Lovely Pink Tulips!

Today after work I had to stop by Harris Teeter to pick up a few things and guess what greeted me at the door-PINK TULIPS! They just looked so lovely and I just couldn't leave them sitting there. I snatched up 2 bunches and brought them home. I got out my green Depression glass vase and proceeded to arrangement them. Here is the results:


I put the vase of Pink Tulips on my sideboard next to my violet tea set.





Tulips always put a smile on my face and I hope they made you smile too!

Spring is arriving in Charlotte

Today I had a Fair Isle knitting class and it was awesome! I came out and the weather was absolutely wonderful!! Sandal wearing weather as a matter of fact! When I got home I walked through the courtyard to go into the house. I started seeing alot of my daylilies, peonies, roses, camellias and other plants all turning green. Spring is really coming to Charlotte now. I love to see all the renewal around me. I love seeing all the green coming back to life and all the spring flowers blooming. Here are some of the photos I took of the things coming back to life in my garden:


My camellias have started to bloom and they are gorgeous!


All of my daylilies have started to grow and turn green! I can't wait until they start flowering. I know that will be some time from now but I can dream!


My 2 containers of lamb's ear is coming back to life. I love this plant! The gray-green coloring along with the fuzzy feel of the leaves is wonderful!


This isn't a very bright picture but my tree peony is growing and buds are forming!! This plant bloomed so beautifully last year. I hope I get the same beautiful flowers this year!


My neighbor, Kathleen has wisteria growing on her fence and it climbs over to our side. I really don't mind because the blossoms are so beautiful and they smell so good. I was surprised today to see the wisteria leaves have budded up already.


This Meyer Lemon tree isn't outside but it is in my Living Room. I was so surprised when I saw this Lemon forming on the tree! I also have another lemon forming too. I am really excited that this tree is finally producing lemons!

I have always loved porch swings!

I have always loved porch swings, even as a child. I just love the motion of swinging on one whether to read, sleep, knit or just sip tea on a warm Southern day. When we had our farm in NJ we had a huge porch and we had a porch swing. I would spend many hours swinging on that porch. After I worked in the garden or worked with the horses that would be where you would find me sipping my tea and looking at my Victoria magazine. I would read to the girls there when they were smaller. Now that John and I are looking for a new house to rent, I have been hoping we get a house with a porch so we can have a porch swing again. The other day he called me and told me to look at a specific house online, which had a porch and a porch swing! We are still waiting to see if it is available. There are so many different kinds of porch swings now. I went online and found a few that I thought were really nice and I thought I would share them with all of you:


I just love white porch swings and this one has the wonderful blue pillows and cushion. Just beautiful and so relaxing looking!


This aqua or turquoise blue porch swing reminds me of the islands! I can definitely pick myself on this one!


Who wouldn't want to welcome the sunset (or sunrise as far as that goes) while swinging on this lovely swing! I'm there!!


For a more rustic swing I would choose this one with it's red and blue pillows and patriotic throw!


Every Victorian house that has a wonderful porch should have a beautiful porch swing. I like the fact this home owner used vibrant colored pillows with all the white. So pretty!

Hope you enjoyed all the porch swings and I hope that the new house we rent will have a lovely porch or verdanda and we will once again have our porch swing! Everyone have a wonderful day!

Okame Cherry Trees are blooming in Charlotte!

I was driving along Ballantyne Commons Parkway today and the Okame cherry trees are in full bloom! The deep pink blossoms just pop out and says Spring to me!! I love that in February we have flowering trees here in Charlotte. If I still lived in the North it would be months before anything would be blooming let alone a tree! Over the weekend I actually saw a weeping cherry tree starting to blossom also. It was warm this weekend, but to see this tree start blossoming was a real surprise to me!



I'm going to enjoy these beautiful trees and try and take some pictures over the weekend. I know if it gets really warm, really fast they will be here today and gone tomorrow. I'll be enjoying them while I can!

David Austin Roses are beautiful!

I love to garden but the townhouse we are renting doesn't have much space for gardening in the courtyard. I have lots of plants in containers and 2 of the containers have roses in them. I have decided since we will be moving around May 1st to hopefully a house I would like to get some more roses. That has got me thinking about the beautiful David Austin roses! I went to the website and here are some of my favorites:


This rose is Lady of Megginch. I just love this rich pink color and fullness of this rose!


Munstead Wood Rose is just a gorgeous color of magenta. I really want this rose!


Shropshire Lad Rose is a beautiful peachy, shell pink color. This might just have to make it into my collection too!


Crown Princess Margareta is a lovely name for this apricot colored rose.


If you would like a thornless rose,this James Galway fits the bill! I just love this one!


I have always loved the apricot-brandy colored roses. The Grace Rose has so many petals-I just love it!!

