rain weekend

March has arrived! This clothesline picture is from my John Sloane calendar. I love his pretty paintings of country scenes! 

John Sloane calendar

Spring has arrived! Time for planting.

here's the truck delivering petunias, LOL!

Last week we brought these hot pink geraniums home and Saturday we got them planted. It was a sunny warm breezy day, perfect for being outside.

got the iris and cannas planted. Yellow and also red cannas

haven't decided where to plant the hollyhocks yet...they are one of my all time favorites

our cyclamen are happy (below) We have both red and pink ones.

Our kitchen garden is planted and the onions are up! we are awaiting carrots, celery and peppers.

that's a watering hose....not a snake! ha ha LOL

later Saturday was a great day for a long drive in the country!

splashes of color with all the pretty azaleas in full bloom!

lots of interesting old buildings and abandoned country houses and barns to see.....

the purple wisteria twists and winds around poles, trees, gates and posts

an old produce stand

so many flowering trees!

I spotted a big pretty sun dog on the drive! Those things are so pretty!

 We love to eat at small town diners and out of the way country places. Today's supper was a BIG AND delicious fish sandwich. And the huge onion rings were so yummy! Mr. Front Porch had a big cheeseburger with all kinds of good toppings. Tammie and Bindie each got a big plain cheeseburger!

Sunday after church it began pouring the rain. Everything was washed clean. And our drenched gardens were loving the cold rain.

Inside we were cozy! ....but soon we headed out for a Spring walk.

the Resurrection ferns were greening up!

Lots of neat things to see on this wet day as Spring brings the plants and woods and gardens back to life. Things growing on bark and downed trees.

and many varieties of mushrooms

these delicate little "fairy flowers" as I call them are scattered all over the property! Can anyone identify them? They look like anenomes to me.

raindrops on a tree branch

trees and bushes are all sprouting buds and flowers

our fig tree is all greened up

Does anyone know what this tree is? It burst into fluffy white blooms. I thought it was an apple or a plum tree? Our first spring here, and there's so much to identify!

Anyone found any good tv/series to watch? We've been watching "In the Heat of the Night" all winter. (1988-1995). It's a crime/drama taking place in small town Sparta, Mississippi. Carrol O'Conner plays the police Chief and does a great job. I never caught it when it was actually on t/v....and we are enjoying it alot now. We usually watch one episode with supper, and on weekends we usually watch two episodes. I think there are 7 Seasons.

........and look what happened a couple of days ago?....it went and got COLD AGAIN. Brrrr....here's me and Tammie out enjoying  a cold wintry walk! LOL

yep, we have pink flamingoes out in the country! LOL

We covered our kitchen garden last night. And moved pots with plants far up on the porch for protection.

Luckily we still had coats and gloves and sweaters still out. It was in the 20s here this morning, very cold for us. I know alot of y'all are where it's still ice and snow, luckily Spring is on the way! yay!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! Stay warm!

Aprons

 

one of my childhood aprons

"Do you remember the history of Aprons?

I don't think most kids today know what an apron is. The principle use of Mom's or Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven, it was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, she wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. 

From the garden it carried all sorts of vegetables . After the peas had been shelled it carried out the hulls. In the Fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from trees. 

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust  in a matter of seconds. 

When dinner was ready, she walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men-folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old time apron" that served so many purposes. 

REMEMBER, Moms and Grandmas used to set hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. 

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron!

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron......but LOVE! "

......from Do You Remember instagram

these are an assortment of my Mom's childhood aprons and mine. Most of these are from the 1940s, they are treasures to me.

This is the apron our daughter made me while she was in High School. It's embroidered "MOM", and I wear it every Thanksgiving.

There is an article about aprons in the November issue of Country Living magazine.

Country Living magazine

Country Living magazine

a friend sent me this adorable egg apron last year--it has little pockets to put eggs in! Fairy Granddaughter likes to put this on when she is going to get the eggs.

Do you use aprons?

Do you have any memories of aprons?

Valentines is here

 

Happy Valentines Day, Y'all!

Tried to make these pictures after church, but the wind had different ideas, LOL!

it was really whipping it up!

The sky had turned stormy, and big black clouds rolled in. It looked like either a big summer thunderstorm or a blizzard was headed in, LOL

managed to get one half-way decent picture, LOL!

Our church Valentine banquet was this weekend, and it was lovely, we had a great time!

It was a cold, blustery night. The wind blew.

The chilly rain pounded down. We are so glad we went though!

Every lady got a rose as she came in

It was decorated so pretty, and we had a yummy steak supper. Afterwards we played "The Newlywed Game" with couples on stage. It was fun (and funny!) and there were prizes and door prizes too. Lovely evening.

The past two weekends here have been wet wet wet. So much rain.

Rain or shine..........we venture out.

some of the fields are greening up though....spring is on the way!

and after the rains we get the beautiful resurrection ferns on the trees, which turn spring-green and are so delicate and pretty! With no rain, they wither up brown and crispy. When the rain comes, they come back to life.

February sure came in QUICKLY! I blinked, and it was here. LOL This is my new John Sloane calendar. I JUST LOVE IT. The pictures are beautiful. I had never heard of this artist or his work until I saw my friend Pam had one, and I thought "that sure is pretty" so I bought one too! Thanks for sharing it Pam!

I see hollyhocks, I SURE HOPE my hollyhocks grow here out in the country!

Gathered up goodies for Fairy Granddaughter's Valentine box.

There are mermaids, sparkly rings, a new hair-brush,  frilly doilies, pretty Princess press-on fingernails, fun stickers, a Daily Devotions book, and a box of chocolate, among other treasures. All wrapped up in crinkly, crackly Valentine prints cellophane paper.

There were also ALOT of little valentines.Ma-Maw and Pa-Paw.... Tammie and Bindie made one, as did the kitties. Oh, and couldn't forget the lady-hens, so they "scratched" some out too, LOL

all boxed up and fluffed up with shimmery red "icicles" left over from Christmas. LOL I hadn't seen the old fashioned icicles for Christmas trees in YEARS, and Mr. Front Porch spotted a box at the Dollar Store! We always had silver ones on our trees growing up, but they now come in colors.

Tracie and Amybelle have donned their little valentine frocks and are looking forward to some candy hearts......

......and Tansy, Tansy is fancied up in pink taffeta and dotted swiss with a big bow....ready to head to the Ball. She plans to dance the night away. LOL

Hope you have a happy and blessed Valentines Day!