Spring is in the air Behind My Red Door

That old saying “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb” seems to have gotten a bit turned around it seems. After over a week of gorgeous spring weather early in the month, we have now had some horrendous flooding rain storms and the storm we are having now will take us through the end of March. Many local areas are flooding, the likes of which we have never seen before. My heart goes out to the folks who are being evacuated and those who have flooded homes.Thankfully, Behind My Red Door, we are dry inside, but our brook has overrun it’s banks a few times this month. These pictures were taken after the last storm started to subside and by the time I took them, it had already calmed down a bit. We have never had a problem with it getting even remotely close to our home so I always enjoy seeing the rushing waters where the brook enters our property.

It meanders across the back yard and around the side yard too. I love looking out the windows at the back and side of the house and seeing what is new by the brook.

Wild life abounds there and in the brook’s waters too. We see heron, geese, beavers and many other creatures during different time of the year. Some of you may remember Momma duck last year. I blogged about her HERE. Well she is back – but much earlier this year. I think that early spring weather must have tricked her. She once again laid her eggs in the little garden between the garage and front door. In this picture from last fall, it is right behind the little fence I use to hide the outside faucet and garden hose ~ right underneath that part of the house that comes out a bit. It stays pretty dry under there.

The brook is to the left and behind the house so you can see that she has to walk across the driveway to even find that small patch of garden.

It really is pretty amazing that she picked that spot last year and once again.

Last week Mr. Red Door noticed Momma duck sitting there again just like she did in this picture from last May.

I quietly went out to try to snap a new picture and she got scared and took off – but not before I snapped her picture twice the other day.

At that time there were 11 eggs but as of yesterday there were 13!! We will leave her be and hope to catch a peek of the chicks when they hatch in several weeks. Momma takes them to water within hours of their birth though, so that may be tricky.

I’ll keep you posted when I can!

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With Easter fast approaching, spring is in the air inside as well. Here is a little peek of the spring decor behind My Red Door.

On the dinning room table…

On the coffee table…

On my dough board on the stove…

The back door in the kitchen…

Down in the family room…

On the wall in the kitchen…

On the fowl rack in the dining room…

As you come in the front door…

In Mr. Red Door’s office…

On my stack of firkins in the living room…

On the dry sink…

Snuggled on the red chair…

On my Windsor arm chair…

In the hall…

In the dining room…

And on My Red Door…

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All of us over at A Primitive Place are still so excited about the launch of the new magazine this August. You can click HERE to find out all about it and how to subscribe or advertise. I have been asked about my role in the magazine and I will be a contributing writer as well as searching out homes and shoppes to photograph. And I'll be a general all around consultant and help whenever and wherever I can. There are so many exciting things planned, you really don’t want to miss a single issue!!

***Don’t forget to stay tuned for a special event when we unveil the very first cover. It certainly is an exciting time!!

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Having just had a birthday, I want to leave you with this. You may have seen a similar version of it in emails or on other blogs. This is my slightly altered light hearted primitive version….

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height, the price of a new piece of redware. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends – who support your tweaking and shopping. The grouches pull you down.

3.Keep learning. Learn more about crafts, gardening, antiques and collectibles, the history of old homes, whatever. Never let the brain idle.

4. Enjoy the simple things from a simpler time – a well worn ladder-back, an old stained pantry box or slightly cracked jug.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath, especially at primitive gatherings and when you see the price of that coveted antique.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on.Their will always be another prim shop or gathering.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, or keepsakes like crocks, pewter, quilts and firkins. Your home is your refuge – decorate it in a way that pleases YOU.

8. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. You’ll need the stamina for the next prim outing and to move that hutch once again.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to a prim shop, quilt store or even to the next county to meet a blogging buddy ~ but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. To all my prim (and non prim) blogging buddies, fans and followers, I love you! You have enriched my life in so many ways.

AND, ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life's journey is not to
arrive at the grave safely
in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways,
totally used up and worn out, shouting
'...man, what a ride!'

As always, thank you to each fan, friend, and follower for stopping by and making Behind My Red Door part of your day! And thank you for taking the time to comment when you can.

HAPPY PASSOVER AND HAPPY EASTER

Until next time – hugs, Grammy Linda

Did you hear the BIG NEWS?????

ANNOUNCING

A PRIMITIVE PLACE MAGAZINE

Coming August 2010!!

