Dreaming of a Laundry Room

When I lived in California, I had my washer and dryer in the garage. In a way it was great, because I didn't have to keep it neat. But, I didn't like having to go to the garage when it was too hot, or too cold. Anyway, it was the garage where there are creepy crawlies that could get into my clothes!

Here in Texas, I have an actual laundry room!! Woooo Hoooo for me! But, it's not ideal and some day I'm going to paint it yellow, add white cabinets, and a utility sink.  Hopefully it will be this year, but you know how life gets in the way of plans sometimes.

Anyway, on my last shopping trip I found these adorable dish towels. They're birds (love that), they're yellow (the future color of the room), and they're doing what I do almost every day (washing and ironing). They're perfect!!

I'm going to hang two of them from the cabinet doors under the sink.  So cute!!

There are three of them, but I'm only keeping two (I think).   I know I've said it over and over, but I sure do love these hand embroidered linens. So much love went into making them. It's only fair that they get to be enjoyed for years and years.

Blessings,
Patricia :o)

A clock that's for the Birds!

Since I'm always running short on time, I thought it would be appropriate to tell you about a great find I made a couple of months ago.

I found this beautiful porcelain clock at a church rummage sale for only $5.00!! I probably could have got it a little cheaper, but it was for the church and a good cause, so I didn't haggle. I knew it probably didn't work (it didn't) but how much could it cost, right?

How could I pass it up. LOTS of pretty pink roses, sweet little blue birds...

There are even little angels in it. It was in great shape with very little damage. I accidentally broke the tail off of this little bird. But then I lost it so I couldn't super glue it back. Oh well!

Look how sweet these pretty blue birds are at the top of the clock!

Back to the "it didn't work" part. My hubby searched the Internet and called a few places. He did find the part that had to be replaced on line. After taxes and postage it was $23.95!! Yikes! Not only that, a clock repair place told him to get it as that was a great price and those parts were soon to be discontinued.

The great news is that the part came super fast, was easy to replace and the clock works wonderfully now!! Even though my $5.00 bargain turned out to be a little on the expensive side, I think it's beautiful and worth way more than the $29.00 it cost in the end. I love it and feel very lucky to have found it.

Patricia :o)

Backyard Feathered Friends

Sometimes it's the simple things that bring joy. For us, it's sitting outside and watching nature. Our favorite thing to do is watch the little animals and birds that visit our yard. The birds that we have here in Texas are so varied and beautiful and I thought I'd share them with you.
American yellow finch and lesser gold finch flock to the thistle socks in the spring. They can't resist them! About 19 or 20 fit on the socks and the rest of them wait their turn in the branches above.

The is a Great Roadrunner. We used to have two that came by, but now it's only one. He's very shy and it's difficult to get a good picture of him.

Very common to this area is the gorgeous Cardinal. This is a male. I forgot to get a photo of the female. She is grey-ish brown and not nearly as colorful as he is.

I think this is a Carolina Chickadee. They're not exactly supposed to be in our area, but I'm not complaining when they visit. They're so cute!

These two little love birds are Common Ground-Doves. They're much smaller than the Mourning Dove. They're always together. So sweet.

This is the female Painted Bunting. She's an overall grey-ish green. Take a look at her handsome husband below...

This beautiful bird is the Western King bird (I think). They don't come to my feeders, they come to the pond. The way they take a bath is by doing a cannon-ball into the pond. At first we thought they were after the fish, but after watching them, it was obvious they were diving in to get wet, then fly up to the branches to preen.

Although this male Summer Tanager is supposed to be in our area all summer, we only saw him and his lovely lady (below) for a few days. They're spectacular in real life. He's almost a neon red and she's the brightest yellow. Beautiful!

It's a hoot to watch this Ladder-backed Woodpecker eat. He pops back and forth to see if you're watching. We had a little family of them in late spring. The babies are even funnier as they peck at everything to see if it's edible.

This is the Black-Crested Titmouse. They're all over the place and very brave. I'll be out having lunch under a tree and they will sit within an arms reach to get at sunflower seeds in the feeders.

You've already met the painted bunting. The much larger, and very aggressive grey bird in the upper right corner is a Northern Mocking bird. We have a pair that nest very close to the feeders and can be quite aggressive towards other birds. (Which is good because they keep away Grackles - boisterous, noisy and gang-like birds). We were very surprised to see the mockingbirds leave all of our desirable birds alone.

Hope you enjoyed "my" pretty birds!

Blessings,

Patricia :o)

BLUEBIRD embroidered runners

It's been a while since I posted about linens, so I think it's time. While sorting linens, I noticed that I seem to pick out a lot of bluebirds. They ARE among my favorite embroidered animals, though truth be told, I love it anytime I find an embroidered little dog, cat, horse, etc. I occasionally pick up other colored birds, but they just don't seem to be as cute.

SOLD

SOLD
OK, so this little bird isn't blue, but it's sooooo cute! We have lots of cardinals in our yard, so maybe that's what attracted me to this one. Or maybe it's because it's just so sweet.

SOLD

What amazes me so much about these vintage linens, is the workmanship! I tried embroidery several times (and I'm not giving up yet), but I just don't have the talent and/or skill to make my stitches look like this. It's much easier to just find them and buy them than it is to make them. Plus there's still the crocheted trim to worry about. And that's something I can't do.

