Love Birds

I mean....I love birds.  I am actually having a small obsession with them right now.  It's funny how things come around in life.  My mom use to have bird decorations in our house on Locksley Lane; quails, owl bookends, plates.....we even had a parakeet named Sparky that sat in the kitchen for awhile. Although we found him in the yard and adopted him, he wasn't really a chosen decoration. My Italian Grandma also loved birds and had a large marble owl that sat on this huge marble stand in her formal dining room. It kind of spooked me a bit back then, but now I can see the beauty of it. I never really gave bird decor much thought until recently.  Now, I love them as accessories and decorations.  They make the house feel warm and inviting.  It also adds a bit of sophistication to your spaces.

Look at this beautiful dresser from Tweak and Style.  Follow this link and Debbie will walk you through how she did this step by step.  She is a talented artist!  She also has great ideas on her blog and will certainly inspire you so check out the rest of her blog too.  

These adorable bird accents above can be found at Joss and Main. I  love the bird jar tops.  

Look at the fabulous bird cage and clock above.  I do not know where this originated from but think it is just beautiful.

These are random bird pictures from Pinterest that I put together because of my new obsession.  I'm slowly starting to make some new bird purchases.  I will keep you posted.  Do you have bird decor in your house?  Send me a picture.  I'd love to see!  

Have a great day!

Paula

Grandma's Comfort

When I was little my family and I would escape on weekends to a lake cottage in the uppermost part of Maryland.  The lake sat in the Allegheny Mountains and in the early spring and fall, it was cold.  The cottage wasn't winterized, but it did have a gas furnace that we would huddle around looking down through the floor at the pilot light, praying for heat upon arrival.  My mom brought up some old blankets from home and one of them was this sweet little quilt that my Great Grandma Baird had made. She raised 14 children and made use of all that she had.  The quilt is made of sweet little squares of flannel; plaids, flowers, stripes, argyles, kittens and other little flannel patches.  Grandma took whatever leftover sewing scraps she had and backed it with a blue and white flower flannel print.  She also pulled little strings of pink florets through every 3 inches or so.

It is the warmest and softest blanket you can imagine and you can bet that I snagged this for "my room" at the cottage.  I still have this today.  It's one of those blankets that you pull out when you are cold, sick or feeling blue and need an extra little hug.  Not only does it wrap you up in warmth, but it also wraps you up in love.  It's starting to fall apart because of the wear and tear over the years.  I might have to find some fabric of my own to patch it up with.

I never met my Great Grandma Baird, but maybe she is smiling down from heaven, happy to see something she made, wrapped around one of her own a few generations later.  Who knew those little scraps of fabric would have lent themselves to so much comfort.

I bet you have an old blanket similar to this.  Pull it out and use it.  It gives so much warmth to a room.

Hope you are warm today.

Paula

Life's Little Delays

One of the great many things about living in the south, is that we don't have to worry about snow days.  We don't have to scrape frost off of our windshields in below freezing temperatures or worry about ice on the roads after a rain in the winter. We just hum right along through winter with barely a thought of a winter jacket. Until....the weather randomly hits below 25 degrees. They delayed school for two hours this morning!  I looked up the weather channel to see what was coming.... Were we getting snow? Rain (We live in the "low country" so rain can reek havoc on us)?  Nope.  Just temperatures in the low 20's.  Come on people....right? I'm from Virginia, which is technically the south, but in South Carolina, Virginia is kind of the north. We didn't really blink at 20 degree weather up there much less check to see if schools would be delayed unless there was an imminent calling for snow.

What I have come to understand here, is that the south is not equipped to handle cold weather. The south sips sweet tea in ice chilled glasses throughout the winter. We sit on our porches in February. But, our water heaters are outside....hence, no hot water this morning as the lines are frozen.  The heat pumps work on auxiliary once the temps hit below 30. We don't drain our outside hose bibs for winter (I'm cringing).  I asked about hose bibs and water shut off valves when we moved here and my neighbors laughed at me.  Hence, no hot water, auxiliary heat and a school delay.  The temperature is also delaying a few projects I'm in the middle of.  No worries. They can wait.

I've decided to make some hot tea and use my good china this morning. I've also decided to use my good china throughout the year and not just on holidays or special occasions.

I painted this end table in Annie Sloan Duck Egg, with an Old White wash. I heavily distressed and then sanded the wash for a heavy brushed look and used clear wax.  You can't see it, but the wax buffed up so nicely and is super smooth.

I kind of miss those snow days.  Hello morning delay!

Paula

Linking up with:

Liz Marie
Up Cycled Treasures
Rain On A Tin Roof
A Stroll Thru Live
Domestically Speaking
Savy Southern Style
The Style Sisters
Green Willow Pond