A Spring In My Step

 Tomorrow's temp is going to be in the 60's.

The bad thing is more snow on Monday.

Tonight we are under a high wind warning.

Am ready for a Spring in my step.

 March here in Michigan,

is what I call the rollercoaster month.

The temps go up and down, up and down.

So I decided to start changing UP a bit for Spring.

Keeping things simple this year.

Just a bit of flowers 

plus this green fig plant adds a bit of interest.

The blues and wood meld together

with the white pitcher of flowers

 adding just a tad pop of color.

I enjoy having things a bit

bare for this season.

It rejuvenates me from having

so much Christmas decor out. 

Just like Spring rejuvenates in Nature.

Giving new energy to sprout 

buds on trees and flowers.

With me starting Spring decor simple,

 gradually sets in motion for the

other seasons to reach maturity.

Now for an update on my rug.

The flower is white with the inside a dark blue.

They remind me of Osteospermums 

that I buy for my yard. They are an annual flower.

For my final dancing rabbit,

I chose this brown wool plaid

with blues, creams and browns.

I was able to hook at the store yesterday

in between customers.

However I could not finish my last rabbit

as I forgot my white wool

 at home for the bunny butt.

 

It was nice having folks ask me what I was doing.

This is my progress thus far.

Well since we are now under a wind warning,

 I am going to post this tonight

just in case we lose power in the morning.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Bring On Spring Blessings To All!

Janice

  

 

Easter Cookies

                                                  The non fattening kind. LOL

                                      Happy March my friends.

                           Spring is just around the corner now.

                                                     YIPEE!

                                             ***WARNING***

                                              Long post today.

                              So today I would like to show you

                     my latest cookies being sold at the gift shop. 

I took my batter and cooked up these shapes.

Iced and added silver nonpareils.

AKA silver beads.

Iced a little paw and added more

pink nonpareils. 

AKA pink beads.

Attached the paws to the body

to create my bunny butt cookie.

Isn't this just adorable!

Packaged up and ready to go.

Bob said I should have made more of these.

Guess he was right.

I think I only have one left.

Did the same for this cookie shape.

Decorated carrot cookie.

Again packaged for sale.

Finally this bunny head one.

Close up of the nonpareils.

(beads)

How fun to place these on a plate 

for your Easter decor!

Now for my Dancing Rabbit rug update.

I did opt for green grass.

Was actually thinking of just using 

a dark brown for dirt, but thought it would

just be too much brown.

Am outlining all of my bunnies

in an antique rose.

The background will comprise

of four different shades of this blue.

More of a colonial blue rather 

than a primitive color.

To see more of my rug completed,

dont forget to visit Saundra's blog

(Woodland Junction)

Also in other news.

Monday night I ended up in the ER.

My head ached all day...which was really odd,

since I thought my head was getting better.

Well one of our friends on Sunday

told me that some folks get a brain bleed

after hitting their head.

All day working, I thought about that 

and later in the evening,

Bob and I trekked up to the hospital.

Its about an hour ride one way.

Once inside I was the 4th person there.

They took my vitals,

blood and added an IV, in the event

they needed to in case of a brain bleed.

This scared me.

Well after the cat scan, which was like 

going into  a space tube. LOL

I bruised a nerve in my head.

It could take up to 3 months to heal.

Thankfully no brain bleed.

However was discovered I am getting 

arthritis in my neck. 

The doctor said it comes with old age.

5 hours later we were home,

and the ER was packed when I left.

Folks were even on gurneys outside every room.

In better news,

we finally got our new sign

for our antique store.

WOOHOO!

I love the dark blue background.

We had been waiting 6 weeks for this.

This was our sad old one 

after being taken down.

After 12 years of proudly bearing our name,

it had way too much water damage to it.

Some folks thought we had a fire,

however it was just water that had seeped in.

Plus the sun beating down all

those years does not help either.

Yesterday Bob brought home some Paczki's.

So if you are still reading this long post,

 Paczki's are Polish filled donuts.

