The " Royal Daffodil Tea Party"

Here they come!!!!!!



Princess Lillie



The " Queen and Princess of Florida" are here!!! We picked them up at the Birmingham Airport early Monday morning and headed right to " Cousin, Lady Melanie's house for the " Royal Daffodil Tea Party" that we had been looking forward too, for so long.  We were met at the door by Lady Melanie and Princess Lillie in their Royal robes and crowns.  It was just a sample of what was to come.  As we entered, we were each given a beautiful floor length robe and a crown....even " King Charles".  ( and we even got to take them home with us) The first agenda was to exchange presents and what fun that was!  First Genavive opened hers....a big gift bag full!  It was all Tinker Belle treasures....puzzles, a back pack,  a paint book with paints, a color book and stickers.  Next, was "The Queen of Florida's" turn.  A box of 12!!! etched champagne glasses!!  They are beautiful!  Lady Melanie went next and opened the ones from us...which included two "Dutch" embroidered dish towels and some "honey soap".  There were a few other things that I had that I thought Lady Melanie would like to have. I went next and my box was huge!!!...full of the most fun things, like a beautiful Daffodil book, chicken napkin rings, a chicken table cloth, a chicken platter, a box of candles, and a couple of things that I can't think of right now. (there was just so much in the box) Last, was "King Charles" turn.  He had to go to the garage for his present.....a croquette set for us to have fun with at Brambly Pines.  After the present ceremony, we went to the formal dining room for the " Daffodil Tea".  The table was just gorgeous, with daffodils in vases and everyone had a different kind of daffodil tea cup.  There were lots of tea sandwiches, grapes, carrot sticks, lemon bars and madeleines.  We all sweetened our tea with a lemon drop.  Just the right amount of sweetness and the right amount of lemon flavor.  We were also honored with the presence of Lady Elizabeth ( from the Lucy Show Dinner) and Lady Kellet ( Princess Lillie's Mommy)  The fun time came to an end much too soon, but we had other places to go in Birmingham, before heading back to Brambly Pines for the week.  It was the best " Tea Party" that any of us had ever been too.  I'm sure " Alice" would have been jealous....lol.

We Still Have Daffodils!

The last of the daffodils are blooming.  I didn't think the ones that I planted all along the retaining walls were ever going to come up....but they did AND they BLOOMED!  It's so pretty to look out the north windows of the house and see the two lines of them.  Since daffodils become thicker and thicker as the years go by, it will be a mass line of them in a few years.  Before we know it....Spring will be over and the fruits of summer will be here.  It's time to plant the garden......the work begins!

Tulips!

They all bloomed!  My first tulips!  I'm going to plant even more of them next fall.  I love them!  They are prettier in person, of course.  As Chuck and I were sitting on the back porch a couple of days ago, enjoying the green, green grass and all of the pretty flowers......we both said that the tulips were so pretty, they didn't look real.  They close up at night and reopen the next day.  We had severe storms yesterday and last night and I was keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn't ruin the tulips.  I want them blooming when Shell and Genavive come tomorrow.  I think they are going to make it...at least for a few more days.  Living up " north" is the BEST!

Happy Birthday! George.

I think it must be around " George the kitty's" birthday.  He must have been born last Spring since when he started to show up around the house site it was summer.  He looked like he was a teenager  about then.  It's hard for me to believe that he was so afraid of us and wouldn't let us even touch him.  Now, I can't go outside without him running to me and wanting me to pick him up.  His favorite thing for me to do, is sit in the swing on the front porch and he climbs up and lays in my lap.  I think he would lay there all day, if I let him.  Most of the time, he sleeps on the tables on the porch.  I have given up on having anything "clean" on the front porch.  It's all covered with red,muddy kitty prints.  He can't help it so I'm not too upset over it.  It's so much fun having an " outdoor kitty" to help you do yard work and the best is when George follows me down the drive way to the barn.....through the barn and out to the chickens.  He lays by the chicken yard and watches the " BIG BIRDS" until I call him and we head back up to the house.  I have never had a kitty like him before.  When they say, every cat is different....that they are! 