A Primitive Place website has been growing by leaps and bounds since October 2008 and now we have the biggest news yet! Starting this fall, APP will have it’s very own prim magazine with never seen before home tours, decorating ideas, garden tours, recipes, crafts, and so much more! To find out all about it including what’s inside the first issue, how to subscribe and how to advertise, click HERE!

And keep checking back for the notice of a special event to unveil the fall cover!

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Did you hear me squeal?? WOOHOO! I am just so excited to be a small part of this great new venture that has been months in the making! You DON’T want to miss the first issue, so get your subscriptions in now!

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Thank you for all the kind comments on my laundry room from my previous post. It was fun to hear from so many others who lived with mismatched sets because it just isn’t prudent to replace both when only one dies. Ours were just beyond repair this time. And I promise I didn’t wash those bolts and rocks!! :-) I got several questions so here are my answers. They washer and dryer are the Frigidaire Affinity series and I got them on sale at Sears at a great price. I spent hours and hours doing research and asking questions in forums and I even had 2 appliance store owners recommend them. I do love red but I got black because I wanted something that I could match down the line several years if I needed to. Remember, I lived with mismatched appliance for almost 35 years so this time my hope is that if one breaks and is beyond repair before the other, I can still find black. I don’t do white in my home anywhere. I hate the metallic looking ones. The reds were nice but that color and just about any other color just might not be available in 5- 20 years. For my international friends, the pedestals lift them up so you don’t break your back getting things in and out of them. I decided to spend a little more for the drawer pedestals because who doesn’t need more storage! They are deep and hold a lot. They even come with removable dividers!! So far I am very happy with the set. They are much quieter than my old ones – especially the washer. I can’t believe how quiet it is and how little it vibrates. And so far I actually am finding it easier to do laundry! I sure hope that lasts! LOL

The next time I am back, I will share a bit of spring Behind My Red Door!

As always, thank you to each fan, friend, and follower for stopping by and making Behind My Red Door part of your day! And thank you for taking the time to comment when you can.

Until next time – hugs, Grammy Linda

Laundry room blues

I hated my washer and dryer. They were old and certainly not energy efficient. But in this house, we don’t replace appliances just because. I have secretly dreamt of a time when the dryer would die and I could pass the washer onto to Jen and get a new set for ME. I almost googled “how to kill a dryer’ but then something else always seemed more important. So I struggled each laundry day with my old mismatched pair. And then the most amazing thing happened! Both the washer and dryer died the same week?? Now what are the odds of THAT happening! (without me pouring acid on the motors or trying to wash stones and bolts or any other such measures) They weren’t even the same age!! After I realized I would have to spend one morning hand wringing a load of laundry and line drying it, it suddenly dawned on me that for the first time in 35 years of marriage, I was going to have a matching set. WOOHO! Now that was exciting!! In our old house, the laundry area was in the basement so I didn’t care. But here, they are in the bathroom/laundry room next to our family room and guests have been known to use that bathroom. A few brave ones that is. It has always been ‘the men’s room’. Mr. Red Door has always showered down there and when Jay lived at home, he did as well so any guest who chose to use it, was pretty brave ~ if you ask me. I am just sayin…

Over the years I have attempted to prim up the room a bit. Gone are the aqua sink and toilet. A few years ago I painted the walls a warm rich Benjamin Moore color called Brunswick beige and put up a prim wallpaper border to brighten up the space (yes, I actually have a border in there). We hung a great red cabinet and I added some antique laundry pieces and prim decor.

But two of the walls still had 70’s paneling 2/3 of the way up the walls (remember, Mr Red Door likes his wood) and the plumbing and faucets showed behind the washer and dryer. I did my best to hide and camouflage them, but it just didn’t meet my criteria.

So when both appliances decided to bite the dust, I was excited to take the opportunity to do a little sprucing up in there. I convinced Mr. Red Door that 70’s paneling needed to be removed or at the least, painted. Of course he chose painted knowing I would tackle that, and indeed I did just that. This past weekend he moved the old appliances out of the room and I worked my magic. I painted the paneling and tweaked the decor all in preparation for the delivery of these 2 babies. Oh yes, after a lot of research and comparisons, I choose these front loaders with pedestal drawers with lots of buttons and whistles in the perfect prim color, BLACK!!

Today was delivery day and it started out VERY wet. But luckily we had a very short break in the deluge, and the delivery men were able to install the pedestals out in the driveway where there was plenty of light and room.

