Winter

Am I the only one that's getting tired of 

this awful winter?

I shouldn't complain, though.

My husband's son lives up near Boston,

and we all know how bad this winter has 

been for them and other parts of the country.

I wish them all well,

and hope that they can soon say goodbye

to the record cold and snowfalls. 

We had the most snow last week

here in NC

that we've had since I moved here eight

years ago,

and whereas it normally melts within a day,

it has stayed on the ground due to the record

low temperatures, even here.

But still,

I yearn for the day where I can walk

through our yard and once again see this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

and this...

...even though it will mean a return to the

 sometimes backbreaking yard work!

Be still my heart.

A Valentine's Wish

Hello dearest friends. I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday. Do you have any special plans? Hubby and are going to our favorite local Italian restaurant tonight. We got engaged there six years ago today!

In honor of this day I couldn't resist sharing with you one of my vintage Valentine's Day wedding photos. I got it for a good price due to the stain on the bottom, but we can certainly work around that! Scan and use as you wish.

Isn't this a lovely couple.

I wonder what became of them.

I hope that they had a fine family 

and lived happy and healthy lives...

A few days ago, while I was making lunch, UPS delivered a package (or was it FedEx...can't remember now),and much to my pleasant surprise, it was an early Valentine's gift from Mr. Perch. He said it was supposed to come yesterday, but trust me when I say, getting it early was not a problem.

He saw this company advertised on TV,

and I'm happy that he decided to give them a try...

Beautiful huge, and I mean HUGE,

chocolate covered strawberries.

One of them is a meal in itself...

The instructions suggested that they be consumed within

48 hours.

Really?

No problem for moi!

Absolutely delicious!

Mine is just the sweetest guy!

An early jump on the garden...

Good morning. Old Man Winter is still hanging tight here in NC, so the other day I pretended that spring was right around the corner, and got a jump on starting some plants indoors for my garden.

In the smaller pots I started some daylilies

and some seeds that I had harvested last year

from mature daylilies growing in the gardens...

...along with some dahlias in the larger square pots.

All planted in clean pots with fresh potting soil,

and labeled as to what they are.

They happily sit in the downstairs guest room

in front of the sunniest window...

This is the iris...

...and the dahlias...

...and the daylilies...

...along with some lilies...

These are all Walmart specials, 

but I have also ordered some rarer beauties

from three mail order nurseries that I have worked 

with before. 

Whoopie! 

Can't wait to get diggin' again!

*******************************************************

Today I am going to pretend that it is NOT Friday the 13th. 

I might even drive my car somewhere. 

I am not superstitious. No, I am not. Really, I'm not. 

( But I won't tempt fate in any case!)

As a matter of fact, 

I am going to pretend that this is just any other day.

Mixed Media Collage: "Hope"

Last weekend I decided to do a mixed media canvas for my sister-in-law, who is fighting cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Though she has had a pretty positive outlook this past year, I wanted to make her something that she could look at any time that she didn't feel well. I also gave her a plate holder to sit it on so that she could look at it whenever she needed to.

Here is the whole piece. 

Parden the photos,

but the sunlight was not great when

I took them...

Her favorite color is red, 

so I wanted to work some into this piece...

The piece of music is from a sweet little children's

book from the 1800's that I recently purchased,

and of course, resisting lace is so difficult

for me...

I backed this one with a piece of coordinating

scrapbook paper

and put one of my favorite quotes on the back.

I took this photo at a slant,

but it was actually straight on the canvas...

It's so much more rewarding creating a piece for someone else

than it is creating it just for the sake of creating something.

I hope that you have a day filled with hope!

Many thanks for stopping by.

Vintage photos of some beautiful children...

Some lovely old photos that

I couldn't resist when I recently saw them on eBay...

Don't you just love the hats? 

They make me think of spring...

It's so hard to find photos of twins anymore,

so I couldn't resist this one...

To me,

these are more beautiful

than a designer purse.

I hope that you have a lovely evening!