It's not the Easter Bunny that has shown up here on the grounds.............

it's these vibrant and beautiful Yellow- headed Blackbirds. They come to visit every year. These are the males. The females are plain black and smaller and show up two weeks earlier than the males. 

They fill the pine tree above my shop and I can hear their chatter and singing.....

(click on photos for a better view)

bringing much cheer and beauty to the whole area.

Even the bare  mesquite tree at this time of year, 

has a touch of beauty as they sit and chatter away in it's barely budding branches.

The feeder usually looks like this...............

but now looks like this. They are a hungry bunch to feed.

It's just one of those things in life..........that I call "God's present for the day" that makes me grateful and thankful for where I live .

They are so beautiful to watch............

Salem thinks so.............

he is mesmerized by them............

He can't seem to be quick enough to gets his paws on one yet..

So he just lies on the porch..........wishfully thinking about them.

When he naps, his mouth quivers and his tail thumps as he dreams of catching his prize.

How about you?

Along with the Easter Bunny, what has shown up at your bird feeder?

Do you have these kinds of birds in your tree?

What is the common bird of your area?

I would love to hear!

Wishing you a very happy Easter!

 If you would like a wonderful Easter dessert recipe for your holiday meal, 

visit my cooking blog by clicking onto this link

My Country Kitchen

This threatening cloud

wound up bringing much needed rain 

 and a cooling to the already heat blasted area.

When a good rain like this comes along......a few days later, the grounds turn green.........

usually with weeds. But if you look at the green growing in this area of my flower garden, 

you will see that this is a carpet of wild Prairie Aster.

It is growing wonderfully in every area and along side of my walkway.

Along with it is the wild yellow daisy.

Prairie Aster grows thicker and taller and is filled with vibrant purple flowers throughout summer and into October.

This is all flowers. The areas that are just earth........will be planted with zinnia in a few weeks. 

The rain also brings out many creatures. As most of you know by now, I show you a lot of photos of horned toads that grow abundantly here on the grounds............

but I don't think I have shown you the baby ones which are precious and cute!

This one is smaller than a teaspoon.

(click on photo for a better view)

They are so small when they start out and they camouflage well in the area they are in.

How about you?

Is all of your snow gone?

Are you covered  in dust..........or are you getting good rain?

maybe too much rain??

I would love to hear!

Once again, a man at the dump had a treasure in the back of his truck..................

and as most of you know.........the dump is the last place I want to be..........

however, if you remember a couple of years back, 

I got this old chair ........at the dump......from a man who had it in the back of his truck............about to toss it out to it's doom.

When I saw the blank back of the chair..........it said..........

"embroider me"

and I did...........and it is living another life in my embroidery studio.

So around the corner comes another man.........in another truck..........and he tossed this beautiful table out.

I can't believe that no one wanted to keep this beauty!

It is very heavy..........

The bottom is complete heavy ornamental metal all around 

and pretty ornate wood on the top. The only thing wrong with it is that is was missing it's glass top.

Of course when I saw it..............I did not want a glass top for it. No........other plans were forming in my mind. 

Isn't this the prettiest design?

I love the metal leaf corners of this table.........don 't you?

I asked my husband cut a sturdy board for the top of it, making sure to secure it from the bottom of the table, and not covering up the decorative top. Now I had a blank canvas to work with!

I have an assortment of these beautiful slate tiles that I have been wanting to use

and I decided that they would be perfect slate drink coasters .......attached to the top of this table.

The words on this inspiration rock did not show up well for the photo.........but they say.......

"believe in your dreams"

something I have always done.........

So with the slate tile, the inspiration rock.......a lot of other colorful rocks and some twigs.........

and a lot of imagination...........

this blank table top 

now looks like this! 

I love trees and rocks.............

and this was a great way to display them. 

I used an outside adhesive to glue it all down. I wanted the tree to have a look of fall leaves.

I painted the rim of the table in black, but left the decorative part in the brown color because it looks like old metal this way. 

I used red rocks to run along the inside edge.

I sealed it all in a protective coating..............

and now I have a great looking table for the patio!

I still cannot believe that this beautiful table was tossed away.

It  matches the rockers on the patio...........making this space more pretty as we sit out  in the late afternoon   to watch the ending of the day,.

I still do not like to go to the dump.............there are other places I would much rather find pretty things at.............

however, I can't resist the back end of a truck going to the dump...........

sometimes.......

She passed away so many years ago..........

but my memory of her is still fresh and vivid.

While most teenage girls would be out with their boyfriends, 

much of my weekends were spent with my best friend at the home of her grandmother.

We would spend the Saturday there, watching the Grand Old Opry on television with her, and not knowingly  keep her up with our girlish giggling late in the night, till she would finally tap on the wall to tell us to quieten down and go to sleep. 

Sunday morning would find us dressed and going to church with her. 

She and my friend introduced me to the path of a Christian life and  pulled  me into the warmth and love of their family. 

So many wonderful memories I have from the time spent there.

A little while back , my friend visited and brought with her 

this little night case that belonged to her grandmother. Her grandmother had used it while traveling to visit relatives. I feel so honored that she gave it to me! 

 It still has her name on the tag.  I had been keeping it in my home, filled with crocheted items that I have found  along the way.

I have just opened my vintage shop and embroidery studio,  and realized that this little case was the perfect display.

 . 

It sits on an old dresser and is overflowing with vintage crocheted items. 

The crochet is all for sale............but the case will never be. It makes me smile and remember Mrs. Golden when I see it. 

I think she would be thrilled to know that it is being used this way..........

don't you think?

Throughout the shop, there are items, given by friends and family throughout the years, which are also, not for sale. I have them there, because of the connection and the love I feel for all of them.

As the little saying on the heart says:

" old friendships are the dearest and best"

and if I could add my own statement..........

they are also the most missed.

It's been an extremely busy and work packed day...........

I can feel the results in my bones as the day gets ready to rest..........

and there is much on my heart and mind to go with it. 

                             

but it all resolves and  dissolves 

as  I find  comfort in the golden hued hours and solitude of the late afternoon.

There is a peacefulness to the woods that surround the house...........

as it lies over......

 soft and comforting...........

like a warm blanket.

In my silence I watch a rabbit hop about in the dry yellow brush......

in search for something green to munch on. 

A dove coos and calls out to it's mate as it finds a final roosting place 

in the crooked mesquite tree, that is lit up with the late afternoon sun.

In the midst of this.............

one could never know that it was such a hurried and hectic day

All is still.

                         

Sophie who has been out with me through much of this day,   

 finds comfort even in the hard bricks on the porch .

Tomorrow, the sun will shine, the harsh wind may blow,

and the wolf might come knocking on the door,

bringing life's uncertainties along with it,  

but there is assurance that all is well at the end of the day.

I have faith in that.........

and sometimes......faith is all one needs.

An electric fence has now been added to the outside area

of the chicken yard.

Hopefully, this will keep my chickens safe from future coyote attacks. 

They coyotes are appearing every day. This very young and very starved coyote was following behind Sophie and I, because it picked up the scent of the scraps that I had carried out to place at the far end of the woods, to keep the coons and the coyotes away from the house.. I often feed the scraps to the chickens, but if I leave too much and the chickens don't eat it, the scraps draw the wild animals into their yard. 

I was able to get pretty close to this young coyote for this photo. It was so naive and starved to be very afraid of Sophie and I. It did keep a good distance from me.  

The dry brown ground has started to awaken from it's winter slumber

and the daffodils are starting to blossom in their vibrant yellow.

Such a pretty sight at the base of this ancient mesquite tree.

I hope they multiply and bloom each season  as the years pass by.

The warm weather has brought out the wasp and they explore the rose bushes for a drop of water.

In spite of the pretty blossoms, I am brought back to the reality of how dry it is by the hard blowing wind today. It blows the dirt and the tumbleweeds across the bare cotton field onto the share croppers house. 

I brought home an armful of English Daisies from a local nursery........

with one thing in mind..........

to capture their beauty with my needle and thread.

You can read more about this on my embroidery blog

Yesteryear Embroideries

How about you?

Has the weather warmed and awakened your grounds and blossoming flowers?

Are you still under a blanket of snow?