It will be really hard to choose which ones I really must have, so maybe I'll have to order all of them-LOL!!!

I'm Back!!

I made it back safe and sound from my Company Trip to Hillsville, VA! We had a wonderful time and we really enjoyed ourselves! Here is how the trip played out:

Friday afternoon we arrived in Hillsville at 3:15 p.m. We unloaded the cars, unpacked and started to relax a little. Then some of us drove over to the Subcontractor's house and picked up some steaks. We came back to the house and started a rip roaring fire in the pit and cooked the steaks, baked potatoes and tossed the salad. While the steaks were cooking we did some target shooting. I have shot targets with rifles before on my uncles farm when I was growing up. I have never fired a pistol before though. One of the guys brought their 350 magnum and I shot that! Then we all(10 of us) set down and had a great dinner together! Then we all piled into 3 cars and drove over to the Subcontractor's Saloon that he has. We stayed there visiting until about 10:00. We drove back over the mountain to where we were staying and then we all went to sleep.

Saturday a.m. the girls and I went over to the main house (the house where all the guys were staying) and we had breakfast with all of them. Then the 2 owners and one of the Superintendents of the company left to go back to Charlotte. Another one of the guys headed to his brothers in Greensboro, NC and another guy headed further up into VA to visit friends. 6 of us got on the three 4 wheelers and had a great time riding the trails in the mountains for about 3 hrs. Then all the fun was over and we headed back to Charlotte.

We had a wonderful time with no work, just relaxation and good times! We are making plans to do this again! Here are some pictures of our weekend:


This is the bridge over the creek going to the house and barn where we were staying.


This is the view from the porch of the main house. I just love that creek!


This is the barn on the property and the apartment the girls stayed in was in the upstairs of this barn. It was a really nice apartment, but I forgot to take a picture of it.


This beautiful pond was right outside the barn apartment the girls stayed in. It was wonderful standing out on the deck looking at this view!


This is the stagecoach the Subcontractor that hosted us has in his carriage barn. It is an exact replica of a stagecoach used in the West.


This is a fancy carriage he has in the carriage barn too. It was gorgeous-shiny black paint and lush red velvet seats! He also has a pumpkin coach for weddings, an Amish buggy, a carriage with a surrey top, a hearse carriage, a white coach for weddings and 2 regular buckboards.


In the saloon there was a tin ceiling. It was so pretty, I just had to show you!


Here is a view from the top of the mountain we rode the 4-wheelers up to. This picture doesn't do it justice. The view was just beautiful!


We drove the 4-wheelers down by the creek. It was so beautiful along the creek, wild rhodedendrons were growing in large groups all along the creek and there were beautiful stone outcrops along the creek too.

Well that is all the photos I've got of the trip-hope you enjoyed them!

Headed to Virginia this morning!

Our office is headed to a lovely farm in Virginia for the next 24 hours! Everyone in the office couldn't attend due to other weekend obligations but there are about 11 of us going and it should be really fun! I have been to this Subcontractor's farm before and it is great! There is a river out front and the farmhouse has a wide front porch with rocking chairs so we can sit and watch the river, read, knit or do whatever! This is not a training session or anything like that-it is just a nice time to be had by all! There are 2 other women going so we are staying in the apartment over the stables. The horses aren't there at the farm anymore they are out in the fields so there won't be any horse noises or odors coming from below. The apartment is really nice! It has a deck off the living room overlooking the pond with a white rail fence around it! In the living room there is also this really nice fireplace too! I have brought my new Victoria and Southern Lady magazine (they just arrived yesterday), my knitting and my Nook for reading! I think I am well prepared.

The guys all love my apple crisp, so they asked me to make 3 of them. I made them last night. I also made 2 loaves of beer bread. The guy that is in charge of this bought steaks, which we will be grill outside on the big pit grill they have. Later on tonight we are going to have a bonfire in the same pit, which happens to be down by the river-should be really nice!

I probably won't be on here until Sunday. So everyone have a wonderful weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather we are having! It is suppose to be 75 in Charlotte today-woohoo! Bring it on!!

Fair Isle Class at the end of the Month

I had knitting group last night and I was reminded that I signed up for a Fair Isle knitting class on 2/26. I have always wanted to learn how to do this knitting technique. It looks complicated but our instructor, Kathy is so good at teaching us that I'm sure she will make it as simple as possible! Here is a picture of what we will be making:



I love this shell because you can wear it alone or over a shirt like in the picture above. Mine will be turquoise, hot pink, a small amount of black and lime green. I selected all the yarns last night and they look wonderful together. I don't think the class is going to be that big, so it will be good to have personal attention if we get stuck in spots! This is a great, talented group of women and I'm so glad I found them! What fun we'll have!

It's Official my Grandbaby will be a .....