All the items listed are table runners and are in great condition. If you're interested in purchasing them, please visit my eBay site. Some are listed as auctions and some as Buy-it-Now. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

Hope you had fun looking at these pretty art works.

Blessings,

Patricia :o)

More finds...and then some

We live on the out skirts of San Antonio just barely in the country so there's not too much close by around here. Recently we were going to lunch to near-by Castroville, a tiny town about 15 miles or so from us. We decided to go the "long" way on country roads and went through a strip of road that was almost a town. There was a general store and a few homes and that's it. Luckily for us they were having a neighborhood yard sale and we picked up some great finds for next to nothing. Everything shown above came out to $11.00!! My favorite is the Elsie cow creamer. And the roses have little clips on the back so you can clip them on just about anything to add a touch of romance.

This cement cherub was only $30.00 at Round Top earlier this year. Doesn't sound like a bargain unless you've been out pricing large garden statuary. He's about 1 foot long and is VERY heavy. I love how cute he looks tucked into the bushes.

Not exactly pertaining to the found category, though they did find us...

Are these beautiful and amazingly colored little birds. They're painted buntings that visit our area in summer. We found out that they love millet so, of course, we go running to the bird store (only 25 miles away) to buy this not-so-cheap seed in the hopes of attracting them. We were shocked that they found us by the next day!

They're pretty shy, so we couldn't get close to get pictures. These photos don't do them justice at all!! They're to bright and colorful. The females are a solid green color that come to the pond and are much braver than the males. What's funny is that I haven't seen the males at the pond where the females are, and the females don't go to the feeders. I feel so blessed to have these beautiful little birds visit my garden. God is always giving me little gifts of His creation and it always thrilling to me.

Hugs and smiles!

Patricia :o)

Flower Bird Cage

Have you ever made a purchase at a flea market or antique store and regretted it almost immediately? A few months ago I bought a bird cage and was so upset with myself because I didn't need it, didn't really want it and paid too much for it! I had one of those "Duh!" moments as soon as I put it in my car. I put it away and tried not to think about it.

Then...

I was lucky enough to find Joanne at Cottage in the Making's blog. On one of her posts, she had actually planted flowers in an old bird cage. What a great idea!! I asked her if she didn't mind if I "borrowed" her idea and she very graciously agreed. This is my version, but you really need to see hers. It's beautiful!


I started with my over-priced bird cage and bought some little flowers on sale. I lined the bottom of the cage with a piece of plastic from the bag that the dirt came in. Then I added the little flowers and a little cement bird.

I had the door open so you could see my bird better, but real birds got trapped inside. I felt so bad for them when they panicked and desperately tried to get out of the cage as I approached. I managed to get them out unharmed. Now I keep the little door closed and everyone stays happy.

It's been very hard lately to be motivated to be on the computer. I've been selling on eBay for five or six years and I think I'm a little burned out. I still have lots of stuff to sell, but I just can't seem to get to it. The problem is that I was on the computer for so many hours a day, that now I barely even read my emails and have neglected my blog and all of you. I'll try to do better...

Hugs,

Patricia :o)

Mystery Bird

One of the joys of my slowly developing garden are all the sweet little birds that come to visit. We get Cardinals, Lesser Yellow finches, American gold finch, wrens, woodpeckers, doves, etc. But there's one little guy we can't find in our bird book. He, (or maybe she) has all the markings of an American goldfinch except that his body is pure white! See him in the middle of the photo hiding behind the sock?



He's very shy, so it's hard to get a good picture of him. At first we though it was some kind of gold finch with a mutated gene that made his grayish feathers white. But then we saw TWO! Can they both be mutated?



He has a dusting of yellow on his head, black wing tips and then everything else is white. Snow white.

This is the best picture we got of him. My daughter got it through her bedroom window on the second floor. But it's not as clear as it could be because it's through the glass. Does anyone out there have any idea what this little guy is? Or, any idea where I can find out?

Blessings,

Patricia :o)

Date Day Part 2: Crazy Bird People

Do you remember when you were younger how there was always one house in the neighborhood that was full of bird feeders, bird baths and an old bent couple who fed them? I remember thinking, "Whew, I hope I never end up like those crazy bird people!" Well guess what...I did! Except now I don't think it's so crazy. I LOVE my little feathered friends that come and visit me.
(This is a double sock thistle feeder that works great! I've counted up to 19 birds on it all at
once. These are males & females of the American Yellow finch and the Lesser Yellow finch)

Last Date Day, we stopped by a little store in Boerne (the one with the wallaby) and bought several bags of bird food and a couple of new bird feeders. Keep in mind that we already had four or five feeders out, but of course we love birds and needed more.

We also did a little antiquing and bought the top of an old cement water fountain. It's a cute cherub holding up a bowl. It will be perfect for holding peanuts. The hole in the center (where the water would come up through) is perfect for drainage so that if it rains, the peanuts won't flow away, but the water will.

These are the two new feeders. The birds love the tall one, but don't see too interested in the dome. I need to find something much more yummy to bribe them with.


As soon as we had everything hung up and went inside, this beautiful cardinal came down to see if we had dropped anything on the way in. Isn't he so handsome?