Pink Elephants

Look what has been waiting in my backyard for me.

Spring is in the air. Early for Illinois. Tulips and crocus are peeping out from under the layers of mulch and ground cover. Temperatures will be in the 80's tomorrow. Pinch me! So excited for the warmer selling season. Busy making new things and lining up events and vendor opportunities. 

My beautiful 1950's wedding gown that I snagged on a recent road trip to St. Louis, Mo.

Just returned from a weekend in St. Louis and stopped in the Pink Elephant Antique Mall in Livingston, Il. We have passed it on numerous occasions and I finally got a chance to explore. A real treat. The store is housed in a small rural school building and is jam packed with treasures. I left with a 1950's wedding dress and some old clip on earrings for my brooch bouquets. Fun! I've attached a link that will tell you some more about the mall from Roadside America.com. 

Thanks to Roadside America for the photo. Where else can you find a giant sized beach guy in swimming trunks eating an ice cream cone in Illinois!

Speaking of vendor opportunities, I am very excited to be organizing an French market in downtown LaSalle this summer...the LaSalle Canal Market!  Fresh produce, baked goods, arts and fine crafts. Something for everyone. Fourth Saturday of the month from May until September. I'll be posting more about it in the coming weeks. 

Our Canal Market logo. Thanks to my great students for designing!

Off to enjoy some of this warm weather. Maybe take Chance and Lucky outside with me while I clear the flower beds. They love playing in the garden and I can't wait to turn the tall stump in our backyard into their "cat tree". Any suggestions on what I should do with it? I'm sure I'll think of something...

Just had some major tree cutting going on in our backyard. I asked the guys to leave the "stump" a bit taller then they usually do so Chance and Lucky could have a cat tree outside.  They have already discovered it when I was outside raking this afternoon.

The sights, smells, and sounds of spring!

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.  ~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat

Lovely splash of lavender pops out of nowhere in this lawn! 

I love to take Sadie and Lula for walks in the spring when the first of that season's flowers are blooming. Such wonderful smells! Enchanting. There are so many beautiful flowers to behold. And sometimes in such unexpected places...

Lillies of the Valley by my bedside. Sweet dreams.

This wonderful lady guards the entrance to another home on my walk.
It was where D. T. Suzuki once lived. He was a translator of Asian religious and philosophical classics and he first translated the Gospel of Buddha into Japanese for the Carus Publishing Company.

The scents are better then any perfume. Sorry Chanel. If I could bottle it I would be a millionaire. Right now the sweet smell of lily of the valley is in the air. I have some growing in my garden and just passing by the area stirs up the fragrance. Picked a beautiful bouquet yesterday morning and put them in an old pink glass bud vase that my grandmother had. They filled my bedroom with their aroma almost instantly and for the past two evenings I've fallen asleep with the their fragrance in the air. Ahhhhhhh. Sweet dreams.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the scent of this beautiful flower. But, what is it?

There is another flower that drives me wild with its sweet, sweet smell. Not sure what it is. Grows on a bush and passing it every spring on our walks sends me into sheer bliss. The smell reminds me of a combination of Black Jack and Beemans gum. My aunt and uncle had both packs of gum all around their house and when I would go to visit as a little girl I was free to take as many pieces as I wanted. Maybe that is one of the reasons I love the smell of this flower. The other is the beautiful, spicy smell that teases your nose as you walk by. Absolutely amazing.

I can't forget the lilacs. Shades of purple and white dot the neighborhood. It is not unusual to find me taking the dogs through the alley ways and side streets to pick a handful of these old fashioned flowers. They don't last long but are truly enjoyed for the short time that they are here. 

I have been invited to a few grand Christmas parties in this house. 

There are so many wonderful homes in my neighborhood. One special house is an old Italianate Victorian style place. Instead of grass in the front yard they have opted to create a garden in that space. An old Four Square house sits a few doors down and next to that is a charming Victorian that was the home to D.T. Suzuki for some years when he worked for the Hegeler Carus family. The grand daddy of all mansions is the home where the Hegeler Carus family lived and that is only a few blocks away. It's massive lawn blooms with blue bells and tiger lilies and is open for tours year round and is on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historical Landmark! You can visit the website and Facebook page for it, here and here.

Photo courtesy of the Hegeler Carus Facebook page. An amazing place!

One of my very favorite things about spring and summer is what I call the "golden hour". Do you know what that is? It is the time, right before the sun sets. A splash of gold color is washed over everything. A thin veil of darkness is slowly covering the earth. Not quite dark outside yet but soon... The birds seem to chatter and sing to each other like they do in the early morning hours.  So peaceful and calm. One day over and another getting ready to begin. 

Love the old brick streets and the sounds that the cars make as the tires make their way across the road. A canopy of trees cover and protect me as I walk by.

This time is especially beautiful when I go to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with friends every year. We always sit by the lake and have an early evening picnic. Food, pink depression glass plates, candles, wine and friendship. We talk. We laugh and sometimes cry. The sun is lovely as it sets over the water and the calming sound of water replaces the soothing song of the birds on land. 

One of my favorite homes on the lake. The backyard is perfect for a summer party, don't you think?

Sting once stayed here while he was performing in concert at Alpine Valley!

Beautiful lilies along the lake.

More Day Lilies that dot the lake path.

Stately Victorian mansions and million dollar homes with lush gardens dot the area along the 25 mile lake walk. We have our own million dollar spot near the waters edge. A small picnic table from Crate and Barrel and three fold up canvas chairs. Priceless!


Don't you think Nature has a way of creating the most exquisite things...

Spring is Here...

I was so excited to show you pictures of my lampshade makeover last week that I forgot to also post  pictures of my birdcage centerpiece that I talked about. To refresh your memory, I bought a small concrete pedestal (the kind you might put a gazing ball on) and placed a birdcage on it. A wreath of tiny pink flower buds crowns the top along with some spring greenery wrapped around the cage.

Inside the cage are three nests that I found during my walks with the dogs or left on the grass in our yard like a tiny gift from God. Lovely little things - two very small ones...wispy and fragile...a finch nest perhaps. Another large one with three blue eggs in it, sitting frozen in time. They all rest on a bed of moss and are carefully tucked in their places.

Louie our cat is very curious about the whole thing. He lurks under the curtains in the dining room and jumps ever so softly on the table every once in a while to check it out. I wonder if he is confused with it all? Sometimes he will sit on a small shelf near the kitchen sink near the windows that look out to the back yard. When they are open and the birds are calling he seems mesmerized with their chant. I long to let him go outside but alas, he is an indoor cat. I am afraid to let him roam for fear something will happen to him. Very attached to that cat.

You see, Louie was the first animal that my youngest son, Matt acquired as a young man on his own in the city. After graduation last year from a small college in Ripon, Wisconsin, Matt headed to Logan Square a charming neighborhood in Chicago. He spent some time there his junior year in college at an exchange semester sponsored by his school. Best thing for him. Learned to maneuver in the city. Embrace everything there is to see, smell, taste and hear. But I'm getting off the track. Louie came into the picture when Matt decided that he wanted a pet. However, there was a small catch...NO ANIMALS ALLOWED in the apartment! He got the cat anyway and after a few weeks he was "found out". The cat, named Spaghetti at that time needed a home. Always wanting a cat and with little convincing of my husband (he's not as found as I am of felines) we gave Spaghetti a home. He looked more like a Louie and his full name is Louie Mozart...Mozart being the street that Matt lived on. Louie is like having a little piece of Matt home with me. A reminder of his "coming into his own" time...of all the precious visits and adventures that we had and are still having when we visit him.

This painting is now on exhibition at Gibby's Wine Den in Geneva, Il. I have several cat paintings as well as other mixed media art there for the month of April. Come on in if you are in the area...grab a glass of wine. Great shopping close by and Geneva is such a lovely little place to wander. My opening was last evening. Went with friends and had a wonderful time. Some new friends stopped by as well to show their support. They bought a painting from my husband at his show last month and were kind enough to come in and view my work. One of the nice things that happens when you exhibit your art are the people you meet and the friendships that come out of it.

Enjoy your spring and find beauty in the smallest acts of nature...