That's right what a wonderful Valentine's Day present John and I received from Jenny and Kevin today! The found out they are going to have a baby boy in July! Now I better get working on some knitted items for the Fall and a beautiful blanket for my grandson! We all are so excited!! The sonogram showed everything is fine and the Shingles that Jenny had 2 weeks ago has not affected the baby!

I cannot wait for this little boy to come into our lives!!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Finally my Co-workers Baby Blanket is Completely Finished!!

Today I sewed the satin binding on the baby blanket for my co-worker's little baby boy. Holder was born about 1 month ago, so I wanted to hurry up and finish this blanket before the child is 1 yr old-LOL!!The story behind this blanket is a wonderful one! Unfortunately Holder's great grandmother passed away between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2010. My boss is Holder's grandfather and he brought me all of his Mother-in-Law's knitting needles, crochet hooks, stitch holders, some yarn, etc. I was going through the bag that had the knitting needles in it when I saw a brown paper bag that look extremely old. I opened it up and inside was a baby blanket for a little boy that was started and it was about 30 inches long. I got the idea to complete the blanket for this woman's great-grandson. I'm giving this blanket to his parents tomorrow with a letter inside explaining the story behind this blanket for Holder. I hope Holder treasures this blanket that was started by his great grandmother!

The Penny Necklace and the Birthstone Ring

The other day a co-worker asked me to make his wife, Penny a necklace for Valentine's Day made from a US Penny. He gave me free range on how it was to be created so this is what I came up with:







Then today I went to a local bead shop and took a Sterling Silver wire birthstone ring class. The teacher was horrible, but by following the directions I was able to figure out what I needed to do. I made a synthetic emerald birthstone ring. I think it turned out really good but I think the more practice I get the better they will turn out. I think this has opened a whole new world for me!

Spring and My Tree Peony

Last night when I got home from the Salon I saw the spotlight was shining right down on the huge pot I've got my tree peony in. I also saw some red shoots coming up out of the leaves I had put on this beautiful plant to protect it from the winter elements. I walked into the house and told John, "Spring is on its way because my tree peony says so"! Of course, you could tell by the look on his face that I must have had a glass of wine (or 2) at the Salon while getting my haircut because plants just don't talk to you-LOL! I then explained what I saw in the pot that held the tree peony and he immediately he had a look of great relief on his face! This tree peony has been with me for a long time. When we moved from NJ in 2004 I dug it up and brought it with me! It is absolutely beautiful and I'll share this picture of one of the blossom (which by the way was the size of a dinner plate)from last year:



See why I love this beautiful plant so much!! Everyone have a lovely day and weekend. Stop by your florist, grocery store or flower market and bring some lovely spring blossoms into your life!

White Pitchers and Flowers = Beauty

I have always loved white ironstone pitchers and flowers, so putting them together just equal beauty in my eyes!! My Mom has a large white ironstone pitcher that she used to serve iced tea in. She stopped using it for that purpose when she realized the tea started staining the pitcher. She put some flowers in it and put it in the dining room. I have always loved that pitcher! I went online and found lots of beautiful flowers in ironstone pitchers and I thought I would share all this loveliness with you!


Yellow tulips always look so vibrant in a white pitcher!


I have ever picked wildflowers like this and put them in a pitcher for a country look. I love the glass cloche with the teacups too! What a great vignette!


I love the addition of the white starfish with this pitcher of white roses. I also really love that green and white tablecloth too!


This white pitcher is gorgeous! I love the relief detail on it. The pink roses are gorgeous and I love that it is displayed on an antique white chair!


I think the person that arranged this used a soup tureen for a vase for those lovely flowers and put it with a white pitcher of flowers and I see part of a lovely white platter. This would look wonderful on a mantel or side board.


Heliotrope is one of my favorite flowers! The scent from this flower is just like nothing else I have ever smelled-I love it!! When they start blooming you are going to see me arranging them with some peachy colored roses in a pitcher for sure! I love the relief work on this pitcher too!


What a wonderful combination of dark purple and white! Tulips are perfect for this time of year. I could see this on my Easter table!


Peonies just say spring in my book! I love this combo!


Lilacs are another lovely Spring flower! That is one thing I really miss living in the South that we had in the North-lilacs! The smell of them is intoxicating! My grandmother had 2 huge lilac bushes-one white and one purple at her house. She would always cut them and bring them in the house and arrange them in white and green pitchers and vases all around her house.


These blush pink roses look gorgeous in this pitcher. I can just picture this in my bedroom. Wouldn't that be lovely to wake up to!


I can never get tired of using lavendar in arrangement or by themselves, both dried and fresh. This picture shows a simple combination of glass,white, lavendar,linen and a lovely mirror-just beautiful!

Well I know it was alot to take in but go find your lovely white pitchers and fill them with flowers! We all could use a bit of Spring in our homes right now! Enjoy!