Etsy shopping site, Splendid Designs. So cute! And, of course, I always seem to find something I can't live without at Jerusalem's Storia Home. Or I should say, something I think Tracy can't live without.... Found some darling vintage aprons that she looks so cute in. Jeru's also collecting red hankies for me. Not certain what I'll do with them yet... but you have to love red hankies. They're so vintage and remind me of my grandma always having one tucked in her sleeve.

But for now, I must go outside and work! Our snow is gone (yea yea yea!) and the yards are raked and everything is looking fresh and clean. I made my list of projects for the summer and now must figure out how they're all going to get done.

Have a sunshiny one!