Happy Weekend, Friends!
It’s officially spring and it sure feels like it here in Northern California.
How about where you live?
I’m behind the eight ball when it comes to spring decorating.
After getting an early jump on my spring doormat,
I got caught up with the wedding and never got around to springing-up Snowberry’s front porch.
Not to worry, it will be remedied this weekend after a trip to my favorite nursery.
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It was a busy week on the blog.
All about (you guessed it) … weddings!
More specifically what to wear to a formal wedding.
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- Sister Jane’s Wedding Look
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- BFF Jane’s Wedding Look
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- Niece Sophie’s Look
But today it’s all about spring.
And I’m meeting up with Kim and Elizabeth to share our favorite things this week.
My list was long and hard to narrow down, but here goes!
SPRING WREATHS
Speaking of the front porch, after buying a doormat my spring decorating came to a screeching halt. Today I’ll haul down my spring décor bin and make a trip to the nursery for some colorful spring flowers. After giving the porch a good cleaning, laying out the new doormat, and replanting the porch pots I’ll wait impatiently for this pretty spring wreath to arrive. I ordered it last night on Etsy. I love the colors and that it’s a good size … 24” diameter … which works best on my front door.
There are so many cute spring and Easter themed wreaths out there. Here are a few more that caught my eye.
IT’S TOMATO TIME
Its officially tomato planting season, as I was reminded by my local nursery. And I’m excited to pick up a couple of plants at the nursery this weekend for our raised beds. When I say a couple … I mean two. In years past I’ve gotten carried away and planted too many. In a few months they’ll be gigantic and taking over our limited space. Not to mention they produce more tomatoes than we can ever possibly eat. And it seems everyone plants their own tomatoes so giving them away isn’t easy. I love to make bruschetta throughout the summer and with that in mind I’m leaning toward red cherry and yellow tear drop plants. It would be nice to have an orange tear drop too. I love a tri-colored bruschetta. Oh, and a Roma tomato would also be great. Gah. See what I mean? Maybe I’ll limit myself to three. Do you grow tomatoes? I’d love to know your favorite varieties.
By the way, this is my favorite bruschetta recipe. I use small cherry and tear drop tomatoes in lieu of a large heirloom. And I skip the olives.
JANSEN HOME
Have you heard about Jansen Home? An online home décor shop launched last year by sisters, Kate Knowles (of Kate Knowles Home), and Ashley Jansen. Kate built her dream home around the same time I was renovating Snowberry. She has amazing taste and I enjoyed following along with her building process. As if I didn’t have enough construction in my life. So, I was excited when she and her sister announced that they were opening an online shop focused on classic decor. I wanted to be first in line to shop their beautifully curated pieces. One of my favorite purchases is their woven pitcher and old fashioned glasses. I can’t wait for summer entertaining season to put them to good use. And my very favorite purchase, so far, is this rattan bowl. It’s been a fixture on my kitchen counter, usually filled with fruit. Yesterday I harvested another batch of lemons from our garden, and it looks so pretty in the bowl.
ART IN THE KITCHEN
Speaking of lemons … how do you feel about art in the kitchen? How about lemon art in the kitchen? I met artist Krista Kim at a retreat a year ago fell in love with her citrus prints. I bought this lemon print for my kitchen. It’s the first thing I see each morning when I come down the hall to feed Pippa and Maggie. And it puts me in a good mood. Jim prefers I start the day in a good mood. Krista does beautiful work which you can find on her Etsy shop.
A PERSONAL KINDNESS THAT WARMED MY HEART
My sweet dad passed away in January. He had been in declining health for several years with a neuropathy issue affecting his legs and mobility. He’d been an active guy throughout his life. A daily runner, on weekends he ran in races all over California including many marathons. He was an avid tennis player, golfer, and swimmer. Slowly he was forced to give up these activities that he loved until swimming was the only exercise he could do. But he did it twice a day every day. Then he discovered a Pilates class offered at his club and became an enthusiastic participant. So enthusiastic that he proudly told me his instructor depended on him to make the class music playlists. I was impressed.
By the beginning of last year, my dad could no longer swim or do Pilates. He and his wife sold their longtime home and moved to Eastern Oregon to be near one of her daughters. Six months after the move he was hospitalized and from there went into assisted living and hospice. Many of you have gone through similar situations with your parents and know how it goes.
A couple of weeks ago I received a Facebook message from a woman who said she was my dad’s Pilates instructor. She wanted to know how he was doing, and I had to give her the sad news. She told me that for years he made the playlists for her class, and she’d saved them. All of them. And could not bring herself to throw them away. She sent me snapshot of the ‘playlists’ … and asked if I’d like to have them. Pages and pages of typed song lists. I got a good laugh. I guess she was the one to make the actual playlists from his direction. As my niece said, ‘that’s so grandpa!’ Anyway, the box of playlists arrived this week and I can’t tell you what it means to me to receive them. What an unexpected treasure. I’m so grateful for the thoughtfulness of this woman who cared about and appreciated my dad too.
So there you have it … five things front and center in mind this week.
I’d better take the dogs for their walk and get busy on the porch.
Let’s see what Kim and Elizabeth have for us this week!
As always, I appreciate your visit and welcome your thoughts in the comments below.
Happy Spring and Cheers from Snowberry!
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