Welcome

Not quite done painting, but putting the front hall entry back together.  Yes, that bench used to be in the dining room, and the pillows in the living room....nothing stays put very long in this house!!


My apple green walls gave way to, you guessed it, White Dove, and the leopard bench found a seat at the dining room table.

I'm using lots of white.

Wishful thinking, on the hat's part!

That's my new rug.  It's actually three little ones duct taped together (don't tell) and each was only three-fifty.




The forced forsythia seems to have forgiven me for smacking it with a hammer,

and now flanks the front door.

Coral, yellow, red and white certainly says spring to me.  


Have you changed anything in your home to welcome spring?

For Real

A while back I showed you some photos of faux orchids in my dining room. Soon after, on Valentine's Day, my husband presented me with the real thing.  His orchid traveled all the way from California and landed at my front door!   Guess he wasn't too keen on all the fake ones, he probably has a point.


Well, I must admit, I am a convert.  Now six weeks later, his orchid and one we found at Lowes are both alive and thriving.  I can now add orchid grower to my ever increasing list of talents!

I am so intrigued by these once feared plants. 

I kept the tag so I could tell you that these are Phalaenopsis Orchids.


It says the care level is "resilient" no wonder they are doing so well!


Now that I am an orchid grower,  I'm on the look out for some unique and attractive low containers that will hold three plants or five (I have this thing about using odd numbers in groupings). I may even try a different type......... as long as the care level meets my standards!

The Poor Forsythia

I know it's not nice to play tricks on someone or force somebody to do something, but come on......it's forsythia!


From the the time I was very young, my mother would clip some forsythia in the very beginning of spring, plunk it in a container of water and wait for it to bloom.  That was about the extent of her gardening endeavors.


I've branched out a bit (hahaha) but still fall back on her ritual of "forcing" forsythia most every year!  It's about that time.

Loppers in hand, just a few snips, then rid the part that goes in the water of buds or anything else.

And then, this is new to me, smack the end of the branch with a hammer.

 Now simply add water and wait.  

In four days to a week a bevy of bright yellow flowers will appear.  That is, if the poor forsythia forgives me for being forced inside and beaten with a hammer.  I'll keep you posted!

March Madness

It's March 21 and over 80 degrees here in Maine, my kind of March Madness!
Of course that means trying to get everything you possible can done outside before, dare I say, winter returns.  


They say it's getting colder next week, I can handle that and perhaps one more very light snow, but that's it.


Took a break from working outside to go shopping.  A girls gotta shop you know.

Nails, clapboards, primer and spray paint, what else could I possibly ask for?


Primed and almost ready to go.

No matter how hard I tried, couldn't get the clapboard to stay where it was supposed to (on the house) I need another pair of hands.........Douglas?????
He's never here when I need him, always at work.  Well, someone has to work around here.


I'm great with a spray can.

Oops, haven't sprayed that one yet.  Everything is going black this year, with black and white striped cushions, white cushions and Boston ferns.  That is the picture I have in my head today, but it could change at any minute! Who knows what might catch my fancy on Pinterest?!?!?!


Our new fountain made it's premature debut and we love it.  Course everything is ugly and brown around it with just a few specks of green.

Pretty sure those are antique irises that need dividing.  


I'm sure the fountain will have to go back inside before it's formal unveiling, when there's no threat of frost and the perennials are thriving.  


But we couldn't wait, we had to see it in action.

Wait, let me plug it in.

We added the river rocks (they sell them at the dollar store) do you like them?

So now we have the sound of a babbling brook to add to the sound of a popping cork, right in our own backyard.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone enjoys today, Happy St. Patrick's day!

Amy in Dublin.

And a word from Guinness.

My kind of humor!

A Little History

What makes your home unique?  I'd say a little bit of history.  Just think there are so many things from your past or your family's past that are yours and yours alone.


Above my mantle in the living room,  I have vases from Goodwill, a mirror from my salvage store and two cartoons that my mother gave her father for Father's Day when she was in college about 1936.

Below the mantle are four framed pieces from my husband's side of the family. There is a grammar lesson in each little frame.  Not sure which of Doug's grandparents first had these, but Doug remembers them hanging in a powder room off the entry hall where he grew up in New Canaan.

Oh, and that brass fender most likely stopped Doug from getting too close to the fire as a toddler, now I just trip over it.

I'm  glad my Goodwill finds and T.J's treasures don't mind sharing space with a little bit of history.


What makes your home unique?  Something from your past, or something brand spanking new?