Found a Surprise

When I was walking around the yard today I saw a new addition in the forsythia bush. Low and behold there are two beautiful blue eggs. The birds can construct a gorgeous nest in jig time…..amazing.
They built it in a very sturdy part of the bush but it isn’t high off the ground. When the leaves come out it will help to shield it. We have fox and coyotes and cats that roam and I hope they will be safe.
I have been adding many originals to my online shop and this will be todays add “No Goldfish Allowed”. Wednesday is Earth Day, April 22nd. This painting came about because of a report I heard that people who did not want their gold fish anymore would dump them in the freshwater lakes. Goldfish are carp…..carp grow very big….it throws off the ecosystem. The news report asked people not to do this. This mixed media painting has many great elements to enjoy. It shows above and below the water. The area above the water is calm but still busy. You can see a beaver with grass in his mouth, a dragonfly and frog on lily pads. A painted turtle getting air along with little ripples from insects or tiny fish. Below the surface are the lower parts of the beaver and the turtle. The goldfish, sunfish, trout and minnows along with all the movement of the plants. A world that we can only imagine how it really looks. The size is 20 X 40 and will be under Originals in the shop. Reproductions and cards can also be purchased and everything has free shipping. Use the coupon code Freeship.
The grape hyacinths are up in all their glory. I really love these.
The daffodils are a bit droopy from the recent snow. I think a little sunshine would do them well. I love these because their blooms are like double daffodils.
This planter I have at the pool and even though it is metal, we bungee cord it to the fence because the wind comes through so much in this area. This is what it looks like by the middle of the season only with flowers in it. The birds tear it apart to make nests. This is probably where the Robins got some of their nest material. I don’t mind at all but it just doesn’t stay pretty.
So last fall I had an “Ah Ha” moment and thought I should put the new lining and then the pot that the hyacinths came in. This would give and keep structure and then put the old liner and dirt. That way the birds can take the nest making material and everything will stay nice.
We will see how it goes when I buy flowers again.
I always have a curious crowd to shoo back when I come back into the house.
This bird feeder is still not drawing birds! I have decided that the lip is too narrow and they cannot get a good footing. We are going to add this plastic plate to give them more room.
Going to drill holes in it for drainage and the guys will attach it, probably with screws since they know where all the tools are. Will keep you updated. Today I did some online shopping to get a couple more bird feeders. I was on Amazon and then decided that I needed to go to our local Wild Birds Unlimited Store, ordered good quality items and having them shipped and helped our local vendors.
I did order a belt on Amazon and Sweeper bags. I have gotten my use out of this 8 year old belt. It gets caught on my belt loops. Amazon must have thought these two items are essential because an hour later I was told they were packed and shipping. They don’t want my pants falling down or not to be able to sweep my house especially during this time of year when we have a lot of shedding.
It I am not embarrassed to say this…..I love cookies for breakfast, especially these cookies. I think many people like them too, sometimes they are all out at the grocery store! I eat three when I have them, two are never enough. I love them with my coffee. I hide them….they are all mine. Everybody has their own likes and I don’t eat theirs.

My husband Tom is funny. I was noticing that he was watching baseball games, the first Tigers game from last year. The first Tigers game when they opened Comerica Park, that was 20 years ago and fun to see the changes in broadcasters that are still at Comerica Park today. Old baseball movies. He likes to watch Reelz….The Mobsters…which there doesn’t seem to be any new mobsters anymore. I could tell you the story of John Gotti and recognize all the names of the others. Now there are gangsters…..not the same as mobsters. I told him you should binge watch on Netflix. “No don’t want to do that, it is a waste of time.” I say….no it’s not…it’s really great. I want you to see Blacklist, just watch two episodes. It’s exciting and you have to figure out what is going on. Ok, begrudgingly with a sigh……..He loves it. We usually watch three at one sitting. We are on episode 17 of the first season.

Our hair, it’s growing, like crazy, I am sure you know what I mean. I hope the stylists and nail places are resting up, they are going to have a lot of business. It’s gotten to the point where I keep it clean and brush it and try to give it some style when I go to the grocery store. It will be time to pull it back pretty soon. We can get new hairstyles because it will be long enough. I did find some, new to me, conditioner that I just love! Kenra It makes my hair really shiny nice and manageable even with the extra length. I give it a recommendation.

New Painting in Shop

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Just finished this painting today just in time to offer in my booth this weekend. I will be setting up in Roanoke Indiana at the Art Fair A Renaissance in Roanoke. It will be this Saturday October 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is going to be a beautiful fall day of 63 degrees and sunny. This painting is named “Love Many Things” after the Vincent Van Gogh quote I have added to it.

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This is a photo from my tent two weeks ago at Art at the Riverside in Leo Indiana. This was a really nice show setup. All the art booths were in an oval so we could look out and see everyone. The traffic flow was quite good with nice space in between the tents. There were food trucks to choose from for lunch. There was great music groups also. Each show becomes more successful and that is fun! Since this show was close to home it was nice to be able to see people I know too. I hope to see you this weekend.

So Much to Tell!

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This picture was last Saturday May 7th in Auburn Indiana. It was the first Farmers Market Day and I was there helping my sister Linda sell her baked goods. We got an early start because we didn’t want to miss anything in case it was going to be packed. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. and had to check to see if we were at the wrong area. There was not a soul there. We had our pick of the spots.

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Here she had all of her tasty baked goods all ready to sell. Tables up, signs up, and we are on it. Other vendors did show up but just a handful. I am sure it will grow as the weeks go on. I will be helping her often and she will be there almost every Saturday with freshly baked goods. It was a good day and people bought and appreciated her scones, bagels, breads and pies.

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Our geese families made their debut out on the pond. There are quite a few goslings and I just love to watch them.  I am an animal lover, especially babies.

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Swimming away and staying close to Mom and Dad.

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Tuesday was a big day, because I got to see my new Transit Connect pull in on the Car Carrier. It was the last stop, and it was the lone ranger on the truck. I love it, love it, love it. It rides well and is going to be so handy for traveling to my art fairs.

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Race Red is the color, and it makes me smile when I look at it. I am sure I am smiling when I’m driving also.

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It came at just the right time….actually we were a little worried and had plan B in case it didn’t. I will be showing my art at the Art Fair in Wyoming Ohio, which is down by Cincinnati on Sunday May 15th. Please click this link to view the web site. My information says there will be 190 artists.

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If you come to visit and see a Red Transit Connect you know you are in the right place. There are not too many around that look like this. We were saying at the dealership, this vehicle has been on a cruise, on a train and a car carrier. It’s logged a lot of miles from Spain, but when it came off the truck it only had 5 miles on the odometer. (I did say that I loved this didn’t I?) 🙂

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My sweet bleeding hearts are blooming. Somehow I lost two plants though. I used to have three. That happens sometimes.

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Look at these Johnny Jump-ups now, are they not the bomb. I just love them too!

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My new geraniums have good buds on them and are starting to bloom. That rustic bench was a good investment. It looks really nice on our porch.

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The cats like the cat grass that I have growing. These were old seeds that I had, so the grass is not full and lush. Good enough to chew on though.

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They pull it out and make of bit of a mess, easy enough to clean up though. It makes me happy seeing them enjoy it.

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Alas, the newest picture taken today of the baby house finches. Mother has a full nest to say the least of birds and poo! Will have to get the hose out when they are all grown and flown the nest. Mother Robin is too high or I would have liked to get a picture inside her nest also. I had a really nice Mothers Day Sunday with my family. It was such a beautiful day. I hope your week is bringing you a lot of interesting and fun things to talk about. Thanks for stopping!

The Nest

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In an earlier post I introduced you to The Finch’s.

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They have built a nest in my door wreath, which is a perfect place, normally. Tomorrow it is going to be open quite a bit. We will have to see how she handles this interruption.

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She always fly’s out of the nest when we come out that way, and then she sits in the tree and jabbers at us. I took the opportunity to point my camera at the nest to see what was in there. There are five little blue eggs. I think they are just precious!

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It reminded me of a painting I did a little while back, appropriately named “The Nest”. It says: They put their heart and souls into it. When the time came to leave the nest, They prayed they did enough. Happy Friday!

A little bit of spring

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My magnolia is blooming beautifully. Each bloom throughout spring is so fleeting. The bush had big fat buds last week and this week with a little warm weather the blooms are out. I was worried we had nickle size hail on sunday night and was hoping that it wouldn’t knock all the buds off.

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Showing you the big fat buds again.

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I have this wreath hanging on an outside door and noticed there were two birds flying to and from it. I think it must remind them of a tree because they are building a nest in it.

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Here it is, they have a good start on it. The birds are finches. I always feel blessed when a bird or a bunny chooses my house or yard to have their babies in.

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Here is my little sweet Sophie watching me. That’s it for now. As you can tell I love springtime. I hope you have some pretty plants growing where you live.