"GREEN" is STILL a color....to me

Lately whenever one hears the word "Green"...it is usually referring to energy





or the environment... an ECO-conscious lifestyle...



Another word that (in my lifetime ) has suddenly taken on new meaning in most contemporary conversations...

Green was slang for money...moolah...."greenbacks".



How about this one?



Remember these Well-Known "Greenies"?















well, seeing as my Dad is a hard core fan and player of Golf, can't leave out this one...it's pretty FAMOUS!  *the Masters coveted Green Jacket!




BUT!...More than anything.... GREEN, to me, is STILL a color. It represents LIFE in the outside world...




all things living in the garden...



it is a bright and energetic POP of color both outside, and inside....wherever you live.



This past Winter and early Spring I decided to try and keep my eyes open for a few small finds of this living color to add to the nest. It is a COOLING shade for the hot summer season approaching...


























The possibilities are endless...Are YOU into Green....The Old-Fashioned GREEN? Have you added a few fresh pops ofcolor into your nest this Spring???

Thanks for stopping by. Hope by now there is LOTS of green and color where you are. HUGS for all!

Thanks, too for praying for our guys and gals in camo green, and any other colors that represent our military heroes...



We LOVE you Justin...God BLESS you!

It's a Dog's Favorite Kind of day...

It is currently 65 degrees with sunny blue skies and a nice soft breeze blowing...The 6 am walk this morning required a long sleeve zip sweater for me and a hoodie for Kurt. Tonight's low is calling for 47-50 degrees here in Cedar Rapids...Looking forward to tomorrow's walk already...Of course this will be gone very soon! We are enjoying it while we can.

The Three Furry Amigos of Thunderbird Road are definitely enjoying this climate.


Obedient Gideon waiting for me to get a pic...Good Dawg!



Woobie guarding his de-stuffed carcass he carried out with him.



Cowboy Kobe ...doing what he does best...


always vigilant...looking for vermin or prey...chippies, moles, grrr squirrels to "play" with. Handling security over the yard...


Another type of lilly is starting to open up by the fence, *about 4 feet tall...a pretty pink and again, quite tropical looking...

Hope wherever you are that you are having pretty days and nice skies as Spring 2012 begins to approach it's ending...only 9 more days and Summer debuts...hard to believe!!

{{hugs }} to all dropping by.


We LOVE you Justin. God BLESS you. Semper Fi First Battalion Second Marines!!

Merry Monday and Mulberries and Missing....

Another Monday on our doorstep, bringing with it a little bit of rain. We'll take it. *Getting a little dry around Cedar Rapids.

This past week, I made an amazing discovery! I was walking around in our back yard, out with the doggies, and saw a berry lying in the grass. I started looking all around the area for a bush or vine and found....NOTHING! Then I looked UP! I couldn't believe it. We have a Mulberry tree in our back yard. (very tall one) AND we had a Mulberry tree in our back yard in Charlotte. I thought, now WHAT are the CHANCES of that?? So ...another FUN discovery in the new yard...



Mulberries are similar in look to blackberries. When they are dark in color, they are very sweet! When I was making a fruit salad to accompany a supper meal last week I sent Kam out to reach as many as he could on the lowest branch. (he's much taller than me!) so, for this salad, instead of blueberries....we had MULBERRIES!! yay.



Summertime is one of my favorite seasons for this reason...all of the delicious FRESH fruits and veggies that are growing. (helps to make up for the HOT days we have to get through!)

Today is a steady Monday...Kurt has to visit the "tooth doctor" - bleh!...Kam has an interview for a summer job...rah!...Woobie has to go to the vet for ((shots)) shhhh...and I have to get a goodie box out to a VIP Marine!!!





Have a very Merry Monday wherever you are - whatever you are doing! May your heart be lifted by a smile sent your way, if you are dealing with trials or sadness. If you are blessed
with a stress-free day, be sure to give away several smiles of your own. It may just be what someone needed to keep going.....



We LOVE you Justin! God BLESS you and the entire 1/2!!

Thursday...Thrifty Transformation of a Front Porch...

A documentary of the evolution of a front porch...(it is not finished)...lol, but you knew that!
This is a post journalling how putting "your stamp" on an area can transform it and infuse it with YOUR personality.
It then reveals something to others about yourself...

another pictorial entry to my Cedar Rapids nest records/archives.


well...unfortunately this is the ONLY photo I have to include as a "before" on this Thunderbird Road front porch...one Kurt sent to me so that I could get an idea of the house we were buying! However the porch was empty except for the mailbox and a little flowerbox filled with impatience...

I did take a photograph of it right after we got here...it was a very cheerful and welcoming lift for this flower loving girl. I added my old milkcan and a sunshine yellow mum, and a large wrought iron element and gave the mailbox (really paperbox) a little accessory over top to help it not look so "ugly"...yep..