The Deck

With having two really nice porches, I didn't think I would sit out on the deck that much but I have come to love it as much as the porches.  I love sitting out there, with a different view of the " woods" (and the huge mulch pile for right now)  We have had lunch on the deck for the past two beautiful Spring days that we have had.  We still have some work to be done on the deck, like the railings to the steps and the metal, rocky chairs need to be sand blasted and painted.  I was going to have Chuck paint everything a pretty "royal blue" but since Shell had given us a really nice canvas umbrella for Christmas about five years ago ( we saved it to use at the new house) and it was green.  We already had the green table but no chairs.  The chairs that we found were black, so I decided to just paint everything black or green to save a lot of painting.  It's all working out great, because we bought this really nice window box for my bedroom window and it fit in with the black chairs.  I love the window box because not only does it hold pretty flowers to see from the deck, but I can see them from inside my bedroom.  Yep, I think the deck is going to be used just as much as the two porches.  It just depends on what view of the " woods" you want. 

A bit of Spring



Tulips




Tulips and pansies







Forsythia

 Spring....it's finally here!  Such a pretty time of the year.  Not only are all the flowers starting to bloom but the birds are singing their little hearts out.  Soon there will be nests being made and baby birds hatching.  I sure hope our "blue bird" house gets used this Spring.  The BNOE already have a blue bird in their's.  We hung the humming bird feeders the other day.  We're hoping with the weather being warm for the past few weeks, that the hummers will come early.  Every day, I walk around the yard and look at all the pretty flowers.  Soon, my tulips will be blooming.  I've been waiting for that to happen all winter.  It's just " unreal" for me to be able to grow tulips.  The true fact that I'm living " up north".  I am so loving it all!

Getting ready



Some kind of seeds growing in the compost



After a year of building our compost pile with kitchen scraps, pine needles, chicken poop and shavings, we took the sides off of the compost bin and shoveled it all in to the garden.  It only covered half of our garden area so we will see if there is a difference in our plants.  I raked it to cover the top of the area so we can till it into the ground.  We have to wait until the soil dries out more before it can be tilled.  That will be a few more days because we are due to get more rain tonight and tomorrow.  Once we can till and rake it all into rows, it will be time to plant.  I can't wait!  I had so much fun with the gardens last year.  It's hard for me to believe that this will be our second garden. Time has pasted so fast since we have moved up here.  I guess it's  the old saying " time flies when you are having fun". 

Greener than Green

What a beautiful Spring day it was yesterday.  It just made you want to go out and work in the yard.  ...and that we did.  It was time to mow our grass for the first time.  After being snowed on three times and many days below freezing, it never was any other color but " green"!   I used " little red" to mow and Chuck used the push mower to mow the hills.  There is no way! I'm going to mow those hills on "little red".  It's like riding a roller coaster going down the hills.  When we got it all mowed, Chuck said our grass looks like it belongs at a resort at Disney.  It sure is pretty.  All of my daffodils that I planted along the retaining walls are all up and have buds.  They will be blooming this coming week for sure.  We also planted the other three crape myrtles that I have kept alive in pots for about four years.  Then, we went over to the BNOE and Charlotte dug up two big forsythias for me.  Chuck planted those at each corner of the front of the house.  The bright yellow flowers will look pretty against our yellow house.  I planted some peonies in the corner flower bed by the fake fence.  I LOVE those flowers.  I'm having fun planting all the things that you can't grow in Florida.  We have lots of empty flower beds but I'm sure by the end of summer, I will have most of them full.   People are so nice to give me plants from their yards.  Charlotte's Mom brought me a big bucket of "hellebore's" from her yard in Nashville.  I'm still deciding where I want to plant those.  It's so much fun having a " clean slate" for a yard. 

