I have to admit, I didn’t feel a lot of gratitude this week. What I did feel was a lot of anxiety, frustration, grief, helplessness and impatience. The situation is hard, the Princess wanted to see her friends, I longed for our sweet family vacation time and my hero still had to go out into the world and help others. A glance at Facebook inspired new fears of the unknown and sorrow for the future of so many people. It’s a lot, and Spring decor just didn’t seem to inspire me like it usually does. But, our neighborhood is alive with color, the air filled with the sound of birds and the vegetable garden in progress. We have food in our pantry, internet for school needs and a stack of new library books I picked up the day before life changed! This week I’m practicing gratitude…I found some quotes to help bring us some balance and some pictures of a few spring touches. I hope both bring you joy.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” — Cynthia Ozick

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” — Ralph H. Blum

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” — Richard Bach

Inspire me Monday. Tuesday at our house. Inspire me Tuesday. Make it pretty. Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Keep in touch. Party in your pjs. Wednesday blog hop. Your whim. Share your style. Home and garden. Waste not . Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm. Friday features. Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home. Pit Stop. Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters. Create bake grow. Snickerdoodle. Happiness is homemade. Silver pennies. Create with joy. Over the Moon Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday celebrate your story Little cottage Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday. Farm fresh simple homestead pink Saturday

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Amy at A Day of Small Things – Pin

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Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer – Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst

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Remembering my Christmas feature is making me happy right now Celebrate Your Story@The Zucchini Sisters Home and Garden Thursday@A Delightsome Life. Morning Cup of Joe@The Cottage Market

 

So, I was suppose to be strolling the beautiful street of Charleston this week and enjoying the ultimate in southern hospitality…but life happened, and I needed to put a pin on these plans and revisit in June.  It’s the right thing for all of us. Needless to say, I didn’t have a new mantel up and ready and anything I throw together now can’t top this one from a few years ago. Oh look at that tiny Princess. It would be nice if our only problem was a weekend without Verizon, however, it is a good memory and a great reminder that things will change but everything will be alright  

 A restful weekend here in Annapolis, in no small part thanks to a crazy burned out electrical transformer that led to a blown out Verizon box that led to a service call to happen between 9am and 9pm that led to a mandatory day at home.  It is a wonder how we ever did anything without the internet…or Fios TV. Anyway, it did give me time to put together a St. Patrick Day mantel.  I have never attempted to capture the luck of the Irish in my decor, but like my Valentine’s mantel, I am quite pleased that the simplest additions really do have major impact.  Do you like the sparkly shamrock? I give the Princess full credit!

Some green depression, vintage postcards and a bunting of shamrock pennants gives homage to Old Saint Patrick.
A close-up of the gorgeous green of the glass.

Vintage St. Patrick postcards are known for their amusing nature and exuberant love of the perfect Irish lass! I love these examples of both.

My Hero also kept busy this weekend.  He was able to hang my darling new antique sampler…a post for another time. Thank goodness he had a reliable helper.  Someone has to chose the perfect nail!

I am partying with these lovely bloggers this week…

Inspire me Monday. Tuesday at our house. Inspire me Tuesday. Make it pretty. Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Party in your pjs. Wednesday blog hop. Your whim. Share your style. Home and garden. Waste not. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm. Friday features. Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home. Pit Stop. Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters. Simple homestead Create bake grow. . Snickerdoodle. Happiness is homemade. Silver pennies. Create with joy. Over the Moon Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about TuesdayLittle cottage Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday. Farm fresh

 

 

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things – Pin

Penny at Penny’s Passion – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer – Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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My Santa’s were featured at the following blog parties!

Friday Features at Oh My Heartsie Girl

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Ok, I get it. Winter is going to just bypass us this year. I could fight it and refuse to turn my home into a Springtime wonderland or I can just go with the tree buds, Robin red breasts, daffodils and warm air and maybe start to lighten up my decor…just a little. I always miss the coziness of winter when spring arrives, but who knows, maybe Mother Nature has a bit of a surprise in store for us…just not in April! have some bunnies I’ll be ready to display. And who wants to shiver at the Easter egg hunt?!

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things – Pin

Penny at Penny’s Passion – Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer – Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! Continue reading →

Remembering Christmas Past was featured at Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!

… the word sampler is derived…simply meaning “example”…a demonstration in skill. Needlepoint samplers were mainly school exercises during the 18th and 19th centuries, when stitching of samplers was believed to be a sign of virtue, achievement and industry, and girls were taught the art from a young age. Often these lovely and imperfect works were used as household rags and lost forever but others were tucked into trunks and dressers to save and cherish.

My heart beats a little faster when I spy one of these beauties in an antique store. Some are WAAAY out of my budget but some are manageable with a little time spent in layaway (always form a friendly relationship with your local antique dealer…you won’t be sorry). Let me share some of my prized pieces….cherished and loved in my household now…

Susan Combs, age 12, completed this wonderful sampler in 1823, everytime I walk by it I am blown away that it survived almost 2 centuries. I hang this work  in awe and wonderment.

This one is unsigned but seems to be the work of a very young girl still challenged by spacing. When I walk by it I am reminded that life is a process. We need to enjoy the journey and forget the notion of perfection. There is beauty in imperfection. I hang this work in gratitude.

What happened to Caroline Smith , age 12 ? Why is her sampler unfinished? Why was it kept in pristine, immaculate condition for almost 175 years? Her life, perhaps cut short, remains a mystery.  When I walk by it I am reminded that life can be sobering, fragile and often taken for granted. I hang this work in remembrance.

Not every sampler in my collection is old, or even vintage, but they do commemorate life changing events in my life…becoming a wife and becoming a Mama…they were completed by my own mother and will be cherished and loved for many generations. I hang these works in love.

Thank you for the visit but I must be going…

I have a shopping date waiting for me!

Inspire me Monday. Tuesday at our house. Inspire me Tuesday. Make it pretty. Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Keep in touch. Party in your pjs. Wednesday blog hop. Your whim. Share your style. Home and garden. Waste not. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm. Friday features. Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home. Pit Stop. Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters.Create bake grow. Snickerdoodle. Happiness is homemade. Silver pennies. Create with joy. Over the Moon Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday celebrate your story Little cottage Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday simple homestead