And before long, they were in place and ready to be put to good use! Here’s a little tour of our modest laundry room/ bathroom.

Yes, there are still several things I’d like to paint and prim up a bit, but this is not MY bathroom, so I have to let Mr. Red Door have some things his way…

I did manage to sneak this prim heart in here. A gift from my friend Bonnie and made by my blogging friend Karen from My Colonial Home!

Whoa these babies are big- like many updated home goods, they really weren’t designed to fit in a 70’s home I guess. I’ll make them work though because they hide the pipes and plugs and all that ugly stuff.

OOPS! I got all the pictures taken and realized I forgot my laundry basket.

I know, I have a bit of a star theme going on in here. What can I say – this is my room to be a little cute!

Looking out towards the hall…

So do you think this will make me want to actually DO the laundry now??~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

That’s all I have for you tonight folks,

EXCEPT

for one other thing. Come back here Friday evening, say around 8:05 PM, for a

VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

or join the APP Forum and find out at 8:00 PM!

That’s all I am saying!

WOOHOO!!!!!

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As always, thank you to each fan, friend, and follower for stopping by and making Behind My Red Door part of your day!

Until next time – hugs, Grammy Linda

Here we go with more changes Behind My Red Door…

Once again, times are a changing Behind My Red Door and I don’t mean just the clocks that we are moving ahead an hour this weekend. Thank you to everyone who left me a message here or on FB or the APP Forum or in an email. You all touched my heart with your kind words and pleas to keep my blog going. Because of that and after some thought, I decided that I will indeed keep my blog open and just post when it works for me, whether it is weekly or monthly or something in between.

But there is a change with Behind My Red Door. My Address. I have moved! No - not to a new house – believe me, if I ever do that, I won’t be able to keep it a secret. But I did change my blog address. I have my own dot com!! I now own BehindMYRedDoor.com. Isn’t that so cool!?? I think so!! And it was so easy to do using Google. The other day I was over at my friend Robin’s blog and she told us how to do it and you can see how if you click HERE. Thanks Robin!!

Last weekend spring was really in the air and Mr. Red Door and I took advantage of the warm temps and cleaned up some big snow piles outside so they would melt quicker and now ~ no snow left anywhere – except a little sliver in the back. It is such a nice change to see green grass again! The mallards are back to visiting our brook again and we are wondering just where Momma duck will lay her eggs this year.

And I recently made some changes inside as well starting in the master bedroom. I moved the furniture around a bit. Mr. Red Door’s armoire is in a new spot. It is hard to tell from these pictures but it fits perfectly between the closet and door to the hall.

I don’t know why I never tried this before because it gives us more room on either side of the king sized bed. Back in 1975 they didn’t build houses for such big beds

I wanted a new look on the bed and after looking at pictures of colonial decorated homes I enjoy, I got a new matelasse bedspread and now we are using the coverlet as an accent piece instead.

I hung a prim portrait over the bed too…

Still no headboard yet! I changed the curtains too. I really hate our short bedroom windows. They are not very colonial looking but I do the best I can with them. The little pewter chamberstick I found in RI is on Mr. Red Door’s nightstand now.

I took the plaid curtains and put them in hubby’s office and hung these swags with a more colonial feel. I found them at the Handmaiden in Sturbridge. (no website)

Here is a closer look at the fabric…

After moving my glove box mirror to the opposite side of my dresser, I also put a sampler that was in my office over my dresser.

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And the dining room got some changes in decor as well. I decided to take most of my pewter and display it together. At one time I had several more pieces but foolishly gave it away back when I was moving to a more primitive – less colonial look. But now that I have smartened up, I am appreciating my collection even more. I still want to add a large dinner plate in front of the big tray, but I am enjoying this display right now.

So of course I then needed to fix the little black bureau where my pewter tea set used to be. It turned out to be an easy fix. I just took the things from the black cupboard and moved them over and it works. You can see the gorgeous wrought iron candle holder that was a gift from Noel and Verge from Circa Home Living. I think it looks wonderful in it’s new home. Do check out their catalog!!

The last time I was here I showed you our old high chair I called back into to action for Lili. After searching high and low for a washable chair pad in a design that would work in with my decor, I ordered one from Carousel Designs and it came this week. It is a black and white mini check. It fits the chair perfectly and looks so much better than pink!

And I finally painted and found a home for the candle holder Jill made for me as a hostess gift when she was here last. It looks great hanging from the beam between the dining room and living room doesn’t it?

