Welcome Spring!

When I went into work on Tuesday, I spied this bunny at my desk..

and immediately fell in love! My dear friend Pam, who has known me for many years,

saw her in a store, and knew how much I would love her. She has the sweetest face,

and is all decked out for Spring with her fancy pink collar and chickie pin and her party hat....

and is even holding a little banner that says "JOY" all glittered up...

Sigh....I am in love!

More Spring lovliness...

This beautiful Spring garland is a gift from my friend Jacqueline. I have to figure out where

 to hang it as it is very long. The colors are so vibrant and fresh. I am so blessed to have

such great friends who know me so well!

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

A month ago or so, I purchased some Spring tags from my friend and

former swap partner, Sharon, of My Vintage Studio. When Sharon

and I were swap partners in the Swap for All Seasons Cabinet Card Swap, 

she sent some beautiful Christmas tags she had made. Her work is

so exquisite and each tag is a little art masterpiece. When she started to sell

Spring tags in her Etsy shop, I just couldn't resist them!

 

Wonderful images, dreamy flowers and beautiful ribbons...

when they arrived, I couldn't believe that they were all prettier

in person than in photos. The ones decorated with flowers are my favorites...

 I went back and ordered two more!

Isn't this lovely? The bling is like the icing on the cake!

I think Bunnie likes them, too!

It's never too late to send some love. Thank you Bethanie!!

 xoxo!

More Sping and Easter decor to come!

Did you notice that link on my sidebar to Michelle Palmer's giveaway?

You could win this original art drawing on fabric made by Michelle

Visit her blog, go to her Etsy shop and sign up to win!

Look at that detail!!!!! So cute!

xoxo

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Our favorite verse...

May those that love us, love us;

And for those that don't love us,

may God turn their hearts;

And if he can't turn their hearts,

May he turn their ankles;

So we may know them by their limping.

an Irish toast

We will not be eating our celebratory St. Patrick's Day meal until tomorrow night,

when we'll dine on corned beef and cabbage and Irish Soda Bread

while we're watching this...

The Quiet Man

is a story about a man, Sean Thornton (living in Pittsburgh),

who retires to Ireland to reclaim his family's farm in Innisfree.

He meets and falls in love with spinster Mary Kate Danaher and then the sparks begin to fly!

It's a wonderful, funny story made even more fun by watching it with a man who does

a Barry Fitzgerald (who is also in the movie) impersonation almost perfectly.

I'd like to share some of my favorite images of the day...

(courtesy of Suzee Que-Flickr)

(Lulu at Home-Flickr)

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

The Ides of March....

We all learned about the Ides of March when we were in school....it is the day Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by Marcus Brutus in 44 B.C. (I was just a small child then and  had nothing to do with it!) On a lighter note, it is also our Daughter-In-Law Jane's birthday! Happy Birthday Jane!

We had a great time when Eric, Jane and Charlie came for a visit last week. We mostly just hung out together and had fun at home but we also took a trip to the Children's Museum here in Pittsburgh.

(Charlie checking out his shadow)

Charlie had a lot of fun with all of the interactive displays. One of the highlights, especially for the adults, was Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. They had some of the props used in the television show on display and I think Eric really had more fun than Charlie did.

As usual, my intentions to take lots of pictures got lost somewhere in the enjoyment of the happenings of the moment! I did get this photo of David and Eric on their way to the Penguins game on Saturday...

On Sunday, Charlie got a chance to say Hi to Papa before church started...

On Monday morning, I came downstairs to find that Papa had turned Charlie's chair around to face the window and they were watching the birds at the feeder while Charlie ate his breakfast.

We read many books, played with puzzles and cars and watched a movie or two. My photos are sparse but I had a great time. It went by too quickly and on Tuesday they left to go home.

We missed you as soon as you were gone from our sight Charlie...

don't grow too fast before we see you again!

xoxo

Two More Sleeps

When I first started to get to know my husband David, we would share stories about our children when they were growing up and the funny things they said and did. One of the things he told me about Eric was that whenever there was an exciting event coming up (Christmas, vacation, weekend) Eric would want to know "how many sleeps?" until that event arrived. I must confess that both David and I...in our 60's...still talk in terms of "how many sleeps?" OK-I'm not sharing any more of our quirkiness at this time. But, with that being said, I just want to tell you that there are 2 more sleeps until this guys comes for a visit....

This picture was taken at the Outer Banks in September. That was the last time we saw Charlie up close and personal. We do have Skype (a free web service that enables you to talk and see the other person using a webcam) but it's not the same as real-time hugging and snuggling. Please click on the photo to enlarge so you can read Charlie's sweatshirt. I think he already is! LOL!

Because of the wicked winter we have had, this visit has been postponed several times which I think made Charlie very unhappy...

We're supposed to have a beautiful weekend here in the 'Burgh so we're planning on a fun time!

Papa and Daddy (Eric) are even going to go to the Penguins game on Saturday afternoon.

I also wanted to share with you, two boxes I recently altered and decoupaged for two very wonderful friends! I think I love decorating and decoupaging boxes more than just about any other paper art work I do.

Box 1

Box 2

Some people would never put a photo on their blog that was less than flattering. Hair, make-up and clothing need to be just right. After posting the picture of my sister and me on my last post (siblings always make silly, goobery faces when photographed together, don't they?) I thought I would just let it all hang out and show you  this picture of Charlie and me taken in September. He was sitting on my lap and I made a face that made him belly laugh...then he made the same face at me and I belly laughed and it just went on and on  from there! We carried on for a long time and my DIL snapped this picture. You may think it crazy but it's one of my favorites...ever! You can count on Gram being very silly this weekend...it's what I do best!

Too Much Fun!

There is nothing more fun than going on vacation and leaving this behind....

and heading for this.....

 We visited our Step-Mom, Bunnie...

did some sightseeing.....riding the Light Rail line...

Going to the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium....

We also did our share of eating!

 One day we met up with some friends for lunch at The Landmark Restaurant

I had a light chicken salad for lunch and then this for dessert....

but of course I always use this in my iced tea.....

 to cancel out any calories I might have consumed!

My sister Barb and I spent one delightful day with a sweet,sweet, blogging friend

who I had never met in person....Sandy, of 521 Lake Street.

Instantly upon meeting her, I felt like I had known her for years!

 You will need to hop over to Sandy's to see the picture of the 3 of us

 because my picture of us was pretty fuzzy.

Sandy, and another friend, gave us the most delightful tour of

some of the many shops in the neighborhood. I wish we would have

had several more hours days to spend with these women! We shopped and talked

and ate and talked and laughed and talked and not once was there a lag in the

conversation. Meeting up with someone whose blog you read, and write to is the

ultimate thrill! I will just post some pictures of the beautiful things I saw...

There are wonderful bronze statues on the main streets and

 one of my favorites is this little girl reading her book.

I took the picture above in 2005 when we were here....

and in 2008...

and again this year...

Boy,  I hope she finishes that book soon!

We returned home to Pittsburgh and found yet more snow but we are thinking back

 to our wonderful trip and our time spent with each other and our new friends.

(left to right: my brother-in-law Dick, my sister Barb, me, Bunnie and  sweet David)

I will leave you with a picture that I wish someone would explain to me...

fuel and a massage...that's a new one for me!

This picture is for my sis who wanted a good photo of the two of us....

Hang in there everyone...Spring is on it's way...I hope!

xoxo