A very special birth day, a confession and a special thank you from a special lady!

Today while the rest of the world had their eyes glued to the TV for the royal wedding, Behind My Red Door, or more accurately OUTSIDE of my red door, the miracle of birth (or should I say hatching) was taking place.

When I first told you about this in early April, this is what it looked like outside.

For the third year in a row, Momma duck made her nest behind the little prim fence between the garage and the front door. In the warmer weather, I used that fence to shield the faucet and garden house. They are not very prim looking.

Then we had some fierce weather and my poor little fence took a beating.  So I got my tobacco basket from NC and used that to shield Momma and her nest. It looks pretty good!

And I placed my tallest bee skep, my watering can and a prim star in front of it for extra protection.

And Mother Nature took care of filling in the rest…

And Momma duck took to sitting on her eggs most of the day.

 

Like the rest of the country, we had lousy rainy weather for most of the week but today, the sun came out and it was a gorgeous sunny and dry spring day in these parts. A perfect day for a miracle of nature!

And when Lili and I went outside, we saw the most wonderful site… .. 

Lili was beyond excited! She squealed and babbled something – all I could make out were the words Momma, quack, babies and it ended with ohhhhhhh soooooo cuuuuuuuuuuuute!! ( I wish you could hear how she says that! It makes my whole body smile!)
Somehow I knew exactly what she meant!

She was so good – after her initial excitement she would go back and check on Momma and her ducklings but was very quiet – putting her finger to her mouth and saying “shhh Meemee – be quiet.”  And when Lili had her snack, she brought Momma duck a goldfish cracker and she told me “I share”.  I told her I was very proud of her – but little did she know the ants would enjoy it more than Momma duck. You can see it sitting in the bark next to the green chive covered with ants.

Yes it was quite an exciting day! Lili even got to share the excitement with her momma and dadda when they came for family dinner. Before she got in her car seat to go home, we told her to say “see you next year” to Momma duck because we knew by morning, Momma would take her brood to the brook behind us and from there probably up or down stream to one of the ponds in the neighborhood. We are so blessed to have shared this with Lili and we hope that next year Momma finds us hospitable enough to come back.

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Now for the confession. I have a problem. It comes and goes but lately is has a real hold over me!! Yes, me. You see - I can never leave well enough alone! I just get things the way I like them and then I am inspired by something I see and or something new and I have to change things up again. This time I am replaying an old familiar  scenario and once again purging and getting back to less is more – at least I am trying to! Now less is more to me may mean way too much for someone else or not nearly enough for the next person. But that’s OK. It is what feels right to each of us. All I know is that when my life gets busy and hectic ~ as it has been and will be for some time ~ I want order and simplicity in my home. I just feel better, calmer when there is not too much. And I really like it when I scan the room and my eyes can rest on the nice pieces I have worked hard to collect over the years since we moved here and I want to enjoy them. So whenever I have a few moments, I have been purging and simplifying. Again.

And so even though it probably doesn’t appear that way to most people, I did some purging in the kitchen – even as I added to my collection! LOL

Recently I acquired some new goodies at antique shops and promised to share their homes with you.The small measure and some new mashers and spoons as well as the new mortar and pestle went on my pumpkin bureau in the kitchen.

The larger measure is in the living room for now… 

 

The wonderful custard cup from my friend Laurie is in the middle or my other two…

And the buttery pin keep she made is ..on my buttery of course!

But despite my constant tweaking and changing, this house is not a show room ~ it is where our families gather for most holiday and family events so I am always balancing the look I want with making it family friendly. If something is within reach of Lili, for the most part, she can touch it and pick it up. Some things she can outright play with, others we teach her to be gentle with and respect them. She even has her own pouting chair and I place a prim doll in it for her to play with. I even gave her some some hanging candles to be hers. Sure they are getting a bit cracked – but she enjoys having her own candles.  She is very good – I think because she has those special things that she can play with as well as her own toys and adult attention, it is never a problem. And the older generation is taken into consideration as well. As long as my dad can make it into my home, his ambulation problems will dictate some of the furniture placement and floor coverings I use. But what good is all that time and attention spent on a home if it isn’t used to nurture loved ones?

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I want to thank all blogging and FB friends that have taken the time to stop over and leave some encouraging words to my friend Lura after reading about her terrible car accident in my last post. She left this message for me and I thought you would like to see that you can make a difference in someone’s life !

“THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH .... or as my granddaughter says... SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH....
for mentioning me on facebook and on this post. I had a really hard day yesterday. I just couldn't keep the tears away. I know I have been greatly blessed but sometimes the road to recovery seems so long and painful that I give in to discouragement. I woke up this morning, in pain and thinking how will I get through another day of this?

Then I went to my blog and found so many comments from your blog readers that I am amazed. I read one after another. Their kind words of encouragement and well wishes have lifted my spirits. How can I feel down when so many kind people I don't even know are praying for me and wishing me well???
I prayed yesterday that God would help me find new courage. I prayed that God would lift my spirits and help me find my smile.
God heard my prayers .... and He touched your heart to answer them for me.
I believe that it was God who prompted you to put me on your blog and ask your friends to greet me.
THANK YOU DEAR GRAMMEE L .... AND THANK YOU TO ALL YOUR BLOG READERS WHO LEFT ME COMMENTS!!!!!
They left me more than comments.... they left me new courage and helped me find my smile again.
You are a blessing to me. I love you. And by the way, I love your favorite wall.... but then I love your whole house!”

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And before I close, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to all those affected by the devastating storms that have ripped through our country the past few weeks. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.

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Today I am thoughtful for:

A roof over my head

A dry bed to sleep in each night

Seeing the new hatched ducklings with Lili

The sun coming out after the storms

The selfless hard working Red Cross volunteers

Thank you to all my new followers and old and anyone else who takes the time to stop by!

Until next time ~ warm hugs, Linda