"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world."... Virgil A. Kraft

Seems as if many are  now decorating for Easter and spring. I love this old house in Summerville. I love the style and the big front porch. And I love the bottle tree! Seems like no matter where I venture around here, those bottle trees just keep jumping in front of my camera!

Looks as if these homeowners have also been decorating for Easter. Can you spot it? You have to look close..............closer.........see? They put bright Easter eggs into those big lanterns hanging on the front porch. Neat idea. 

Are y'all decorating for spring?

Lots of new recipes to try!

I just finished the Pioneer Woman's latest book and want to recommend it to y'all!

I adore her books because:
1. they are big and colorful!

www.thepioneerwoman.com

2. they have super easy to follow recipes that are easy to follow. The recipes are laid out in order and with plenty of photos so you can follow along

3. there are always extra photos, plenty of them, of their big beautiful ranch and their family/lovely kids/pets. Its fun to look at the livestock, the scenery, that neck of the woods.

4. the recipes turn out like the photos and except for only a very few, they are not complicated or take long to make.

This new book focuses on holidays and has a great variety of meals for all occasions. 

This is a great addition to your kitchen cookbooks, one you'll go to again and again. Its also just a fun book to read and to enjoy the awesome photography. 

Other new products I am trying:

have y'all tried the new Domino pourable sugar yet?

Last months ladies magazines had coupons so I gave it a try. Love the tall slender container and it's easy pour flip top. Its a fine quick dissolving sugar. It comes in brown sugar as well. Pretty cool! I like it!

This purchase also made me happy:

These are two of the new spring colors in the NYC Expert Last line. The pink is #447 and the orange is #445. Both look exactly the same on your lips as in the tube. Best of all, they are only $1.97 a tube! They work great for that price!

Do y'all use a make up/foundation primer underneath your base make up? Because if you do, and are looking for a new one I totally LOVE this one. Bare Minerals Prime Time.

 My Mom sent it to me and it is hands down 100% the absolute best primer ever. It goes on like silk and makes your make up go on 100% smoother and makes it last all day, even all night if I dont remove it at night. 

I also love this moisturizer. Garnier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel.

Now I dont know why the box says "NEW" because it is not a new product----I have used this for years now. I love this moisturizer because it is a CLEAR GEL. My skin just drinks it up, and fast. This gel is absorbed quickly and I like that--no waiting around for it to soak in. Plus it really is refreshing and in the summer I keep mine in the fridge. First thing when you wake up, after cleansing...that'll really wake you up!

That is all my recommendations for this time! You might see something you might want to try too.

What are YOUR FAVORITE COSMETICS?

....Im not affiliated with the products above and  I didn't receive compensation or products---I'm just sharing my own personal opinion of products I use regularly, or new ones I am trying out.....

"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel it's energy, and my spirits soar." ...Helen Hayes

HAPPY SPRING Y'ALL!!

Yesterday we took a drive over by the old Cigar Factory and came across this. Does anyone know WHAT THIS IS??! Seriously, it looks like part of a lovely old house got sawed in half, or actually less than half, and then just left standing there. LOL  Does anyone local know what this is and why it is there?

also saw these sights:

a big beautiful old fashioned home. Love the haint blue porch ceiling and the way they painted the foundation red.

Very elegant!

more historic homes

somebody at this one rides a red bike!

love all those ceiling fans! Perfect for the balmy Carolina summer!

check out this pink and black one!

Later on, while on our walk, we saw this home all decked out for spring! Very cheerful!

This house reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream!

and I especially love this sweet little green and white cottage!

What are signs of spring your way?

I'm wearing my green jeans today! How bout y'all??

"Spring has put a spirit of youth in everything"...Shakespeare

On our walk tonight we saw some pretty sights:

Pretty spring flowers in wild bloom

(below) Loved this tiny little house in between the two big houses!

Pretty street scenes. I LOVE THE OLD STONE POSTS! Some of them are so tall! The ones above were way taller than me!

and later, we drove over and looked at the fountain with the moon

the big moon was so pretty tonight! Did you see it where you live?

"Be like the flower...turn your face to the sun." Kahil Gibran

Yesterday we harvested our moonflower seeds. It was fun and it was exciting because all these seeds are from flowers we grew last summer. 

The pods:

Getting the seeds out of the pods:

Here are our seeds! So so so many more than what comes in a packet we buy each spring.

"Every flower of every tomorrow are in the seeds of today.." --Author unknown

And this is what they look like once they have sprouted, grown, vined up a column and BLOOMED. Are you familiar with moonflowers? They bloom after the sun sets and they smell wonderful! Great to plant underneath a window so the sweet smell drifts in on a summer night.

Here you can see how big they get:

The insides look like starfish!

With spring here, my thoughts are surely dreaming of our summer gardens. We like to grow vines like moonflowers and blue/purple morning glories and seem to have wonderful luck with those as well as begonias, four'o clocks, marigolds, geraniums, pansies, petunias, sunflowers, and a few others. Last year we also tried columbine and cosmos. 
I adore yellow cannas and hope to have a huge patch of them someday! Someday I also want camellias and hydrangeas!
What are your favorites?
What do y'all grow?

Pitt Street Bridge

Tonight's supper was a sandwich and sunset picnic in Mount Pleasant, on the Pitt Street bridge. One of our favorite spots. Where do you like to picnic? 

"Blossom by blossom spring begins.." Charles Swinburne

On our walk last night we saw this neat doorway:

I love the old transom windows and it looks like the whole doorway had a nice new coat of fresh paint.

Love the pretty mint green color of this home. Their ferns are doing great!

These are probably the most unusual columns I've seen in Charleston!

Front view of the home. A little blurry but you can see how big and pretty the house is!

I love this row of townhomes! Their pastel colors remind me so much of Charleston's "Rainbow Row". The pink one is my favorite. How bout you?

(above) this is a neat house. They have a really neat courtyard in front and I love their twin window boxes on the black iron gate!

(below) I love these little neighborhood lending libraries! Have you seen any where you live? I need to go drop some books into this one.

(below) another gorgeous doorway, full of ornate woodwork

The Queen Street Grocery has been in business for a long time! Its a great place to stop for a snack or a smoothie!

We come across alot of these...another old gate, Charleston style

It sure was a beautiful evening for a nice long walk!

It was gorgeous today as well, and it hit just about 80 degrees. I am so happy spring is here, and WELCOME DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BACK----I MISSED IT SO BAD!! 

Tomorrow is Monday and I hope to get around to all your blogs and read all about everybody's weekend adventures!