The Sweet Scent of Spring

While waiting for Spring's arrival, I have enjoyed browsing through some of my gardening books.  This morning I pulled this one from the shelf.  

I purchased it awhile ago at a used bookstore.

Published in England in 1992, it is geared toward the youngest gardeners.

Each season offers simple projects sure to spark a lifelong interest in gardening.

Although I no longer qualify for being a young gardener, the sweet projects and delightful artwork of Beatrix Potter make me excited for the gardening season to begin.

Here is a little gardening project that is taking place in my house right now.

Hyacinth In A Jar

Mine came from Aldi.

I found one with two buds on it.

When the first one bloomed it kind of tipped over.

I don't mind as the smell is so reminiscent of springtime.

Every time I catch a whiff the excitement for Spring's true arrival begins.

I plan to keep the vase it's in and start my own next year.

While it's a bit early for Easter decorating, I couldn't resist changing out the display on my island to something more springlike.

Until now, the snowmen have been on display.

After arranging my display I placed the hyacinth near the bunny.

He looks quite pleased with the scent too.

🐇⚘🐇

A Good Weekend For Reading

Frosted Pansies

Well, our highly anticipated snow event resulted in a bit of snow followed by a bit of sleet leaving a frosty coating on everything in it's path.

Tiny icicles hung from the gutters.

Not enough to build a snowman with, but pretty nonetheless.

It was a good weekend for reading.

I finished this and thoroughly enjoyed it.

After remarking to Brett recently that I needed a book that I just couldn't put down, this one crossed my path. (note the words above the title).

Having never read this author, I decided to take a chance.

I didn't realize until I got home that the book was written in 1978.

Apparently it was hard for me to put down as I finished it in a day.

It definitely took some unexpected twists.

This one, set in Australia, was next up.

It is starting off on a mysterious note.

Sometimes when I finish a book I like to wait a few days to process the one I just read.  I planned to do that last night, but before I knew it I started this one.

Last year I signed up for a reading challenge on GoodReads.

I fell short of my goal by ten books.

I set the same goal for this year and now feel I am off to a good start.

"Reading One Book Is Like Eating One Potato Chip"

~Diane Duane

A Reading Challenge for the New Year

Snow is not in the forecast here, but very cold temperatures are.  It will be going into the teens a few nights this week so I have a pile of drop cloths all ready to cover up my potted plants and star jasmine when the time comes.  Last year I came close to losing the jasmine and my potted gardenia to extreme cold weather.  I am hoping that covering them through the worst of it will allow them to survive the winter.

How are you all faring in this harsh winter weather?

I must say I have been enjoying the snowy photos so many of you have shared.  

While filling the bird feeder this morning, I noticed a few pansies in bloom.  The landscape is predictably barren now so the pops of color attracted my attention.

I snipped a wee bouquet for the windowsill of my home office.

A pretty reminder that spring will be our next season.

I've been in the reading mood since the new year began.

I just finished these three.  The Susan Wittig Albert series is one I have been making my way through for years.  I now have one left and have just ordered it.  Can't wait for it to arrive.

These were read years ago.  I have them displayed in my bookcase for their winter theme (and colors).  I'm thinking I might read that center book again while I'm waiting for my book order to arrive.  The author, Maeve Binchy, is sadly no longer with us.  I believe I have read all of her books.  I don't re-read many books as there are so many that interest me and only so much time.  However, her books about small town life in Ireland are just the sort that I am apt to read more than once.

Once I finish a book I enter it into Good Reads to keep track of what I have read and what I want to read in the future.  I noticed they have a reading challenge for the year and decided to take them up on it.  I have no idea how many books I might read in a year so I came up with what I thought would be reasonable yet still challenging.

I settled on 40 books.  It will be interesting to see if that is even close to realistic.  If I keep up at the pace I've been reading, I think I would far surpass it.  As I know there are other times of year when other things get in the way of reading, I tried to take that into consideration.

Time will tell.

❄❅❆

Stay Warm ~ Stay Safe

The Nesting Season Has Arrived

Another Autumn season has arrived.

A season for warm drinks, soft throws, good books and . . .

nesting.  Plenty of feathering the nest to make things cozy for the cooler months ahead.

As the family room furniture continues to trickle in, it has been fun to come up with some new fall vignettes.

I have done away with a coffee table in favor of two ottomans.

I like the versatility of being able to prop our feet up on them or move them around for additional seating, if necessary.

With the days getting shorter, it was time to pull out the candles and put the batteries back into the battery operated candle lanterns.

So nice to warm up the evenings or the cloudy days, like today.

I enjoyed rearranging the hutch a bit.

I've ordered a new dining table that will better suit our needs in this house.  No more pulling odd chairs from here and there when the family is all here.  The table is supposed to be delivered in a couple weeks.  

