To bring a touch of Spring to my house I decided to remove the plant I had in the miniature greenhouse and put in some miniature garden features I'd bought last month at a hobby store: a well, birdbath, and bench. I added other miniature items I already had: vegetable garden, clay pots, flowers, and several animals. I plan to put these outside in my live miniature garden when Spring finally decides to stick around for a while....
The middle of the month we had several warm days which melted the snow. We used these days to collect the downed branches and cut up the large limbs before we got an estimate for the clean up. These are the various piles we made....
Meanwhile, I bought a new bed for Poetry, which she took to right away. Gabriel looks rather forlorn to me on his pillow in the living room....
....I think he's wishing it was warmer out, too. This is what it looked like, AGAIN, on St. Patrick's Day....
I decided to decorate for Spring while Ken was plowing. A few days later, when it had warmed up again and the snow had melted I put out my Bunny with the Welcome Spring sign....
A few days later we were at Ollie's Bargain Outlet where I found this delightful Peter Rabbit "action" book reminding me Spring is near....
When you get to the last page this is what it looks and sounds like. If you're still listening to the song I posted at the top of the page, stop it for a moment and listen....
The flea market was made famous a couple years ago when a woman claimed she'd bought a Renoir painting there for $7.00! It was soon revealed that it had been in possession of her now deceased mother for years and had gone missing from the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1952. The painting's return to its rightful owner and unveiling took place last Thursday. The only thing I found there was a bag of clear marbles and a blue vase for $2.50. But I did find these darling lambs at another nearby flea market and at a bargain! We put them in our manger in the woods....
On the 26th I took a needle felting class at our local co-op market because I want to make a felted cat and dog that look like Poetry & Gabriel. The teacher didn't totally trust us beginners with the sharp needles so we had to make flat faces. Making animals requires holding them in your hand and she feared we'd stab ourselves with the barbed needles. I learned the technique and came home with two needles, some roving, and a piece of thick foam that you use to hold your piece while you stab at it. Here is a video of the technique from YouTube....
And here is what the class made. I won't tell you which is mine, but you can be sure it wasn't that really cute pug dog....
The next day the March winds were blowing like crazy knocking over my Welcome Spring Bunny. It's to be expected in March....but look outside--see the white? Yes, more snow....
The red truck belongs to the tree guys. They worked on Monday and had to knock off until Thursday to finish the job because of the snow! All those piles of sticks now look like this....
We'd hoped to go shopping today, the next to the last day of March, for Forsythia, but the rain and chance of snow (!) is keeping us home. I will have to content myself with the Primroses I bought at the grocery store in February and are still going strong in their little pots, my blooming Agapanthus, the 6-pack of Pansies waiting to go into my flower box, and the grocery store bouquet I bought last week, just because....
If we get to go shopping tomorrow I'll update this Post to include photos from our shopping trip. I'll also update if, by chance, our little granddaughter decides to be born on her due date tomorrow! March may, indeed, go out like a little lamb.....
I'm sorry you have had more snow. It just doesn't seem fair! That look on Gabriel's face is very familiar. I think they practice it when we aren't looking. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to try needle felting too. I might order a starter kit since there don't seem to be any classes around. Thanks for the YouTube link!
Yes, I think Westie's bore very easily and they are pleased to let us know! I look forward to your needle felting creations. Being a knitter you'll probably do a superb job! I may never show mine creation...but first, I must do it!
DeleteIt's been a crazy March here in Va also. In fact it's sleeting here as I read your post! My husband and I went outside earlier to upright our bottle tree that had toppled over in the wind and saturated ground--it's quite chilly! You now have a lot of mulch to use in your garden--nice. I would love to learn to felt but I understand it's not as easy as one may think. Enjoy your day and hopefully you will soon be a grandmother! ♥
ReplyDeleteThe snow is really coming down here now, too, and sticking! It's actually quite lovely, though, because the flakes are all fluffy and large. Needle felting is not at all hard! It's the designing that is hard for me. It will probably take several tries to get the body shape and head proportions of Gabriel and Poetry correct, but the beauty of it all is you can just add more roving to round it out there, or pull some off there. There are books out there that show you step-by-step how to make certain animals that I'm going to look for to help me. All that mulch we have will be spread around to make paths in our woods. It's too green to use in my flower beds....but we can always use more mulch on the paths to keep them clear of weeds.
DeleteWhat weather! Certainly spring must be coming soon for you. I like that our spring is going slower with the cool (cold) weather….but this week its supposed to get warmer. I don't know much about felting so this was interesting to read and see.
ReplyDeleteThe snow that started around noon has covered the ground and driveway now. It's really quite pretty--it's coming down in huge flakes. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 60's! That is the crazy part.
DeleteHi, Cathy. Everything here went from soggy brown and mushy "green" to being completely covered with [8 inches of] snow overnight. Yuck. Double yuck. Started as wintry mix [weather-ese for snow, sleet and rain at the same time] on Saturday night. Apparently March wants to come [and go] like a lion this year. Thankfully it'll melt as fast as it fell since we're supposed to get to 50 degrees today. And good riddance after that. Please, God - no more snow. It's just too much to handle in April. I always wondered how needle-felting worked. Does NOT look easy, that's for sure. Now all those adorable little needle-felted critters on Etsy don't seem so pricey... they're downright bargains where you know how much time and work is involved. Looks like a great outlet for your creativity though. Here's hoping the baby is a typical firstborn [responsible and conscientious] and shows up on her due date. And that the very next phone call you get tells you the good news!
ReplyDeleteHi Janet! For some reason the Reply button isn't working so I'm having to make this a separate comment. I had to smile when you mentioned a typical firstborn as being responsible and conscientious. I had the very same thought that she'd be on time because her Daddy is a very on-time sort of person. As for your snow....my goodness! Eight inches! Our one inch from yesterday is gone already except for some small patches hiding from the sun. It is already 52 degrees here and expected to get up into the 60's. The stabbing part of the needle felting is surprisingly relaxing. I found myself not listening to the instructor--I got lost in what I was doing (maybe because I didn't want to stab myself!) Like I said in an above comment, the hardest part is the design--so if you can clear instructions on how to put together the "parts" to make an animal, it shouldn't be hard--that's what I'm counting on at least. Here's to Spring arriving for you and for me sooner rather than later!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't want to make you envious, but yesterday was 65 degrees and I put in my bedding plants! I hope I am not tempting fate....Harpers Ferry, love that little town. The John Brown, "livery" was much smaller than I expected it to be. Let's see, is your felting the one with the blue lips? Nah!
ReplyDeleteI think you must have sent it our way because it's going to get up to 64 for us today. Blue lips? Never! Our little packet did not give me the colors I'd have chosen for myself, so I had to make do. Because I'm not an artist I could not conceptualize the face I would have liked. In fact, mine looks very much like my first painting I did when I was 9. I took lessons from the "cat" lady who lived in one of those houses you see in movies that kids would run past. In all our moves it was lost--just as well--rather embarassing--beady eyes....
DeleteI can see why you are envious of our spring and also how busy you have been clearing up! What a shame you didn't find something more valuable at the flea market. I love your miniature spring garden and hope the snow has now stopped.I recognise that expression too! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteI think Spring is finally on the way today! It is 66 degrees (F) and crocus are in bloom. Daffodils have heads on them so......soon, soon we'll have flowers. Gabriel enjoyed the afternoon watching us rake up the last of last year's leaves so he's looking a lot happier.
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