June Bride

Letting the photos speak for themselves. That's what they do, right? I've held onto them 'til the month of June. I hesitated in getting the posting out this month, though. Thought I had to surround the photos with text. But that is not the case, especially with items this exquisite. Thank the month of June and it's being the month of brides!

 

 

Sitting Room Only

Fancy throw (hand-made by yours truly!) for a sitting room. Like it?--Then make me an offer!

Velvet and sateen throw blanket

Pieces of April

Recall that lovely song? "I've got pieces of April. I keep them in a memory bouquet. I've got pieces of April,it's a morning in May." (See Pieces of April performed by Three Dog Night.)

A little side trip south of my home to Berlin, Md. and found the remnants of the winter on these church doors. More like pieces of holiday in April.

Cheery church doors Berlin Md., April 2017

Merrily We Roll Along!

I'm on a roll! My last post was a hit and so I'm sticking with the theme! Another beautiful pink display -- this one coming by way of a Niagara-on-the-Lake (Canada) shop window.

Niagara-on-the-Lake window display

High Color!

If feelings were a color, then what color would you use to describe how you feel? Better yet, how does the color of this rose make you feel? I'm sure it's uplifting!

A Canadian rose by any other name...

What a rush!!!

The Enchanted Mid-Atlantic has a lot to offer. And when you're not taking the region up on its own offerings, you can take advantage of its easy reach to so much else. Even another country is within easy driving distance . One such destination is Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Such a magnificent natural wonder that it's quite a rush!

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Ca.

Oh, Canada!

American side is scenic too!

View from the Rainbow Bridge

June Bride

I've been holding this one for the right month. A bride I spied while sitting in a Baltimore cafe.  Don't you just love the groom's shoes!  

Bride and groom

Just get me to the church on time!

1,000 Words Are Not Enough

A-HA! And you thought I wasn't going to live up to my self-imposed rule of posting once a week.  Not so.  Actually, though, I am a day late but it's because I am short on words.  In the Enchanted Mid-Atlantic the lilacs are blooming and strategically placed plants at the front of my home are making quite the sense impression. With the lilacs placed to catch the breezes and send the scent across my porch, "fragrant" doesn't even begin describe the rich aroma that dominates those first feelings as you cross the threshold of my home. So it is with the photos that I am about to show you -- even the "1,000 words" are not enough. 

Take time to... smell the lilacs.

Super pretty, huh?

Shhhh!!! It's a secret...

I'm letting you in on a little secret.  The picture of some things to come...

Vrooommm, coming to a blog near your soon!

Diet "Cheat"

If a diet is a regimen and a regimen can be more specifically a routine, then it's my routine to post on a weekly basis and you'll note that this post is a bit of cheat... it's not my artwork but a picture of a delicious macaron & it'll make you want to cheat on any diet regimen you follow! Be sure to visit the beautiful Laduree online or in a major city near you!

Spring macarons from Laduree

Barn Find

Nothing like a "barn find" -  my kind of barn find... not the relic found in an old farmstead's barn, but finding an old barn itself, in all her fallen glory.

This is a barn I found on a trip between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Surprisingly/not so surprisingly, it is on an old, winding country road, not far from a super busy highway, but these old roads and thoroughfares co-exist in a kind of indifference to one another. 

Barn afar

Barn in close

Barn a-Wyeth

A Declaration: "A Small Happy"

I'm making a declaration, kicking off a new phrase and hoping it catches on and goes the world 'round, "A Small Happy." I experienced it earlier today and it was important to my day.  It's that little thing that unexpectedly gives you a tickle and makes you smile... a small happy.

I prefer books of stamps and don't care much for the self-service, print on-demand postage.  Books fit nicely in my wallet -- that key tote-able office of my life.  Given that my life is so busy and that I depend on a mini-office wherever I go, the 24-hour lobby of the P.O. and the off-hours self-service have been my go-to for a long time.  But self-service stamps are sooo g.e.n.e.r.i.c. and, ugh, bland.

So on that rare trip to the Post Office counter today (the U.S. Postal Service, after all, does have business hours on Saturday), I was glad to learn in-person from the clerk that books of stamps are still sold. My fussiness over how things are stored and arranged in my wallet would be satisfied. But more important, even if the floral designs were sold out, I was delighted--tickled--to learn that the most adorable Charlie Brown stamps were available. This gave me a small happy!

Here, take a look and tell me you disagree... How could you? You couldn't, because these designs are such happy little characters. (By the way... I know it was only last week when I was touting the arrival of spring and that these stamps are little, snowy, holiday pictures, but they are such sweet, sentimental and beautiful blue tones!)

Have yourself a small happy!

A small happy with a little Peanuts!

Spring-yyyyy

Hello Blossoms, I am thinking of you, especially my fave counterpart bloggers from Paris... Paris Breakfasts & Janice MacLeod-Lik of Paris Letters fame! Here's a tribute from the Enchanted Mid-Atlantic where it is now quite spring-yyyyy and the April showers will soon bring us lovely May Flowers!

Salut printemps!!!

Drizzle, schmizzle

Ha-ha, it's overcast and drizzling at my house.  How about yours? No matter, let me share with you the wonderful blossoms of spring in the Enchanted Mid-Atlantic.  Here are shots of the Magnolia trees in my yard.

(Click photo to enlarge.)

Such beauty!

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -- Anais Nin

Calls forth Anais Nin 

Baby, hit me one more time... with that BEAUTY!!!

Beauty and grace... facets of the everyday 

Too much.  Too much work, too much of the 24/7 news cycle, too much feeling weary (& maybe a little wary, as well). A day away from the office, just a day away and the quick jaunt I made to Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens restored me in ways I hadn't anticipated.  The Conservatory marked its 125th anniversary in 2013.  And as I read, the Victorian's were avid collectors of all things botanic & beautiful. What a notion for today's go-go world.  Here are photos of my trip.  Enjoy!

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

The Conservatory exterior. In March in the Mid-Atlantic not much is yet in bloom outside.

Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens

Visitors entrance. I especially like the vivid colors.

Visitor's entrance

Tulips being delivered for planting.

Tulips on the delivery vehicle

Tulips, so close and -- yet --so beautiful.

Tulips up close

Welcome, for sure!

Welcome flag

The following are shots of the Tropical Room:

Tropical in red & yellow

Tropical fern

Green bananas, anyone?

Greens and water droplets

Green and red tropical leaves

Strirated greens

Fuzzy pink tropical?

Non-paying Conservatory visitor?

Architecture

White Lily

Looming palm fronds

Moving on to the Desert Room...

Cacti

Cactus, up close

A succulent

Theme for the floral displays -- a take-off from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are

Display theme

Run, don't walk to the Rawlings!

Hang in, there!

Sendak illustration

Sendak photo

Last, the Orchid Room...

Orchid in full bloom

Exiting...

Winding walkway