Seeing Red

Oh yes, the January Blahs are still with us. I haven't been taking photos outside

 because this is what I get: Brown--light brown, dark brown, tan, gray. Boring.

The vegetable garden is a massive mess. Sorely neglected last year just because we were so busy, the garden didn't do well; weeds thrived, tomatoes got away from us, and most of the other plants just barely survived. Generally at the end of the gardening season, the Head Gardener is out there with rake and tiller cleaning up the garden to ready it for the next year. Looks as though we both have a lot of work as soon as it warms up.

One of my To Do items will be to take out this rambling blackberry. We built this wonderful trellis just so that it would have a place to climb, but the plant is most uncooperative and unproductive, so it will be dug out. I am thinking that we will plant it out in No Man's Land, east of the hay field where we seldom venture. If it produces there, great. If not, no matter. Instead I will plant sweet peas and start a clematis to climb on the trellis.

There will be quite a bit of clean-up in the court yard, too. The water fall has always leaked, so I hope we can tear it down and rebuild it leak free. Most of the plant material is in, though I may add a some annuals this year. I want to refine the fairy garden, which I have put away for the winter.

Pond side, literally, we will work on landscaping and building this little garden. I have a few ideas. I would like to add one of those sweet little crooked trees. Nothing tall, but a touch of drama. I would like to design some sort of Japanese or Asian garden. Any suggestions? The pond still needs a lot work.

The trashcan filter froze late last fall, so now the water just circulates through the pump and hoses without the filter, so the HG will build a new filter. We are rethinking the waterfall too,  eliminating the little pool at the top if it.

Patches of snow and ice remain despite what the weather people are telling us. It is supposed to get up into the 60s. Really? Haven't seen the sun in two day. 

I called to Sundance, so he steps out from eating breakfast to say "HI." I called Pop,too, but he didn't come out to see me. I went in the barn to check on him. He was busy eating Sundance's breakfast, after having eaten all of his. 

Inside, it is warm and cozy and we are seeing lots of red and pink these day. Last year I made this paper Valentine bunting for the fire place. (You can see last year's decoration in the header). I changed things up a bit this year.

I told Jen that when we went thrifting again that I wanted to find a cherub or a Cupid to add to the Valentine scene. She reminded me that I had two cherubs in the bathroom. My mom made them in her ceramics class years ago. I have candles in them in the guest bath. The little vase does hold special meaning because my dear friend gave it to me when I was recovering from a badly broken ankle. 

One of my thrift finds this apothecary jar makes a perfect nesting place for a sweet little bird sitting on her Valentine chocolates. (That way they are out my reach--too much trouble to dig them out.)

This sweet lady dreams of her Valentine.

Instead of dollhouses, last year I built paper houses using my cricut machine. I made them for my daughters, granddaughters, and  friends. Now I am on to bigger houses.

Red was my mother's favorite color. Me. I love pink. I never decorated for Valentine's when I worked. I always loved Valentine's because it is a celebration of pure love. I don't know if school children still have Valentine parties at school when they make the Valentine mail box and exchange Valentine's. I hope so. 

This year I added a bunting to the kitchen window. I sewed these cloth hearts from my stash of scraps and fat quarters, using buttons and ribbons and bits of lace to decorate the hearts. They don't hang quite as straight as I imagined, but they do add a nice spot of red to the kitchen.

So while it is brown and blah out in the garden, inside it is warm and red and pink and cheerful as I hide away in my basement amusing myself until we can get out and get to working the garden.

I am working on a fun project now, inspired by things I see on Pinterest. I have printed photos on muslin of the girls and am trying to figure out how to embellish them and then frame them in old metal frames.

The printing process has been fairly easy. While directions that I found said to iron the fabric to butcher paper, I just taped my fabric to card stock with blue painter's tape and printed as I would on paper. I am using a $40 Walmart HP printer that I have had for years, so if the printer heads get clogged, no big deal. There are other ways to transfer photos to fabric, but I have taken the easy way out, hoping that they turn out. I printed the bottom ones in sepia, so they are very ethereal and vintage looking, which I like. But the color photo has that same ethereal vintage look as well. 

I will be joining Judith @ Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday, so I hope you take time to pop over there to see the other cool mosaics. I have found it so much fun to read new blogs and a few are discovering the Garden Spot. That is always fun.

I hope you have a great week. Nothing special planned here. We will celebrate Jacob's 12th birthday next week end, so I will be planning a little party for him. If the temperatures really do warm up then we can get outside and do badly needed tiding up. If not, you can find me here sorting buttons, bows, and old photos. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments.