Having A Spring Fling

Hi friends!

The weekend has approached once again.

Where does the time fly?

Spring is also turning into Summer already.

Humid temps and storms,

but thankful no blizzards or snow,

I did a few Spring displays in the kitchen,

so I thought I would share. 

This is my current table display.

Various spring flowers in different containers.

Just a simple one.

My runner is a heavy checkerboard patterned piece.

A rag rug runner.

On top of the refrigerator.

Finally my Spring/ Summer pitchers.

Notice my recent wheat one in the middle

to the left.

It fit perfectly.

In other news,

tomorrow we will celebrate my granddaughters

 15th birthday.

Hot dog and hamburgers on the grill.

Hopefully it wont rain.

My mom is here with us until Monday.

More time with her.

We had Chinese takeout last night.

(she loves it)

Tonight we are going out to dinner

after we close the stores.

We had a morning thunderstorm

roll in on Friday.

Tundra was a barking maniac.

So I let him out of his crate

and he slept in our bed for a few hours.

(I needed more sleep)

Its what I told Bob...which was true.

Well speaking of Tundra,

he and I are off to Tim Horton's

and then work the gift shop.

More storms are due to come in,

so hopefully he will ne fine at the store.

However speaking of storms,

here in Michigan we do not often get tornadoes.

One did touch down yesterday afternoon

in Gaylord.

1 person lost and 23 injured is what I know for now.

The part that even scared me more was that

my sister and BIL have a summer cottage up there. 

She was heading up there yesterday morning.

When I called her she told me they were

5 miles from town when there phones blew up

with texts telling them to take cover.

Glad they are alright, but sad one life was taken.

Please say a wee prayer for that family,

and for those who were injured.

What's on tap for your weekend?

Spring Fling Blessings To All!

Janice

May CupboardScape

Hello friends!

May always brings me back to being

at gramma H's farmhouse when she did

Spring cleaning. 

 

As the saying goes April showers

bring May flowers.

This year it seems we had more snow than rain.

I bought these children's rubber galoshes

(rubber boots) during my annual 

antique trek last year in August.

I thought they were just adorable!

 

Added in these pussy willows and white lilacs.

Gramma H had tons of purple lilac trees.

When we did laundry outside in May.

The fragrance was addicting.

When she brought them inside

it was even more.

I so love lilacs.

         

Tucked in my tulip quilted lil pillow,

and some tulips next to it.

Gramma H would clean all of her pillows,

throw rugs, quilts and sheets outside this time of year.

Scrub brush and soap was always nearby.

along with a bucket of water.

When her soap became to small to use,

she safely added it to her soap saver.

Once full, she would take the pieces 

and put them in another container.

Once she had that container full, she would

make more soap.

Waste not. Want not. 

I purchased this Pussy Willow wreath at

Joann's at 60% off a few weeks ago.

A Spring statement it makes.

The pillows and rugs were beat

outside on the clothesline with  a rug beater.

I always had fun doing that!

Oh the dust that came out.

Needed a bath afterwards. LOL

Gramma H did not always have a washing machine.

She would have needed to use a washboard.

This wood washboard was not hers.

I purchased it years ago.

Her first washing machine was the wringer.

Oh how I hated that machine.

Almost got my hand caught in it once.

Just love the colors in this cupboardscape.

So Springy.

Is that even a word?  :-)

Snapped a few pics of some of the quilt squares.

The colors are more vibrant

in this square.

Even more brighter.

This square was missing a few of the blue.

A well worn loved quilt for sure.

The blue tick pillow is a child's one.

Old and stained.

They sure dont make them like this anymore.

My mom still does use heavy ticking though

when she needs to redo her feather pillows.

Well I hope you enjoyed this month's

CupBoardScape.

I had fun creating it for sure!

Do you have a spring ritual you do every year?

May Blessings To All!

Janice

 

 

Rug Placement

 Happy Friday the 13th my friends!

I have a friend who will not leave her house

on any Friday the 13th.

We worked together until she retired,

and whenever this day came along,

she would either call in sick or take

a vacation day.

She was that superstitious.

I am thrilled over the moon

where I decided to hang my latest rug.

My living room is mostly red, 

so this is where it will stay.

Well its on the hall wall.

My current display has my Memories pillow.

Wood hornbeam with faux fern and lavender

on top of a rye basket.

Also my newest makedo light.

Two more rye baskets.

I folded over this primitive looking runner.

I like that it is double sided and heavy.

Am selling these in our gift shop.

Get them before they are gone if you want one.

I asked Bob to raise my man picture

so the rug would look nice here.

Sorry about the glare.

It is from our window in our front door.

This display will stay thru June.

For those that love my faux dandelions,

they are once again out for the season.

The entire display is on my drysink.

I added a breadboard to the left to raise it a bit.

The two rye baskets sit inside.

Huge Wood bowls below always stay put.

In other news.

On Mother's Day my son surprised me

at the store with these beautiful roses!

They are as pretty still today.

My daughter and kids were sick with colds,

and did not want to infect me.

She called which was fine with me.

My commute to work,

is just brutal.

Am so tired when I get home,

that take out is the dinner that night.

3 hours on the road & 9 hours at work. UGH 

The only bright spot is going through the marsh.

The main road goes right through it

for over a mile,

with water on both sides at times.

It is 120,000 acres filled with wildlife.

This week I saw the swans but no babies.

Muskrats, coots (black ducks)

A goose family with their babies,

Mallards and Canvasbacks.

Still no herons or egrets.

