A Little of This and That

Just popping in to say hello. The wild violets are blooming in our lawn right now, and the weather has been absolutely beautiful. I've been busy gathering donations for the semi-annual VNA Rummage Sale in May. And I have been spending a lot of time setting up my portrait photography website for (hopefully) an early May launch.

But all this has taken a toll. I think I may need to refrain from blogging for a little while -- I'm having some nasty pain in my right hand, and I'm sure it must be from too much typing and photo editing.

But on a brighter note, my photoblog, In a Soft Light, has been included in the Summer 2011 edition of Artful Blogging magazine. I am over-the-moon excited! It will be on sale May 1st. :)

I hope to be back posting here for Mosaic Monday on May 1st. See you then! xoxo

New Born

"For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born."

~Alice Freeman Palmer

Wishing you joy this Easter season!

xoxo

Let's Go for a Walk

Greetings, peeps! Do you want to come along for a walk today? It's a beautiful, sunny spring day here in New Jersey, and my husband and I are going to our favorite park, Natirar.

The river looks a little swollen today -- we had nearly three inches of rain on Saturday. It was a nasty storm here, but so much worse in other parts of the country. My heart goes out to all the people who lost homes and loved ones.

I just love the view when we get to the top of the wooded path. The view opens up, and the clouds seem almost close enough to touch.

We have walked along the edge of the woods and down the hill. I've turned around for a moment to snap a picture of the old barn. Doesn't it look like something Andrew Wyeth would have painted?

At the bottom of the hill, where the path curves around at the edge of the trees, the woods are filled with little yellow flowers. I think they must be kingcups, or marsh marigolds. This is damp woodland -- the river you saw in an earlier picture is just beyond the trees. I wish this picture was better -- this is really a beautiful sight!

We have walked in a great circle; you can see the old barn in the distance here. This is a really steep, L-shaped hill path. Here you see my husband has climbed the first leg of it.

And here he is on the second leg. Shall we sit down for a minute on that supremely well-placed bench? Trust me, you will want to at least stop for a moment and take in the view from the top.

It's a beautiful day, the first sunny one in a week, and I'm so glad you have come along on our walk. I'm going back tomorrow to get some better shots of those flowers. :)

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Please Note: there will be no Mosaic Monday this week because of Easter. Enjoy your holiday!

Mosaic Monday: Forsythia

I must admit that some years, the yellow of the forsythia seems like just too much -- too brash, too forward. But this year, after all the snow and rain and dreary gray days, it is like a ray of sunshine, much appreciated. Of course it is to be found in almost every yard and garden, but occasionally I come across it in the most unlikely places -- like at the edge of this stream which is just down the road from our Little Red House.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

In the Garden

"Garden? What garden?"

"Oh, your garden? We weren't anywhere near your garden! Seriously."

"Well, maybe we wandered in to take a peek... just to see what's blooming, you understand. You know what would taste, I mean look really nice? Some delicious, I mean beautiful tulips... Yeah, that's right, tulips... "

"What do you mean you don't plant those because we would just eat them?

"It wasn't us. It was him!"

I spent the day in the garden yesterday, cleaning up the god awful mess... Is that a word? One word or two? Should I have capitalized god? Somehow it seems less sacrilegious if it's not capitalized... :)

Does anyone know of any good deer-proof perennials?

Thoughts and Thanks

I've always been anxious to grow hellebores because some gardening books mark their bloom time as January-February. Yes, well... in England, maybe. In New Jersey, they usually appear for me around late March. This has been an especially snowy and cold winter, so they didn't really show their faces till April.

But that's OK. I'm happy to see them whenever they deign to appear, because it means that spring has begun. No, they are not the reliable late-winter bloomers that the books portray... at least not for me. But they tend to appear with the daffodils, and they are most welcome!

