Flowers In A Row

I started a second Flowers In A Row afghan.

I'm halfway through and I've only been at it less than 2 weeks.

It's such a fun and easy afghan to crochet!

The first one I made using lavender and yellow flowers with the same green and cream.

You can see it HERE.

As I was working on it I decided I'd like to make one with 3 shades of pink.

Whats so fun about this pattern is it's easy, very little counting and the color variations are endless.

The free pattern is available HERE.

Thanks for stopping!

Linking to;

How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday

Rose Vignettes for Fresh Cut Friday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

I found my door!!!

We went to Traders Market Saturday morning, I wasn't really looking for anything in particular but just something fun to do and I love being surrounded by all that good old junk antiques.

I've been keeping an eye open for a big white old door for a few years but it HAD to have a large beveled oval glass window and carving. I never even had it in mind that day and I walked right past it because of the way it was displayed.

When I turned around...there it was!

Terrible picture but it won't stop raining here and the sun seems to have completely abandoned us so it's the best I could get. Right now it's on the porch under the roof to protect is from all the wet weather until I can find a good spot inside.

This door is heavy, I cannot move it alone, it's solid wood with a very thick beveled glass window and it has beautiful carved designs.

It will go in our Wyoming home (when we build it) I'm hoping to use it on a closet door or even just leaning against a wall. 

It's just too cool...I am soooo excited over this door!

The thing we were looking for, another shell back chair and we found one!

Mr. Wild sand blasts and paints so he will make her all pretty again...probably white.

I couldn't walk away from the old bird feeder. The man said he bought it from a farm, now I wish I had asked where. It's old, has a screen for the bottom so the bird seed stays dry. Old chippy white posts and molding and who knows what. To top it off is a piece of ceiling tin. This was not made recently, it's something an old farmer made from bits and pieces years ago, I LOVE it! It will go in the garden.

The mirror and basket were each a steal. I'll age the mirror a little (it's been painted white but it's SO white) it may even become a chalk board. I have 'sort of' wanted one of these baskets but they are always so large, this is a nice small size and easy to place somewhere plus it says EAS on the bottom so I'm wanting to believe it was used for Easter and not funerals...I can't do the funeral basket thing.

A woman had boxes of linens and a huge box of $1 pieces. Most of these were $1 and I would have grabbed more but by then I had run out of cash and I purposely didn't bring along very much since I have ZERO self control at flea markets.

Underneath it all is a beautiful barkcloth drape to use in the AZ bedroom, I'd like to replace the door with this, the colors go so well with what I have already got going there.

Also a pair of pillow cases and a couch/arm protector for me to embroider and crochet the edges...love finding that stuff! A beautiful rose table cloth, a doll pillow and 6 linen napkins to use to embroider.

I also ran into Deb from Garage Sale Gal, that was so nice to see a familiar smiling face!

More lilacs...they seem to be prettier this year than most (maybe it's just me), but I can just smell them looking at this picture! 

They have always been my favorite flower ever since I can remember.

Now can someone please send us some sunshine!!!!

They are forecasting this rainy dreary stuff through Saturday.

It's really hard for me to get motivated and not get depressed...I'm one of those sun people.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Timewashed for Blissful Whites Wednesday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

A Walk In The Woods

I went for a little walk about, springtime is always so fun to find the wild flowers in bloom in our woods.

Our first day of sunshine in a week of rain. I couldn't believe how fast these flowers popped yesterday!

wild apple blossoms courtesy of the birds or some wild creature

anemone

may flowers

jack-in-the-pulpit

trillium

Then there are the intentionally planted flowers...

lily of the valley

lilacs

pink rhododendron

fuchsia

We have one more day (today) of sun and then the forecast is for 5 more days or dreary rain.

Do I wish I was still in Arizona?.... sometimes! When it's dark and rainy and cold! I miss the sun and warmth. I drove straight through...1,650 miles in 47 hours, I wasn't any more tired than if I had stayed in hotels where I never sleep anyway!

Tomorrow it's off to another flea market, Mr. Wild wants to go, if it's not pouring rain...that was one nice thing I never even had to think about in Arizona. (yup...I miss it... allot!)

Happy Spring!

Flowers just make everything so much better!

Early Bird Flea Finds Part 2

It's been so long since I have linked to How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday!

I planned to so many times but with all that's been going on I just couldn't.

Here's the rest of my flea market day...

I had my arms full when I saw this pink Cole Steel typewriter (made in Western Germany 1962). Price $10 steal of a deal!

It was the last thing I bought that day.

I thought it was kind of cute and maybe I would just sell it but once I got it home I started to really appreciate it.

I did a little research online and a guy in Australia has a blog with a picture of one, he restores typewriters and this is one he wants but the price has been too high! It's probably not worth as much because it has a few nicks but it seems to work properly.

I couldn't find a single one for sale online.

Now I'm getting fun ideas of how to display it, I've grown pretty attached to it.

I can never walk away from millinery hats or flowers and these were too cheap and so pretty.

Also the old twin bedspread with the pom pom fringe, pink piping and a pink ruffle. There are 2 pillow shams, I wish she had both bedspreads.

I remember a set like this when I was little on our twin beds.

It was $10 for spread and shams and I figured if I can't use the bedspread I can always harvest the materials.

That's it!

Now it's time to get back to packing. I caught a bad bug and was down in bed all day Friday, I won't be leaving Sunday as planned and I'm still weak today so I may not even be able to get going until Tuesday. Not too happy about that but there's nothing I can do about it.

