The front door to springtime is a photographer’s best friend. ~Terri Guillemets

THE DISTINGUISHED QUOTE CORNER:

“Spring time is the land awakening. The march winds are the morning yawn.” ~ Lewis Grizzard

“Every spring is the only spring – a perpetual astonishment.”  ~ Ellis Peters”

“And Spring arose in the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt every where; And each flower and herb in earths dark breast, Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.” ~ Percy Bysshe Shelly

“April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks GO.” ~ Christopher Morely

“Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.” ~ W. Earl Hall

“I love spring anywhere but if i could choose, I would always greet it in a garden.”~ Ruth Stout

 

The word that comes to my mind when I think about springtime is “WELCOME!” It is the time of the year where everything is brand new…fresh aromas, pristine colors blooming, and an abundance of new growth and sunshine. It is a time of life and rebirth…Living in Delaware, (our back yard conjoined to the woods,)  we see a sundry of nature’s bounty everyday…wild flowers and untamed, lush green ivy climbing up the massive trees along with fresh green grass, where only weeks ago, it was a wintry grey and  exceedingly barren.  The meadow, with it’s array of trees and multihued foliage is purely undomesticated and we absolutely love it. (Graham adores it as well!) Even though he is close to 12 years old, he still acts like a puppy, running after all the wild life, even the Brobdingnagian deer.  (And a wild cat in our neighborhood! ) 🙂

We see everything from bunnies with their babies, squirrels, ground hogs and herds of deer with their young ones close by. I have never heard so many birds singing at once and am always so blessed and graced by the beautiful robins, blue Jays, cardinals and woodpeckers. Just this morning, I stopped what I was doing to listen to the epic sound of the snow geese flying over our home as they are just now beginning their spring practice for the time they will migrate south. Their melodic sound is like music to my heart as I have grown so fond of them over the last eight years living in this maritime state.

Being a connoisseur of decorating, spring gives me an entirely new escapade to take on with bringing this exquisite time of the year to life within our walls as well as the porch, garden and outside yard. There are a multitude of ideas I want to share with you in this blog and I hope it fills your mind, as well as heart, with many creative thoughts as well as an excitement to bring forth a ‘touch of springtime’ in and around your haven.

Whether you live in the city, a Villa, the countryside, a high rise apartment or in suburbia, planting flowers, (flower boxes if needed,) brings a plenitude of warmth as well as a charming luster to the outside of your berth.

In Springtime, your porch is waving to you, signaling you to spend time in it’s peaceful repose, to read your long forsaken novel, share a cup of coffee with your girlfriend,  lay in a hammock and take an after noon nap or call your sister in Oklahoma for a wondrous catch-up call. 🙂   Sitting on your beloved veranda, you have so many ‘ready made’ and contributory bestowals to make your time exhilarating  with the sunshine, the birds, the blooming flowers and the soft breezes.I love this batten burg lace tablecloth!

Another heavenly spot in the  glorious season of springtime is the garden. Whatever your particular tradition is each year for the blue print of your garden, make sure it is picturesque, soothing and ageless, consisting of your favorite flowers, bushes and trees. I, personally believe roses are the prize and applause  of springtime. There is something so beguiling about it’s unique aroma as well as it’s  soft, velvety  pedals. I believe that our gardens sometimes utter more about our lives than our own words. They are not only lovely to behold, but working within them, hours at a time,  gives us such a gift of  tranquility, peace and insight into the simplicity of life. I love the quote by H. Fred Dale; “My Green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plants point of view!”  Yes, planting a garden teaches us a an abundance of lessons!

During this beloved season, my favorite embellishing adventure is to bring spring and all of its glory INTO our home. In our abode, we put a touch of spring in every room, (some rooms more than others,) not missing a detail.  Whether changing your linens and comforter to greet the season of rejoicing, putting soft,  bright towels in the bathroom,  adding bedazzling throw pillows on your couch, decorating your dining room table with an Easter theme using a color palette of spring colors, adding greenery or bunnies to your kitchen or  placing decorative topiary trees, floral arrangements and dried wreaths around the hallways and family room, your home can reflect the new season and radiate with color and beauty just like  the outside of your home.

The  dining room table is definitely an  ‘eye catcher’ and  an essential part  of creating the mood you are wanting to establish for your seasonal celebration throughout your home..  Both of these table themes are so creative and picturesque in natural simplicity for this time of year.

I can’t wait each year to awaken our bedroom with brighter colors and an entirely new look…(still Romantic in style, but a little softer and feminine.)  (Sorry honey.) 🙂 (I love taking out all my spring decor items and trading them in for the wintry snowmen, silver and golds.)

 

The bathroom, my quiet, serene spot in the late afternoons, (as I bask in my lavender bubbles and make the water as hot as it will go,) 🙂 needs a touch of spring as well. My towels change from hunter green and burgundy to pastels and fresh whites. I place new  elegant soaps out, body sprays, powders and lighter candles in the midst of this tiny haven.  (And perhaps hang some bright kaleidoscopic garland and sneak in a few bunnies.) 🙂

The place my husband and I love so much, (as well as our guests, and Grantham),  🙂  is the kitchen. This room is open and welcome to all of our visitors and company, no matter the occasion.   Its  one of the  rooms that some of our most meaningful and intimate conversations have taken place as we cook and create with pure abandon! Its a very pleasurable and an easy room to festoon in a lively, spring attire. It  also sparks our creative juices to flow… occasionally cooking up new recipes, inspired by our garden and the pristine new season with fresh fish, (salmon, ma-hi, sea scollops and tuna,) accompanied with fresh lemons and  savory herbs from our bountiful harvest. I especially adore displaying my collection of animated  bunnies within this adored room…Another motto of mine; “You can never have to many bunnies!) 🙂

 

The Living room, (remember, its the one room that sets the mood for the entire home and is ‘most lived in,’)  deserves an ample serving of the new season. I love adding bright, motley pillows, white, tone on tone slipcovers to my couch, fresh flowers, grapevine wreaths and I even put a themed decorative tree up each year, strictly to festoon and glitz up the room with each magical season and event. (Besides my topiary trees.)  My tree is a little different that this one. (It is a tall, beautifully shaped green tree that I change every season.) For spring this year, I chose to use tapestry fabric as a garland, twinkling amber lights, my ‘finest’ bunnies and bears in my never ending collection, (hoping not to offend my fair haired and feathered older ones that are placed in less ‘showcase’ places,) 🙂 amidst floral ribbons, colorful ornamental balls in spring colors and dried roses. It is beautifully fetching as well as inviting. It stays up in our living room until the welcomed autumn season arrives…. I usually only create winter, Valentines, spring, autumn and Christmas trees. 🙂  ( I never have tried a 4th of July or summer tree but I have seen some created and they are quite adorable!)

Come back to the garden of your youth… The glory of  your garden and your festooned ‘castle,’ are upon you …make your next gathering, whether an outside Tea, dinner party, or watching a classic movie in your living room with loved ones, pleasurable and picturesque. Springtime is also the perfect time of year to grab your loved one and go for a picnic, even if it is ‘just in your back yard.’ 🙂

Happy Springtime.

PHOTOGRAPHS: In placing your computer mouse upon any photo or graphic, it will display where the picture originated from.