Some Wise Words

I read some wise words yesterday. A young mother of preschoolers whose husband is the pastor of a fast growing new church was talking to another wife of a pastor of an established vey successful church. Her children were all grown up and out on their own. The younger woman asked if it was easier now. Her response was, "It's never easier. It's just different." That is so wise.

This is my 99th post and to celebrate my 100th post I will be having a giveaway tomorrow, so make sure you come back!

Rhondi xo

Refreshing Rains

For the past 3 days we have some very badly needed rain here in North Carolina and it caused most of the dogwood blossoms to fall leaving our deck covered with white petals. They sort of look like giant snowflakes!

Here is a thought for the day from Mark Twain:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Rhondi xo

A Little Feshening up

Hi
You've come at the perfect time. It's just a little past 4 o'clock here. Time for tea. Come and have a cup of tea with me and I'll show you what I've been up to. I've brought out my dainty blue tea set. Let's sit in the living room where I have been doing " a little freshening up".At this time of year everything is so fresh and clean outside and my living room was looking tired and in need of a makeover. So I took out everything that wasn't blue white or yellow.
The curtains that were in my studio fit these windows perfectly. A round piece of plywood which I'd stored in the basement came out of hiding and was put on top of a side table. I covered it with a pale yellow matelasse bedspread that I got at a yard sale a few years ago. Then I took our two wing chairs and placed them on either side. It makes a wonderful conversation area. This is another corner of the room. Remember when I had all those projects on the go. Well the two blue and white pillows are some of those projects. The other pillows I made 5 or 6 years ago . You may think a white couch is totally impractical but it's a slipcover. It comes off and goes in the washer and dryer and can even be bleached if necessary. We bought the couch from a sweet old couple when we were first married and they had bought it when they were first married, so I figure it has to be around 90 years old and it's still in good shape!


I replaced the quilt on the wall with my blue and white one, which hung in my studio. This is a view of the room from the front hall.

This is a view of the far end of the room.

I took down the beautiful painting over the mantle and replaced it with a watercolor I painted years ago. All the brass candlesticks are put away for now. The painting on the left is one of the ones my mom painted which was hanging in our bedroom. I painted the one on the right.

This is the other corner of the room, looking in from the dining room.

Here is a larger photo where you can see how the living and dining rooms flow together. I replaced the red and white quilt on the dining room table with a blue and white tablecloth, but it still needs a little something to freshen it up for spring.
It's fun putting little collections of things together.
Another collection on the round table.
So that's my freshened up living room, now let's enjoy that tea.

Rhondi xo

Beauty of a Rose

In the petal
of a flower
that grew from a tiny pod
Is the miracle
and the mystery
of all creation and God!

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Rhondi xo

Blue in my Garden

I found this funny little poem titled "Blue". It goes to the tune of "Three Blind Mice"

I like blue. I like blue.
Do you like it too? Do you like it too?
Blue is the color of oceans and skies,
Brand-new jeans and my grandmother's eyes
Did you ever see such a color so true
As blue, blue, blue?



It won't take you very long visiting me to know that I love blue. These are from my garden..

I think that blue might be God's favorite color too because he used a lot of it when he created the sky and the seas.

I met a new blogger named Cindy. She has a favorite color too which you'll see if you visit her. Try stop by and make her feel welcome.

You don't want to miss the fabulous quilt giveaway Camille is having. Make sure you tell her I sent you.

I am working at the Wing Haven sale again, surrounded by the beauty of flowers. I hope that you will find some beauty in your day today too.

Rhondi xo

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful today I want to jump for joy!

My hubby had a colonoscopy yesterday and everything looked great. They removed one very tiny polyp which the doctor assured us was absolutely normal looking and no cause for concern. So I am thankful that he has been cancer free now for 6 years!

What are you thankful for today?
Rhondi xo

Wing Haven Sale

Good morning friends

This week I am involved in helping at the annual spring plant sale at Wing Haven. This is one of the fundraisers to help support the garden. I really enjoy doing it because of the beautiful and cheerful environment. Everyone who comes to the sale is happy. The people who come to our sale all love to garden so they are all having a great time choosing more plants for their well loved gardens. Next time you go to your favorite garden center take a look at the people buying plants and you'll see lots of happy people!

The collage is some pictures I took yesterday at the sale.

As most of you know I love blue and the combination of blue & white. Each year they seem to be coming out with more plants with blue flowers. So when I saw these I had to buy them! The plant is Lithodora. It will spread out and stay quite short.
Aren't the colors great? I love them!! I'd like to try painting them. One of them is going in the garden at my back door so I can see it every time I come in and out. Not sure where I'll put the other one yet.

If you're one who loves to putter around in the garden I hope you get to do that today. That's what I plan to do this afternoon.

Whatever your plans are for today I hope that some joy comes your way.

Rhondi xo

Awards

Today I received the Arte Y Pico Award from Donna at Donna's Art. Thank you for giving me this award Donna. I feel quite honored because it is for creativity, design, interesting material and contribution to the blogging community. It's fun just to write a blog and then to receive an award for it is just such a blessing. Make sure you visit Donna and see her wonderful artwork and visit her Etsy shop.

The rules for this award are:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. To show these rules. There are so many blogs I love to read and I don't like to leave anyone of you out, but I decided to choose these :

Cindy at My Romantic Home has a beautiful blog which features her charming romantic home. She inspires all of us with her creative money saving ways and her willingness to show us how she does it, to create a beautiful home.

Mary at Across The Pond gives us all kinds of inspirational writing, photos of her lovely home, yummy recipes, inspirational writing and is a great at encouraging all of us with her comments on our blogs.

