After The Rain

We've had a lot of rain these last couple of days.

On Sunday our lane was blocked with three huge fallen trees that the wind had snapped off and uprooted.

My husband did the half mile walk to the house to get his chain saw while my girls and I waited in the car. 

There are many people in this area who haven't had power since Sunday.

I ventured out to my garden this morning after yet another night of storms to salvage some of my roses for pressing. I noticed that many of my plants and flowers are being consumed by slugs. I'll have to do some research on what to do about that.

The garden smelled of chives as most of them were lying on the ground from the heavy rains.

My poor garden is beginning to look like it's been neglected for years.

If it ever quits raining I need to spruce it up a bit.

Hope you have sun where you are.

Karen Ann



Home Grown Cotton

Cotton is one of my favorite fibers to work with.

I love cotton yarn and fabric and was always curious about how it looked and felt in it's natural state.

Recently my sweet friend Marcie sent me a package of cotton that she had grown herself.

I think these are so wonderful!

I should have gotten some photos of these before I unwrapped them.

Marcie had wrapped each one (a box full) in a beautifully hand stamped paper to keep them from getting tangled together.

A few days later, I received some seeds from Marcie so I can try to grow some too.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Karen Ann



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Positive Pink Petals

Good Monday morning to you!

I was getting ready to toss my Mother's Day flowers this morning and I noticed how pretty the petals were still.

As I touched the bouquet, the petals fell around me in a gorgeous display of pink.

In my younger days I would have thought, oh dear, what a mess...

but as I looked around me at the fallen petals...

I thought...

What a beautiful mess this is!

Positively pretty pink petals...

Have a great day everyone!

Karen Ann







Best Friends

Hope you are all keeping cool today.

We raced through the flea market this morning as the temp reached 85 in the baking sun.

It seems the older I get, the less I like the heat.

I did manage to find a couple of interesting things, even though we were in a bit of a hurry.

This caught my eye and I brought her home with me.

She's handmade and looks to be as old as me I would guess.

This cutie pie was there too and I figured they must be best friends, so I brought her home as well.

The man who sold them to me obviously did not know how wonderful they are, as he only asked for $1.00 each. I felt very lucky to have found these two best friends.

Hope your weekend was just how you wanted it to be.

Karen Ann

A Little Outdoor Space

My mom is coming for a visit next week and I wanted to make a nice space out on the porch for us to sit and relax. Early this morning I potted up a few herbs and and did a bit of cleaning.

I brought out quilts, pillows and linens and put them all together to make a cozy little sitting area.

Mother's Day flowers.

 The Dream Catcher is now hanging in my Day Dreaming space.

 I call this Porch Gardening.

 These old wooden chair parts made it through another year.

 My flower garden is in desperate need of some mulch.

 I found two of these rusty antique sewing machines buried in the woods beside my house.

For some reason I feel like this basket of eggs belongs out here.

A dog bowl and rubber boots will always be on my porch.

 

What a beautiful day!

I'm so happy I got to spend most of it outside enjoying the sunshine.

I hope you are having a lovely day as well.

Karen Ann

Handmade Shabby Chic Projects

Recently I picked up a couple of Rachel Ashwell's books.

I love the softness of her shabby chic style.

Inspired by the wonderful decor in these books, I put together a couple of  simple things for my bedroom using some recycled  fabric.

I never cared much for dream catchers until I saw the shabby chic version.

I made this one using the center ring from a recycled embroidery hoop that I found at my local thrift store.

I had to piece together the waxed thread for the woven part from some leftover scraps. There are no craft supply stores near here, so I made do with what I had available.

The pretty glass beads I used were a gift from my stepdaughter Janice.

She makes such lovely lampwork beads.

The embroidery hoop worked out well.

I also made a new lampshade for a small lamp that I picked up at a flea market during our trip to New England last week.

Both projects were made by tearing strips of recycled vintage fabric and wrapping and tying knots. No glue or sewing required.

These are very simple projects.

You can find tutorials for the dream catchers on youtube.

The lampshade, as you can see here is just strips of fabric tyed to a recycled shade frame.

Simple Is Best!

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.

Karen Ann

A Few Days In New England

Hi everyone!

Here are a few pics from our little getaway to New England.

The weather turned cold and rainy, so we didn't make it to Brimfield as planned, but it was still a good trip.

We stopped at quite a few antique shops in Maine.

The pictures above are of my favorite.

I purchased a beautiful wooden trench bowl there and some Real Milk Paint, which to my surprise, is made right here in PA.

This place is great too.

I always buy a jar of Maine honey when we stop here.

These are Fiddle Head Ferns.

They were growing in front of one of the places where we stayed.

They look like prehistoric birds to me.

My husband told me that you can eat these and I thought he was crazy and then we saw a man selling them at a flea market for just that.

I thought this was pretty cool.

Loved these flowers. They were growing along the edge of the road in Bar Harbor.

Bar Harbor, Maine.

These last photos were taken late in the evening, our last night there.

It was great to get away and wonderful to get back home.

Hope you all had a great week too.

Karen Ann

It's Good To Be Home

Hi!

I hope everyone had a very nice Mother's Day weekend.

I got back from a few days away, just in time to spend the weekend with my mom and daughter.

We had a lovely time together shopping and just enjoying each others company.

It's very quiet here today. Jack is curled up on the couch sleeping and I'm busy unpacking and putting things away. It's a bit chilly outside and there is a gentle rain falling. Everything is lush and green, and the birds are singing despite the rain. I love days like this. I lit a few candles and filled a wooden bowl with some sweet smelling potpourri. It's good to be home.

There's definitely, no place like home.

Have a nice day!

Karen Ann

I'm Out Of Here

See you in a week or so!

Karen Ann

Adopted Robot

Hi!

Meet Woody.

I found him buried under some junk at a flea market.

I know you probably think I'm, nuts...

And you're probably right.

I just couldn't stand the thought of him ending up as fire wood.

He's now part of my little collection of wooden things.

He's a bit quirky, so he fits in pretty well around here.

Hope you are all happy and well.

Karen Ann