First day of Spring

Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where
The flowers is!

Don always quotes that silly poem to me on the first day of spring. I am a spring FAN! I adore spring - my favorite season - I wait and wait for spring. I send notes to my friends on the shortest day of the year in December, celebrating that the days will now get longer, and we can look forward (in 3 months) to more daylight hours than dark hours. I dance, I sing, I really enjoy the first day of spring. That silly little poem goes through my head all day.

And today is balance the egg day. Twice a year you can balance an egg on its end. I don't know why - I just know it is so. I have heard that this is a myth - but I don't want to hear it - I want to balance an egg - or two - and simply enjoy it. It takes some doing - getting that egg to balance - but it is just more of the fun of spring. I've balanced 6 eggs in a row - I've had them fall over and fall on the floor (oops) - I balanced them on the table, on the counter, even on a pretty dish (that helps to keep them from falling on the floor when they decide to unbalance) So get your eggs out - time to balance!!!

Steady now - steady . . .

After balancing, those eggs can become scrambled eggs . . .

Or if they stay balanced longer - they can become egg salad sandwiches for lunch . .

Now I'm ready for spring - but our weatherman thinks it is funny to give us more rain - rain - rain. I want grass

and flowers

Little boys mowing the lawn . . .


Little boys playing on the lawn . . .

Deer eating the grass . . .


Grass growing tall alongside the roads . . .

Here in WA we have Canary grass - it grows taller than any grass I've ever seen - could this be what the Tall Grass Prairies had growing? It waves in the wind - it makes wonderful "whooshing" sounds as it rubs together - it feeds birds with the wondeful seed heads - it sometimes grows to well over 5 feet tall - it is wonderful grass, unless it gets in your lawn - then it is tough as nails and spreads like crazy and is hard to cut - but it is gorgeous all along the roadsides - waving to us as we pass.

I'll take fields of dandelions . . .

And lots of "wishes" . . .

Poppies . . .

Golden Chain trees and lilacs . . .

Some gorgeous tree - I have no idea what it is called - but I love it!!!

Hollyhocks . . .

Sweet little boys smelling flowers . .

Even Buddy E. loves flowers . . .

And our dear Miss Kitty would drink from the watering cans, as they waited patiently to go to work in the gardens. We miss her in the spring . . .

I want Bleeding Heart. . .

And poppies . . .

And a boat full of flowers - I want spring!!!

What are your favorite things about spring?

Vintage Thingies Thursday

I was over visiting Rechelle's blog and found this fun way to show vintage things. You can find other Vintage Thingie Thursday blogs over at Colorado Lady blog - a wonderful blog.

Rechelle had a red bowl - which I also have - and it got me to thinking about how much I do love vintage things. I have teapots, linens, pine cone dishes, silverware - oh the list goes on and on . . . I could have posts from now until . . . well until I run out of pretties to show - which would be a long long long list of Thursdays.

Today I'll share some vintage linens - one of my very favorite things. I look for them at flea markets and swap meets, at yard sales and thrift stores.


This is my most recent find - a lovely Irish crochet edged pillowcase. I have tried and tried to do Irish crochet, I just can't seem to get those little roses to look right. After looking at this I just might give it another try. I would love to have a bedspread with Irish crochet roses - ohh that would be so sweet. Do any of you have any hints that might make the Irish crochet come out standing up so pretty like on this pillowcase? I'd surely appreciate any ideas.

We go to Skagit County (here in Washington) once a year for their annual swap meet. It is huge - held in the fairgrounds and emcompasses many buildings. By the time we've hit every building - or at least most of them - we are ready for a lunch break, or at least a sit down break.

I came across a booth in one of the first buildings that was selling BAGS of vintage linens for 2.00 a bag. I wanted all of them - but they had over 100 bags so I knew I wasn't going to get all of them - so I picked through and got 7 bags - and what treasures I found. Some other booths had linens for sale also but they were selling for 1.00 to 3.00 each - I really got a bargain!!!

