I Have Returned!

Greetings to my blog friends.  I feel terrible that I have neglected my blog for so many months.  It has been a very difficult time for me.  I had to move to a new place...continued serious health problems...the resulting financial problems...some of my longtime "friends" abandoning me..........  Let's just say that this is not a year that I would be anxious to repeat!

Yes, Henry, Bunny and I have relocated to a new "nest" -- a lovely condo about 2 miles from my old neighborhood, and we love it. 
Bunny especially likes her new bed.

 It did not take Henry long to find his favorite nesting place -- the sink!

 

I am still struggling to clean out the house and have the estate sale before the end of the month.  It's like boot camp!  PURGE, two, three, four!   DONATE two, three, four!  NO, you probably will never be a size 6 or 8 again, so purge all those little clothes -- two, three four!!  WHEW!

I am having a good time dreaming up home dec ideas with my flea market and thrift store finds, and I will share my photos with you soon.  I brought my signature green barn wood door with me that stood in-between my garage doors at the house for so long.  I could not bear to leave it behind or to sell it, so it has a new home now on my balcony. 

I continue to take my photographs of flowers and nature, and to enjoy poetry.  Here are some photos that I took in July at Canoe Creek State Park in Pennsylvania while I was home visiting my parents. 

Here are a couple of shots of my Mother's gorgeous flower boxes!

Looking forward to future blogging, photos, poems, friends, and wonderful discoveries!

Above all, Be Well and Happy.

Robin

Daffodils in the Garden and Bird's Nests in My Hair

"You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair."
                          --   Chinese Proverb

You have no way of knowing this, but I have a collection of art in my sewing room that depicts women with bird's nests in their hair.  I'm not quite sure how it started, but I'll just blame it all on etsy!  Ha ha.  One of these days I will give you a tour of my bird nest ladies.  My sewing room, as well as my house, is in disarray since I am in the process of getting ready to move - I don't know when or where yet, but I do know that it will be soon, and that I have to purge a lot of stuff!

Poetry, art and photography help calm me down.  So do the daffodils that have begun blooming in my yard, and the sights and sounds of the birds who are scouting their nesting sites and looking for nesting materials.  Don't forget to put out your dryer lint, pet hair, bits of yarn and string, and other soft nesting materials for the birds now.  They need it for their little ones!

As I have said in the past, two of my favorite places are Sanibel and Captiva Islands in Florida.  The great lady Lucy Maude Montgomery spent a great deal of reflective time there, and I feel somewhat of a kinship with her, even though we have lived during different centuries.  Here is a wonderful poem that she wrote about Spring, and another poem from a lovely fellow you may have heard of.

         Spring Song
Hark, I hear a Robin calling!
List, the wind is from the South!
And the orchard-bloom is falling
Sweet as kisses on the mouth.

In the dreamy vale of beeches
Fair and faint is woven mist,
And the river's orient reaches
Are the palest amethyst.

Every limpid brook is singing
Of the lure of April days;
Every piney glen is ringing
With the maddest roundelays.

Come and let us seek together
Springtime lore of daffodils,
Giving to the golden weather
Greeting on the sun-warm hills.

Ours shall be the moonrise stealing
Through the birches ivory white;
Ours shall be the mystic healing
Of the velvet-footed night.

Ours shall be the gypsy winding
Of the path with violets blue,
Ours at last the wizard finding
Of the land where dreams come true.

        --Lucy Maud Montgomery

Perhaps the  most famous "Daffodils" poem:

                  Daffodils
I wander'd lonely as a cloud
     That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
     A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
     And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
     Along the margin of a bay;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance;
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
     Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not be gay,
     In such jocund company;
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
     In vacant or in pensive mood
 They flash upon that inward eye
     Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
  And dances with the daffodils.

         -- William Wordsworth (1804)

       A gorgeous daffodil bud from my garden.

 Another sign of Spring -- lichens on my trees. 

I will be back soon.  Until then, be well and happy.  
Don't let the birds nest in your hair! 


             Robin

Vintage Singer Dressmaking Book and Free Sewing Printables

I am in the process of doing a MAJOR decluttering of my house, and yesterday I found a book that I forgot that I bought a few weeks ago at a thrift shop.  It is a Singer Sewing Machine Dressmaking Course from 1961 - the year I was born.  The illustrations are cute!  Some of the things that the hostess stresses crack me up --- like -- "You must always keep your sewing room nice and tidy at all times".  Oh my, if she could only see my sewing rooms!  Alas, that was the 60's.  However, I still need to get things organized and under control! 