Growing up it was a tradition

to have these the day before Lent.

Gramma B would make these for us.

Only hers were half the size.

She also only made prune and custard.

Now they come in so many flavors.

As you can see two were already missing.

We ate the 2 Cannoli ones first.

Left are Blueberry and Strawberry.

If you ever get the chance to eat one

of these, most bakeries only offer them

the week before Lent starts.

Tradition is that you fill your belly

upon these the day before Lent begins,

as you fasted the first day of Lent.

It is such a treat for us each year!

Easter Cookie Blessings To All!

Janice

 

 

 

Post Valentine Displays

Hello friends!

With this last post of February,

this post will show a few of my Valentine displays.

Better late than never.

A few hearts on my early leather books.

A few of my teddies got into the action.

Some with hearts.

One on top of a wreath.

I apologize for the glare by the teddies nose.

I purchased these beige hooked hearts 

before I learned how to hook.

Unfortunately Tundra thought the third one was his.

I could not fix it.

My first display.

More red.

Second display.

I stitched this pillow with wool on blue ticking

years ago now.

Just a bit of Valentine's in my kitchen.

Added these old red cookie cutters I had

and red floral plates.

Changed up my pitchers to blue spongeware

and white ones.

This was the picture I purchased from my friend.

It will also look nice with a Christmas display.

Now for an update on my Dancing Rabbit.

Am loving hooking this!

I feel like dancing myself!

Now most of you know I cut my worms by hand.

Just like our foremothers did.

So it takes me a bit longer,

and my worms are not all the same size.

I would rather cut worms, than bind.

This was my choice of wool for my second rabbit.

It does have a bit of purple in it, but not much.

In person you cannot tell it at all once hooked in.

Still debating on my background color.

I keep going back and forth.

Red or blue.

Blue or red.

Then what color blue or red.

Decisions Decisions Decisions.

Not even sure if I want to use green for grass.

Most of you know green is not a favorite

color of mine....except for floral greens.

Anyways,

make sure you visit Saundra's blog

(Woodland Junction)

to see more Dancing Rabbits.

Everyone is doing a fantastic job!

In other news.

Our next door neighbors dog was attacked

by a coyote the other night.

We do not talk to this neighbor.

They rent the house and keep to themselves.

They have never been friendly.

We heard about it from another neighbor.

They must talk to her.

Even though we have a fenced in backyard,

we do keep Tundra in at night.

Bob has been turning the outside light on

now in the mornings just in case,

and watches out the window.

We live one house away to 1450 acres of state land.

We know the coyotes are out there.

This is the first time since living here

for 20 years that one has been this close

to houses.

I have seen fox, deer and turkeys in our front yard.

Never a coyote.

Well you know what I will be doing this weekend.

Tundra and I are off to Tim Horton's now,

for my bagel and his Timbit.

Maybe we will see an eagle along the river,

as the ducks are North of us in open water.

Too much ice near us to see any.

Just got notification that the ferry

to the main island here will be shutting down

sometime this afternoon.

That means more ice is coming down.

What are your plans for the weekend?

End Of February Blessings To All!

Janice

 

 

Love Spell

 Good Tuesday morning my friends!

Happy 2-22-22 day!

Yesterday the temp here in Michigan 

reached the mid 40's. 

Almost Spring like weather here.

However we wont talk about what

is coming in again on Thursday into Friday.

Today I want to show off the love spell candles

I had in the store for Valentine's.

Plus news on a new rug I am hooking.

For my black and red theme,

here were the red candles.

Red is used for Passion.

Bob made more wood holders from tobacco sticks.

Black love spell candles 

used for Protection.

I then added white for Seduction.

Finally pink for Love.

Now for some other news.

I decided to join in on the fun

that Saundra challenged her blogging buddies.

(Woodland Junction)

I LOVE BUNNIES!!!

Everyone is to hook their version of

"Dancing Rabbits"

Above is what I drew for my three rabbits.

For my first rabbit,

I chose this brown wool.

The stripes are rust and white.

I thought it was a nice color for a rabbit.

