Cottage Charm Giveaway Winner!

I had plans to write down all of the entries, put them in a jar and have one of my grandsons or sons pull out a winner.  Here it is Saturday morning and I have tons to do to get ready for a trip my husband and I are taking for the next few days.  So, I decided that the quickest way to pick a winner is to use Random.org  and get a winning number. 

 

The winner is Kathy at A Delightsome Life.

  

Thank you to all of you who entered my Cottage Charm Giveaway.  This was my first giveaway and was great fun.  Thank you also to Kim at Twice Remembered Cottage for sponsoring this giveaway.

I am also excited to announce that I won a beautiful tray made by Carol at the Polka Dot Closet, it was her Cottage Charm Giveaway.  I will post pictures of the tray when it arrives.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend
We are so blessed

Everyday Blessings

A Bible verse that I memorized many years ago comes back to me when I look at my gardens. Each year the come back beautifully.  Even though we see much more rain than we would like here where we live and we I tend to complain. We each have to open our eyes and see the beauty around us.

Psalm 19: 1,2
The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night
sheweth knowledge.

I made a calligraphy project using this verse while taking a college class.  Having to write it over and over to get it right helped set it in my memory.  The verses is talking about the heavens but I think further to the whole creation and what we can see around us. 

I have taken pictures of our side yard that I park next to each afternoon, it is amazing to me to see how things change almost daily and the best is yet to come in this garden.

The garden is just waking up.

Picture taken April 6th

I hadn't done any weeding or cut back things from last year

Next pictures taken April 22nd

Our cat Lily was anxious to be a part of my picture

This is the way it looked on April 22nd

There is a small White Birch tree in this bed and a White flowering Akebia vine on the fence

We plan to train the vine over an arbor above the gate.  Maybe that will happen next year.

Here is a closer picture of the Akebia

This picture was taken in April, you can barely see the delicate white flowers

Saxifraga - Rock Soapwort

The lime colored shrub below is called

Caryopteris Sunshine Blue

We have 3 peonies in this bed loaded with flower buds

This picture taken May 25th

Back behind the shrub and peony is a Climbing Hydrangea, the slugs and snails love to munch on it.

 I am hoping it will be tall enough to see by this time next year.

It was raining when the last two pictures were taken

I also took pictures of the flower bed on the right of  our driveway.

In April and again in May

Pictures taken April 6th

Dogwood and several perennials

My red van is in this picture and has since gone on to where old tired vehicles go, never to return.

  I miss it.  I drove it for 12 years.

Viburnum in center back and Rhododendron on right

Now pictures taken on May 25th

The changes never cease to amaze me

This is a picture I took while walking back from our mailbox

The boxwood on the right is one year ahead of the boxwood hedge on the left.

 Many of the plants in the front beds are young. 

 It will be fun to watch the transformation here too.

There is another part of that Psalm that I included in my calligraphy project that I would like to share.

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be  acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

I am thankful for my home and for God's beautiful creation

I enjoy each day.

Back Porch Spruce Up

I have been working this week to spruce up our back covered porch.  It is a great place to sit when the weather is warm, even if it is raining.  Things had become a little cluttered and not so pretty. 

I took some pictures of how it looked before I started.

Our blue bench was there but no cushions to make it comfy.

The old dog bed and worn out rug just outside the door.

The potting bench and refrigerator/table were kind of cluttered

These chairs that sit beside our refrigerator/table were in need of spray paint and cushions

I took the chairs out and spray painted them white and made little round cushions for the seats.

And here is our blue bench with a new cushion and pillows made from fabric I bought last summer.  I decided to spray all of the new cushions with scotchguard to help keep them looking clean longer.

I think I will paint something on the rug, at least the idea will be added to my ever present list.

I just potted the flowers so I am sure that the pots will fill in.

I removed the dog bed and have a new rug, on the right.  We will cover the refrigerator/table

 when we want to serve a cozy meal outside.

A close up of the top of the potting bench

The view of the porch when coming into the back yard.

