Our New Neighbor, A New Condition and Not Much More

Not that I'm one of those neighbors who keeps who nose pressed to the window watching our neighbors comings and goings, but I do have to admit I wish I had gotten a recording of this new neighbor's arrival: Actually, Hubby is the one who spotted the little guy/gal lying down in the field so of course I grabbed my camera and literally leaped out the door. Hubby is talking to me but you can't hear his voice (didn't want you to think I was talking to myself, although I often do). My monthly Giftaway is back on! Yes, a name will be pulled from the scant list of people who commented during the months of February and March. The scant list is my own fault - I took a blogging break and know that several people, believing I had either died or broken both hands and was unable to type or manipulate a microphone stopped reading and commenting. But, both the Giftaway and I have both returned! Look for the announcement of the winner's name April 1 or 2! The April Giftaway and those following, however, will have a New Condition. In order to be eligible for the monthly drawing you must not only leave a comment for that month, you must be a follower of this blog. Simple enough, eh? I've noticed that most of Blogland has been sharing their home Easter decorations. I'm not one to decorate much for Easter but here goes: This is a little vignette I put together for my office. The Peter Cottontail plate in the background is something I made several years ago simply because I like bunnies. Yes, I'm a bunny lover. Well, except for when they raid our garden. Then I feel like Elmer Fudd ("Kill the wabbit...") I made these eggs from felt the other night and threw them in a heart-shaped basket. I'll put them on our kitchen table whenever I clear it of a new batch of items that are awaiting their turn to be priced. As you can see, I obviously didn't go all out for decorations. I must confess, though, that the felt eggs do look better in person. Actually, they're quite beautiful and rival the Faberge' eggs. Okay, so I exaggerate. But the bunny in the basket with them IS quite cute...

Happy Anniversary to US, Back Yard Notes & Getting Ready for Easter

LOTS of pictures today - so please be patient!

TODAY is my hubby and my Happy Anniversary!  We've been especially busy lately and today won't be an exception.  However, he's spent a lot of time (suspiciously) trying to hide the fact he's making phone calls.  I don't know what he has in store, but I do know this - it will probably take place this weekend.

We changed one of our shop booths into a more outdoorsy-looking theme.  I removed the hearts from the arrangements that didn't sell for Valentine's Day and replaced them with colorfully decorated eggs.  There are so many other pictures that will be loading today so I'll show you only this one.  You can see part of our concrete menagerie that we're selling.  A vintage panther is crouched at the door when you enter this area.

This morning, I peeked out the back door (as I always do) to see what was going on back there.  Birds have been building their nests and flowers have been popping up everywhere, so I always get to see something new this time of year.

When I looked toward my biggest flower garden, I noticed that something was dangling from the duplex birdhouse over there.  I slipped on my husband's shoes so I could go outside and get a closer look.  (I guess I really need to get some comfy shoes for outdoors that I can just slip on and off without having to lace them.  Trouble is, they can't be backless because I would slide out of them on this hillside.)  Anyway, here's what I saw!  I think that probably a troublemaking bird (bluejay, mocking bird, etc.) decided to destroy the nest that one of the songbirds had started making.  Hubby said he thinks that one of the songbirds had started pulling out the old nest from last year to build anew.  This is one of those disagreements that won't be solved without calling in the Birdy CSIs.  In other words, we'll never know.

I then proceeded to walk around the patio to see what colors we have going.  It looks like a yellow scheme for now.  A lot of our daffodils are blooming and will continue to do so for at least another couple weeks.

Doesn't this little reader look serene sitting there ?  She has a real secret, though.  She has a splitting headache.    See that hole in the top of her head?  Probably the result of a rock thrown from the mower last year.   Oh - I almost forgot to show you this:   

These were all full yesterday from the raking and pulling of weeds I did from just PART of the big garden.  If I get a chance to go outside today, they'll all be full again very soon.   

This is the whiskey barrel that Mr. and Mrs. Whittle live in.  We bought them several years ago.  In fact, they were the first garden statuary we purchased together.  (Someone, please start humming a verse of "Memories" in the background...")  It won't be long before the iris that surrounds them will be in full beauty.  This shot is immediately in back of our patio.  You probably recognize tulip leaves; the fuzzy-fern looking leaves belong to Oriental poppies.  (These poppies are grown from a root versus seed.) If you look toward the bottom of the picture, you'll see weeds that need pulling.  So, don't look there.   

This is a picture of my hubby's hand holding an old button and pennies.  He was working on this old door he found for the shop and happened to see some change hidden behind the keyhole.  It excites him to find money, even if it is just pennies.  There was one wheat penny in there.  He worked really hard for this 18¢.  Did you stuff pennies in strange places when you were a kid?  I did.  I wonder if the back steps at the house I grew up in have ever been replaced.  Because I KNOW of at least one silver dime that exists down deep in one of the cracks.

And, lastly, I've been playing around - oops, I mean, working - getting ready for the Easter bunny.  Here's a hang tag I made:

...and a paper egg...

...another fabric egg...

...and a styrofoam egg that looks like a real egg, painted.

There's more, but that's probably more than enough pictures for one post.  Take care and have a tremendously blessed day!

An Award, An Egg-spurt and Dumb Colds

...as opposed to smart colds, of course.  Hubby, just last week, came home from work with the beginning signs of the Sniffles.  Uh-oh.  These things never end there.  Of course, the Sniffles progressed into a full-fledged nasty Cold and, just as he was beginning to show signs of being better, I came down with it.  And I, being the giving person that I am, passed it right back to him.  So now we are both into a full-fledged nasty old stupid old cold.  Since we are both prone to bronchitis and I have what they call a "compromised immune system" because of medications I take, I can easily progress into pneumonia.  We went to see our family doctor this afternoon and he gave us meds that should knock the socks off any infection.  Hopefully, we'll both be able to once again breathe with our mouths closed.

Many, many thanks to Patricia Rose for thinking highly enough of me to pass this award my way:    This award is accompanied by the following words:

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. " Please give more attention to these 8 writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award."

It's difficult to choose only eight bloggers, as there are so many of you and all of you are special, charming and meet the criteria!  

     Here are the ones I finally chose, in no particular order:

1. Mary - MeGardenGal

          2.  Margo - RoboJunker

          3.  Deena - Deena's Story/Sweet Annee

          4.  Tracey - A Cottage Industry

          5.  Vickie - Sand Flat Farm

          6.  Lynda - Prim on a Whim

          7.  Cynthia - Rust and Splinters

          8.  YOU!  Please add the logo and the rules to your blog and pass it along!

I also have a quick, shameless self-promotion of my Etsy for you!  I've listed this vintage sewing drawer, perfect for a small stash of needles and thread, as well as several yards of white stretch lace and several yards of trim.  PLEASE, if you are making a wedding gown, costume, etc. that you can use stretch lace for, take a look!  It's beautiful and I'm selling it for only fifty cents a yard!  I really need to de-stash my huge stash.

And finally, yes - I've had an Egg-spurt.  This is what I've been working on the last couple of days:  

This Victorian-style egg with the cameo is the only one that isn't sugar-glittered on both sides.  

I still have to decide whether I want to put these on Etsy or in our shop.  If you're interested in any of them, email me at Miller.sher@yahoo.com - they're about the size of duck eggs (larger than chicken eggs) and are made of fabric (felt), ribbons, ric-rack, buttons, polyfil, faux pearls, and different baubles and bling-y things I have in my studio.  The Victorian egg is $5.50 plus postage (no additional fees) and the others are $4.00 each plus postage.  I'll wait a couple days before either listing them or packing them up for the shop.

And, many thanks to ALL OF YOU who took the time to add my Etsy shop to your favorites list!  Thanks to you, I now almost look popular!  

I had to put this little bird in the pictures because it's just so darned cute!

Love to all of you!