I also decided to give mine a flower.

Now that I took a photo of it,

I think his left paw is way too fat.

Will need to do something about this.

I also have not decided on my background color,

so I will not outline my rabbit, 

until I figure that out. 

My final rug will measure 13" X 24".

Head over to Saundra's blog to see what other

colors folks are deciding on.

Yesterday's lunch was nice with my daughter & grands.

We filled our bellies at Olive Garden.

Soup, salad and breadsticks.

Mikey had Eggplant Parmigiana.

Mikayla had Cheesy Zita.

Michele my daughter had Lasagna.

I had Garlic Pasta 

(asparagus and tomatoes in a garlic sauce)

We also splurged on warm sugar topped donuts 

with chocolate sauce.

I also had black tie mousse pies to go for everyone.

Its been years since I have been to 

Olive Garden...and I wanted to spoil my kids!

Sunday night Tundra tripped me at the store.

I fell and hit my head on the middle table.

Then I dropped to my right knee on the

hardwood floor which is cement underneath that.

Then I hit my head again before falling to 

the floor completely.

The force of my fall actually

 moved the table about a foot.

I could not drive home and thankfully

Bob was there at the time.

Been gimping around now.

Well off to work.

Love Spell Blessings To All!

Janice

Black And Red

Hello friends.

I hope this post finds you well.

I know Valentine's is over.

I am a bit behind with showing off

my valentine decor.

So the remining posts of February will continue to

be Valentine related.

I hope you don't mind.

Christmas Day Bob and I decided to 

take the remaining Christmas decor and pack

away what was left, 

and bring out the Winter and Valentine goodies.

My theme this year was red and black.

Now that I am finally showing off these pics,

we have already redid the store now 

for Spring.

The front window now is black and yellow Spring,

mixed in with some galvanized items.

while the back room is all Easter.

So ready for Spring.

For now though, I hope you enjoy these pics.

Above are black and red runners.

I kept the candy trees out for Valentine's.

All sold now.

Cardinals and Valentine tags.

These were a hit.

Warm & cozy sign in red and black.

More Valentine items.

Sweet sheep with a Winter barn scene.

This was an actual photo that my friend

had printed on canvas.

Her photos are awesome!

More sheep.

Other items.

Valentine signs.

Valentine gifts.

Flowers.

Fireplace mantel.

More red and black. 

Throws

Pillows.

Swans with black & red bows I added.

I kept up the tree and added red paper hearts.

The finished fireplace area.

The dresser area.

The table.

Finally the last cabinet.

Filled with trees, cardinals

and more photos from my friend.

I loved how the reds made

the trees pop!

I actually purchased one of these photos

for myself.

I will show you what I did with it in another post.

In other news,

my daughter had the pic line removed.

The MRA x-ray came back no infection.

WOOHOO!!!

I am off on Monday, so I am

taking her and the grands out to lunch.

They are also off from school that day.

It will be the first time she has been out 

since November.

I am still waiting on one more Spring order

for the store. Sure hope it comes in soon.

Am drawing out designs for Halloween.

Sorry Robin, the theme is still a secret. 

Also working on orders for Summer.

One more milestone to mention.

After 20 years, Bob and I no longer

 have a house payment.

YAY

Our house is now paid off.

One step closer to my retirement.

I joked with him the other day and

said, maybe when he & I both retire,

we sell the 2 store buildings,

purchase a house in Alabama

and live down there in the Winter

and up here in the Summer.

He asked why Alabama and not Florida.

I said, because it is almost halfway

 from your brother and sister. 

His brother lives in TX near the Arkansas border,

while his sister lives in mid Florida.

Makes sense to me. LOL

Yesterday morning we started off with

freezing rain.

Bob closed the stores by mid day

as the roads were getting worse.

Then the snow started.

We were to get 6 to 9 inches.

Not sure how much we got yet

as it is still dark outside.

Well off to work.

Have a great weekend my friends!

You know where Tundra and I will be.

Red & Black Blessings To All!

Janice