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Things are a changing with our sweet Lili every day it seems! She and I spend more time in the family room downstairs now when she is here. I have her jumper down there, as well as her porta crib and lots of toys and books and rocking chairs. That is the only room in the house with carpet so it is a good space for Lili to sit on the floor with her toys. Sometimes when I need to run upstairs for a minute or grab laundry from the laundry room next door or when I am reading in a chair nearby, I will put her in the porta crib with some toys and she plays so nicely. I put her favorite Mickey Mouse DVD on and she loves the music and bright colors. One day last week I watched from behind my magazine as she tried something brand new. At first she leaned over to the edge of the crib as she watched Mickey.

Next she scooted herself up on her legs.

And then she nearly gave me a heart attack as she started to lean WAY over the edge of the crib!

Just when I was ready to drop the camera and grab her, something on the DVD caught her attention and she sat back down.

And just when I started to breath again, she did it all over again!

It was time to change the mattress position in the porta crib at Grammy's house!! Her Mommy and daddy had to do he same thing in her crib at home the very next morning too.Then one day later in the week, her mommy was greeted with this...

Lili pulling herself up on her crib from the floor…

She likes to hold on the crib and ‘dance’ to music!! She is just so darn cute!

And not only that, but Lili has two bottom teeth just ready to pop out of her gums! Yes, times are a changing!

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Something else changed since I was here last – my AGE! I am now officially 55! WOOHOO! I remember when I was young and 55 was the speed limit. I thought I’d be OLD when I got that age. Now I know I am just BETTER! Oh sure, I have more arthritis and aches and pains, but the wisdom, maturity and confidence that come with age help make up for that. I got to celebrate off and on all week with family and friends and Sunday we are all meeting up at a local steakhouse so I can enjoy a nice porterhouse steak with a salad on the side. YUMMO! In addition to many beautiful cards, emails, comments and messages, I received a few special surprises. After a week of gorgeous sunny spring like days, yesterday was gray, rainy and dreary. But not for long because the phone rang and on the other end was sweet Lili making the cutest sounds! A prefect way to start my birthday! And not long after that, my friend Janet from Winter Willow Primitives called to wish me Happy Birthday. What a sweet surprise to talk to a blogging friend in person! Thank you Janet. It was a real treat!

And then shortly after that, the doorbell rang and I was handed this gorgeous basket of my favorite flowers from my friend Loretta from Under the Wild Cherry Trees.

When we were emailing one week about our weddings, she took the time to find out my favorite flowers and kept that info tucked away. How sweet is that? Thank you so much Loretta! What a sun shiny way to warm up my birthday. I have been so enjoying them!!

And then if that wasn’t enough to keep me smiling, when the mail came later in the day I got this absolutely gorgeous cross-stitched pillow from my friend Kris from Simply Prim. I wish I could show just how amazing her stitching is. It just blows me away!

I know how much work goes into a treasure like this and I promised Kris it has found a loving home. Right now it is in a cubby on my big shelf in the living room but who knows where it will end up the next time I tweak! It will always have a place of honor in our home. Thank you again Kris – I love it!

Thank you to everyone who made this birthday so special so far.

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Things are changing in our extended family as well. Our beautiful niece Jamie Lynn is getting married in April to her college sweetheart Will. Tomorrow Jen, Ang, Lili and I are headed to Hartford, CT for Jamie’s bridal shower. Congratulations Jamie and Will!

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The next several weeks are chock full of more birthday fun – more of mine, Jen’s and Ang’s as well as Jamie’s wedding, Jill’s very last trip down from Maine before she moves to SC, and a very special announcement too. The next time I am back, I hope to have a lot to share.

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I know a lot of my friends and bloggers are having difficult times so before I close and get busy cooking for the shower, I want to leave you with this..

The Blessings of God's Seasons
We know we must pass through the seasons God sends,
Content in the knowledge that everything ends,
And oh, what a blessing to know there are reasons
And to find that our souls must, too,
have their seasons . . .
Bounteous seasons and barren ones, too,
Times for rejoicing and times to be blue . . .
But meeting these seasons of dark desolation
With the strength that is born of anticipation
Comes from knowing that every season of sadness
Will surely be followed by a springtime of gladness.
~Helen Steiner Rice

Thank you as always for stopping by and making Behind My Red Door part of your day!

Until next time – hugs, Grammy Linda