Guess who forgot St. Patrick's Day ?

I found this cute map you might enjoy looking at. All our family came from County Cork, and settled in NY state near the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario. Actually, most of the Irish up north built the canal. It was a bit more inland near Syracuse. Our small city was about 22,000 not counting the college students.
The Irish settled right on the edge of the lake and named it "Corky Hollow" after County Cork. This would have been my grandmother's family. They all had large families and lived right around the corner from each other. We had a lot of fun growing up and and visiting my grandmother on our bikes. She would give us a grown up size cup of tea -- mostly milk and a small amount of tea and stir it. Another treat was her homemade bread, warm with real butter and brown sugar. That was living!
There were seven ethnic groups that all settled around their churches, and some of them continued to speak their different languages. I have such great memories of it all. On the map, Cork is in the bottom right.
So, I'm a day late, but I hope you all had a FUN day.




Now we are all itching to get out in the yards and get some color going. I am guessing you all have flowers peeking up at you in many different colors. We have a good month to go yet. We have what they call the lake effect, and that keeps us cooler
longer. I remember when my girls were younger, the whole family would drive down to Williamsburg and by the time we got to Harrisburg, Pa we could see the flowers just coming up and no snow there. Just that short 5 hour drive made such a difference.




I have always liked this vase. It looks good with green anything in it. It has that Old World look.




I found this pineapple in the Bath and Body Works the other day. Actually I got a set of two. They are a good size -- a little over 12 " high, and about 8 " in the middle. They are nice and heavy and will take probably a medium size candle. I just love them. I remember when Susan (BNOTP) was telling us about the gingerbread house at Christmas time and how they went so fast. These are selling very fast, also. She mentioned they might have the house again this year, so save up your pennies.......




Lastly, Don't you love the red ? They just perk everything up. So, in the meantime, until we have a bit more sun, these will have
to hold us over until we can get out and play with the good stuff.
You remember my little bird couple ? Well, it looks like things haven't changed much. The woman of the house is still talking !
(and he's not listening). She must really have "issues"?

What's with the Title ???

Lest I confuse you anymore, I will explain a bit of why I like change. I think I was born this way. Growing up I had too many things going on and managed nicely, or so I thought. Fast forward past the family, children, weddings and moving all over the place while my Dad was serving in the service, left me growing in love with change.
I can remember one week during my high school years when my Mom went home for a week to visit her family. I was so excited !
My Dad gave me the ok and I emptied the bedroom, painted the walls, washed and hung the curtains back up. Shined up the bedroom floors, and also the windows. It really looked great and I had so much fun doing it.
NOW, I don't know if my Mom enjoyed change as much as I did, though she did say she like it. From that point on, I always had projects going. Had to have two or three in case we got a snowstorm and I couldn't get out for what I needed. I also managed to have a too active social life, but then, most of us did.

One particular night, a friend and I were baby sitting and the parents of the children didn't get home until quite late. I can't tell you how hungry we were waiting for them to come home. The "fridge" was really empty and even the baby food looked good.
We then found a jar of Peanut butter and another jar of dill pickles. Not to thrilled at the thought of eating them together, either.
Once we started, they tasted better and better. We were SOLD.
To this day we still talk about that night and how good our snack tasted.

So, I have been changing backgrounds, fonts, and colors, but not feeling the title about my baskets told you nice readers what was in my blog. It just didn't match. So, once again, change set in. For whatever reason when I have to make changes, I always think of that night.
My poor husband had to look for his favorite chair once in a while as I usually changed the room while cleaning. I'm sure most of you can relate to that one.
I hope you understand and will join me in loving my new title. I promise to cool it now. I will stick to my picture taking and love of homes.

Playing with Spring Collages

Here's a little pick me up, mostly flower collages. Nothing shouts spring like pink tulips, don't you think ? They are so much fun to do, besides.

