A Touch of Easter

I usually don't do a lot for Easter because in the South it is crunch time for getting your seedlings in and cleaning up the yard.  I am usually in the garden from sun up to sundown from Good Friday until Easter and don't want to be inside cooking.  I do, however, place a few Easter objects about so it reminds me of this holiday.

I found this white plastic bunny at a Goodwill for $2 last year and thought it would look much better painted a brown to resemble a chocolate Easter bunny.

I think he turned out pretty well.  He even has a sheen just like chocolate.  I put some crinkle paper and a dried egg gourd in his basket, but it would look just as good with a few flowers.

A friend has invited us to Easter dinner, so I think I will put these farm fresh eggs to use and have an Easter brunch, maybe at the lake, take the kayak out for its first spring spin!

Maybe something fancy from this wonderful cookbook, a lady that has a bed and breakfast in Lancaster, PA. 

A Doggy Dog Weekend

It all started with getting Athena out of a boarding situation she had been in for six months to a rescue willing to take her in CT. 

Friday I did a four and a half hour drive to the Eastern part of NC to get Athena.  My friend in rescue, Vickie Shutt, lived close by and also had another chow I was going to pick up for a rescue in Houston, so I stopped by her place for lunch.

Vickie is a fantastic cook and baker.  She made a delicious chicken tortilla casserole and below an even more delicious flan cake.  She actually sells these because everyone wants them. 

I couldn't believe the size of the pinecones in her yard, smallest one I got was 7 inches!

Hers compared to mine, big difference!

I wasn't far from the coast, the Outer Banks, flat and boring.  I prefer the Western side with the mountains and the evergreens, but we don't have those pinecones!

This is Sterling, the corgi chow that I picked up at Vickie's.  An odd mix of a corgi body with a chow head, but the energy of a corgi and added energy because he is only 10 months old.  I'm glad he only spent one night here.  He was sweet, but I can't handle energy like that!

Bob spent the night with him in the Tiny Farmhouse.  Saturday we drove to SC to meet Tracey who was going to take him to Atlanta before his trip to Houston.

I dropped Athena off at Double N Stables in Charlotte.  She will be boarded there until Tuesday, then is on her way to CT.

This is Nicole who owns and runs the stables and kennels.  When I got there 7:00 that night, she had two buses loaded with dogs going to the NE.  We were both tired and ready to be done with the day, but I had another two hours of driving left.  She does an amazing job with all the animals, I don't envy her job.

Saturday Bob and Sterling were ready to hit Starbucks and meet Tracey.

You can really see the corgi in him in this photo.

I've known Tracey for quite some time being in rescue, but she recently moved to GA from CT, just months after I moved to NC.  I finally got to meet her in person.  She does awesome rescue work for chows.  It was her turn to have Sterling (ha) for the rest of the weekend.  She told me one chow had puppies Saturday night, her mom came from CT for a visit, and Sterling was non-stop and bothering all of her other chows so she had to confine him.  I don't envy Tracey, either!  It was a good weekend in chow rescue.

Nature Calls!

Days in the 70s, birds chirping, bushes ready to flower, I needed to get into action and get some bird houses repaired and erected and start the seedlings.  This weekend was pretty much dedicated to just that.

Wren house on a post.

Bat box in the pasture which had to be a minimum of 15 feet, that was a task!

Chickadee house in the brush.

Blue bird house on the edge of the pasture.  Within minutes of erecting, this house was spoken for.   A quick sale!

Screech owl box placed 10 feet high on the edge of the woodlands.  I have been hearing numerous owls singing at night, just hope this was put up in time for one to make a nest.

Periwinkle is in bloom everywhere.

A bush that I have never had, couldn't make it in the Georgia heat, is Rhododendron.  I have so many huge bushes that are budding, I can't wait to see what color they are and how beautiful the grounds will look when they are in full bloom.

Camellias in bloom.

The potting shed is still packed full and I was lucky to find my heat mats for my seedlings.  The grow lights were turned on and the heat mats ready to do their job.

This widger is an invaluable British tool that I cannot do without when planting seeds and lifting out seedlings.  

A tray of veggies . . .

. . . and a tray of flowers.

To end the weekend, another colorful sunset behind the mountains.

A Special Camellia

Walking through some bamboo yesterday, I came across a huge variegated camellia.  What a shame it's not in plain view right outside a window, but I did bring a couple inside to enjoy.

Some Progress in the Bedroom

It will be some time before the bedroom gets painted, so I wanted to at least get my mantle/shelf up on the wall and paintings in place.  It was a job to get this heavy mantle anchored to a plaster wall, so when it comes time to paint I will be painting around it.

At my other home the mantle was over the bedroom fireplace, which I do not have here, but I had to find a way to use it because I could not part with it. It hangs over my pie safe that houses our toiletries and serves as a place for my mercury glass and flower oil paintings to rest.

Originally I was just going to paint the room white, but with time spent here I think I will do a white with a hint of color, very pale and calming.

Detailed carving on the mantle.  I don't know what period it is from, but it didn't matter, I knew it would look good.

A blue painted corner cupboard on the other side of the room holds my old crocks and bowls and an oil painting found at a flea market.

The duvet cover is a gray ticking that goes with everything.

 Bought from Nicola's Home in Maine.

Vintage tin flowers from Italy.

It's raining today, so I'll be in the kitchen painting the ceiling!