You have to be careful as sometimes

their are turtles crossing, muskrats

and the swans.

There are signs posted saying wildlife area,

but lots of folks don't care.

I try to keep an eye out as not to hit anything.

 So sorry I have not been commenting back

to your comments.

I so appreciate them.

Will go back and respond in a few days.

Was so exhausted last night I went to bed

before it even got dark.

Well off to work at home today...

thank god.

Have a marvelous weekend my friends!

Friday The 13th Blessings To All!

Janice

Look Who I Adopted

So a few weeks back I received a text

from a friend who wanted to know if I wanted

to adopt two of her cuddlys.

Meet my new fur babies.

Now this friend has quite the collection of these.

Of course I said yes immediately.

This cutie she named Peanut.

He is American made circa 1918-1920.

She named him Peanut because of how large he is.

It was a joke.

She names all of her bears.

I was quite surprised she wanted to part with these.

Doesn't he have the cutest face!

This adorable one is also American.

His name is Elmer.

He is a blonde mohair one.

Circa 1908-1909.

I just love his smiley face!

I had to give them one of my own friends,

so I tucked in one of my sock kitties

so they would get use to their new home.

Since I put away all of my Easter displays,

I figured they would be a perfect fit here

to greet friends and family when they come in. 

A perfect pairing don't you think?

They will keep each other company 

for a few months here. 

When I first brought out 

this chair from the bedroom,

my kitties took turns laying on the pillow.

They have since found a new space to lay.

(This is Ace)

Thank you Tracy for letting me adopt

your adorable teddies!

They will be loved and cherished.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day!

I took my mom out for dinner on Friday night.

Adoption Blessings To All!

Janice

 

Did Someone Say Fairy

Hello friends!

Awhile back I was perusing a wholesale catalog

looking for inventory to purchase.

I came across some fairy houses,

with fairies and accessories to go with as displays.

Although I did not purchase these,

I thought....hmmm I will make my own

fairy houses.  

 

Tooth fairy houses that is.

Made entirely of wool.

I inserted a chenille stem inside the flower stem,

so you can twist it to how you like it.

I added a pocket in the back

to insert one's tooth.

Plus the tooth fairy can place the money

inside when she takes her tooth.

I only had time to make pink and blue right now,

and currently I only have one of each color left.

A big hit.

I wish that I had thought of this when my

own kids and grands were younger.

In other news,

the newest cruise ship the Viking Octantis

passed by Tuesday just before dusk.

We heard it will be cruising our Great Lakes 

all Summer.

This is the maiden voyage.

Heard tickets started at $5995 from

Toronto to Milwaukee for this tour.

This ship is brand new to the Viking River

cruise line.

Day one of going back to work.

An hour to get there,

and an hour 15 min to get home.

About 15 min of passing a certain intersection,

there was an accident...

I heard it on the radio.

So thankful it was not me.

Once I got back into our county,

my stress level came down.

Not use to driving in the city anymore.

Well onto day 2 going back to work.

Thank goodness I only have to do this

twice a week.

Fairy Blessings To All!

Janice

My Latest Finds

Hello friends!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Cannot believe it is May already.

Where have the months gone. Really??

When I saw this rug,

I picked it up immediately.

Although there is a lot of green in this...

and for those who know me.

know I am not a real fan of green.

It was the red that made me want this.

This rug was coming home with me.

 

Now for Saundra, here is the back.

Someone added three loops tp hang,

Unfortunately I do not know the date this

was hooked, but peeking under 

the binding it was definitely hooked on burlap.

An older burlap too.

As you can see by the close up,

the cream background wool 

is a much duller color now.

I think this is what drew me to this rug.

There are a few minor issues to it,

so my guess it was hooked in the early 1900's,

then someone decided to add the binding tape

to hang it on the wall to preserve it.

It will once again hang on a wall,

so stay tuned for a future post when I do.

My next purchase was this ironstone pitcher.

Ironstone was created in the United Kingdom.

At the time it was a cheaper mass produced

alternative to porcelain.

Who would have thought now it would 

be more expensive to collect these pieces now,

while porcelain has lost its value.

This one is circa 1820.

This wheat pattern remined me

 of my gramma and grandpa H.

They grew wheat on their dairy farm.

It has some wear around the rim, but I dont care.

In good shape for being over 200 years.

Hopefully it will last 200 or more.

Finally this makedo light.

This is not an antique, but it too caught my eye.

I should say the mallet that comprises this light

is the real McCoy though and an antique.

Take a gander at the wear on the end.

I just love how someone thought

to re-invent this piece into a light.

The iron spike is a repo as well.

Without making into a light,

after all who would want a wood mallet?

I was sad that I was unable to visit my other

friends antique store.

However in August I will make sure to visit

when my mom and I do our yearly 

antique trail jaunt.

In other news, looks like our Redbud Tree,

Red Twig Dogwood, and Lavender

all have died over Winter.

Not sure what happened.

Now we have to redo our front garden a bit.

The one shrub I wish would die has multiplied. UGH

It will be going bye bye anyway.

The Tulips are just starting to bloom.

My mom lives an hour North of me,

and her Tulips have bloomed already.

She is usually 2 weeks behind me with flowers.

Very odd I am behind her this year.

I saw my first male and female Cowbird

the other day.

Have never seen this bird here before.

Have not seen the Herons or Egrets yet either

come back for the season.

Very odd again.

Well off to work the gift shop 

while sewing Halloween goodies in between customers.

Have a great day my friends!

May Day Blessings To All!

Janice