A note about these pages from the book.  Blogger would not let me upload them after I spent an hour struggling with my stupid scanner trying to get them saved into my computer.  I'm not trying to violate any copyright laws here.  Please do not download the photos I took of the pages from this book.  There will be other free downloads for you at the end of this post. 

So, without further adieu, here are a few pages from the book.  Now remember,  mind your manners girls, and, as she tells you in the book, make sure that you always wear the proper undergarments, including the all-important "slip", especially when you are taking measurements for your sewing garments.  (I doubt that the slips of the 1960"s sucked in much of the female population's "unwanted" proportions  --  what would she have said if Spanx had been invented back then?)

So, there you have it.  I just thought the illustrations were cute.  I think that many of the sewing lessons in this book can still be applied today, so I'm going to take a closer look at it. Oh, by the way, guess who bought herself a swanky new sewing machine for her birthday?  I'll be "unveiling" it to you folks soon.  BUT - So far, I've been afraid to touch it -- I'm such a nerd!  

Here are some sewing-related downloads for you.

Okay Ladies and Gentlemen out there -- "Keep Calm and Sew Something"!
(But wear your slip and clean up after yourselves!)  
Most of all ----
Be Well and Happy.

Robin

Happy Birthday To Me!

 Today is my 50th birthday.  I'm not embarrassed to admit this, I think that 50 is just a number, and considering all of the serious health problems that I have had during the past 10 years, frankly, I am happy to have reached my 50th birthday.  For weeks, I have been telling people that one of the things that I wanted for my birthday was a big snowstorm - like 25"!  Everyone was ready to strangle me!  Ha Ha.  My hopes were running low last week when the thermometer hit 68 degrees.  However, the Snow Fairy bestowed 8" of the lovely white stuff on me last night, just in time for my birthday.  This even gave me a chance to wear my new sweater that I bought at Macy's with some birthday money for the whopping price of $7!  I love a birthday bargain.  Here are some winter wonderland photos from my yard.  I wanted to do a nature walk in the woods, but I will have to do that tomorrow.  First, a pretty poem.

                 Winter Storm
Outside the trees are wearing ermine capes,
The eaves are flaunting icicle drapes,
And cascades of diamonds spill
From rocky ledges on the hill.
Red berries glisten in the snow.
The wind-chill factor is ten below.
A winter storm came in last night
And blanketed our world in white.
Inside
There's a crackling fire, an easy chair,
And firewood stacked up to there;
A catalogue of plants and seeds
From which to choose Spring garden needs;
A book to read, a pot of tea,
And food enough for you and me.
Welcome to my hearth and home.
Never mind the winter storm...
          Willette Caudle McGuire

Here is one of my Garden Chairs.

My Holly bushes still have a few berries for the birds!

Our lovely evergreens provide shelter for birds and deer alike.

The busiest birdhouse in the neighborhood gets a winter rest!

Grazing Deer.

My vintage wool gloves came in handy today.

It was dark by the time I got home from my thrift shop adventures today, so I fashioned a nighttime snow celebration.  This is my yummy cake from the famous Bethel Bakery in Bethel Park, PA.  They make the most awesome cakes and pastries!  As I typed this post, I ate it and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here's the full view.

I fashioned the "50" from some of my pink vintage earrings - pretty in pink!

All in all, I think that 50 is going to be a "fabulous" year!
Until next time - Be Well and Happy!

Robin

John James Audubon

I was absolutely thrilled a couple of weeks ago to find a huge beautiful old hard bound book --- John James Audubon's "The Birds of North America"  for only $3.00 at Goodwill!  I came home and poured through the pages, examining his drawings with true admiration for his incredible skills and attention to detail that could only come  from a lifetime of devotion to the study of birds as well as a God-given talent for illustration.

The book "Bright Wings" contains a poem which is a tribute to Audubon, and I now share it with you --

        John James Audubon

  Some men live for warlike deeds,
  Some for women's words.
  John James Audubon
  Lived to look at birds.

  Pretty birds and funny birds,
  All our native fowl
  From the little cedar waxwing
  To the Great Horned Owl.

  Let the wind blow hot or cold,
  Let it rain or snow,
  Everywhere the birds went,
  Audubon would go.

  Scrambling through a wilderness,
  Floating down a stream,
  All around America
  In a feathered dream.

  Thirty years of traveling,
  Pockets often bare,
  (Lucy Bakewell Audubon
  Patched them up with care).

  Followed grebe and meadowlark,
  Saw them sing and splash.
  (Lucy Bakewell Audubon
  Somehow raised the cash).

  Drew them all the way they lived
  In their habitats.
  (Lucy Bakewell Audubon
  Sometimes wondered "Cats"?)

  Colored them and printed them
  In a giant book.
  "Birds of North America"--
  All the world said,  "Look!"

  Gave him medals and degrees,
  Called him noble names,
  --Lucy Bakewell Audubon
  Kissed her queer John James.

            --Stephen Vincent Benet



Cedar Waxwing

Great Horned Owl

Grebe

Meadowlark

Doesn't the Meadowlark just make you think of Spring?  It's Beautiful.  So many birds today.
Be well and Happy.  Sing like the Spring Meadowlark!

Robin

"Bright Wings" Poem -- The Tufted Titmouse

The ever spry and agile Tufted Titmouse is always entertaining to watch in my back yard.  He is an acrobat, going up and down trees -- forward and backward, sideways and cross ways -- whatever it takes to get his dinner.  While at the bird feeder he is equally skilled at maneuvering to get his meal.  Not only does he make me laugh, he is also a handsome bird with his little topper on his head and pretty belly. 

According to the book "Bright Wings", the name Titmouse dates back to the fourteenth century from the Old English words mase, which meant "bird", and tit which meant something small.  In Great Britain,  Great Tits and Blue Tits were reported to have broken open the foil caps of milk bottles, delivered to doorsteps, to drink the cream!  What little devils!

And now to our poem........

                    Titmouse
   If you would happy company win,
  Dangle a palm-nut from a tree,
  Idly in green to sway and spin,
  Its snow-pulped kernel for bait; and see
      A nimble titmouse enter in.

  Out of earth's vast unknown of air,
  Out of all summer from wave to wave,
  He'll perch, and prank his feathers fair, 
  Jangle a glass-clear wildering stave,
      And take his commons there--

  This tiny son of life; this spright,
  By monentary Human sought,
  Plume will his wing in the dappling light,
  Clash timbrel shrill and gay --
  And into time's enormous nought,
        Sweet-fed, will flit away.

            --Walter De La Mare

So dance like a Titmouse in the Woods today as if you had not a care in the world -- Flit about  -- Strut your plumage -- You are an awesome creature!

As Always -- Be Well and Happy!

Robin

More "Bright Wings" Poems - The Chickadee and a Sunny Walk

I took the opportunity to take a walk outside yesterday in the marvelous sun which we have not seen enough of lately.  I found some interesting treasures right in my back yard.
First, some moss growing out of the snow at the base of a tree -- perhaps a sign of spring?

Second, a precious little bird's nest in my trumpet flower vines.  I don't know what kind of bird made it -- maybe a Robin?

The trumpet vines look like a Halloween card this time of year without any beautiful greenery and orange flowers and with the hummingbirds buzzing in and out.

Third, my terracotta man looks quite lonely without any flowers.

Fourth, some footprints in the melting snow.........

Deer.

Humanoids.

I saw some Precious little Chickadees flitting about, but they were too fast for my camera.  They were hard at work looking for food.  I did find some bird tracks in the snow. Probably too big for a Chickadee though.

This time of year it's tough for birds to find water that's not frozen.  I think that they should go to Walden Pond.

And now two poems concerning the Chickadee from the book "Bright Wings", Edited by Billy Collins.

            December Notes

  The backyard is one white sheet
  Where we read in the bird tracks.

  The songs we hear.  Delicate
  Sparrow, heavier cardinal,

  Filigree threads of chickadee.
  And wing patterns where one flew

  Low, then up and away, gone
  To the woods but calling out

  Clearly its bright epigrams.
  More snow promised for tonight.

  The postal van is stalled
  In the road again, the mail

  Will be late and any good news 
  Will reach us by hand.

           -- Nancy McCleery

    In Walden Wood The Chickadee  

  In Walden Wood the Chickadee 
  Runs round the pine and maple tree,
  Intent on insect slaughter:
  O rufted entomologist!

  Devour as many as you list,
  Then drink the Walden Water.

              -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until next time -- Be Well and Happy and Sing Your Heart Out!

Robin