What a Fellowship, What a Joy divine.....

Potluck today at church:>) Everyone who is going to be in the Easter passion play stays after to practice and, of course, it would be impossible to remember your lines on an empty stomach! So the families all have a bit of fellowship and a potluck before the rehearsal. I'm not in it, but Earl is narrating. He has a lovely voice....but I digress:>) Anyway, we had to decide what to take. Lauren asked her dad what we were taking and he told her plain vanilla cupcakes with plain vanilla frosting. And just as a joke I made some.
Well, not entirely plain. I added some little nests and M&M speckled eggs. But these were just a joke. You see, Lauren should know that we would never bring plain anything to a potluck!

The real contribution was one of Earl's fabulous white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes. Oh my it's good! That isn't raspberry jam swirled in there folks, it's strained fresh raspberries with a little sugar cooked down to a thick sauce. Have mercy! You can find the recipe here

Guess who had to find families with children to send the vanilla cupcakes home with? And guess which serving plate was literally scraped clean at the potluck? The daffodils in the top photo? $2 a bundle at Kroger! I got three. Sunshine in a vase:>)

A little springtime fluffing

I have had the past two days off from my school job so the mornings have been more or less free for a little feathering of my nest. Time to (finally) get all those boxes of Christmas decorations put in the attic (no I didn't just take them down, but I hadn't put them away yet!) and start looking at things with an eye toward spring and Easter. I love birds and nests and that is what I mainly decorate with. This is one of my favorite little boxes, I got it on clearance at a drug store, of all places, several years ago.
I don't have many bunnies in my home but I just picked this little one up at Joannes, along with a clearance package of moss balls. Have you noticed how few Easter decorations there are in the stores this year? I kept waiting for them to stock some and finally gave up, clearly they aren't getting any more at this late date. I would usually just make something but no time this year.l

And this little nest came from Kroger last year. One of my stone garden birds sits next to it and for a little whimsey I stuck in the cutest little tag from Sherry. I love her art:>) I still have more decorating to do. I am trying to use what I have and not get more (although I did already confess to some shopping at Joanne's didn't I?) Shame on me:>)

Now if we could just get some flowers growing outside...I just can't wait.

Toile Party

Just a quick post, did you think I could miss out on a day celebrating toile? I love it, and I have a few touches around my home that I quickly snapped pictures of. This isn't all of it but I am between the two jobs and don't have much time so forgive the messy photos. The two plates feature my favorite pink roses but what sold me was the fact that they are on top of a beautiful toile background. I made the lampshade for an old lamp in our bedroom and the pink toile table runner for family parties to go with my red toile dishes. Earl made the wood valances with the toile inserts for me for Christmas one year:>) As you can see, I don't have as much toile as some of you but I am working on adding more. In the meantime I enjoy my little touches and I really enjoy seeing how everyone else uses toile in their homes! If you want to see more, head over to http://prettyorganizedpalace.blogspot.com/ and visit some more homes that love toile:>)

More pictures from our antiqueing fun last weekend. Click on the picture for a closer look. Can you tell I'm a dish freak? I love the ones with the pale blue rim and the roses in the center. See the blue and white ones like Rhondi has? And the little cottage picture reminded me of Becky. Penny would love the red transferware, and the chicken salt and pepper shakers with them!:>) It was like you were all there with me...at least in spirit! Victoria is home this weekend for spring break so we won't be going out. Just hanging around at home enjoying having her here. Have a great weekend. Spring is here! (I officially declare it:>)

"Suddenly, through birthing a daughter, a woman finds herself face to face not only with an infant, a little girl, a woman-to-be, but also with her own unresolved conflicts from the past and her hopes and dreams for the future.... As though experiencing an earthquake, mothers of daughters may find their lives shifted, their deep feelings unearthed..." ~E. Debold

How very true....

A Birthday sleepover

Beautiful Phyllis just celebrated a Birthday yesterday and we are all invited to her virtual slumber party! I brought my favorite quilt that my grandmother made to keep me warm. And my pillow has an old embroidered pillowcase because I can't be expected to sleep on any old ordinary pillow can I?

I brought my grandmothers pale robins egg blue silk nightgown too. It's a little ooh la la for a slumber party but this isn't just any slumber party:>) Excuse the wrinkles, no time to make things perfect but I love the lace and details on this anyway! I wish it was sunnier so you could see the real color of this gown, darned daylight savings time!And of course we need fancy slumber party snacks. How beautiful are these cupcakes?
Happy Birthday Phyllis! You are one of the first friends I made online and I love your sweet personality and giving nature:>) Thanks for inviting me to the party! Stop over and see who else came and join in the fun!

You would think that with only the weekends to really clean my house that I would roll up my sleeves and spend a happy afternoon scrubbing. Hah! No. Actually, I felt that Earl and I needed a little day out together. He is going stir crazy and I just wanted to get out so we went to a little town about an hour away called Northville. We scoped out some antique stores and a little place called "Gardenview" downtown. Sooo beautiful! I loved this soft green table. I am just in love with green right now, maybe because I need spring!
This pretty rusty crown with ivy was only $33. I wasn't buying today though, just looking. This bright red wardian case with ivy? LOVE IT! Love the red, love the plant, this would look so cute in the cottage...didn't get it. Oh well. I can look at it here whenever I want:>)

Of course this little green one was adorable too.

Someday I want the kind of garden that needs a statue like this. Isn't she beautiful?

Now we are back home, baking bread and meatloaf (real comfort foods for a rainy day). Our dinner plans fell through so we are making our own dinner and I couldn't be happier. It is pouring rain outside so we plan on grabbing a movie, lighting some candles and snuggling in. What are you doing this weekend?

I'm dealing. Through prayer and hours and hours (and sleepless nights) of thought, I am working it out. Maybe I will find what God is trying to teach me in this rainy season. Maybe the lesson isn't really even for me. But, for whatever reason, I'm back. Fortified with fresh lemon scones and lemon curd (I ate it all!) from my sis yesterday:>) Oh, and she brought me a huge box of antique linens from Earl's Aunt Sharon in Florida (Thank you Aunt Sharon!). The tablecloth you see here being one of the lovely, crisp, white pieces in the box. They are soaking right now to get rid of some old spots, but I can tell you they are spectacular. As is my sis, and all of you who left me messages of encouragement. Thank you.
Melissa had a post friday about disconnecting. Taking more time for family and home and spending less time in front of the computer. It's a bit tougher than it sounds isn't it? Am I the only one who finds it hard to balance my time online with my real life here at home? It is easy to get caught up in expectations, of how often we should comment, how often we should visit, even what we should blog about! I need to remember this blog is for me. I love sharing with you, don't get me wrong! But the online community is really quite unlimited isn't it! I am going to free myself a little. First, I want to declare this blog an award free blog. I appreciate so much the awards and the sentiments behind them, that I have received! But passing them on and keeping track of them can be time consuming. So instead, I will do this. When I see a blog I love, or that has something wonderful to say, I will link to it! I will recommend it to you so you can share in its wonderfulness with no strings attached.
Second, I am freeing myself from the heavy expectations of commenting on every singe post of all my bloggy friends. I know, that is the toughie, and I hope you understand. I dont want any of you to feel beholden to leave comments here if you are time pressured! If there is anything here to enjoy, please, visit and enjoy! But the comment thingy goes both ways. Of course I hope you won't abandon comments when you are less rushed or something strikes you specially well, but no pressure. Really. And I hope you will understand that I am still checking on all of you but may not have the time for more than a hello. Fair enough?