country whites weekend

It's Country Whites Weekend over at Cindy's and Dru's blogs.

I am sharing a vignette on our china cabinet with the vintage 

cutlery tray and other goodies around it.

Here is a vintage white medicine cabinet that I have in the

dining room too.

I love the original glass knob.

It's spring and spring means....

It is downright cold here today at 8 C (48 F) so there will not

be any flowers bought or planted this holiday weekend.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend perhaps in the garden, or out on the road exploring, or even camping.  Stay safe whatever you do.

Come over to visit one of the two blogs below for 

Country Whites Weekend.

Old Time Farmhouse

The Country Farm Home

Blessings,

Pamela

under the dome

While at L.L. Bean Home in Freeport, Maine last month, I drooled over all the beautiful cottage and camp furnishings and decor available.  I couldn't take home the gorgeous painted wood cottage-style furniture but as I wandered the store I spied a glass cloche.  Hmmm....

Now, most of you know that glass cloches are all the rage on  home decor blogs and I have desired one for a while and often commented that I couldn't find one in our area.

When I spied this cloche with the metal tray under it I got quite excited.   This one was a perfect size, not too large or small.

Bird and nest rest under the dome.  

(photo without the dome to avoid the glare)

While I wandered the store I kept thinking about the cloche.  There were three of them on the shelf and there were at least 3 other customers wandering.  I worried the cloche might go home with them.  All 3 of them!  

I roamed upstairs and down and went back to the shelf to pick up the cloche and tray which were still there.   Happily, I took it home with me.

This sweet lavender sachet is another gift that Vee gave me.  She is so sweet to know that I'd love this sachet which she got it from another blogger {whose name I have forgotten} and it is perfect for this vignette on the tray.

Edit to add: The sachet was made by Dawn at "The Feathered Nest".  Dawn has an Etsy shop.

So, now I have a cloche.  I love it.  I love the metal crimped edge tray under it.  I can change out the decor under it with the seasons too.  

And guess what I saw at Winner's the other day??

Two glass cloches!  They are very tall though and I don't have room for one more so I passed them by.

I'm joining with these lovely blogs this week:

Share Your Cup Thursday

HOME

Home and Garden Thursday

Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment.

Blessings,

Pamela

Four spring notecards

water droplets on the back of a pansy - 2012

yellow tulip edited in Picasa - 2012

forget-me-nots - 2012

apple blossoms - 2012

Four spring blossoms.

Four spring notecards.

Why not join us over at Vee's for Note Card Wednesday.

If you wish to join in you simply have to post 4 photos that you have used before in your blogposts and that would make nice

notecards to send to someone then link up with the gathering at Vee's.  Thanks so much for hosting Vee!

Have a great day!

Blessings,

Pamela

lacy green tassels

This is the same branch of the tree in all the photos.

I've been documenting the blossoming of the maple tree in our yard for the past 3 weeks from bud to bloom to leaves.

We had 13 days of sunshine and warmth to bring the trees to bud really fast.  The past few days have been rainy and cooler which has greened things and grown things even more.

And here is where the lacy green tassels comes in....

Aren't they beautiful? 

I took the last 3 photos on Friday just as the dark clouds

were rolling in.

The sun is shining this morning and the wind is blowing but, it's much cooler than it was the past 2 weeks.  

We went from late winter to summer and now back to spring!

Weird weather!!

Everything is so green and the trees are filling out so fast.  The wild or pin cherries are in bloom and I'm sure the apple trees will be starting soon.  I hope they don't get frost bitten!

The hummingbirds are back as I saw two at my friend's feeders on Saturday.  I hung my feeders out yesterday and am watching for any movement at them.  Nothing yet.  :)

*******

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  We enjoyed ours very much and our son and his girl took us and her parents out for dinner last night.   We also got to 'visit' our daughter and family via Skype.

I am so blessed!

Have a great day!

Blessings, 

Pamela

spring skies

Pretty cloud formations in the western sky this week just before sunset.