While waiting for the table to be delivered, I've been playing around with how I will set it for the fall season.

I found the prettiest plates at the thrift shop recently.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but they have a bit of leaves, corn, gourds and acorns on the border.  Made by Pfaltzgraff and only 49 cents a piece was a deal that I couldn't pass up.  The glass turkey, pumpkin soup bowls and candle holder were also thrift finds from previous years.  To me the fun is pulling them together to make a coordinated, collected table scape.

Nesting at it's finest.

:-)

My nesting instincts often spill over to the thrift shop.

While there last week I overheard someone say that a tree had fallen over the road I needed to travel to get home.  It landed on a car and brought down the power lines with it.  Traffic would be stopped both ways for hours.  Oh dear!  To pass the time while waiting I went around filling the cart with fall themed treasures from the past.

These two yellow ware bowls with the brown bands weren't right for my house, but I will always love them.  I think they lend themselves to beautiful wood furniture, gourds, pumpkins and sunflowers.  All things that could be found there on that day.  I set up a little vignette and snapped a picture.  It satisfied my fall nesting interests while passing the time.  It still took me an hour and a half to get home.

Thankfully nobody was injured in the car that the tree landed on.

I have no idea why that tree fell as it was a lovely evening.

I rolled down the car windows, cranked up the radio and enjoyed the (long) ride home.  By the time I got home it was dark.  So nice to have the cozy candle light to greet me.

Happy Fall, Friends!

A Home For The Books

Although I did a huge edit to my book collection when I moved four years ago, there were several that I just couldn't part with.  They have been residing in closets, cupboards, pantries and even under beds.  Yikes!  What can I say... I love books.

To me there are few things as relaxing as sitting down with a good book or reading in bed before going to sleep.  

When I moved here I was so in the mood to downsize everything.

I don't regret that at all.

However, as time has gone on I have missed my bookcases.

If you've been here for awhile you may remember the bookcases in my last house (above).  I used to love sitting in that room to read.  I could close the french doors and have a little hide out from the world.  Sometimes I would just pull a garden or decorating book from the shelves, make a cup of coffee and get lost in book land.

I think as much as having the bookcases, I have missed having a cozy little reading spot.

It took awhile to figure it out in this house.  It can take me a long while to decide on something.  Usually once the decision is made I am sure it's the right one.

Last week the workmen came and created a new home for my books.

A smaller scale works just fine for this house.  

It feels so good to see my old friends again :).

At the time of my move I edited another collection.

The vintage USA pottery collection.

I did, however, keep my very favorite pieces.

They have found new homes in amongst the books.

As we enter this busy time of year, it feels nice to have a special spot to relax and curl up with a good book.  Very likely a Christmas book from the collection that was never edited.  I especially love vintage Christmas books.  They, too, found a home in the new bookcases.

📚📚📚

Now, tell me something...

Do you also like to read and, if so, do you prefer a real (old fashioned) book?

Do you have a special spot you like to read in?

And finally...

Do you have a favorite Christmas book?

Shy Sunflowers & The Giveaway Winner

Not long after the deer knocked the bird feeder over, all that bird seed began to sprout.  In time, most of it got pulled out.  A few sprouts that I recognized as sunflowers got to stay.

I have been watching them grow and eagerly anticipating that first bloom.

This week I was rewarded with a wonderful view of the back of the bloom.  Not quite what I was hoping to see from my chair on the patio.

Now, that's more like it.

I thought I had heard that sunflower blooms always face the sun.

If that's true, I need to pay closer attention as this one seems to like to keep it's back to us all day long.  Perhaps it prefers to look at the woods.  Either way, for something that I never planted, it sure is a beauty.  I look forward to more joining it.  Even if they are in funny spots among the azaleas.

Moving along. . .

A few weeks ago I held a little giveaway.

Today is the day I'm choosing the winner.

In honor of our upcoming patriotic holiday, I put the names in my star spangled bowl.

And the winner is . . .

Drum Roll Please . . .

Lorrie 

Congratulations, Lorrie.  Please email me with your address and I will send the book your way.

Thank you to all who entered.

***

It Snowed

That snow I was talking about in my last post came to fruition.

Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of snowy white.

Looking out the back windows, it appeared that the wildlife were busy making tracks in the early morning hours.

Even the birdies were leaving their tracks in the snow.

So cute!

As the day progressed the snow gave way to sleet.

Clearly we were not leaving the house so I did something that I haven't done in many years.  Stayed in my pj's all day and read.  I've been working my way through Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles mystery series.  If you've not read this series, each book finds ex-lawyer turned herb shop owner, China Bayles, solving a mystery while also tossing in a lot of facts and sometimes recipes about various herbs.

