Hurry up, baby girl, tomorrow is the 20th!

This little girl, our Granddaughter Staci and her husband, Ed are expecting any day now....so last weekend her friends hosted a "Casserole" baby shower for her. 

They have a three year old daughter, Emma, and are expecting another girl.  Emma was the best dressed baby in town and has lots of  to die for cute "hand me downs" in great shape that she can share with sister.  Sister might as well get use to it, huh?

Anyway, Stac and Ed were pretty well prepared for new baby, so their friends came up with the idea to stock their freezer with prepared dinners.  Nice.......now for most of the first month after baby is born all they will have to do is remember to get dinner out of the freezer, so it can thaw.  She received 20 dinners, two desserts, three bottles of wine, a loaf of Eva's good bread and several restaurant gift cards.

Great idea for a baby shower!

Can't leave without sharing some photos of new baby's room......

Yes, the walls are yummy orange!  In the photo above, you can see where Staci removed the closet doors and added the white drapes and made the valance to finish it off.  Cute room for baby girl to come home to!

She is due tomorrow, the 20th, too bad baby can't read our calendar!  She has her own time table, always will.

You've been there.....a fabulous piece of fabric you can't bring yourself to cut!

I would like to share with this week's White Wednesday participants and readers, two of my favorite whites!

One, of course, relates to the piece of fabric I just could not bring myself to cut.  A few years back I found this huge piece of white fabric at a garage sale for a couple dollars.  I bought it, washed it, took a look and what I saw was this beautiful 136 inch long and about 60 inch wide piece of soft, sheer linen.  It had a small tear on one end, the ends were hemstitched, so it was a finished piece intended for what, I had no idea!  A very long tablecloth, maybe.

It sat in the cupboard, every once in a while I would look at it and think about making pillows or something with this beauty but I could not bring myself to cut it up.  You know, I was saving it for something SPECIAL! 

When we painted and redecorated our bedroom I had an "ah-ha" moment, I would make a curtain.  But, wait, that would require cutting.......no not if I did this....

since the piece was so long, I just folded it over a curtain rod and used my collection of old rhinestone pins to hold it
in place.

I did have to add a strip of a similar white fabric to the sides to make it wide enough to cover this sliding glass door.  Still feeling the "need" to preserve this piece of fabric, I stitched the side pieces on by hand.

 Then I added a drapery rod on top and a pair of white drapes.  Because there is a public park on the other side of our backyard, at times, a little privacy is needed but the curtain allows the natural light into the room.

Captain Jack can nap while keeping an eye out for neighbors walking their dogs!  He fancy's himself the "Greeter" of park users.

My second favorite white is this lamp which hangs beside the bed.  I bought it at Stars in Portland and I Love, Love, Love it.  It has hung in other room but I like it best HERE

Some day I may overcome my irrational reservations about cutting up the piece of linen but in the meantime, I'm enjoying the beauty and softness of the fabric as it hangs at the window and I love the wall sconce, no matter where it is. 

Thanks for stopping, I hope you leave a comment and then go on to visit the other White Wednesday blogs at Kathleen's Faded Charm.

Tiny Garden Gem!

Tulipa Hageri "Little Beauty"

Cherry star petals with a blue center, needs full sun and good drainage, like other tulips.  Unlike other tulips, this one is only six inches tall and produces two to five flower on each bulb.  It is easily naturalized and blooms in April.

Tulipa growing among the sedum "Angelica".

Mix in some "Georgia Blue" Creeping Speedwell to truly spice up the mix.  Ahhh, spring!

Work........not a walk in the park!

Yesterday, we had a group of teenage volunteers from Salem area spend their Saturday working in our nature park/trailhead.  These kids really worked, they had to dig up the Canary grass roots that surround our newly planted (last fall) trees.  They laid down cardboard and covered it with mulch.

 

 

This part of the park is low land, next to the pond, and very wet.

 

 

 

Lots of digging to remove grass and weed roots from around the trees.

In the photo above you are looking down the hill to this area,on the right, where you can see the trees with new side dressing of bark.

 

One of the roses we planted last month, leafing out.

 

 

 

We planted 50 Sword Fern among the fir trees last month, as well, they are unfurling their fronds and lookin' good.

 

Last, but not least, we can always count on Captain Jack to work hard, run through the creek and roll in the mud!  He is our hero, after all!

 

 

 

 

 

Jack says "Goodbye" and "Thanks for the help" to our new friends and volunteer helpers.

" I don't know about you but I sure had a good time" were Jack's final words before he was hosed off in the backyard AND given a bath.

Playing with paper

I had the good fortune to attend a collage class, last night, taught by Wilsonville artist, Susan Schenk.

Here is some of Susan's work.

These waterlilies are all done with magazine pages torn into small pieces, then arranged into the design and glued to a heavy paper backing.

Another of Susan's works, a dragonfly again "painted" with pieces of paper.

Starting with this..........students created these!

After lots of looking for the right colors, tearing the pieces and glueing them down.....in the "just right" position, some very pleasant pieces of art were created.  While the skill levels of these artists varied widely, they were each able to relax and enjoy the process.

Collage is a very messy but fun way to express yourself.....and the supplies are cheap and readily available.

Hen and chicks on hen and chicks

Spring may be slow in arriving but this Mama hen couldn't wait to lead her baby chicks to the feeder full of "hen and chicks"!

Hope you chicks are enjoying your White Wednesday visits at Faded Charm!

New beginnings.......

spring, Easter.......all about new beginnings!

My gracious daughter-in-law presented me with the beautiful Easter bouquet that includes Trillium (a sure sign of spring) from their woods, to which she added blue iris & white mums.  All the beauty,sparkle and freshness of the season in a handful of blooms.

 Spring is my favorite time of year "when the earth laughs in flowers".

Hope your's was a wonderful Easter.