A few minutes after the sun had set the clouds turned pink.

The best part is, I can take these photos from my back deck and don't have to go down and around behind the trees!  Because the trees are gone!  I am loving this view.

This afternoon big dark clouds rolled in.

Our sunny stretch is over and the rains have come for the weekend.

I love the sunlight playing on the new leaves of these trees against the dark clouds.

Another spring sky this past week.

We're going to a yard sale tomorrow morning and I hope to buy a copy of the new Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations cookbook.

You can read all about it Here.

I wish you a blessed and happy Mother's Day.

Blessings to you!

Pamela

Friday's Fences

This fence is along the cliff at the Portland Head Light in

Portland, Maine.  Taken April 2013.

Here is another view of the fence looking out to sea.

I am joining with Friday's Fences at 

"Life According to Jan and Jer".

I hope you have a great weekend.

Blessings,

Pamela

odds and ends from Maine

Have you ever been to a Cabella's store?

There is one in Portland, Maine.  It is a huge sporting goods store with everything from clothes, to camping gear, to fishing, hunting and home decor.  It's a fun store to visit and we ended up spending over an hour in there looking around.  Well, I was looking for Murray for about 20 minutes.  It's so big!  

In the centre of the store is this display that looks like a rocky mountain top with lots of stuffed wild animals all over and around it.  It's pretty cool and kids love it.

********

This bicycle was in a store and it is spray painted bronze and meant for someone's garden as decor.  The cool thing about it is that it's almost exactly like the bike I had as a kid.  It was my older sister's first then I inherited it.  Mine even had the exact same headlamp on the handle bar.  It worked by a wire from the light to the thing attached to the front fork.  One would press the 'thing' toward the wheel and when one pedalled it would rub on the wheel and the friction I guess, caused the headlamp to come on.

How cool is that?  I used to drive around at dusk with my headlamp on to light the way.  :)  Memories.

*******

In a parking lot in Augusta these dogs were tied up outside a car and the owner was giving them treats.  So cute.

*******

The giant Bean Boot outside the store.

Most of you have heard of L.L. Bean Inc.  the huge and famous sporting goods store and catalogue in Freeport, Maine.  We stopped there on our way back home and spent about 2 hours there.

They have an L.L. Bean Home store next door which was really beautiful with wonderful furnishings for the cottage or camp.

I did buy something there.  I'll show you soon.

The veranda caught my eye with it's unique galvanized buckets for the outdoor light fixtures.

Aren't they the coolest??

Just a few odds and ends from our trip to Portland a couple of weekends ago.

I'm off to town to buy a new garden fork and rake.

I was using our 50 year old garden fork the other day and the handle broke off at the end.  Rotted wood.

The garden rakes that have the broad plastic tines are awesome so we're looking for one.  Apparently they are all sold out in most stores so I'm going to look at 2 others for one.  One store has 200 on order.  I guess they are popular.

The sun is shining and the temperature is going up to 25 C.  Rain coming for the next 4 days.  We need it.  There are forest fires in the Maritime Provinces.

I hope you have a super day!

Blessings,

Pamela

barn charm times four

This is a large barn.  Sorry about the spots as I took this through the window.

These barns were all photographed in Carleton County, NB in April when we went for a drive to see the windmills which are next door in Mars Hill, Maine.

A pretty red barn.

Some of the Mars Hill windmills behind this barn.

This dome is a potato barn.  Strangest looking one I've seen as they are usually hip roofed and built

into the ground.

I edited these photos with Picasa's Lomo-ish to pop the colour a bit and add some dark edges.

I'm joining Tricia at "Bluff Area Daily" for

BARN CHARM

Come on over and visit some other charming barns.

Blessings,

Pamela

gone missing?

Well, not quite.  Just tired, sore and out of steam.

We had a busy 3 day weekend here that started with the piano man taking Friday off to oversee the lumber jacks tree cutters we hired to cut some trees in our yard.

