Out by the pasture fence.

My crabapples are finally in full bloom! Well, the two that are at the rear of the property anyway.  

The crabapple trees in the garden haven't bloomed yet...still waiting...

The scent of this 'Centurian' crabapple is intoxicating. Mine are the ugliest shaped trees,

but when they bloom, they are so beautiful...when they leaf out...not so much.

But their fragrance is reason enough to put up with these ugly trees.

Out by the pasture fence I have three chairs that I painted different colors

and left out to rot age in the elements.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they will look like by the end of the Summer

after sitting in the sun and rain all season.

Here they sit with my pots of white geraniums.

And I think they will look gorgeous with armloads of peonies on them.

They are definitely not study enough for sitting.

But I do like how they prettify the pasture fence. 

I had to share a couple of shots I took of these visitors to my garden a

couple days ago.

I have lots of robins in the garden and they are my constant companions

as I work. I love the birds in my garden, and wonder if they come back year after year

to nest in this same garden...and if they are the same friends I made last year?

I will be taking another break from blogging for awhile as I get ready to go to Farm Chicks (flea market

in Spokane, Wash.) I have a lot of work in the garden to do before I go, and packing and such.

I will be missing White Wednesday, but I will be coming by and saying hi to you all before I go and

after I get back.

Hugs to you all!

June

White Wednesday in the garden, in the studio, and in the house.

I thought that for this White Wednesday we would start out in the garden.

Below, the serviceberry tree is a mass of blooms as well.

front yard

The blooms on the serviceberry don't last very long, but are so beautiful.

Here is the little bird again. I found him last week at a nursery where I buy most of my plants

for the garden. They always have wonderful things for the home as well.

This particular nursery also stocks the most beautiful ribbon.

 I love that they stock some lovely colors

 of velvet ribbon.

This concrete angel plaque was at TJ Maxx for $9.99 a couple of weeks ago. It is sitting in the

studio right now waiting to see where it will end up for good.

Today I was able to hang curtains on the big window in studio. Just simple lace panels.

Something that will allow a lot of light in.

This little gravy boat was found last month at a thrift store for $3.

I planted some stock in it for the moment, but I can think of a hundred uses for it here in the studio,

and none of them include gravy.

I also found some white in the house to photograph for this Wednesday.

My white linen slipped chair holds some tulips from the garden.

I picked them this morning...

They are sitting atop some of my favorite books on decorating with white.

Filled with so many beautiful pictures of white rooms.

 I go through them over and over.

There is more beautiful white goodness waiting for you at Faded Charm.

Pop on over for the links to some beautiful blogs showing their whites today.

I wanted to thank you all for your well wishes for Landon. In my previous post

 I mentioned that Landon had been sick and you were all wonderful to wish him well.

 I appreciate it so much. He is totally back to his sweet little self, for which I am

so grateful.

My late daffodils...

Yesterday I went out to work in the garden for awhile and saw that all my late blooming daffodils had finally bloomed. Since we were expecting snow for today(didn't get snow,but got a lot of hail), I decided to cut as many as I could for the house before they got too tattered in the snow to enjoy.

I showed a few of my early daffodils a couple of weeks ago, but my favorites

 bloom much later in the Spring.

I don't remember the name of this one, but it is my absolute, hands down favorite.

This is what it looks like before it blooms out fully. I love the green, it's just the perfect

shade of Spring!

I don't know how it's long and slender stems are able to hold up these huge heads.

The daffodils above are very fragrant (but not the kind of fragrant I like).

They smell and look very much like the Paper Whites that we force at Christmas.

Again, I didn't look up it's name before writing my post.

These have a long life in a vase and in the garden.

This is the year that I WILL take the time to divide these, so that next year I

will have them in different parts of the garden.

Another late blooming variety. This particular one has a sweet fragrance that 

I do enjoy. 

My house is looking a lot like sunshine today because of these beauties.

Here is a peek into the garden as it looked as of yesterday.

I want to take this time to let Rose know that my prayers have been with her family. Rose is a dear friend who many of you know through her blog My Bella Rosa. Rose's daughter was in a terrible accident night before last and is in the hospital. She will make a complete recovery, but it will a difficult time for the family.

Please keep Rose and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

A few weeks ago, my son Landon was very sick with a bad infection, and that sweet Rose called me

and e-mailed me often to see how he was feeling and healing. It meant so much to

 me that she would take the time to

to worry about us so. I do have to say that I was worried, very worried, (he is fine now) 

and it just helped to know that she was thinking of us. So Rose, it's my turn to worry about you and

your sweet daughter. I love you sweet friend!

Finally!!!

Finally I am back to posting for a day, and finally I am getting a few blooms in the garden!

This has been such a busy time for me and I haven't been keeping up with all I've had to do very

well. I have been painting in the house, painting in the studio, and even painting in the garden.

I have practically been living in these painting clothes of mine and I HATE TO PAINT!!!

This has truly been the coldest Spring that I can remember since I planted this garden.

 Our temps have been downright frigid. For over three weeks our lows have been

 in the twenties and our highs in the forties. This makes for very slow progress in the garden.

Everything is blooming so much later than most years.

 These are pictures that I took this morning.

I can hardly believe that I am taking pictures of forsythia in the middle of May! My lilacs

are all sitting in tight little buds and the trees too.

Some years, we have had warm days in early Spring and things have progressed along only to

be frozen later. I hate losing my lilac blooms to a late frost. I wait all year just for them!

This year however, it has remained cold and windy, and it is as if now Spring has just

arrived here.

Okay...I will now quit complaining and just enjoy what I have been given!

I do have one tree in the garden that is opening to blooms. It is an 'Autumn

Brillance' serviceberry. This tree is the first to bloom in my garden and the first to fruit.

I love it...the birds love it...and it is always a race to see who wins the prize.

Sadly for me, the birds usually win. But, when I win, the fruit is wonderful baked in muffins,

and made into syrup.

Just simple little blooms with no fragrance at all.

But beautiful, none the less.

I have been working on a few projects that have been sitting around for

a long time. I decided it was time to get them painted and put them to use.

I stole got this old dresser mirror from my daughter. It was in very rough shape,

but I'm crazy for mirrors, so I decided to try and salvage it. It was totally coming apart

in every place possible. With a little wood glue, paint, and old sheet music,

I was able to give it a new life in the studio.

I haven't hung it up on the wall yet, but I do like how it came out.

And if you noticed in one of the 'before' pictures of the mirror,

it was sitting on an old settee that I bought at a thrift store last Fall.

I was able to get a coat of paint on it as well, and will be recovering the cushions in this

pale blue-grey fabric sitting on it now.

I had to replace some of the caning on this and wow, what a process it was

taking out the broken caning and adding the new, but it will be worth the effort I put in.

I loved the piece the minute I saw it and knew that I could find a home for it somewhere.

WELL... it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, because this house is crammed full

of stuff that I just knew I could find a place for.

 -big sigh-

Now matter how hard I try to stretch the square footage in this house,

 it just won't do it!

We are finally having a beautiful day outside today, so I am off to work in the garden, but

will be coming by to visit all you dear friends tonight when it is too dark to see out there!

Catch up with you all soon, as I have missed you all in my absence!

Studio shots for White Wednesday...

For this White Wednesday hosted by Kathleen at Faded Charm, I thought that I would

 take you out to my backyard studio.

It has been a slow process getting the new space just how I want it. I need it to be

functional and yet someplace that I want to hang out in to create, which means it must be pretty.

Since it is new to me, I find it hard to put nails into the new walls. But believe me, I will get over it.

(much to Dale's dismay) Are any of you married to one of those men? He sudders when I bring out

the hammer and nails. lol

Soon there will be things that I love hanging all over the place!

But right now, I am giving it much thought as to what will be going back

into the space.

I HAVE to love it, and it MUST inspire and uplift me!

I would love to have a space where I have everything at my fingertips. Everything I need to

 make something pretty. Everything I need to create or sew something to beautify

 my home and my world. 

A cute little photo of my mom.

Oh I love this!

Notice how sweet her little dress is!

Have a Happy Mother's Day...you cute thing!

I've been tagged...

Awhile ago, I was tagged by three dear friends, fiirst by Suzan at Old Grey Mare,

 then by Rosie at Roses and Rutabagas.         

 I was to show the tenth photo on the first folder in my computer files.

 So here it is. 

This photo was taken at my daughter's house in February 2008.

This is my grandson Anton  (my daughter Season's first child)

 and his aunt Haylee (another daughter of mine). Anton is 12 years old in this photo.

Haylee is going to kill me for showing this picture of her.

 Notice the drips on the front of her shirt. They came from the sippy cup that

 she is holding in her hand.

 No, it isn't hers, it belongs to her 2 year old daughter Madison.

If you don't hear from me for a awhile, it will be because I am healing up from the

beating I'm going to get after posting this. hehe

The rules say that I am to pass this tag along, but I have seen many of my friends tagged already,

so if you would like to play, feel free to do so.

The third tag came from Elizabeth of My Tattered Rose. The game is Moth's Lucky 7. I am
to reveal my 7th follower. Wow, after scrolling through all of you awesome blogs who have chosen
to click the follower button on my blog, I'm feeling truly humbled. The 7th follower is
Gale Brisa. She does't have a blog, and no picture was posted, but I feel grateful to have her
along for the ride. So Gale, if you are reading this...thank you!

I just have to show you my daffodils that are finally blooming. I have several varieties in the

garden and this is the only one that is in bloom at this time.

This variety is extremely fragrant. So much so, that if I get too many in the house at one time

they give me headache.

I think daffs are the cheeriest blooms. I literally have hundreds in the garden.

I also planted 200 bulbs  in the field at our other place. That was several years ago and

I planted them in and among the aspens. When they bloom it is a lovely sight.

(edited: So funny...I was rereading this post and noticed I had typed in 700 bulbs, instead

of 200 and came back to fix it ,but noticed I had already had a couple of comments. I'll bet they

think I'm a super hero, planting 700 daffodil bulbs. lol Not to mention rich!)

One more photo I would like to share...if you will indulge me...was taken this past Monday.

My daughter and her family were visiting from Utah, and Beau (my SIL) was working on

the car and their little 2 year old Ella (Anton's sister) decided she would help her daddy.

I just had to snap this. I love her little shoes that my daughter found at a thrift store.

They are Stride Rites, just like she wore when she was a baby.