Thanks for stopping!

I'll be back to posting sometime after I get back to Minnesota.

Linking to;

How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday

Early Bird Flea Finds Part 1

Okay, I did it...up at 4:30 am last Sunday and off to the flea market. I was there before 6 am.

It was slow going at first seeing as the vendors were just starting to set up but they kept rolling in  quicker than I could keep up. 

I piled all of this into my full size car, I always use a truck but I don't have one here...I actually had to stop looking because I knew what I had so far was going to be tight.

(I'm really going miss that view in the background)

The birdcage was a real surprise!

I walked past her booth twice and on the third pass I saw the cage and stand!

Tag says $25...is this for real?

The woman walked over to me and said that she wonders why no one has purchased it yet, then she offers it to me for $20...okay, it's coming home with me.

The first thing I found was the old Victorian plant stand.

It's rickety and needs gluing but I love it!

I thought the chair was pretty interesting too, it has a face in the upper back.

The 3 chippy white chairs were a steal at $25 for all 3!

The little table was $10 and will be perfect in the living room...I needed one small table and this just fits.

Eventually, next winter, I'll put this all together and hopefully post some finished rooms, right now everything is still terribly a bit unorganized.

Jar of buttons, bags of buttons, a lovely silver plated pitcher...5 bucks.

And I could not walk away from the casserole dish, it's never been used.

An old suitcase, the same vendor had packages of vintage seamed nylons for sale and I had to buy one pair just for fun.

Can't pass up Wyoming license plates and some rhinestone jewelry.

I just love this flea market, I never know what I'll find yet I always manage to find something that I've been looking for a long time (like the round birdcage with the stand and even better...it's white!) I always find at least one really good deal. It's just way too much fun and better than some other habits a person could have!

Stop back for part 2 on Friday night for Pink Saturday, I found the coolest vintage pink typewriter that I almost passed up. Now that I have done some research I think I may have really scored...and I love it.

Plus more pink finds!

Unfortunately it's time to head back to Minnesota.

This week has been about as perfect as can be, low 80's and a cool breeze, puffy clouds in the brilliant blue sky, flowers are blooming everywhere.

I will miss our beautiful view of the mountains and the valley below, the cardinals and quails, little antelope squirrels that trill so sweetly (I seriously thought they were birds at first!)

It's so quiet and peaceful here...no noise, just the birds singing.

I know it will be pretty back in Minnesota, I am fortunate to be able to enjoy two springs. 

Mr. Wild says the wrens are back and the trees are finally budding out....way late!

But it will be hard to drive away from here on Sunday morning, which, by the way, will be back into the 90's that day...I bet it hits 100 by the end of next week!

Thank you for stopping by!

Linking to;

 French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Water and a Going Away Party!

What AM I doing!!!!

I'm staying longer to work on this plus as long as it keeps snowing in Minnesota...why not stay here!

 I began trying to repair the existing watering system but it was becoming hopeless. I'm replacing the entire thing plus adding a timer with 6 watering zones...below is the new system.

Mr. Wild put it together and shipped it to me, all I had to do is connect the wires to the timer and then start 'plugging' in the new tubing that feeds the plants. 600' feet of water tubing so far and about 40 bubbles later, I'm almost finished.  

Sounds confusing but it's really easy and oddly enough, I enjoy doing this. 

But this is my reward!

This pretty little Star Jasmine was almost dead. I was able to get water to it about a month ago and it has already doubled in size. The fragrance is out of this world. I plan to add more of these next winter.

And the Oleanders, pretty hardy but if you give them a little water they will thrive here and I love the vibrant colors.

I think this a sage, the bush is huge and loaded with purple flowers,

A poor struggling palm tree is shooting new leaves next to a Eucalyptus tree that had died back severely. They are both very happy now with plenty of water.

This doesn't look like much in the picture, it is a giant Rosemary bush about 3 feet wide, there is a steep slope behind it, it drapes about 4' down the hill. The fragrance was so pleasant while I was getting the water to it.

It bloomed all winter.

Then there are those that don't need added water, a pretty orange Cholla

A native Acacia

A yellow Prickly Pear.

The giant Saguaro Cactus are all full of buds, I hope I'm here long enough to see them bloom.

The woman who built this house, along with her mother, planted tons of beautiful plants. Then she sold the house when she took over her mothers home. The new owners didn't take care of anything for 11 years including cutting down some of the beautiful trees. To my surprise she still lives across the road and is happy to see that I'm taking care of it.

The watering system will be in and ready for next winter, I can finally visit the garden centers and bring home plants.

As difficult as it was, I completely stayed away from plant nurseries this winter for fear I would cave in and bring home one of everything.

Last night my neighbor Nancy invited the neighbor 'girls' Elaine, Susan and myself over for a little going away party for me! She made homemade enchiladas and a delicious salad, Susan brought homemade cookies.

This morning 3 of us went for a long hike in the desert.

I wish I had taken along my camera to get a picture of the 'girls' last night.

We have wonderful neighbors, they will all watch the house and check my watering system to be sure all is working well.

It's hard to leave, I'm enjoying it here so much and I'm still in awe and so thankful that we found such an awesome location with such great neighbors!

Tomorrow is flea market!!!! YeeHaw!

I will be there bright and early...like 5:30 AM! 

If I find anything good I'll try to post it.

Thanks for taking time to look at my blog!

Have a wonderful weekend!