remembrances

such lovely days

old rail fence along the new garden and orchard~

Our Creator would never have made such lovely days, and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal.

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne ~

heirloom Delaware chicks

heirloom tomato plants

with names like Mr Stripey, Pink Ox Heart,

Black Krim, Crimson Currant, red and yellow Brandywine

and

Cherokee Purple

it seems to me, at least in my experience,

that early breeds of chicks are much livelier,

bright eyed and bushy tailed...

or these little women were just so pleased

to be out of their mailing box.

It was all I could do to keep them in the basket to have

their likeness taken.

~We're ready for warm days in the gardens

and soft evenings on the porch ~

I hope this finds you all enjoying the same

if wishes were gardens....

~Tasha's spring gardens~

~~

"May I a small house and large garden have; and a few friends,

and many good books, both true, both wise, and both delightful too!

~~

from "the Wish"

~ Abraham Cowley~

17 th century English poet

~~~

delightful May has arrived and yet she has not graced us with

her much anticipated gift of fragrant lilacs.

No budded peony or heady scented bridal veil spirea that for many years has arched

over the brick paths on sweet May evenings.

My favorite mock orange that climbs and kisses the chimney bricks and porch railings...

has just a few timid leaves peeking out here and there.

The seedlings in the greenhouse have sprouted sturdy and green,

looking through the glass out at

barren and windy garden plots...they seem to snuggle down into the warm

earth of their pots and trays, waiting for warmer days that surely must come...

but when ?

my gentleman farmer always says "patience, my love"....

Potted heirloom lavenders, rose and lemon scented geranium, citrus scented thyme,

all wait in sunny windows for late spring days when they'll be planted down

in the old rail fenced garden.

There are lupines, poppies, wildflowers and herbs of every kind

All waiting for spring to forget her fickle ways

and grace us with warm soft

days and gentle evenings.

~

I hope that this finds you having real spring outside your door way.

love to you all,

Christine

I have not forgotten that I promised to share my new old rail fence with you.

Soon as all the crab apples are in full bloom!

new doll story in the Deerfield Doll house

Good morning everyone~

Just wanted to let you know

that there's a new dolly story in the

Deerfield Doll house blog

with the little Deerfield Ladyes and of course,

Lydia. enjoy!

emma & elisabeth

my beautiful little grand daughters,

Elisabeth and Emma, in their Easter dresses.

Little Elisabeth is walking and Emma is always vigilant

to keep her from falling...

best friends for life....

a fine April morning.....

the sun is barely peeking over the hills here.

and I can already see that it holds alot of promise for a beautiful first day of April.

I'm here at my little table, candles lit and the house is quiet.

a small bouquet of tiny white daffodils scent the whole room.

From my window I can see the newly worked garden, the trees beginning to leaf out

and the old rail fence that has changed how everything looks and feels here.

It's beginning to feel like what my heart wants.

clean and new ~translate that to "old"

fresh and full of promise

Even the dollies have a tiny pansy bouquet in a wee cup.

Wishing you all a fine April morning

what's cooking in the doll house

Spring brings warmer days, sunshine and plenty of sweet green grass

for my little hens to nibble and they're loving it.

Each morning they thank me for letting them wander our farm with

more lovely eggs than we can possibly ever use ourselves.

I'd leave them on my neighbor's doorstep, but they all have the same

wonderful over abundance of lovely fresh eggs.

~

What to do?

Spring makes me think of daffodils and the scent of lemon thyme

and wonderfully buttery crusted and "bite-into-a-fresh-lemon"

Lemon Curd Tarts.

It uses plenty of eggs...

the first time I made it, I had to make another batch...it was so good that by the time

I was finished "tasting" it, it was all gone.

It's very easy to make, you just need eggs, butter,sugar & fresh lemons, lots of them.

I dare you not to eat most of your first batch!

~~~

another lovely thing that's cooking

is that my work table in the doll house is filled with piles of

old fabrics, thread and sweet spring trimmings~

getting these and other little dolly dumplings ready for spring

they'll be making their own Easter baskets and coloring eggs soon...

and I hope to keep them out of the Lemon Tarts.

They each seem to have their own little spoons tucked into their pockets

under their skirts.