What a week of great weather

It is so unusual for us up here by the lake to see the sun this early in the year. It has been gorgeous out for over a week, now.
I have even seen a few neighbors pulling weeds, and trimming after the snow has melted. Of course, there is another batch of snow heading our way, but it sure was a treat to have to dig out the sun glasses. I usually have my camera with me "just in case" and today was no exception.
Have you done your taxes yet ? Last night I had piles of papers all over the living room floor and tried to make sense of the stash.
I love being organized! Spring does get us moving.
This was a little handmade case and my small camera fits in there nicely. I was going to finish up but somehow I found the computer,lol. I am changing my service and soon will have my computer working swell.
Here was my day in three pictures............

1.TAKE PICTURES. OK.


2. Come back home and finish what I have started yesterday........ I didn't.




3. Vacuum the stairs -- I didn't ......... but I will.



So, all in all, it was a very good day!

Cuddly Creatures

Hi on this gorgeous Friday. I just put some pictures on Flicker, and came across a few that I thought were cute.
These were taken over the last two or so years.

Meet Max ! Isn't he just the cutest. He lives down in Austin with my daughter and family because the weather is better -- warmer than here.



This reminds me of "King of the Hill "!





Just having a great time sight seeing. So graceful.




This is my buddy, Cruiser who lives across the street from me. As you can see he loves to go for rides with the family.
He is waiting so patiently for them to come out and get going.





Oh, I think it's dinner time now. Y'all come back and see us again. Bye!

All Things Crafty

Here's a few different projects I put together -- really different.
Enjoy the variety!
The first one is covered styrofoam cones with yarn and a spray of different shaped mini beads. I got this idea from
Just a Girl. I think she used cardboard cones if I remember. Whatever works
for you. It would be cute with mini shamrocks or mini Easter eggs, too. Thin cork coasters work well for the base.




I saw something similar at one of the craft stores and tried to duplicate it. Very much Fall.



My favorite little family. Cute, huh ?



Good old Hobby Lobby. Love that place.



I'm taking this out for spring (you remember that, don't you ?) and found this wall hanging vase. Also, I just love the color red.

Home Sweet Home

I happen to live in a townhouse and we have certain restriction on what we can and can't do on the exterior of our homes.
These pictures are so lovely and I would give anything for a few gallons of paint, some beautiful lamps and decorations for the
door. So, I guess I will just enjoy these lovelies from afar.



This one happens to be my favorite.



... and this one



Oh, yes, and this one



Can't forget this house



Oh, heaven's, I just love them all. Don't you ?

Courtesty of BH&G

For Bird Lovers

Don't you just love to get pictures in the mail ? know I do, especially from a friend in Australia. Here are some for you that I just got in the mail yesterday and posted them for you to see and enjoy the glorious color of the birds. They are called King Parrot's. I never knew. I don't remember having seen such glorious color ever around my area.








Now the big Wallaby, I don't know just how friendly he is not living there every day. if I saw him near my mailbox, I think I would just take the easy way out and faint.
It's all in getting familiar with the harmless ones, I guess. Me, personally I like dogs ! Birds are fun to watch, too.

It's such a different way of living and one that I am so fascinated with. It's been fun learning how others live with their different animals. Enjoy the colors !




ps Thanks for sending these !

I Love Houses

I'm not a downtown girl much, but there are times I do have to go there. My reason is that I do not enjoy driving with all the speedy drivers on the road, but that's for another day. It's not a long drive, but a pretty one, especially if I don't take the expressway.
Here are a few homes in one area that I just love to drive by and dream. I think you could find one to love............








This front and side yards are completely filled with flowers.







The flowers look great under the large window.


Now I'm close to downtown so the camera goes back in my bag.

My Next Project

On my other blog, I posted some pictures of a Homearama near here. I took pictures of living rooms, kitchens, and dining rooms. Here is one of the laundry. I just love the crispness of the colors. It' a happy room that you would love to be in while folding, etc




The second one is a computer room. Tell me, if you were in the buying mode, would you like your computer room near the entrance ? I love the way it is decorated. I don't know about you but I have papers all over the place and I never could keep it
this neat. To me, this is perfection !