Seen Any Good Looking Men In Your Trees Lately?

We had a little excitement here yesterday and today with a tree being cut down.

 I posted about this happening on my other blog.  If you click on the link below you can read more about it.  I'd love to see you visit!  

click here...~And Down She Came~

  It's a bit cool here so I don't know how much I'll get done outside.  I do believe we will be getting a few yards of mulch loaded up on the trailer to spread.  I'm itching to be out there more and more- honestly that's all my mind has been thinking about (no not the guy up in the trees)!   

XO

 Have a wonderful weekend!

And Down She Came

Two years ago we were notified that some trees were going to cut down because of concerns with the power lines. 

 The crew arrived Thursday morning (yes we got a touch of snow the night before) mother nature pranking us once again!  They trimmed up the smaller branches.

For some reason they pulled off the job, tidied up the yard and left early that afternoon.

They came back this morning and got back to business. I took pictures of the workers like the paparazzi  

from a distance. 

The day before I let them know I had a little honeysuckle bush right next to it and I'd appreciate it if they didn't demolish it.  He accommodated me by making sure the wood fell to the opposite site.

 Trimming off lower branches before he parked the bucket and came down.  

Starting to make the final cuts

 There she goes!

 I clicked away and caught it mid-air.

When it dropped the earth shook!  It's exciting to witness and feel the impact and it makes you realize just how much weight there is in a tree.  I'm sure glad they know what they are doing because that fell in line with to the corner of the living room!

We did note last year that it barely had leaves on it so it was on it's way out but it's very sad to see such a big tree have to be taken down (just glad I didn't have to pay for it).

You can just barely make out the honeysuckle next to the stump.  Doesn't look like much now but once things green up it will be pretty again!  

This is the honeysuckle bush I asked them to be careful of.  I'm grateful I was here to be able to ask them because I'm sure with it's close proximity it would have been a goner.   

I darn near killed this honeysuckle once before by transplanting it at the wrong time.  It took two years for it to start making a comeback but now it's recovered nicely and I hated to think I'd loose it. 

 They rolled the pieces over by the woods.  A friend of ours will be coming by to take the wood away since he uses it to heat his home.

Quietly at peace-  only the sawdust of it's shadow remains….

Wishing you all a great weekend.

Spring

I am so grateful to see the snow all gone and signs of spring popping up.

Tulips and daffodils are on their way up too and it's going to be raining on and off this week so I expect them to grow quickly!

The last two weekends have been fabulous and I got some raking done on the garden beds.  

It all looks so naked!  Before long this will be flooded with hostas, coral bells, and astilbe.

We dug out the pee-gee hydrangea tree that was here and moved it out front last fall.  Hoping it comes back with vigor and blooms better than ever.  It definitely wasn't happy in the spot I first chose for it.

Dan decided to burn the old burlap that some of the shrubs were covered in.  He's blown off all the debris since I took the picture.  It always amazes me how much crud appears after the winter since we left it all cleaned up and tidy last fall.  This fire pit is a propane gas cylinder cut down into rings and then the design cut-outs are created.  It's nearly 4 foot across!  We always have some branches and sticks to burn that fall from the trees.  

I've relocated the little cottage for my fairy garden.  I can walk up to it here and play around with it more easily.  I've got a bad knee and find getting down at ground level to be much more difficult these days.  These are thoughts I've dreamt about doing through the winter.  

We've brought out the lawn furniture and I've set up my black planters on the deck this year.  They were new last year and I had them out on the patio but I decided to try them here this time. The squirrels keep eating away at our deck- they've literally taken chunks of it and have ruined the stairs.  We don't know what they're attracted to but it's really becoming annoying!  The only thought we have is that during the winter we use a salt mix to melt the ice and make it safer to get in and out of our home.  Perhaps it's the salt their going for?

Here is a link to a post from last year showing how different this all looks!

"Early July in the Garden"

It's been an easy going spring around here and I'm looking forward to the summer months as I'm sure all of you are!

 

Lamps and Lanterns

I finally found a lamp for the living room without ordering one on-line. I was really hoping to find something I could actually see vs. ordering and taking the risk of having to return it. 

 It's made of terracotta with a soft white coloring and acanthus leaves coming up from the bottom.  I'm waiting for the 2nd one which had to be ordered.