This front porch has an entry door to the garage. you can see it in the photo above. but we do NOT use it. So since I have pretty much "almost" finished the inside and the screened porch **getting everything in it's place and a place for everything" I have been working on the front porch for the last 2 months...it's a process.... Submitting a few photos for my e-journal...sharing along with you, if you are visiting... :-)

In my blogposts, you will notice that I am a believer of bringing the outdoor elements IN, and also in bringing some indoor elements OUT. kind of makes the two areas overlap for living life joyfully both "sides" of the nest...


full shot...that very very crowded bed on the right??? plans for that...it will disappear eventually...and maybe we will get our front entry sidewalk back!! I spy two fluffy doggies...do you??


Left side. I added a mirror outside to brighten up the area at night. Being covered, it seems a little dark out there. **Kurt says it was for the mailman to be able to check himself out when he arrives with the mail... lol!


The birdnests in the mini-urns were here on top of two gutters when we moved in, so I decided to keep them for display when we removed them last Fall.



The front door already had the ceramic "house-number" plate and brass doorknocker...I added the metal tole wall-pocket with the hydrangeas.



This is a new mailbox (you have seen already!) and the iron scrollwork added in the beginning and a cute woven banana-leaf hat I found. Kind of thought it added a cottage garden touch. ;-)



Here is a deacon's bench I added. It received a new coat of black and some cheerful cushions. (the porch railing prevents me from taking a good photo.):-(



The iron urn of fruit just blended with the cushion colors and so did the cute little wooden clogs from Holland. (now you all know, all of this stuff came from thrifty shopping at Goodwill and Salvation Army, and that's why the title says "thrifty transformation") just confirming... over the last 8 months I have been watching and searching and collecting little things that kind of fit the fuzzy image in my mind for this porch.



An example of an indoor element coming OUT.I hung these two black and white dishes on the shutters to punch them up. The shutters are eventually going to be painted black in the grander scheme of the outdoor changes. (my little window box is not growing very fast...haven't gotten enough hot temps yet, I guess!) patience for the Impatience!



Right end of the porch. *garage entry door...



when I came across this little bird artwork, I fell in love, because it fits with my NEST theme..and kind of gives a distraction to the unused door.


Okay, so one final look of the evolving transformation of this spot in the Iowa Nest:

BEFORE:



AFTER: (coming along...)




Well, that is my front porch photo entry for this day. The most important and special piece on the porch will always be and remain the red-white-and-blue of Old Glory...Ooo-Rah...Let Freedom continue to ring in this beautiful land...no matter what Her problems and shortcomings..she is still the glorious picture of Democracy and Freedom...May She always remain such. God, please keep your hand of blessing over her... Thank you, Thank you To ALL who go out to defend her, and stand strong and courageous in protecting and sustaining that FREEDOM.



Thank you to ALL who continue to daily pray for these unsung heroes...


We LOVE you Justin....God BLESS you and keep you and the 1/2!!!

Of Roses and Cherubs...a White Wednesday reflection

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside” ~ Maud Hart Lovelace, (Betsy-Tacy and Tib)





"Ever felt an angel's breath in the gentle breeze? A teardrop in the falling rain? Hear a whisper amongst the rustle of leaves? Or been kissed by a lone snowflake? Nature is an angel's favorite hiding place." ~ Terri Guillemets




"Friends are kisses blown to us by angels." ~Author Unknown

Thankful today for all the sweet kisses of bloggy friendships that have been blown my way by unknown angels.

Have a beautiful June Wednesday...Take time to smell the roses...




We LOVE you Justin...God BLESS you...You are NEVER ALONE..

"For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee" ~Luke 4:10

Beauty and the Beast... of Garden Maintenance!

Summer Temps are beginning to bring out more fauna and flora in the yard





Asiatic Lillies - very tropical looking...





Found out from a landscaper meeting with my neighbor next door that these are a type of Spirea bushes. They look nothing like the long wispy branches of white "baby's breath" variety of spirea I had in Charlotte!!





This 20 foot bed of hostas is gorgeous. I love it. It backs up to the screened porch (yes...that still has the winter plastic on it...hesitant to take it off because of what the winds might do to the porch contents...I'm new here....lol)




I thought that my Saint Francis would give it an even more peaceful look. Not much rain and no really hot temps lately are not helping my impatience to get a jump start...



the path to the back gate is filled with a fern forest on the left and a wall of spirea on the right. we have a lot of cutting back and trim work to do after summer, now that we are seeing what everything is...




Can you see the sidewalk to our front porch somewhere in there??????





It is just about overgrown with foliage reaching out...almost like making your feet "run the gauntlet" without being grabbed hostage by HOSTAS!!! More work and splitting and transplanting... but the Pee Gee Hydrangea tree is filling out.



Can't Wait to get some more of these beautiful blooms . (*last Fall's bounty)





These roses are so leggy. The mini-pinks hadn't even bloomed at this point. They all need a trip to the barber for a good trim...




The Weigela has just about finished with it's blooms, and the hummingbirds will now have to find another source for energy. It was so fun to watch them while it lasted. This too, will need to be shaped before next season.  If you look closely you will see a VERY DEAD pine tree in the background. We are looking for someone who can come and take it down before it does so on it's own, right on our house!!!!


Enough Yard entries for today's Garden Journaling...

Hugs to all dropping by. Have a wonderful Tuesday. (I figured out the way to do spacing!!!!)




We LOVE you Justin. God BLESS you muchly. Keep On 1/2...