One of their common names is Lenten Rose, and I guess this year that is an accurate description. The blooms themselves are downward facing, so that I finally decided to snip two buds and bring them inside just so that I could photograph them. I think they go particularly well with this Fan China teacup, and also with the small Clarice Cliffe transferware dish, with it's purple and white basket motif. I like to pair flowers and dishes, as you may have noticed. ;)

The teacup belonged to my mother -- she collected them. I guess that is where I get my collecting gene from, although my father was known to come home from the town dump with more than he brought. :)

The transferware plate is from a partial set that I bought a few years ago in my favorite thrift store. I walked into the store, spied them by the desk, but went to look at something else. When I returned, someone had bought half the set.

First rule of thrifting -- when you see it, grab it!

I wanted to thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers for my father-in-law. He is doing better, and my be moved to a rehab center in the next few days. So again, my thanks to all of you. xoxo

Mosaic Monday: Signs of Spring

It's finally starting to look like spring here at our Little Red House! Crocus and daffodils dot the landscape, and the trees are beginning to bud. We had a beautiful misty morning on Saturday -- the view you see here is looking out at the front lawn. This is my favorite time of year. :)

I just want to say thank you for your comments and prayers yesterday. My father-in-law has been fighting multiple myeloma for the past four years. Last week, he was hospitalized with pneumonia, bronchiolitis and a myrsa infection. Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

A Moment of Grace

After days of dreary rain and cold, the sun finally came out this morning -- a moment of grace in a crazy week here. We have run the gamut from mildly annoying (the dishwasher door won't close properly) to the time-consuming (efforts to replace everything from my daughter's wallet, which was stolen last Saturday). But the kicker was my father-in-law, who has cheated death more times than I care to say, was rushed to the hospital on Thursday. He has been ill for several years, and this just seems as though it might be very bad... I know I have asked you to pray for him before, but I'd appreciate your prayers, good karma, whatever...

Thanks so much for all your sweet comments and encouragement. I will see you all for Mosaic Monday. The link machine will be up by 8:30pm Eastern time USA, Sunday.

Because I Love You...

I have to admit to having quite a love affair with blue flowers. It probably comes from reading all those English cottage garden books that came out in the eighties. The only "proper" colors for flowers were the genteel blues and pinks and whites.

And blue was always my favorite.

I also, as you know, have quite the love affair with dishes. Of any color. :) I tend to collect single dishes, rather than full sets. This little cheerful flowered dish is one of two that I brought home from the thrift store a few years ago. I use them for decoration, and for photo props.

Yes, I buy dishes so that I can take pictures of them. But only inexpensive ones because I'm cheap. So that's OK, right? :)

I used to hate picking flowers from the garden, especially the first ones of the season. It somehow seemed a waste to spend all that time cultivating them only to have them disappear from the garden immediately upon blooming. But these little scilla are so tiny that they all but disappear in the landscape unless you have great swathes of them. And you can never see their delicate details unless you get down on your stomach and peer underneath.

And my neighbors already think I'm just a little odd (because I take pictures of bare branches in the rain) without letting them spot me laying in the middle of the lawn in early spring.

So there it is. My favorite color flowers, cut to salvage my reputation, and displayed on the cheapest plate I could find to satisfy my urge to take pictures.

Or maybe we'll just say that I thought you might enjoy seeing these beauties from my garden... because I love you. ;)

Mosaic Monday: Spring Mist and Pussywillows

I always think the bare branches are so beautiful as spring approaches, dressed in water droplets by the early morning mists. Soon the buds will swell and the soft green of new leaves will appear. In the meantime, I have a few pussywillow branches in the kitchen to remind me of the new life soon to come.

I love spring. :)

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post. The post may be about any subject you wish. The only stipulation is that it include a collage, or mosaic of photos.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline

And a quick reminder: if you would like to join Mosaic Monday but don't know quite where to start, there is a tutorial on mosaic-making on my sidebar. Just scroll down, and click on the small blue mosaic.

Something Pink

Just a little something soft and bright and pink, to chase away the snow-in-spring today. How's the weather in your neck of the woods? :)