BJ at Sweet Nothings is so welcoming to new bloggers making sure we all visit them and make them feel welcome. She is such an encourager, always with a helpful word, sharing her love of her home and family. She makes all of us feel that we are special to her.

Karla at Karla's Cottage is always providing ways the blogging community to interact with each other with her swaps, and other activities. She makes all kinds of wonderfully creative things.

Marie, a blogger from England has a blog called A Year at Oak Cottage. It is full of creative yummy recipes, accompanied by mouthwatering photos of the food. She shares intersperses her recipes with tidbits of wisdom,words of inspiration and lots of food for thought.

Make sure you visit all these wonderful blogs. They make our blogging community richer for their being a part of it.

Happy blogging...

Rhondi xo

Let Me Hear Joy

This morning as I was reading my bible I read in Psalm 51: "Let me hear joy and gladness." As I was reading those words, I became aware of all the birds joyfully chirping outside. So I decided to make some tea and invite you to sit outside with me for a few minutes and hear the joy of the birds. I got my red and white tea pot and a quilt for you to wrap up in as it was just a little cool this morning and took them to the red chairs which are set right at the edge of our garden looking into the woods. There are also some delicious crispy peanut butter cookies that my friend Mary made that we can nibble on. I liked the red and white scene so much I decided to use it as a new header for awhile.


Can you hear the sound of birds outside your window in the mornings? They always sound so happy and full of joy, especially at this time of year.


The birds seem to be joyful just because it's a new day. I am going to do that too. I have a sweet little book by Thomas Kincaide and I love what he says:


Decide that joy is the hue you want your heart to be . Then start making the little and large choices that over time will paint your heart happy.



Rhondi xo

Too Many Projects

Do you take on or start too many projects at once? I do! Here is the mess on my sewing table at the moment.



This quilt top is finished. I made it out of men's shirts I bought at Goodwill. So I have to pick fabric for the back, pin the top and batting and back together and it's ready for me to quilt.

I have all these colors picked out ready for a new quilt, not sure what type of pattern to do, but I just love the wild color combination! So it's sits out where I can see it waiting for me to get some inspiration.

All I have left on this one is to sew on the binding. I am going to use the black and white print for the binding.

These are some new patches I've sewn together: flying geese and half square triangles. My plan is to make a lot of different kinds of blocks and then come up with a pleasing and creative arrangement.

I am doing a bit of re-arranging things in our living room so I've been working on a couple of pillow covers in blue and white.

I found this bit of embroidery at a yard sale for 50 cents so I plan to incorporate it into a pillow too.

So that's five sewing projects on the go! Why do I do this to myself? I tell myself it's because I'm creative :) Is there a solution or am I just a hopeless case?

Rhondi xo

Thankful Thursday

I caught a beautiful shot of the sun as is came up through the trees this morning. Seeing the sun shine cheers my day. I feel more full of life and I have more energy when the sun shines. It warms my heart and warms my skin when I am outside. The sun just makes me feel good! So today I am thankful for the sun.
What are you thankful for today?
Rhondi xo

Free as a Bird

Wouldn't it feel wonderful to feel as free as this little figurine? She was given to me by a friend and is called Happiness. I love the little blue birds perched on her outstretched arms. They seem to be participating in the joy too!
Hope you have joy filled day.

Rhondi xo

Columbine In My Garden

Good morning my friends
I can't get enough of the colors of the garden this time of year. Every time I go outside there is something in bloom saying "take a picture of me". So this is what I took shots of today.
We live in a very basic 1960's brick ranch. But it has a nice front porch which makes it look inviting. Right now the dogwood out front is in full bloom and the Japanese maple is in full leaf. I mentioned in an older post that I wanted to name our home Rest and Be Thankful and when I drive up the driveway that's how I feel. I just want to rest and be thankful. One of these days I hope to make a sign.We have huge banks of azaleas which are so beatiful especially against the green of the woods behind.
And the dogwood in the woods are beautiful too.
This is the garden by our side door where we usually come in. Right now it is filled with Columbine. I just let them go to seed every year so there are always lots of them. I love the variety of colors they produce and the delicateness of the flowers. That is a magnolia tree against the wall which a previous owner espaliered against the wall and there are knockout roses against the brick also.

Some close ups of the columbine. I love them!

This is the native columbine "aquilegia canadensis. It can sometimes be found growing wild.


Here is a little information on the columbine which I thought was interesting. I always wonder where the name came from.

The generic name of Aquilegia is derived from the Latin aquila (an eagle), the spurs of the flowers being considered to resemble an eagle's talons. The popular name, Columbine, is from the Latin columba (a dove or pigeon), from the idea that the flowers resemble a flight of these birds. .
The Columbine is a favourite old-fashioned garden-flower, being mentioned by Tusser (1580) among a list of flowers suitable 'for windows and pots', Parkinson, in 1629, speaks of the many varieties grown in gardens.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and that spring has arrived in your part of the world. ( I guess it's fall for the bloggers in Australia.)

Rhondi xo

I Won a Prize!

Hello dear blogging friends
This past weekend my quilt guild had their annual show and I won a second place ribbon in the large pieced category! Usually I like to design my own quilts, but this Karen Stone pattern was so great I just had to make it. It is paper pieced, and machine quilted. For those of you non quilters, paper piecing is a way to make the points very accurate in an easy way. I named this quilt Star in a Midnight Sky and it measures 60" x60". I couldn't get the right light to show it off as well as I'd like, so this is the best photo I could get. The color looks a bit paler than the real thing.

Hope you have a good Monday.
Rhondi xo