38 and feels like it is 30

 

Good morning Folks ~ I hope you all in the colder parts of the country are keeping warm and are snug and cozy in your homes. It’s chilly in my little cottage, but I slept warmly last night, and it’s warmer in here than outside. At 7:02 a.m. EST, it is 38 degrees F and feels like it is 30. I’ve not even cracked the door to see how cold it feels outside. When it warms up a bit, I’ll go out to see how things survived, visit the barn girls, and check out the plants in my wash house.

Late yesterday afternoon I read a post by Meem’s blog, ‘Hoe & Shovel’ and decided to put some tender plants into my little wash house/storage shed. I brought some herbs into the house too. Meem’s is another Florida gardener, who inspires me with her lovely gardens. Do give her a visit.

I went out to take pics of the plant stuffed space, but my batteries needed charging, so I came back inside and did other things while they charged back up. I was washing dishes when I looked out the window and there were these lovely peachy/rose/purply tinted clouds which made me want to see how the batteries were doing, and they were charged, so I bundled up warmly and headed out with camera in hand.

Below is the plant stuffed wash house, with the antique art student oil painting of a nude lady, holding a rose on her lap, with a potted leafy plant beside her. This painting is 24 x 36 inch in size and she adds some color and life to the space. We bought her many, many years ago when we had our antique shop.  I didn’t want to sell her. This little shed is 6’x8’, has my washer, some storage, a desk, and gardening stuff.

I hope the plants survived in there. Orchids, ferns, begonias, a geranium and a couple other things.

I then walked around the cottage and took a few more pics.

This is looking into the scullery/kitchen area into the lit living room.

This is the east living room window. After my DH left this planet, I moved this stained glass window from the west bedroom window. The living room window looks out onto the driveway and for peace of mind, I wanted the window blocked, and this is perfect, anytime of day. I like it with morning light shining in, and then it looks nice with the house dark and street lights outside, a nice glow. There’s a hanging stained glass lamp on the inside.

Then, heading on around to front patio and getting a glimpse of inside.  We do love arches. We were influenced by them from living in Spain for three years as newlyweds, while DH was in the US Navy. He made all of the arches and I love them.

This photo below is part of my main garden, taken Valentine’s day morning. DH bought me the metal gazing ball many years ago for my birthday.

During Christmas a needle working blog friend of mine, Lisa, had a give away of one of her wonderful pincushions. She gave away 3-4, one a week, and I happened to be one of the winners. In the rush of the holidays, I forgot to post about it. Thank you Lisa.

Here’s Lisa’s post about this Advent pincushion.

 

Another needle working blogging friend Jillayne, was making little hearts with a word on the back for those who would like to have one. You can read about them and check out her lovely work on her blog A Fine Seam.

I received my sweet, little heart yesterday. This is what I wrote on her blog for what I would like.

“My word of choice is FOREVER, because love is forever.
Burnished brown with a bit of lace. Dear husband had brown hair and eyes.”

Thank you Jillayne.

Both of these ladies do exquisite needlework. There are several others out there who inspire me too, here are three more. Suz at Suztats,  Suzy at SuziQu’s Threadworks and Susan at Plays With Needles. There are many more needle workers out there, these are just the ones that I can remember at the moment, whose works are influencing me. I have much to learn in working with needles, threads, laces, beads and buttons. Each and every day there are opportunities to learn something new.

That’s it for now.

Hope everyone has a pleasant day no matter what the weather.

FlowerLady

***

It is only when we silence the blaring sounds

of our daily existence

that we can finally hear the whispers

of truth

that life reveals to us,

as it stands knocking on the doorsteps

of our hearts.

K.T. Jong