Do you see my lovely view up there?  We enjoyed a nice fruit smoothie on the back deck in the sunshine on Saturday noonish time.  Normally we'd be looking at this...

a wall of trees.

The tree cutters (2 very nice, polite young men) came early Friday morning and cut down 10 trees.  Please don't be angry with us.

The tree were too big for our small 2/3 of an acre lot in the country.  They were shading the house and gardens, and if one or more ever blew over in a storm they would land on the house or garage.  So we did a selective cutting and it was so worth it!

This is the side of our backyard next to our neighbours before we cut 6 trees here.

This is after...

That is the evening sun shining through.  We haven't seen this for years and I love it!

We did a lot of tidying up and hubby helped the cutters all day in the sun and heat.  I did some raking after they had finished.

I have some bad muscles in my shoulders lately and really can't do any yard work but I love it so much that I do some anyway.  Then, I pay for it that night and for days later.  :(

Saturday was our son's birthday.  We took him and his girlfriend out for breakfast at a local truck stop restaurant.  Good food!!

We took a break from our yard work on Saturday and enjoyed our view from the deck.  I can't  believe the light that comes into the house now even when the sun isn't on that side.

This is the kitchen after supper time (7:50) and the light is streaming in.  When we first looked at this house (37 years ago) the kitchen had pine stained wood cabinets but the sun shining in was what made me love the house as there weren't any trees blocking the sun back then.  Now I have a bright kitchen all day long!

We attended a fund raiser dinner on Saturday evening so I didn't have to prepare supper.  The only thing I 'made' that day was the fruit smoothies.  :)  

Sunday we went to church in the morning and our son's girlfriend invited us and her parents for a birthday barbecue supper for Mark.

We had a wonderful time and some delicious food and cake.

He loves to fish and can't wait to get out on the water.

This is day 11 of sunshine and warm temperatures here in New Brunswick.  Everything is growing and bursting into bloom.

I know many of you are suffering from rain, cold and even snow.  That is usually our lot up here in the northeast.  I'm sure it will change for you soon and that the much needed moisture you have gotten will help with the hot, dry summer to come.

Here is the same branch of the maple tree that I shared with you the other day with it's 'flowers' that have burst open from the buds.

Amazing!

Guess I'd better see what I can do outside this afternoon.  Maybe I'll get out the spray paint cans and find something to paint or dig around in the shed.  Lots to do this time of year!

Enjoy your day and have a great week.

Welcome to my new followers!  I always appreciate your visits and comments.

Blessings,

Pamela

I "heart" clouds

I love watching the sky and clouds.  Always have.

The beautiful blue skies on Wednesday afternoon had a few cotton boll clouds floating around.  They were so fluffy!

I discovered this heart shaped cloud while on the back deck enjoying the sunshine and warm temperatures.

I don't sit in the sun without sunscreen on.  In fact, that day, I sat under the umbrella with a sweatshirt and jeans on as it was nice and not hot.  I may have even nodded off too.  :)

Do you see those trees?  They are being cut down today along with 7 others that have grown too tall for our small property and are giving too much shade.  We will still have lots of trees left.  I will have a nice view of the back hill and more sunshine, especially in the winter when the sun is so low in the sky.  I'll share more about the tree cutting before and after photos soon.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky all day today (Friday) and the trees are cut down.  Here is a picture of the view from our deck this morning after they cut down 3, 30 foot trees.

Picture a wall of fir trees there blocking this gorgeous view.

{And, no, that is not our land.  Our property ends at the tree stumps.}

And look at that perfect blue sky too!

Now I'll be able to see lots of pretty skies and clouds from my windows and deck.  Plus, it's so much brighter in the house too!

I hope you enjoy sunny skies this weekend.  We are celebrating our son's birthday this weekend and will be doing more yard work and maybe putting out some garden and deck things.

We won't be planting anything as there is a risk of frost tonight and perhaps many more nights yet for 3 more weeks.

What will you be doing this weekend?

I hope it's fun!

Blessings,

Pamela