Bee Skep and Succulents Wreath

I'm so excited to be joining Alison@The Polohouse for Favorites on the First. 
The theme this month, is sharing your favorite front door decor.  

The "inspiration piece" for my Spring wreath this year, is  the little bee skep, I found on sale at Michael's. It had a few succulents already attached...

... and I just added a few more succulents and a few other flowers from an old wreath.

What do you think? Do bee skeps and succulents work together?
Yes?...No?...Maybe?
Alison said we could also use door decor from old posts too, so here's my door basket from last Spring... 







...recognize some of the plant material? 
I've used the tulips and hydrangeas in several posts and the berries and small white flowers for the bee skep. I'm definitely getting a lot of  use from these flowers.




Please be sure to visit Alison @ The Polohouse for Favorites on the First, and share your favorite door decor. 


~Babs

Bloggy Break

I've stopped by for minute to let y'all know that I'll be on a bloggy break for a few days. I might not get a chance to post much, but I'll be popping in from time to time, to visit and leave a comment.
Hope y'all have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Babs

Animal Crackers with Style

Hey, have y'all see the new Barnum's Animal crackers package?
I saw these today, when I went to the store to get some animal crackers for the grandboys.

Lilly Pulitzer and Nabisco Barnum's Animals are honoring Operation Smile.

Operation Smile is an international charity that provides free reconstructive surgery for children and young adults with facial deformities, such as cleft palates.

 You can read more about it HERE.

So, look for the special boxes in your favorite store. This is the third year in a row for the special edition.

There's also a Cracker Tracker to find out where they can be found.

Cracker Tracker

Have you seen them?

Nope, I'm not compensated in any way by Nabisco or Lilly Pulitzer for this post. :)

Babs

Favorite Things

When I found this old wooden carrier at the antique store, it was dark brown. So, I bought it, painted it, distressed it and loaded it with a few of my favorite things...

...transferware...

...a mossy bird's nest...

...a silver baby spoon and a lemon fork...

...a Staffordshire ware Spaniel...

...and old books, tied up with string.

What are a few of your favorite things?

Let go party with:

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday,

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday,

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday,

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Earth Day Tablescape

This has been one of those weeks, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't get my post finished for Kathleen's "Let's Dish" party for Earth Day. 
If you're like me and missed it, you can check it out HERE, to see all the great tablescapes.


I don't do a lot of tablescapes, because I don't have a lot of dishes...but...

...when I found these cute paper napkins at Pier 1, they gave me the idea for an Earth Day tablescape; and I wouldn't have to buy more dishes. 
I layered the paper napkins on top of the yellow cloth napkins, to give them a little more color and oomph. 

In keeping with the Earth Day idea, the napkins reminded me of the fruits of the Earth...I know I'm stretching it, but tomatoes and lemons are fruits...peppers and olives...well, I don't know. 

The centerpiece is an Italian made bowl with lemons painted on it. 
I cut tea olive branches, from the yard, as a substitute for lemon leaves, and added a few faux lemons. 

Remember the tomato shaped pasta bowls I found HERE  last year? 


When I saw the tomatoes on the napkins, I remembered the pasta bowls and, of course, my Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage plates. What would we all do without our cabbage plates?

Dry pasta and faux olives.Yum!...
...and a bottle of wine to go with the pasta. Remember that old song, Bottle of wine...fruit of the vine...? 

But, for dessert, we have real sorbet, garnished with mint, and served in my much used demitasse cups.

It's supposed to be lemon sorbet, to go along with the lemon thing, but the store must have been out, because all I could find was mango...and mangoes are fruits, too, and sooo yummy.
Sorbet is such a nice, light dessert...especially with dry pasta and faux olives. :)

                                                   Bon Appetit! 


Hope y'all have a great weekend.
~Babs~

April Garden 2012

It's no surprise that we have early blooms in the yard, considering the mild winter we had.
Here are some views of the yard and garden taken over the last two weeks.

This was taken at Easter...

...here, you can see the roses behind the iris. The first blooms are almost gone now. We're hoping for rain in the next couple of days, and I hope that will make them bloom again.

Hawthorne tree in bloom with Knock Out roses in front.

This looks like a good woodpecker tree. It's across the fence in our neighbor's yard 
I'm glad it isn't in ours! 
Over the years, we've spent a fortune having huge old trees taken down. 
Now, don't be upset...we've always had an arborist decide if they were in decline or dead.

I know y'all have seen a bazillion double Knock Out roses, but I thought this photo was interesting, because it looks like the roses are beaded. Hubby misted them before I took the photo, and it isn't edited to make it look like that...I wouldn't know how to do that anyway. 


Here are a few more shots I took today while walking around the yard. 

Clematis...I forget the name...oh, it's Inapoticome forgetanamia. 
Sorry, pitiful gardening joke...when I can't remember the name of a plant I always call it that.

A "faux" bird house in the far edge of the yard. Since it sits on the plant stand, Hubby closed the opening so birds wouldn't nest in it. Don't want the cats to get the birds.

~Wild mushrooms~

Before you go, let me 

show you my favorite rose, which performs well regardless of the weather.

The bush grows 6-8 ft high.

It's a David Austin rose called Teasing Georgia.

You can read more about it HERE.

They have a wonderful fragrance.

Last, here is one of my sedum and succulent pots...

 I love it when they fill the pot and look so lush. 

Thanks for taking a walk in my yard and garden. I'm joining 

A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday,

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday,

Rooted in Thyme for Simple and Sweet Fridays

Saturday Morning Car Show

This morning Hubby reminded me that the small town near us was having a car show. So, I decided to tag along with him to check it out.  

While he looked at the cars and chatted with the owners, I wandered around taking photos.

We parked on the main street and made the short walk to the park...which took all of about a minute and a half. We could have gotten there sooner, but I was taking photos.

There was a lot of activity going on, but it still had that small town atmosphere I love. Look at that cute couple sitting on the grass.

There were all sorts of cars...don't ask me what kind some of them are.

Here's one of the oldies.

As I walked around, there were a couple of Plein Air artists, so I stopped and watched for a few minutes. When I first saw her, the artist was at this point in her painting.

Another artist was painting a pick up truck...no, not actually painting

a pick up truck...oh, you know what I mean.

Quite a few people brought their dogs...

here are three of the cuties I saw. 

I guess since this is about a car show, I'd better show you a few more cars...

This one's name is Christine...

These folks have color coordinated outfits...sorry sir, didn't mean to catch you in an awkward position...I think he was cleaning the wheels...there was a whole lotta car polishing going on at the show...the man said the color was Atomic Orange!

It wouldn't be a Saturday morning without the train running through town...

 I only managed to get one decent photo, because it was barreling through town with it's horn blowing like crazy. 

That's about it for the car show, except this wild looking motorcycle...

...very futuristic.

 As we started to leave, I passed the artist again and I looked to see how her painting was progressing...and this is what I saw. I couldn't believe it!

My cousin had brought the '56 Chevy and she included it in her painting! 
I was so surprised! You can just see on the right side of the painting...the back half of the car and my cousin getting something out of the trunk!

It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. If you missed the post on the '56 Chevy, you can check it out HERE. 

Hope y'all are having a great weekend.

Babs

I'll be joining...
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.
A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesdays