Happy Colors of Spring

Pots of vibrant color, perfectly placed together greet you.

And with that greeting there is one temptation after another in the abundance of wonderful "stuff for sale."

 Unique pieces of lawn art,

relics of  surprise,

and you will leave with dreams of beautiful  garden rooms.

Where do you go to find this?

The Definition of a Relic is...

 One might use the word Relic to describe some things esteemed from the past.

The word has been used to describe objects associated with a saint.

More often the word is used in association of things left behind, cast offs , perhaps old and worn and no longer the fashion.

But when a Relic gets into the hands of two fabulous shopkeepers, Vivian and Virginia......

Well, I will let said Relics speak for themselves.

Learn more about Relic in my next post.
Until then.
Becky

She's so Green....

She's so green .....she can even make a horse trough look fabulous.   Amy was born with the gift of a " Green Thumb," and what I will be showing you of her magic touch and  a darling shop in Tampa will  make you start dreaming of  the great outdoors and filling every corner of your outdoor living space with flowers.  So keep coming back because I will be revealing the shop and the shop location in the days ahead.  
Until then, have a gloriously green day.
Hugs

Becky

Pretty Whites

I'm joining Kathleen at Faded Charm today for White Wednesday.

Sweet Shabby Bliss Found Here

 It's marked on my calendar for month's and I look forward to it arrival 3 times a year.  I am up early and out the door for the Renninger's Antique Extravaganza that is held in Mt. Dora Florida.   This past weekend's weather was fabulous and it always makes me happy for those wonderful vendors who do what they do making all of us shoppers deliriously happy with the thrill of the hunt.

 Every time I go I run to one of the sweetest friends that I have come to know,  Miss Peggy. Hers is my very favorite booth inside the market.  I know that I must spend an hour just soaking up the inspiring vignettes that are staged so well that you can't just buy one thing.   You really need every item or it just won't look right!

 I never come in that I don't load my camera full of photos that I can later enjoy over and over again.

 I have never been disappointed either.....Well I take that back. Finding a few sold tickets on items that should have come home with me has left me disappointed but only in myself for not getting my tail to market earlier.

 But I know that in so many cases that these items have gone home with other friends I have made along the way.  Peggy's booth is very popular and so often is a meeting place for many of my kindred spirit friends.

She has become a friend to each of us and we love her smile, her kindness and her incredible eye for beauty.

Transforming a Little Green Monster

 As sweet as those little orange hands prints are they weren't sweet enough for the owner  to keep and so once again for happy little me is, " One man's trash is another man's treasure."   I think these pieces had once been a desk or vanity.   I thought that I could lift off the extra pieces of wood from the sides but I really made a mess of things.  This is always the part where my hubby dear comes in.  lol
 The very same week I found a full box of ceiling tins at a garage sale.  Happy Dance!
So as the light bulb came on as to what hubby could do with the side and a few hours later and a band-aid or two,   (Caution tin is sharp!) this was his finished result.

I am joining so many other creative ladies today for Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan of Between Naps on the Porch.    

Turn me loose Bruce...this girl's got to juice.

 Like many, with the coming of a New Year, plans are made to get in shape and live a healthier lifestyle.   My hubby dear and I needed to make some changes to ours so we  started juicing everyday.  We figured that if Jack Lalanne lived to be 96 that it certainly wasn't going to hurt us.  However, it did take the Mr. a while to move past the green without hurling reflexes.

  Today it seems that we can't miss a day without our green delicious concoction.  We feel so much better and while that is certainly a perk  juicing can be expensive!  We start our morning with a blend of  Swiss Chard, spinach, peppers, carrots and an apple.  Swiss Chard rings up at $3.99 a small bunch and if you are using organic vegetables and fruits this will increase you grocery bill by at least an extra $30,  but with all of the  health benefits of juicing it is certainly  better to use that $30 for fruits and vegetable than for medicine.

 One night while watching the movie " It's Complicated," the light bulb came on as to what I could do to remedy the expense of juicing.   I was blown away by the cottage garden in this scene.  My creative little mind and the dreams began, staring in this scene, my own sweet dream maker, Hubby dear or as he refers to himself my yard monkey!

 I am quite certain that the name of the movie played over and over again in his mind but that didn't stop him.   He was on a mission and he wasn't stopping until our own cottage garden was complete.

 A few blisters and a sore back later the plot was established and now it was time for the raised beds.

 A few splinters and a some dirty knees later and they were complete.

  The joyful time of planting had arrived.  It was even fun finding garden decor which my weekend hunt to a few garage sales turned up a concrete garden bench and a statuary and a watering can.

 We added yet one more box and this one is  planted only with Swiss Chard and carrots.  

 I found this picture of exactly what we are hoping for and that is  lots of help  and a beautiful flourishing garden,

 with lots of vegetables to make our wonderful delicious green drink.  Which now as we consider the cost of the garden our drink costs  us about $ 30 a glass.  

PS.  I thought about joining the The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday party .  ha ha.

Winter Dreams of Spring

   Let me lure you into the garden.   With all of the winter snow that has been blowing I am sure that it won't take too much of a twist to your arm to get you to go with me.  I would even guess that some of you are already experiencing nice fireside moments with stacks of garden books, seed catalogs and magazines by your side and if you are really lucky you might actually drift off to sleep at night with winter dreams of spring.

 Perhaps you have already been to my friend's garden.  As you can see her name is Carolyn Aiken and she has a wonderful blog called Aiken House and Garden.  Carolyn lives on Prince Edward Island and each week she shares some of  the most beautiful photography I think I have ever seen.  Her blog has  become a soothing balm for many of us as we put on the tea kettle and drink deeply from her steady pour of beauty.  She shares her lovely gardens, family, her beautiful home, tea parties and recipes but more than that she has become the sweet face icon that many of us love to see in our comment column as we experience her words of encouragement and kindness.  I heard once that, "One is closer to God in the Garden," and I would have to say that He has certainly rubbed off on my friend!  I am quite certain that He has guided her hands as she assisted Him in creating the wonders of her very own incredible Garden of Eden.

 I love to look at all her mosaic style pictures.  In fact I actually study them.  Some days her blog is my only stop for inspiration.    I think from this collection we can see that she has had a little help in her garden.
This I believe is her husband and  childhood sweetheart.  They say that behind every good man is a woman but I would like to add to that that behind every good woman with a beautiful garden there is a good man with a shovel a strong back!   So, thank you Mr. A.

I hope that you have enjoyed this time in my friend's garden. Go back often, brush off a snow covered bench and breathe in the inspiration of this beautiful place and remember the words to this beautiful song,  "Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snow, lies the seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose."