Time For Outdoor Happiness

Spring’s finally arrived in northern Illinois,

+ we’ve been sprucing up our yard a bit, as one does.

Our front porch awaits its makeover,

meaning just pots of flowers but no landscaping yet.

I think it’s cool that we hung bunting on our in-progress porch!

Meanwhile, nothing growing out front means 1 thing:

it’s time to head to our backyard . . .

. . . where we planted 10 Autumn ferns behind the garage:

Our baby ferns may not look like much right now,

but soon enough, we’ll have these beauties!

In other news — there’s nothing like moving from house A to house B

to make a gal realize she’s got way too much garden stuff!

How many pairs of pots + urns did I think I needed?

Anyway, I did what I had to do + ruthlessly purged.

We now have a large pile of gardening goodies

that I’ll take to my next market + sell.

So what made the cut, Kay? — you’re no doubt asking.

This stuff:

I have had that old trellis for a long time.

It’s never looked better than here, on the garage wall!

I love the combination of chippy white paint + silvery galvanized metal!

That wonderful stand + bucket await their resident plant.

I am thinking something of the topiary persuasion.

Exhibit A:

The larger bucket to the right will soon be a fountain,

+ that sandwich board sign at left?  I love it!

I made it for my biz — several years + 2 booth spaces ago.

Earlier today, I drug it from its basement hide-a-way

+ plopped it here, next to our trellis + plant stand.

I’m not sure where it will land.  Stay tuned.

Just a few short yards from my plant stand + old sandwich board,

the garage sports this window box with 3 very rustic pots:

This year I’ve filled those pots with pretty, leafy Caladium plants,

under planted with Gin Begonias.

They are both shade tolerant, which is a must in most of our yard.

Next up, our pair of semi-modern Adirondack chairs

have moved from their previous place on our lawn to this patio space.

Somewhere there’s a pair of pale blue outdoor cushions,

+ I need to ask G.O. if he knows where they are.

Stay tuned!

Hanging Artwork Paralysis

Although we’ve happily lived in our Dutch colonial since October,

our poor walls remain bare!

All except this one, behind our headboard:

That wonderful flag is from my Grandpa’s funeral.

He served as a veterinarian’s assistant in France during WWI.

Did you see the movie War Horse?

Yes, there were horses serving in the military during WWI,

+ I suppose it was Grandpa’s job to help keep them healthy.

Isn’t that interesting?

If only I had found it so interesting back then, when he was still alive!

Dumb kid!

But back to today.

A flag on the wall, no matter how much it’s cherished, is a bit odd, no?

Maybe not!

Here are some Pinterest photos that inspired me:

Pretty cool!

But wait.

I’ve changed my mind, as one does,

+ I now wish to take down the flag + hang something else!

.

OF COURSE I DO!

This no doubt explains my artwork paralysis — I  do change my mind a lot.

This time, I blame it on my new obsession with pastels,

which is also reflected in my “merch”, as I call it:

I don’t talk about my biz that much in this blog.

It’s called RedBird (shout-out for my favorite baseball team)

It has me sewing, painting + slipcovering all sorts of things;

I call my style rustic cottage + sell in vintage markets.

The shows are a tons of fun but also a lot of work!

I am not as young as I used to be, but then, who is?

Just yesterday, I was here from from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.:

 I was so tired that when I got back home around 4 bells,

I was out like a light before 5 + slept right through the night!

JUST CALL ME GRANNY!

Anyway, next market is in 2 weeks, so I’d best stop typing.

I think I’ll sew a slipcover this afternoon!

2 Pairs Of Lamps, Lots O’ Waiting

10 years or so ago, I bought a pair swing arm pharmacy light fixtures.

They were discontinued from Pottery Barn, for sale on eBay.

I can’t recall what I paid, but they were fairly “spendy”.

Natch, I wanted to bring them to the Dutch colonial,

but it took a while to persuade G.O.

Finally, just yesterday afternoon, they made it!

He attached them to the woodwork of the middle window of our bay,

right behind our couch.

They are taking the place of the pair of Target lamps

that were on our sofa table.

Here:

Those little Target cuties were moved to another window bay,

which is in our dining room/office/what-have-you room.

Here:

I think they look fantastic!

We have a chippy gray bench that will go on that empty side of the table.

I promise to take a snappy of it + share with the class.

I hurriedly staged this table late yesterday afternoon,

so it’s a sure bet that I am going to move things around or add stuff.

I promise to take snappies + share with the class when I do.

I shall take additional photos of our pharmacy lights in the living room, too!

Stay tuned!

Mama’s Got A Brand New Rug

Last Christmas, my sister Lisa gave me a Pottery Barn gift certificate.

After much pondering, I finally chose this cool rug:

Who doesn’t love navy blue ticking stripes?

As a reminder of days gone by, let’s look back at my old, much loved kilim rug:

I loved it because it had all the “Kay colors” of blue, red + buttery tan.

I bought it way, way back in 2007, so I was ready for a change.

Meanwhile, this cute little rolling table is also new:

I bought it for my biz, RedBird Vintage Home, 

to resell at one of my upcoming spring markets.

Who knew?  It would look so great in our living room!

Check out the way the white bead board top echoes the white stripes.

So.  I may or may not sell it.  We’ll see!

I love how you can tell that it has been made from parts of other furniture.

The white top + apron have the best chippy patina,

while the graceful, natural wood legs surely came from something fancier.

And the wheels!  I’ll buy anything with wheels!

In fact, our living room has not 1 but 2 typewriter tables,

which, as you know, have wheels.

Sorry about the naughty photo, but it’s  been so dark + dreary here.

Anyway, I bought a sample 12″ square marble tile for the top,

yet more white in the room.

Now, then.  This concludes the tour of all wheeled items in our living room,

but before I go, may I show you some other newcomers to our living room?

Golf trophies!

My dad won those, + when we were visiting last month, he said I could have them!

I’m not sure how sentimental he is about his “major awards”,

but I promised him I wouldn’t sell them.

How could I?

But stay tuned for whether or not I sell my little table!

I have a market this coming Saturday.