Table runners, doilies, dresser scarves - many with pretty hand crocheted lace edgings . . .

Some napkins . . .

And ever so many pretty hankies!!!

My plan is to make a crazy quilt using the vintage linens - but in the mean time I am using some of them in other projects.
I like to make angels - all colors - with fun embellishments . . .

Their heads are felt - their wings are felt backed quilt blocks, hand stitched buttonhole stitch around the edges. I use mini 9 patches - each nine patch quilt square is 3"x3" - just the perfect size for a pair of angel wings.

A lot of the nine patches I got in a swap I was in long ago, when we still lived in CA. We had a color theme each month and we'd all make zillions of the little nine patches to send off in the swap. I've used the swapped nine patches to make whole quilts, used them in about 7 other quilts, given bags and bags of them away and still have two plastic shoe boxes full for other projects.

I can get four angels from one hanky if the hanky has design on all four corners. Napkins make one angel, since they usually only have design on one corner. I make a basket full of the heads and wings and then search for hankies to match the thread and nine patch colors. These are fun to make - nice handwork project for in the evening when we sit in the living room and Don reads to me.

My angels have flown all over the country - some even flew across the sea. I've had requests to send them to children undergoing medical treatments, to people who are lonely and need a bit of cheering up, to friends of friends who need something uplifting in their lives - and then I've also sent them out as give-aways on my blog and to friends and relatives. I just love making angels. Do you know someone who might need an angel?

Honey

We use local honey - it is delicious - and it is good for us. Using local honey is a great help for allergies. Honey contains bits and pieces of pollen, and as an immune system booster, it is quite powerful. Instead of needing a series of allergy immunity shots - you can just use a spoonful of honey in your tea, some honey on your toast - or however you like to use honey. In honey the allergens are delivered in small, manageable doses - and the taste is wonderful - a great bonus.

Use honey that was raised the closest to where you live. Buying honey in the regular grocery store can be good if you live near where it was produced - but it is likely that commercial honey is gathered from many locations and mixed together in huge vats.

Out in the country, near where we live, is the Honey Shack. They have their own bees and collect honey from local areas. You can get blackberry, wild flower, fireweed, snowberry and a lot of other "flavors". Each one is a little different - and all are delicious.

The front door . . .

Step inside - there are jars and jars of honey - pens for writing checks - a little slot for dropping in your money.

There are fun little honey gadgets along the rafters . . .

And this GREAT BIG BEE sitting up in the corner . . .

This guy sits out in the yard - usually he holds a jar of honey but with this cold weather it must be too cold for the honey to be outdoors.

We love honey on biscuits . . .

My honey lives in a Honey Bear - he's lost his label but he still does a good job.

Honey on pancakes is delicious . . .

Sometimes we put honey on our pancakes with peanut butter - yummmma

Oh we love pancakes - Swedish pancakes (although they are served at the Norwegian pancake breakfast - so maybe they are Norwegian pancakes).

And we love potato pancakes - oh wait - this is about honey - got a little sidetracked with the pancakes.

Honey in a cup of tea - ahhh perfection . . .

So that was our honey trip. Two weeks ago we tried to get some honey - drove almost all the way there in the sunshine - and then - - - it started snowing. We had seen the dark clouds gathering and thought it must be snowing someplace - but we didn't think it would snow on us.

By the time we were three miles from the Honey Shack it was snowing so hard that we couldn't see beyond the hood of the car. We found a place to turn around - and got out of there.

By the time we got back to the main road the sun was out again and it remained sunny the rest of the day. They got over 4 inches of snow near the Honey Shack - and we got no snow. Strange weather - but at least this week we got some honey.

Now for a cup of White Tea - with honey, of course. What is your favorite way to serve tea? Do you have a favorite teapot, or a favorite cup?

Canada Geese in my kitchen!

