Spring greetings and belated thanks!

Happy Spring!!

After gorgeous sunny skies and warm temps last week and over the weekend, today here in New England we greeted spring with some wet snow. It’s a bit easier to take in late March knowing it will melt very quickly. On Friday when it was just over 60 degrees, Lili and I spent the afternoon outside. She loved scooping up the snow, filling her pail and dumping it in the driveway to melt.

Today all the grass is covered with 2 inches of the white stuff again. But even though it was dark and gray outside, it was sunny and bright Behind My Red Door. This year I continued a very long tradition of forcing forsythia branches to bloom early to welcome Spring.

If you have never done this, it is very easy! In late February or early March just cut several branches, bring them inside, put them in warm (not hot) water and make sure to replenish the water as it gets low. In several days they will bloom and give you a brilliant show of bright yellow. My mom did this every year, often in time for my birthday on March 11th. I have done it every year since we bought out first home.

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Besides ushering in spring, t’s been extra busy since I was last here. I celebrated my birthday with my family and they brought Chinese food so I didn’t have to cook. I was a bit distracted as a lot went on that day including the tsunami Japan, and my dad taking a trip to the ER. Thankfully my sister took him and it was nothing life threatening but a medical issue that still needed immediate attention and thankfully he got that. He is in rehab now and doing as well as can be and will be going very home soon.

Some very dear friends gifted me and I am way overdoing sharing these delights with you.

Jill sent me this really neat rocking horse all the way from SC – the metal looks and feels very old. He is living on my whaling shelf in hubbies office right now and quite happy there...

Loretta, from Under the Wild Cherry Trees blog sent me this great redware inkwell and quill that look great on my desk…

…she knows I love me some redware!! And if that wasn’t enough, she also stitched up this delightful spring pin keep just for little ol me. Isn’t it sweet??

It is sitting in the wonderful tobacco basket I ordered from my friend Pam from Basketsnprims blog. When hubby first went to work out of college (for the company he now works for again), he was assigned to a project  in North Carolina in a little town that had not much more than the power plant and tobacco fields. On a visit to see him with his parents, it was there that he proposed to me for the first time. So when I saw this tobacco basket on Pam’s blog, I knew I had to order one.

If you have a copy of the spring issue of A Primitive Place magazine, you will know who MADE this awesome candle holder for me!! That’s right – the very talented Kris of Simply Prim blog. Can you believe she made that?? It’s perfect on my big red shelf in the living room.

And when Audrey was here the day after my birthday, she came bearing gifts too! This cute little bowl was a gift from Bonnie. It looks great on my new make-do buttery, don’t you think?

And Audrey put together this sweet spring basket for me. See those eggs? They are antique darning eggs! I remember my nany had one similar to those. They will be staying out year – not just spring!

Thank you to those sweet friends for my gifts and to everyone else who sent cards and wonderful birthday messages. You all made a difficult day much easier to get through.

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And then there is this very special redware plate. You see, my folks gave me a card with some birthday money.  when I started to protest and tell them they didn’t need to do that, that they had already given me so much in my lifetime, my dad stopped me. He said that this may be the last time he can ever give me a birthday gift and he wanted me to buy something special with the money. Okay, that was enough for me! The tears just flowed!

And then I decided I would indeed find something special. As I said,  I love me some redware, so when we went to the Gingham Goose  I brought home this wonderful redware plate. It will always hold a very special place in my heart….

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I also got to do something I have waited almost 30 years to do!!  I had the honor of spending some time with my daughter Jen while she tried on wedding dresses. It was a very special moment watching her come out with what just may be THE dress ~ she looked liked a princess! The wedding is not until the fall of 2012 so it is too early to order a dress yet, but she fell in love with one special dress and so did I. Of course I took lots of pics and I know you all love sneak peeks, so here is a little one…

…you didn’t really think I was going to show you more than that did you??

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Remember Mother Duck who nested here the last years in a row behind this fence between our garage and front doors??  She has been back and dug out a nice hole in the bark again. We are hopeful that she will lay her eggs here once again.

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I want to congratulate my dear friend Sherrie for having her gardens featured in Judy Condon’s Simply Gardens.

Sherrie puts her heart and soul into her gardens and they are simply gorgeous.  She has so generously shared many pictures of her gardens with me and the readers of A Primitive Place magazine as well. Congrats dear friend! You are so deserving of this recognition!

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I also have been busy painting a few more things and I will share those with you another time. Right now I have date with some handsome dancing stars!!

Today I am thankful for:

The arrival of spring!

The web cam Lili gave me that allows us to Skype with loved ones.

My sister Chris for all she is doing to help our folks.

The dedicated staff at the JHCC for caring for my dad.

Mr. Red Door for going off to work each day, making it possible for me to spend time with Lili, my folks and other special people in our lives.

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If you haven’t done so yet, won’t you consider clicking ~HERE~ to donate to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund?

UNTIL NEXT TIME – HUGS, LINDA