Sunny and warm..at last!

Photos from around the neighborhood this afternoon...

Someone has a young tree in blossom and lovely tulips, too!

A tulip tree in full bloom behind a vine covered mail box....and a red bud "bonsai"?

Then a whole line of springtime glory...red bud, forsythia and daffodils! I like the shadow of the bare tree branches too!

At home, my little garden angel stands near a newly opened miniature iris...

And a group of "pink" daffodils.....see the peach/apricot tones in the trumpets?

My main goal on this walk was to get a photo of this old truck.....to reference while I add a truck to the foreground of this watercolor....again, I see shadows of bare tree limbs.....

Here is the aqua truck to add to the art work....

Back later with results....? Hopefully!
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Meanwhile some of my grandchildren are on spring break at the beach.....in Florida.
Little Nina looking at the big ocean......

.....photo by my daughter ( whom I recall finding the beach at the same age...)

This little mermaid is now a travel agent. Find her at www.caribbeanjourney.com !

[I just posted some of my quilting history to my quilt blog...1980's Scrapbook  ]

Snow day crafting....thunder sleet storm

Not going anywhere today.....and even though I could deep clean another room.....

I have seen this .....and pasted it into my SMASH book.

The living room with so much white from Yvestown blog.  She writes from the Netherlands about crochet, among other things domestic!

So I have my bins of yarn and my crochet hooks....warm and cozy as long as the power is on! Ice storms can take down power lines!

Granny squares galore!

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  If I get in the mood to paint.....(I guess that takes more focus than handwork....), I may do a painting using those fading tulips from last week's post!
I took a photo to refer to! [It IS time to transfer them into the ground....but the winter storm makes doing that a little hard today!]
My tulips...

Now , a wonderful tulip painting by artist Emily Patrick.   I love the loose, floppy, red, fully open tulips!

February, Romance and Mr. P in the bedroom...not what you think!

February is always a romantic time...our wedding anniversary and Valentine's day are in the middle of the month. Today, my tulip bulbs are blooming beautifully!

Not as pretty as the tulips....but timely,....Mr. P bought us this appliance after watching numerous TV ads...we had an Oreck vacuum, but nothing like this...

It would not be romantic to say this SHARK vacuum is an anniversary gift.....41 years now! Though it did come about the day of our anniversary.

Time now, to re-energize the house, one room at a time! Deep clean....first the furniture comes out...up and down the hall it waits.....

I can't move the bed.

But the bed is great to pile other things on, temporarily.....(I think I should give most of this away....I have TOO MUCH!). I will keep the quilts of course!!! Artwork in the walls is mine...

 

 

This vacuum is powerful, it has attachments for blinds, ceiling fans, walls, baseboards. I set to work, amazed at how much dust we had been sleeping near! (Yes, you can see the dirt accumulate in the canister!) Before long, Mr. P was caught up in the project....

The ceiling fan.......and under the bed!

A good tool, that SHARK!

 

It even cleaned the louvered closet doors!

But, cleaning inside the closet....that will be another day, soon!

Now down to sew quilt blocks....!

Oh, and because inquiring minds want to see.....the same window sill which had the tulips, now supports the lucite dust cup....with what we vacuumed out of there!

Mr. P gets the job of emptying this into the outdoor trash bin!

How romantic is that?

[note: this shows how much can be missed with an inefficient vacuum, and just vacuuming what was exposed....getting all that furniture out and really cleaning was amazing!]

"The dust is Buddha too!" --- Gary Thorp in SWEEPING CHANGES

Absolutely Fabulous!

 

A show stopper amaryllis! Our friend, Sally, brought a bulb and a pot for us about 6 weeks ago. 

 

 

 She planted it with TLC and left it with us.....it was a slow start....but look at it now!!!

 

[the one now in the background was a Christmas gift and has just finished a show of it's own!]

 

Thank-you, Sally!

We're still having a sunny warm week! Today, my day off, I remembered to plant these daffodil bulbs which I bought a month ago. The variety is "Tahiti" which is a double daffodil with and orange ruffle. I planted a dozen. They should come along to brighten our world next March!

It has been an altogether good day, laundry, housework (a little), a walk in the park with Mr. Pear. Slowly, carefully. Still to be seen.... a maple tree or two with pretty leaves!

Then reading "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver. I have only just begun reading it and it is GOOD!

I have finished quilting on the Dresden plate quilt which I have been handquilting for the last few months. Today, I am sewing down the pastel scrappy binding. It is a classic!

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More creative fun here....a page from a collaborative altered book/scrapbook/art journal. This page was done by my friend Paula who found the wonderful book at a thrift store, an older decorating book by Tricia Guild. Wonderful photos for us to play with. Great color throughout the entire book....this will be fun! [click on the photo to see the page larger].