The potting bench is a little more organized, I still have a few annuals on the top to get planted and the gray tub is full of our very important bird seed.  The birds love to visit our back yard.

Now I want to show you a few pictures of some of what we see when we sit on our now cozy bench or metal chairs on our

back porch.

Our leaf water fountain

A bird at the umbrella feeder, it is raining

I just planted the long planter under the "window"

More birds enjoying their breakfast in the rain

I am thankful for such a pleasant and now cozy place to sit and relax.  It is one of the blessings from our own little nest.

Don't forget to check out my Cottage Charm Giveaway or use the button on the top of my sidebar and leave a comment to enter my giveaway.

Also see the other Cottage Charm Giveaways at Twice Remembered Cottage.

I will be linking to Metamorphasis Monday

 at Between Naps on the Porch.

My Favorite Peony - Paeonia Officinalis

I love Peonies of all kinds.  The red, pink, white are all lovely and I have several varieties in various parts of our yard.  There is one that is my favorite and that is Paeonia Officinalis "Rubra Plena." Now, I have decided what this peony is called by looking at my Botanica book and this is the closest match. 

Why is that particular, early flowering peony my favorite?  It is the plant that I took a portion of almost 20 years ago from my Grandmother's garden.  That plant had been in my Grandmother's garden for the over 50 years prior that she had lived in her house.  I think that many times our favorite things are part of memories of the past.  I know that in this case this flower brings memories of the wonderful and peaceful times wandering through my Grandparents yard and looking at their flowers. 

One of my many blessings from days past.

This is the first flower to bloom on my peony

This is the last one cut from that plant before the rain caused the petals to drop from the remaining flowers.

One beautiful flower brightened my day and brought memories of past blessings.

A Stitch-Along at I got the Notion

I am joining a Stitch-Along at I got the Notion. 

 I have the fabric and the pattern was sent to me via email.  The pattern is cut out and prepared.  Tomorrow is the big day to get all of the work done to get Part 1 accomplished. 

Take a look at  Jenna's blog here, and you will see a

sample of the finished tote bag. 

These are the Fabrics I have chosen and I have to pick up some ribbon and ric rac tomorrow. 

The pattern pieces are prepared

I will keep you posted on my progress on my project for Notion's Tote Bag Sew-Along

This should be fun!

Don't forget to check out my Cottage Charm giveaway.  All you have to do is leave a comment if you want to be entered.  There is a link on the top of my sidebar.  The giveaway ends May 29th.

Peace Creek Collections at Prairie Flower Farm

Prairie Flower Farm is a blog that I follow

and I enjoy reading whenever I can. 

 One of the first times I visited I signed up for email notification of new blog posts and received the E-pattern to make this 

"Lilly And Her Chicks Tea Towel" for free.  This was one of my take-a-long projects and it was quick and fun to make.  I changed the ric rac color from red to blue to match my kitchen.

There is a link on the Prairie Flower Farm blog for Peace Creek Collections patterns, go take a look. 

I also received another pattern called "Spring Thyme Block"

E-Pattern while visiting Linda at

 Prairie Flower Farm.

It is one of what will be four blocks and I am waiting to see what the plan will be to put them all together.  The pattern could be used in many ways but I plan to wait to see what will be recommended for finishing the blocks.  I am not very patient some times but I will hang this on my bulletin board in my sewing room and wait to see what comes next.

Here are a couple of pitures of my Spring Thyme Block

I think you need a closer picture to see the fun details.

I will keep you posted on the blocks as they get done.

I have to remind you again about my Cottage Charm Giveaway. Click here and leave a comment if you would like to enter.  Also, visit The Twice Remembered Cottage to enter many other Cottage Charm Giveaways.

