way too much winter...

there's been robins in our yard, but seriously, that is about the only
sign that spring is indeed coming. until things thaw out and start to
green up around here, i just do what i can to make the
house cheery and myself happy.

one of those things recently was a little field trip to
alexandria to see all the marvelous things at friend leslie's
spring sale.

her house was a wonderland, filled with handmade goodies like
the big smiley sun-face she sculpted out of paper mache.

she also sculpted this rabbit. she is one talented artist.

vintage child's sweater with yellow chicks~

wheat grass jars

this was one of her masterpieces. she sculpted the sun out of clay
and then her hubs flattened old silver wear for the sun's rays-
she set him atop an antique cracker tin that said SUNSHINE
and it was a show stopper!

these tulips were a little surprise from my sweetie on st. patrick's day.

leslie's daughter christa makes these darling pennants. we did a photo shoot at my house
for her upcoming etsy shop.

one of the artworks i had ready to sell.
the little girl was my grandfather's sister, vera floy.

you know the saying
~always be yourself...
unless you can be a unicorn.
then always be a unicorn.
?

well ~ my take on it is
"skip wearing a hat...
unless it's a party hat.
then always wear the party hat.

another little something i've been making.
these are for your keys~

do you like them?
i got one from a bestie about a year ago
and i LOVE it.

christa made these too and they were part of the photo shoot
aren't they aDORAble???
so cottagey- summery- anthropology-
if and when she gets her shop open i'll let you know how to find it.

leslie dolled up "crash" to greet the shoppers on her front porch. his name comes
with a great story. one of her friends lost her dear husband and she was
struggling. to get out of the house and have some fun one day,
she and leslie went to a local garden center where fran spotted
this heavy cement dog. she'd always wanted one, so she bought him and they
loaded him up in the back of her car and started home.
on the way, the dog tipped over and broke out the back window of her car!!!!
i guess it was good comic relief for those two that day and he officially
had a name. crash.
when fran moved to florida a couple of years ago, crash came to live with leslie.

and speaking of dogs~

there will most likely be a whole bunch of news about our
dogs for a while.  it's almost like having a newborn in the house
and there is an opportunity for a cute photo about every
4.5 minutes.

duke did a lot of this today.
talk about sad eyes. i'm keeping the two dogs separated most of the time
to let koda get used to life here and i'm pretty sure this big dog
wishes that little dog would just go back to north dakota.

 i kept telling duke what a good dog he was today,
and trying to reassure him that i still think he's
the cat's meow, or the dog's ruff, but i don't
think he was buy'n it!

*if you just feel like you may stick your head in the gas oven if
you can't wear shorts soon, promise me you'll stop
and buy yourself some tulips or daffodils k.?
or a dog named crash.


have a really great day my dears!!!

beth