Is It Easter Already?

I was in D.C. all this week so while I’ve thought about the season, mostly I was holdup in a hotel with lots of meetings, dinners, etc.  Now it’s time to focus on the season with THE most beautiful colors.  The world seems to go from brown to pastel in a matter of days with some of the softest, most beautiful fragrances found in nature floating through the air.  I love spring.  

 Currently scents of lily-of-the-valley, banana shrub (a life-long favorite blossom) and viburnum Korean Spice Carlesii create the most delicate fragrance everywhere you walk in my garden.  Being outdoors right now is a gift from heaven above.

So now that I’m home I’m focused on the season and I’m very excited to have the grandgirls for the holiday!!!   We’ve got a GREAT weekend planned and I know I’ll soon have photos to share but meanwhile we’ve bought new dresses, straw handbags which are going to double this year as their Easter baskets and they are filled with goodies.   Lots of plans and I’m looking forward to getting away for some family time.

One thing I realize as I’ve gotten older is that I miss some of the special small details that used to be a part of Easter.  For instance, remember when hat and gloves were required for Easter Sunday?

Or what about the sugar eggs?

 I played with many a paper doll and treasure the memories of imaginary play.   Just in case you decide to do something nostalgic during the week, here's a link to a very special activity.

No matter what you are doing this week as we celebrate the Easter season, I hope you are enjoying spring. 

Today I'm linking up with The Tablescaper to enjoy Seasonal Sunday. 

Stuff…tropical {ish} and such….

The Garden Conservancy held a few garden tours in our little town…

always fun. Always something to inhale and learn…

This lovely home was a LEED certified home. Green through and through…

loved the use of rain chains throughout.

They all spilt into the ground or pots… which were collected by two 8,000 gallon cisterns buried in the yard… used to water the lawn.

AND… to continue with the stuff…

Can I tell you how much I love my little handmade phone sleeve…

Embroidered in Kashmir and stitched together in Canada.

Leather lined. Find yours made by the talented Virginia Johnson… here

small indulgences

Matches my new lumbar pillows…

…and that’s important…no? Okay.No.

BUT it matches this little wooden handmade horse….that I just could not leave in the thrift store….

Have a fun weekend….

…Giddy up Gee Gee…

"I Don't Believe It!"

Just as my first crop of 2012 salad leaves have reached optimum munching stage, the unnaturally warm March spell we have been blessed with, has given way to soup and stew weather. This seems to be the outlook for some time to come. Inspired by Veg Plotting's 52 Week Salad Challenge these are my earliest crop of salad leaves ever! They were sown in January under cover and have lived under cover so no slug or snail nibbled edges in sight. Overall challenge wise I'm falling slightly at the wayside, hence my absence from last week's monthly round up but hope to be munching more of my own salad ingredients very soon. The pea shoots are not far behind and lots of other salady germinations have occurred in the greenhouse. Meanwhile whether himself likes it or not, it's a case of lettuce eat lettuce this weekend although I predict a verbal rant worthy of one Mr Victor Meldrew. Cover your ears readers!

Leaving Helsingør Harbour

58

...at Fredensborg Lake Harbour.

Misty Morning - Fredensborg Lake

Wordless Wednesday ~ Just A Bit Of Housework

Wooden Jetty - Fredensborg Lake

Mooring Posts - Fredensborg Lake

That Magical Hour

Pheeeeeew -  a weekend away from home was the source of constant fretting as I left the greenhouse and its occupants in himself's hands. There were all sorts of instructions and dire warnings issued prior to departure. "Spray those seedlings with the blue mister","Take the tomatoes and peppers in at night", "Make sure you fleece the cuttings if it gets cold,"Remember to close the greenhouse door at night" etc, etc. His head was spinning, my head was spinning and so was the greenhouse. It's funny how we perform all these tasks on autopilot, only realising how complicated it sounds when you ask somebody else to take over. What I had not bargained for was just how warm it would be for the time of year. Normally March can still be a time to worry about frost but this weekend with temperatures in the late teens, wilting and leaf scorch were more likely hazards for tiny seedlings. I am pleased to report that all was well on my return and himself can look me in the eye.

With domestic chores to catch up with today sadly gardening activities have taken a back seat but tonight himself has offered to cook, so I'm off into the garden before and after to play. What a difference having that extra hour of evening daylight makes!

The photo is off my autumn flowering cherry which usually has a second showing of flowers come spring. Liz over at Gwirrel's Garden was wondering in a recent post what had happened to this event - well here it arrived whilst I was away.

The evolution of a sandy toes beach bungalow…Or…the art of beach living…

Sandy toes, surf boards, art… family

The stuff of which a good beach home is made no?

Enter friend Julia, Artist extraordinaire, her family of 5…

…and the story of a sandy filled beach house…

The 1960’s original two bedroom home…smack on the rolling Atlantic Ocean…where Jules’ husband David grew up…

A few decades later…and with David’s influence…The beach bungalow has grown a bit…

Three children later…

The Beach home has the soul of an art studio….

note the ship porthole in the front door

The devastation of three hurricanes…destroyed much of this home…. But not it’s family or it’s soul.

And today the once tiny, once quirky beach bungalow has been renovated once again.

Still retaining the soul of an art studio…just all grown up.

Come join me in a tour of this unique and beautiful Vero Beach place…

On the very end of a lovely, quiet, once sandy, lane…

The backyard is truly wet and wild and ever-changing…

The colors and the mood of the liquid salt sea…

is reflected in… and inspires every corner of their home…

Custom made crystal drip lighting…I can taste the salt.

The kitchen…overlooking the coconut edged Atlantic…has a granite imbedded with the texture and color of the surrounding turquoise sea…and the backsplash is a seemingly color changing gray/green glass.

organic elements meld beautifully with modern shine

And the spray of sea salt enrobes everything (literally….it is the color used on the upstairs walls)

The upstairs bath has a beautiful sink made by a fellow artist and friend Glenda Taylor…as a matter of fact, Julia’s fave things to point out in her abode… are the art of her fellow artists…and her talented family. The home explodes with the color of creation!

Turtle handle for sink vanity (originally a door knocker)…and shower wall and floor made of wood grained porcelain and green glass tiles

It is always the details

…no?

Master bedroom and bath…Ocean breezes

Closets throughout the home are spacious…and…artsy…Antlers hold a bevy of jewelry

Downstairs are three children's rooms and a bar/kitchen/hangout area….and art…lot’s of art…

you can get there via elevator (the porthole door…remember the front door of the old house?…is an elevator)

OR…you can take the stairs…

Julia’s collage work of family…door to my heart… is at the bottom of the steps…welcoming…

Kids rooms are packed with color and personality…and yes. Art.

Darling pink bath in Daughter Greta's room…

Downstairs bar and hanging out area…Yes please.

…Which opens up to outdoor areas with outdoor kitchen and fireplace…pool and fire pit…and the ever beckoning sound of surf…

Upstairs again….there is another turquoise ceiling lanai… overlooking the sea

Art and home….

Visit more of Julia and her artist friends at Tiger Lilly Studio and Gallery in Vero Beach…

Hope you could taste and feel the salt…too.