Spring Sprucing and Cleaning

Hi Everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful spring. The buds here sure are looking pretty. I snapped a couple of pictures today of one of my favorite spring trees (pictured above). I love the color! The temps are finally staying up warm enough in the day to suit me and the cool nights make for good sleeping.


I am a devoted Tasha Tudor fan. I thought I would share one of her books with you. Even though this book has "spring" in the title it really isn't about the season spring. However, I love the illustrations and the book seems festive to me for this time of the year. You can click on the pictures and they will enlarge.




We had one leather recliner in our family room. Talk about comfortable!! Mmmm, what a delight! Hubby and I would take turns sitting in it and finally a couple of weeks ago I went to the furniture store and ordered another one. It came last week and here it is! These two recliners are huge and really too big to have two side by side but these face the TV and we love them so that is what it is all about right? We do feel like our grandparents now; nestling in the recliners at the end of the day. Our grandparents were smart huh?


And finally you can see a little bit of what I have been up to also. Ugh. Spring cleaning time!!! I do love getting everything clean top to bottom inside and out. This year I have someone helping me and she is a godsend. I am so tickled that we will have everything spic and span this week.

Baby son is on his way back from Europe as I type. The week has gone very fast! I am so glad that he will be coming home but so happy that he has had this wonderful experience.

I hope you all are enjoying Spring as much as I am.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you ~

"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields..."

Irish Blessing

Come sit out on my front porch with me and we will have shortbread and tea. In case you are interested, the china pattern is Belleek from Ireland. I only have a few pieces but each one is adorable. Such a dainty china; and so sweet to me.

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Photo removed at teenager request :)

What a difference a day makes! Pictured above is my "baby", my high school senior. This photo was taken yesterday morning at about 9:30 am on my back breezeway before I took him to the airport. This morning at 9:30 am I got a call from this precious child of mine from Milan, Italy where he was standing in the middle of a plaza looking at a huge cathedral; according to him.

I have been the type of Mother that let my children go and do and explore probably more than I should have. Their father is a captain for a major airline and has flown both domestically and internationally. From the age of 1 month I have had my children on airplanes. We have moved several times and experienced different cultures. Thanks in part to living in Texas for 6 years, along with one of the most gifted Spanish teachers ever, he speaks fluent Spanish.

This trip that my son is on is a little bit different than his usual outings. He went on a 9 day trip to Europe with 8 other friends from high school. There are some adults going and this was a guided tour thingy. They will go to Italy, Spain and Monaco; how exciting!

I warned him about the delicious ice cream, pastries and breads in Europe. I tend to gain about 10 pounds just thinking about them! When he called this morning he said that I was right about the ice cream and he had already had three servings! That's my boy! We love our food.

I raised my children to be very independent. They were doing their own laundry by age 8, making their own beds, etc. As morbid as it sounds, I wanted them to be able to function in case something happened to their father or myself. Of course, with independence I have had to let go faster or sooner than I wanted to at times. However, I could not be prouder of my children. They are able to conduct themselves in all sorts of situations and are already contributing members of society holding down jobs, going to school, etc. Apologies for the shameless bragging.

Thanks for letting me share a bit of my life with you today.

Don't You Quit; inspirational video for those that need encouragement

Don't we all need encouragement from time to time? We all experience life's ups and downs. It is our friends that are there for us and help us through. But in the end, it comes down to the will within each one of us as to the course our lives take with the decisions that we make. I wanted to share with you this awesome video; I think it is so well done.

Don't You Quit.

Mama's Pecan Pie

I wanted to share a good, solid Pecan Pie recipe that will appeal to a broad range of palates. This is "Mama's Pecan Pie" from the cookbook Bon Appetit Ya'll".


Isn't this a pretty cookbook?


And here's the recipe, you can click on the picture to enlarge.

I overbaked it a tad due to a hot oven that I have to watch like a hawk. I think you will find this a safe pecan pie recipe that will be welcome in any serving situation. This throws together very, very easily and with store bought pie crusts you can be your own semi-homemade chef!

The Queen of Tassels, Nancy at Southern Lady

I would like to introduce you to the Queen of Tassels: Nancy over at Southern Lady

Nancy makes beautiful tassels for any room in your home. They also make perfect gifts! I actually even got a compliment on my dining room tassel (pictured above) just today! Nancy has an etsy shop called Nancyrosalina's The Tasseled Nest.

I have always been a tassel person but Nancy's creations take tassels to an entirely different level. They are so charming and creative.

Please visit Nancy at her wonderful blog and also her etsy shop. Please tell her that I sent you.

TJMaxx Notecards that look Lilly Pulitzer-ish

Oh my gosh, I love TJMaxx! I also love Lilly Pulitzer. What is a girl to do when she is a thrifty shopper? She heads to TJMaxx and finds these ~darling~ notecards. Feel free to click on the picture to enlarge it to see just how darling these notecards are. They also have the most neat envelopes; they are miniature business mailing envelopes. Can you see how the flap is on the end of the back of the envelope and not the standard fold down flap? Love love love these and they are fairly heavy weight also. Bonus!

I will be out and about all day today so I won't be around to your blogs or responding to comments very timely. Please forgive me! I will get to you as soon as I can. Gotta feed the addiction ya know!