Having just finished Rosemary Remembered, I came across this sweet potato recipe that I had torn from a Cooking Light magazine.
It is basically mashed sweet potatoes with salt, pepper and minced fresh rosemary added.  The topping was an interesting mix of finely sliced shallots caramelized with a bit of brown sugar.  It added a nice pop of flavor to them and the shallots got slightly crispy which was an added bonus.

I tend to tear recipes out of magazines with good intentions for trying them.  Once I try them they either get tossed or earn a place of honor in my recipe binder.  This one is now in the binder along with a few other sweet potato recipes.

We eat sweet potatoes often and it's nice to have a few different methods to prepare them.

Now, on Thursday, there is still some snow lingering and rain is falling.  The weatherman is tossing around the snow word again.  If we get it, I don't think it will amount to anything.

In the garden my chives are partially buried in snow.  No doubt wondering what the heck is going on.  Tonight I've got potato soup on the menu.  Not sure if it's worth stomping through the soggy snow to clip a few to garnish the soup.

Books and Flowers

While the winter garden lies (mostly) dormant outside, I'm glad we can still exercise our green thumbs a bit with winter blooming bulbs.

There is one thing that is still thriving in my outdoor garden.

Pretty Pansies

While watering them last week, I couldn't bear the thought of watching their pretty little faces shriveling up so I snipped some of the prettiest ones off and laid them out on a sheet of paper.

After bringing them in the house I laid another sheet of paper on top of them and gathered up some of my heaviest vintage books to set on top.

Voila... my homemade flower press.

Those old books come in handy for more than just reading.

Speaking of old books . . .

Have you ever purchased anything on Facebook Marketplace?

I never had until the recent day when I found myself a bit bored and began scrolling through the offerings.  It seems I'm always reading about people who find great items there so I thought I'd see what it was all about.

Before long I stumbled across this beautiful nature library.

Published in 1926 with the titles of

Animals, Butterflies, Birds, Wildflowers, Trees & Garden Flowers and look at the beautiful spines!

I was instantly intrigued so I contacted the buyer to ask a few questions.

In the course of our back and forth conversation I learned

that she ran an antique shop in her small town and had bought the books from a fellow antique dealer.  She had owned them for ten years.  Now that she was downsizing her home she had to let go of some of her things.  She also shared that as a master gardener she loved these books.

When I was downsizing my own home two years ago, most of my book collection had to go.

So, naturally, when I showed them to my husband his first question was...

Any guesses???

If you guessed "where are you going to put them?"  you win the prize :).

Actually he says that often.  In this instance, though, he had a point.

The thing is after also seeing a few glimpses of what was to be found inside the covers of these books, I was a goner.

Though I no longer have bookcases, I put that old saying where there's a will, there's a way into practice.

My little living room is one of my favorite spots to read and dream.

A little vintage vignette in that very room is just the ideal spot for them.

Books and flowers.

Two things that are adding pleasure to this endless string of at home days.

What's adding pleasure to your days?

                                                            

                                                                   

Autumn's Arrival

And all at once Summer collapsed into Fall

~ Oscar Wilde

Typically when the first day of Fall rolls around it is still looking and feeling very Summery around here.  This year, however, Summer appears to have done just as Oscar Wilde stated... collapsed into Fall.

When I went outside this morning the temperature was 46 f.  So cool, yet sunny.  A delightful day has begun.

The change of season always makes me want to make a few changes indoors.  On a recent visit to Aldi I was drawn to this mercury glass pumpkin candle.  It has a pleasant pumpkin spice scent and fit in well with the mercury glass gourd I already had.

I especially like a scented candle on the foyer table.

It adds a warm glow in the evenings as it is getting dark earlier and the seasonal scent makes a pleasant greeting.

With the change of seasons woodsy walks hold a new appeal.

Goodbye humidity and mosquitoes ~ hello crisp air and changing leaves.

🍂🍂🍂

Heating up the oven for a pleasant afternoon of baking is another fall favorite.  I did just that on Sunday.  Lorrie was kind enough to share her recipe for date loaf here.  Oh my goodness, is it ever delicious!  So moist with just the right amount of sweetness.

Just the thing to accompany a warming cup of tea or coffee.

Reading always ranks high on my list, perhaps even more so in the cooler months of the year.  That is the time the cozy reads are especially appealing.  Nothing like curling up under a warm blanket with a good book.   I've had an Amazon gift card tucked away since my birthday in April just waiting for the right thing to come along. ;).  Because I have only read one or two of the little house books, it seemed a good time to tackle the entire series in order.  This little library caught my eye.  

With all of the uncertainty of flu season amid covid hanging over our heads, it seems like a good idea to be stocked up on nice diversions.

For me that will include plenty of books.