The glaze is slightly crackled and gives it a bit of an aged look.  My goal was to have something versatile in case there is a change in the room.  I have been trying to do some updating to the room by adding lighter colors.  Creams and whites seem to be working well.  I started late 2013 by lightening the wall color and new drapery panels.

 So last week I found these white lanterns.  I cleared the mantel and set them up there but suddenly felt at a loss as to how I was going to finish it out.  I had to make my mind up quickly because the store said it would be okay if I needed to return them, but the store is a 50 mile trek one way so I was really hoping to make this work.

I started hunting for a picture that would inspire me and this grabbed my attention.  I look for design formulas that strike me.  I liked the symmetry of the two jars, the cluster of candlesticks, and the plant with a picture centered behind.

I used my white and gold bowl that I won from a blog as seen "here".  My philodendron did the trick for the plant.

 I didn't have three candlesticks I liked together so I decided the white vase would stay and be the "third" item in this cluster.

After eyeing the lanterns a bunch I decided they needed something...so I added these gold tie-back tassels which fit around the neck perfectly.   I put my Luminara candles inside that run on a timer.  I can't really center the tassels because they'd block the candle's flicker.

So here's my version.  I had the white candles in my stock pile and used a sticky wax to fix them to the candlesticks since they are made for tapers.  I thought it was interesting how they seemed to mimic the shape of the white lanterns. 

I knew the lanterns were not as elegant as the picture and were an unexpected choice but I like the challenge to "play a look up or down".  I think the tassels dressed up the lanterns just enough to make it work and I like the unexpected look I got from this.  

I'll be joining the following parties:

Betwen Naps on the Porch
for
Metamorphosis Monday 

Our Home Away From Home
for
Tuesdays At Our Home 

A Stroll Thru Life
for
Inspire Me Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants

for

What's It Wednesday 

Share Your Style

Savvy Southern Style
Wow Us Wednesdays

37 Years Ago...

We were married... 

04-15-1978

 So much has changed...

Lost my Dad in 1991...

Starting to lose my Mom to dementia...

Friends come and go...

Best of all we moved forward in the world together.  We've survived financial challenges, cancer with our daughter, loss of family members, and countless other ups and downs...

There have been plenty of good moments that outweigh the bad and I'm glad I've had someone to share all this with!

 Thanks for the first 37- let's try for another 37!

Here's looking at you babe!

The White Monkey Had to Go!

Last Wednesday I decided to re-do my curio wall unit.  A couple of years ago I found it at our Ethan Allen store that was closing and had everything marked down.  I managed to find this and a few other goodies which also included that big picture that hangs over the fireplace now.

I struggled with what to put on it and it just became a collection of random things.  

Ethan Allen called this a Chinoiserie (inspired) Wall Curio.  I liked it immediately although I had no idea where it was going to go.

I had a few Asian inspired pieces and have kept them grouped in this area.  The three drawers are still empty but I'm sure something will find it's way into them!

A  jar with bamboo accents that I got from EBay a while back.  Hammered brass candlesticks from Marshall Fields- back in the day.

A pagoda style hinged box (I keep all the extra remotes in it) which I also picked up from EBay a while back.

I made a collage showing a few of the ways I did this while playing with it.  It's funny how seeing what you are working on in a picture helps you "see" it better.  I finally decided the white monkey had to go.  No one likes it anyway, but he was just too white and seemed to pull your eye right to it. 

I wanted to try my two imitation Staffordshire Dog statues (purchased from Nell Hill's a while back) on it.  I wanted them to sit on the bottom self but they were too tall to go anywhere else but the top.  The vase was already up there so I chose to center it. 

The 2nd shelf - a small bowl rests on top of a book box and the coral was from a novelty store specializing in nautical things.  The brass elephant was either a Bombay piece or from Pier 1.  Can't remember for sure!

I could not decide on what else to put on the bottom shelf so I for now that's it.

Tying the tassel with cord around the base of the sphere really made a difference.

I tried to use variety of different elements and textures.  I studied it to see how my eyes moved on it.  That's why the white monkey had to go- he was too much of an attention grabber! 

 Before and after.

I think it's much better!

I'll be joining the following parties:

Metamorphosis Monday

Tuesday's At Our Home

Inspire Me Tuesday

Share Your Style