MOTHERS DAY

I hope all you mothers and daughters had a very nice Mothers Day today!

(Primrose 'Bellarina Pink Ice' and Bluets)

I planted a fairy garden, went grocery shopping, bought myself an outdoor umbrella and some potting soil.

My most-awesome neighbor gave me a cute little Boyd's Bears treasure box and I gave her some wildflowers from my yard.

A FEW EASTER PICS

I made this mini diorama using a small picture frame, buttons for the sun, a vintage bridge tally card, and a wee Easter tree decoration! It makes me happy to look at it!

Mister gave me this ceramic basket years ago. Last year I found these pink plastic eggs and they look so nice in the basket!

Hey, look! I snagged a fairy! And it's living quite happily in my bird cage.

Because I live in the Boston area, I leave you with this:

REDNESDAY - LET'S BOOK IT!

Today I'm going to share some books that have red in them!

This first, We Like To Do Things, was an antique store find this past weekend. It's from 1949, doesn't have a back cover, and I paid $3.25 for it - way too much for its' condition, but the graphics are so awesome!


Hey, where are the child labor laws?

No child abuse here - just grandpa abuse!

Picking cherries? Sounds good to me!


I'm sure many of you are familiar with this darling book from 1945. A little bunny saw a cardinal and decided he wanted red wings, too. So he went to the wishing well, got his wings, and no one recognized him, even his mommy. So he had to go back and wish them away.




The next three books are family heirlooms. This first one is called Song and Study for God's Little Ones, copyright 1894.

It was my great grandmother's.

In this book, "Nearer My God to Thee" was called Bethany. "Come Thou Almighty King" is called Italian Hymn!
This book was my grandmother's.

It has no date, but I'm guessing early 20th century.


And, this one was my mother's.

Yes, her name was Agnes . . . and she had red hair!



Now, this adorable little book is from Made In Pixieland. And, guess what? It's not a book! It's a secret book.
I recently put a gnome and mushroom inside it!

REDNESDAY

Welcome to another red-hot Wednesday! Red,because it's REDnesday, and hot because it's summer!


I'm going to start with this adorable tissue-box cover. It's Japanese, I believe, because of the good luck cats on it. Vintage, too, I think.
What do you make of my gnome pencil holder? It's made by Uniebok. He keeps me company on my computer table.
And, for those that didn't read yesterday's post - I'm changing my blog name! Next week you'll be looking at a different header with the words "It's A Very Cherry World!" in it! Read below for details.

What's RED in your world this week?

NEVER, EVER STEP INSIDE A FAIRY RING!

I got this cute little sign post last year for my Fairy Garden. So now I'm going to enlighten you about Fairy Rings! Now, what actually is a Fairy Ring?

Scientifically, it is a huge threadlike, musty-smelling mass, called a mycelium, which causes mushrooms to grow in a circle. (Not good for the grass, as the fungus eats the nutrients from the grass!)

Mythologically speaking, it is a worn area in the grass made by fairies dancing. The English believed that fairy rings were where fairies came to dance and celebrate, the mushrooms of the rings were used as stools for the fairies to recuperate during the evening's festivities.
The following information is from Druansha's Page:

"...old legends will tell you that this is where the Faeries dance and perform many of the rituals of their own magic. Legends might warn you that those who join the Fairy dance within the circle under the moon are sometimes lost to time and place and may even disappear forever..."

There are many stories written on Fairy history, folklore, and superstitions. Most of them talk about the terrible consequences of interfering in the lives of Fairies, revealing their location, stepping into their ring or trying to capture them.

"...if a human steps into the ring (s)he will be compelled to join the Fairies in their wild dancing, which would seem to occur just a few minutes but in fact would last for seven years or more. The unfortunate human can only be rescued by someone outside the ring who can grab hold of his or her coat-tails..."

It is said that bad luck and doom befalls those who cross the Fairies but I'm not sure if this is an early Celtic interpretation because later in the Victorian Era Fairies were seen as something romantic, titillating and strangely beautiful & captivating.

REDnesday Mushrooms

Happy Rednesday again!

There's just something about these red-capped mushrooms that captivate me - probably because they're red, and they're so darn cute! And you can always find them pictured with fairies or gnomes or elves. So here are a few red mushroom pictures to feast your eyes on.


These last three are Mary Engelbreit's, in case you don't recognize them!

Tomorrow is the New Moon for all of you who "garden by the moon" - get your seeds ready!

My Computer Shelf

Over at Vintage Thingies Thursdays this week, someone shared the shelf above their kitchen sink where some of her favorite things were - because she's always there and sees them most. Great idea! Some of my favorite things are on the shelves above my computer, because that's where I am a lot. Let's take a "tour":

This is the whole kit & kaboodle, then I'll show close-ups of each section.
Starting from the top left, is the Currier & Ives illustration I printed from the internet for our home school, a vintage box of thumb tacks, a "clay" pot my dd made from some yard mud, a Hello Kitty gardener my other dd gave me, and a Willow Tree "Angel of the Garden" my MOL gave me.
On the top, middle, is an enamelware with green rim box that I keep some home school cd's in, a Mary Engelbreit photo magnet that says "A Little House ~a house of my own~ Out of the wind's and the rain's way.", and a Gnomes soldered art I purchased on eBay.
Top right is my fake-repro lunchbox by Moda, and an unknown vase.
Middle shelf is, on the left, gardening, birds, home books and a bookend I showed a few weeks back. In the middle are two fairies and a mirror - the left one is by Munroe "faerie glen" series and the other is a Cicely Mary Barker.
To the right are my ever-lovin' gnomes with some vintage Oriental garden, probably fishtank, pieces.
The bottom left shelf hosts an Anchor Hocking retro green mug and a glove(?) box that I keep stamps and address labels in. Press the rooster's wings and he gives a wake-up call! Comes in handy with my teen!
The bottom right is what I call my Red Hat Society - didn't group them by head gear intentionally, though. The dog has no tag, but the other two are marked Japan. They all get along well.

And, finally, in the middle are two items my pre-teen dd made for me this year. A tulip using some of my plant labels for leaves, and a picture depicting a leopard, jackals, and two rangers that we saw on Africam earlier this year.Hope you enjoyed these, and have a great Saturday everyone!