From Simple Things Come Simple Joys or Something Small Becomes Large.........

........On the return home from one of my recent trips to the Winter Park Farmers Market I stopped in at Tuesday Mornings and noticed this little door knob pillow.  I really liked the spring looking graphic and also liked the $3.00 price.  Before I left the store I had decided this pillow will become something bigger........

I have many small things in my small house already so I wanted a larger pillow.

I had already embroidered this phrase on osnaburgh fabric, knowing I wanted it on a pillow some day.  But laying it beside the new graphic piece (which I had separated from the little pillow) I knew it just didn't balance up.

So, I reconfigured it to look like this - much better. Then I started thinking I needed to look for a small green print fabric to frame it in.   It occurred to me that I already have just the fabric that will be perfect!

Earlier in the year I had found this little green check at Goodwill.  It happened to be in the form of a bassinet sheet - like I needed one of those!!!  But, it was the softest fabric, a great shade of green and could surely be made into something different. Plus, I have always liked this tiny size checked fabric, not to mention the price was right!

So, I took it apart and cut the border pieces and sewed them around the brown fabric.  It was still lacking so I added the feather stitch embroidery and liked the way it looked but it threw the whole thing off balance again.  Adding the rectangular buttons across the top evened it up and added more interest. I love finding ways to use buttons, especially ones I already have.

 

Now, if this pillow looks a little flat that's because I haven't stuffed it yet.  I guess I got into a hurry to make pictures.

I will finish with showing you two gifts that I have been blessed with recently.  My visiting niece, June and her husband bought this dispenser for me when we visited "When Pigs Fly" in Mount Dora Saturday. It is a small bottle replica of an old jar.

Here is how it looks in place on my kitchen sink. I didn't have enough detergent to fill it but right here is where it will be as my dish washing helper. I love it.

Yesterday, my friend Cindy Brooks surprised me with this sweet little bird feeder.  Isn't it just the cutest you have ever seen.  She said she was shopping, saw this and thought of my garden.  What a generous friend to find this little treasure and give it away!

It is already hanging on a hook I took something else off of.  It is visible just outside my dining room window, the one with the bird nest in the window box.  I have the most thoughtful and giving family and friends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ushering In Of Spring.......

.........Spring is almost here and as I have worked outside this week I have been amazed how things have awakened and come alive.  We don't usually notice a sudden change here in zone 9.  It must have been the two good rains we got after going months with nearly no rain.

So I decided it is time for the inside to come alive to spring, also.  Nothing speaks spring to me more than birds. Their serenading seems to step up a notch at this time of year. While my inside birds don't serenade with sound, they sure do put a song in my heart.

I brought out a few more birds to place on these shelves for spring and summer and made a few other subtle changes.

This fellow has found a sprig of greenery - must have some nest building to do.

This one seems to be perfectly content to just sit on this ball and advertise my garden.

The branches here have gone from bare to alive with greenery.

I will have to show all my bird nests sometime. I have quite a few real ones on the back porch and a few decorated ones like this favorite inside.

And this one.

This little chair is another spot that I use to pay tribute to the changing seasons.

You might have noticed this moss covered basket on a white shelf.  It is empty but has enough character to stand alone.

I have many garden books and I always keep several on display - books are great for decorating and can help portray the seasons.

I haven't seen any bunny rabbits yet but am finding colored eggs around the house. 

This little lady is aways pulling something in her basket.  I think her favorite load might be these eggs.

O.K., you got just a glimpse of spring here in my house. I think of all the seasons, spring is the one with a quiet appeal and a simple elegance but is at the same time invigorating. Have you come alive to spring yet?

Green, Green and More Green.......

..........You were probably expecting St. Patrick's Day green.  Sorry, I have no connection or particular fondness for that holiday.  It is one of the few holidays that I have no decorations for.  I do have a lot of green in my yard, however, so I have to share what I have.

The last two Saturday mornings I have gone to the Winter Park Farmers Market. The first time taking my visiting friend and last Saturday because I wanted to pick up some little gift plants for five friends who I will see at our annual Spring Fling this week - more on those plants later.

This farmers market has good plants at great prices.  It is getting near the end of the season here for this hollyhock but I will get enough pleasure from it to have paid the low price.

This is another one I purchased - a calla lily.

There is just something delicate about a calla lily blossom, I think.

The squirrels were wanting to play again yesterday.

A butterfly ornament given to me by my friend Jean.  This Florida anise also came from Jean and.....

..........her husband made this interesting dragonfly.

The purple shield has a few small purple blooms - didn't know it bloomed!

Ahh.......Perle d'or with its petals turned back.

And, the sweetest little buds!

I worked in this area yesterday trying to take control of the yarrow. It was getting out of hand - spreading everywhere. And that reminds me, I need to get off of here and head back out for some more pleasure in the garden! The rest of the garden pictures will need to be part two.

Wren Family Update and Other Things

.........I have been missing in action from blogville while I have continued to spend time with out-of-town guests.  I'm trying to catch up a bit starting with the activity of the wren family who built a nest in the window box planter.

A very light picture taken through the window but it clearly shows five eggs in the nest.  I was happy to discover that all my watching the nest building and taking pictures did not cause them to a move to a more peaceful neighborhood!

This is a raised window shot which is clearer but only shows two eggs - a different angle.

Here is mama wren sitting quietly on the nest until my flash went off and she left the nest faster than the flash. I am not going to bother her any more until the babies are hatched and then I will try to get a picture of them.

On to a new subject ......after dropping off my last guest at the airport yesterday, I visited Old Time Pottery to get a couple of clay pots for some plants.  Of course I could not go there and not check out what they have put on the shelves since Christmas.  This nice lantern practically jumped off the shelf and into my cart.  At first I thought it would be hanging somewhere in my garden but, considering the fact that it could collect an inch of water in the bottom,  I decided I don't need any more mosquito farms in my yard!!!

On the back porch is really the perfect place for it, especially since I, without planning, have already got this color going on as here and other places in the room.

And now the next subject......

Until last week I had not seen my friend Joanne since she was a teenager and had lost contact with her until I found her and her sister on facebook.  She came here last week and we spent a week together.  Our families were very good friends when we lived in Delaware in the early seventies. When Joanne and my daughter were little girls, her mother and I were visiting in the front room of our house one night and we started smelling a strong body-powder fragrance, probably Avon. It seemed to be wafting up the hall from the bedroom. When we arrived at the bedroom door the fragrance was chokingly strong and there we found two little girls covered in powder!  They weren't the only things covered - every flat surface, including the bed, was white!!!  They had emptied a rather large box of powder using the big, fun, fluffy mitt that was conveniently provided.

Now here is what played out on Sunday while I was in the kitchen preparing lunch.  I have a feeling this one is the one that was the instigator in the first episode and have no doubt she planned what went on Sunday. Looks kinda sneaky wouldn't you say?

Too bad I didn't smell it this time and could have caught them in the act.  Since they used the guest room I didn't see anything until I saw these pictures my daughter later put on facebook.

Believe me, this tiny pile is not a realistic picture of the first powder fun! After I saw it Joanne  cleaned it up but......................

Last evening, while Joanne was flying home I discovered this smiley face in powder.

I took it for a sweet thank you note and a new powderery memory!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~