Cottage Charm Giveaway

I have not been bloging long, in fact this is only my 23rd post.  I have had so much fun blogging, reading blogs and have won two giveaways in my short time in blogland.  I am linking with The  Twice Remembered Cottage 4th Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway. This is a multi-blog giveaway and the winners will be announced on May 29th.  To do this, I decided to finish up a few projects that had been started for no particular reason. They have been sitting in my sewing/craft room waiting to be finished.
  I thought these would be great to use for my very first time participating in a giveaway.  Now I am offering my "Cottage" style projects to anyone who would like to enter . 

Crocheted Tea Cozy (the teapot is just for demonstration)

Flower Basket with Wool Felt Flowers and old Pipe Cleaner Handle

Embroidered Towel made with Antique Striped Toweling and fabric borders

Here it is all together, minus the teapot don't forget

Everything is hadmade by me, as you can see I have a variety of interests when it comes to handwork

 It will be quite some time before I celebrate 100 posts or followers so here I am joining in with the

 Cottage Charm Giveaway. 

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post.  Be sure to add your e-mail address if you don't have a blog so that I can get a message to you if you are the winner.  All of the winners in the Cottage Charm Giveaways will be announced on May 29th.    I have a link on my sidebar also, so go see what other giveaways you might like to enter.

Have Fun!

My Tassel from Megity's Handmade and a Sweet New Birdhouse

I went to the mailbox on Saturday afternoon and found a wonderful surprise.  It was the box sent from Megity's Handmade.  I won her giveaway a week ago or so and have been excited about seeing the tassel.  You know what its like when you get a package in the mail, the other mail gets tossed aside and the package comes first.  I opened it right away and was not disappointed.  I plan to order one of her tassels as a gift for a friend.  Go take a look here to see what she makes.

I hung the watering can tassel on my potting bench on our covered porch

The tassel goes well with my new birdhouse on the top shelf

The birdhouse is was made by Lyndie and Micah

as a Mother's Day gift

The tassel and the bird house will spend the summer outside on the covered porch and find a new home inside when the weather gets cold again. I won't have to worry about that for a long time, right.

The sun is gone again today, in fact it is kind of chilly here today.

The new tassel and birdhouse make things look springy anyway.

Happy Spring To Everyone!

Mother's Day Tea

Mother's Day weekend was busy but fun and relaxing and held many blessing.  We had a "Ladybug, Ladybug Tea" at our church on Saturday. Several women brought their dishes and decorated a table or two however they wanted.  Touring the tables before the tea began was fun.  I took some pictures of the table I sat at which was designed by my sister Raydine.  

The Trillium plates made by American Limoges

L'Exquisite

Everyone had a different tea cup

Isn't this a lovely pot, we didn't use it though, all it had to do was sit there and look pretty.

A ladybug landed on the flower arrangement

The Ladybug on the plate was also made by Raydine and contains a poem inside.

The little fabric flower on the left attached to the brownie has ladybugs on the fabric. 

 They were also made by my sister.

The food was delicious, if I had been thinking I would have staged it better on my plate

when I served myself. 

The whole table setting and atmosphere was lovely.

We had a "Ladybug Ladybug Fashion Show"  which made everyone laugh,

which is exactly what we wanted to happen.

Connie blessed us by sharing about the blessings of being a Mother

My Mom has been with the Lord for almost fifteen years now and I still miss her.  I will always have the memory of the unconditional love that she gave to each of her eight children.

My Mother-in-law Virginia has always been a great blessing in my life and I am thankful that she was able to attend the tea on Saturday.  Here is a picture of her with my daughter Amy.

Amy and Virginia

Sunday was a blessing to me, we had a wonderful church service, with a slide show put together by my son Micah, honoring all of the mothers at church.

 The kids all got together and brought dinner

I didn't have to cook! 

Mother's Day Dinner Menu

 GlazedHam

 Twice Baked Potatoes

Green Salad with all the extra touches

 Homemade "Peanut Buster Parfait". 

The best part of the day was spending time with family here and talking to my two children, Nathan and Julie who live with their families far away from here.

I am truly blessed

Linking to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Before your leave click here to  enter my "Cottage Charm" Giveaway