Two little boys in a forest

Taking two little boys to the forest is an experience...believe me! The first time Chuck and I tried to find " the goal post tree", we never found it.  When we tried again, there it was.....a tree in the forest!  We aren't the only ones who had a hard time finding it.  Our friends, Andy, Andrea and Cason tried to find it and couldn't.  So, Andrea asked if we would please take her and Cason to see the tree.  ( Andy works nights and couldn't go this time)  Cason, had a friend spending the weekend with him, so that made two little boys.  It was a cold day, after raining for almost 24 hours the day before.  ....which makes for a good day to see waterfalls in the forest!  Also...very wet trails with big puddles and streams to either walk through or jump over.  A little boy's dream.  I am so used to "sweet, little Genavive" walking though the streams, holding her Papa's hand, that yesterday, I just laughed and shook my head alot...ha! By the end of the day, we had two very wet, dirty, little boys,  ( thank you Shell for the hiking blanket that is lined with plastic.)  After finding the tree, we jumped in the truck and drove a little ways in the forest to show them a pretty waterfall and to look for a geocashe.  The boys and Andrea were in " awww" of the waterfall.  It was really pretty.  One big one and two little side ones, all falling down a pretty high canyon.  After the boys playing and skipping rocks into the waterfall, we got back into the truck again until we came upon another little canyon beside the road.  We decided that is were we should have our picnic lunch.  I'm not sure if the boys were worn out by then, but us adults were and decided to call it a day in the forest.  We are looking forward to showing Andy, Adrea and Cason another fun day in the forest real soon.

Old/New

Before.......

After

A couple of weeks ago, we stopped at one of my favorite antique/junking stores not too far from our house because I was looking for a pretty wine decanter to put my mouth wash in.  Well, I found one BUT, I also found this old armoire.  I fell in love with it and when we came home, I measured to see if it would fit in my bedroom where I had it pictured.  It did! We went back the next day(Chuck in the truck and me in the Explorer.) The whole way, I was hoping that it was still there and I told myself, if it wasn't, then it wasn't meant for me to have it.  Well, it was there!  I was so happy.  Then, I went to work trying to talk the guy down in the price.  He did come down a little and Chuck said if I wanted it....to get it, as he always does.  It was loaded up in the truck and Chuck took it home, as I went on to town to get my hair cut.  When I got home, it was unloaded in the barn and Chuck had started repairing and sanding it.  Two days later, it was ready for me to paint.  After two coats of paint and a coat of stain wiped on it....it was ready for my bedroom.  It holds all of my winter scarves, hats and gloves.  Plus my summer hats ( in the little door above the drawers).  Oh yeah...the story on the drawer pulls is......In my mind, I had pictured little glass knobs so when we went to town we looked at Home Depot for them.  They had them...not glass...plastic like everything is made these days.  They were more than I had planned on paying for them also.  Chuck suggested that we go down the road to Lowes to look for them.  Well, they had less and they even cost more.  I was so disappointed.  Then, I happened to remember about buying some knobs at Hobby Lobby for the furniture in the kitchen. So, we ran down there and low and behold! Not only did I find the perfect knobs but they were on sale for 50% off.  Good thing! because I couldn't have bought them other wise.  They ended up costing what the little plastic clear ones at Home Depot was going to cost BUT.....these were clear, green flowers with purple centers.  I couldn't ask for a better match to my bedroom.  I love it....my old/new armoire with the perfect knobs.  I still have a lot of work to be done to my bedroom like....cut my bedspread off, make a new bed skirt, cover the window valances that Chuck made, have my chair covered and make some pretty throw pillows.  ( the colors are so much prettier in person than in the pictures.)  I picked the colors because lavender/purple is my favorite color and I painted the furniture the green to match the green chase that  I already had.

Front porch

You can either " rock, glide or swing" on the front porch now.  (yes, I still need to paint the swing along with 15 other things) We were in town the other day and stopped at Lowes to look at drawer pulls for my new/old armoire and right there by the front door, were these black and white gliders.  Gliders are the thing to have up here....especially the old metal ones.  I liked this wooden one because it matched the rocking chairs that we had.  We had a double rocker on the front porch but no one ever sat in it.  We always sit in the single rockers. ...soooooo I had Chuck put it on the back porch and I love it there!  I sit in it every day now.  Even Annabelle took a nap on it the other day.  Now that the weather has been so pretty we have been spending more time on the porches. Even the kitties. Marmalade has decided that the back porch is a really neat place to be.  We are getting ready to put the twin bed on the back porch so we can sleep out there this Spring and Summer. I'm looking for an old twin wrought iron bed.  I'll find one, one of these days.  Meantime, it's fun looking.  You never know what you are going to find.