Memorial Day

Our town celebrated and honored our Nations military today with a small parade and short ceremony. It was a very moving experience - too bad it wasn't attended by more citizens.

When you think of all these men and women have done to insure not only our freedom, but to better the lives of those who live in all corners of the world, well it seems a small price to pay to stand, watch and listen for a few moments....

.....and whatever happened to placing your hand over your heart when the National Anthem is sung? Did that become passe while I wasn't looking? Even my 90 yr old mother stood and held her hand over her heart! Enough grumbling....thanks to all who have serviced and are serving our country. God Bless America!!!!

Outdoor Decor

Summer temps finally seem to be here so I've begun the decorating of the deck.
It's quite a menagerie of furniture and odds and ends that catch my eye.... Behind the table are 2 more folding chairs in the same fabric as the chairs below. The table is from my Homecrest set and it raises up and down, so I just can't get rid of it. (the rest of the set will be sold in a garage sale - more about that later....) The chairs are from my fav store TJMax...
This is my new set, found on close-out at KMart. The backs of the chairs recline and I love that each one has an "ottoman" They are so soft and comfy!
My planting station and the shed in the backyard, which you can't tell from this photo, but is in dire need of repainting! Another project....
The full effect - now to find an umbrella, make and hang the draperies for under the screened porch, get more flowers....on it goes......

one more.....

Today was finally warm enough to open the new windows - just as breezy and beautiful as I had hoped!

Here are my girls on Mother's Day at their dads (my brother). Those of you who know our stories know how important my nieces are to me...and you'll also notice that Meg just got about a foot of hair cut off!

Finished!

The painters finished yesterday - my window replacement is done! Now for some warm weather so I can open them!
These are my favorite tulips in the garden. A vivid pink with green zig-zagging through the petals....The first photo is in the morning when they are closed...the 2nd during the day in the sunlight. They open up to capture the sun....


My favorite 2 weeks of my garden as the variety of pinks and lavenders dance in the sunlight...

fresh air

This morning began the replacement of my 2 front windows! The older ones were "picture" windows, as in they didn't open and had storms on the outside that were too large for me to remove myself... So this morning I took a photo to insure the new look is as close to the original charm as possible....
By 10:30am the old was out - fortunately it was a warm day, as the builder left for the lumber yard (and perhaps lunch too) and this is how it sat for a couple hours!
A bit too much fresh air - thankfully no birds visited!
At some point it was decided that the shutters needed to be removed in order to get the new windows in.....Surprise, the old red paint was underneath, except for 4 blotches of the newer house color that show through the pine trees in the shutter (when they're up!) So this is how Friendship Cottage looks tonight - one new window in, one to go....I'm pleased with how the new one looks and can't wait to be able to open them and let the fresh air in!!!