Now - didn't that get your attention? I thought it would. I love Canada Geese - but not real live walkin' around poopin' on everything in sight in MY house.

But these I love . . .

I advertised on craigslist for vacuum seal-a-meal - and got a response from a lady who was moving. I got to her house and she had ROOMS full of stuff for sale - but I only had a few minutes. I got some really cool sorting bins for the toy/guest room, a bright colored set of rolling drawers for the grandsons' art projects and supplies - and these Geese!

I couldn't belive it when I saw them - sitting there just waiting for me - and I think they were as happy to see me as I was to see them. I knew just where they would go in the kitchen.

Here they are - hung in the kitchen near the window over the sink - ready to begin work . . .

And here they are - hard at work. The towel in the front is one I won in my lovely packet from Leanne - at Somerset Seasons - one of my favorite blogs. Stop over and visit - she'll have words of wisdom and some great photos.

Aren't they just the grandest thing you've ever seen in a kitchen - well besides a good chicken pot pie or a batch of home made bread.

While I'm at it - I'll show you the Bunny Easter House Basket - all done and ready for Easter.

A side view - with the chimney - which is hollow. Ben stores the tiny little Easter eggs in the chimney.

Here is the lighthouse tissue box cover I made for my cousin's birthday - the lighthouse is attached to the front - giving it a 3-D look. I really like this!!!

And more lovelies I picked up at Goodwill today - along with just the right shade of off white yarn that I needed for the Troll House project. I'd show you the finished Troll House but Ben took it home with him for the weekend. It will be back next week.

This set - a candle holder on the right and a ring holder on the left - have the prettiest violets on them, I can almost smell them, they are so sweet.

And what wonderful treasure have you found at a thrift shop lately?

Making Suet Cakes for the Birds

Our favorite farm/feed store closed about a month ago and we've not found one we liked as well as that one - and haven't been able to find the suet blocks for our birds (and the squirrels).

Amy - over at Twelve Acres - has given me some helpful hints about keeping the deer out of the bird seed - and while talking about that and doing some research, I came across a recipe for making homemade suet blocks.

I've gotten helpful suggestions from several of you - and appreciate all of them. What I've finally decided on was to use crushed red pepper flakes in the bird seed. After some research I've found that birds can tolerate the heat of the flakes without really even feeling it - so it doesn't keep them away - but the deer will notice the heat and not come back to the seeds. We'll see how that works - so far no deer have been up near the feeders since I put in the pepper flakes - so haven't been able to test it out. They usually come around at night - so if the seeds are still there tomorrow I'll figure (and hope) that it worked.

So - back to making homemade suet blocks. The recipe came from Calloway Gardens - remember the gardens from Victory Garden?

•Melt 1 cup shortening (or lard) in a saucepan on very low heat.
•Add 1 cup peanut butter and stir until melted. (I used chunky peanut butter so they would have some nuts in there too)

Boy does this smell BAD - but keep on - it gets better. . .gag. . . cough . . . choke . . .



•To this add 1 cup plain flour and 3 cups plain cornmeal. Mix thoroughly.


•Add whole rolled oats, seeds, raisins or bread crumbs if you have any. The final consistency will be putty-like.

I also added some sunflower seeds . . .

•Pour into an old 8 inch by 8 inch pan and allow to cool.


I used an old pan - but lined it with plastic wrap too - though I don't see how this could stick to anything . . .

•Slice into quarters; each one should fit nicely into a suet cage, available at most garden centers.

•Store remaining squares in the refrigerator.

In less than an hour the suet mixture was firm and ready to cut into blocks . . . no no - those are NOT chocolate chip cookie bars . . .

And the suet cages are filled - the blocks could be a little flatter and a little wider - but this will do for now. Don has hung them up - let's wait here for the birds to come and feast . . .

Now to see how the birdies like this mixture. You can add berries too - to attract a bigger variety of birds. This was fun!!!! (after the initial shock of the peanut butter and lard melting together - ughhhh!!)