Music and Me

After a few days of silence on my blog and receiving a LOT of private emails, I have put the music back up on my blog. If you find music slows you down, please feel free to shut it off. I have moved the music bar to the top, so there is NO surprise at where to find it. I don't have my own personal PC speakers set very loudly, do not personally care or responsible for those who keep theirs set on loud. I am heartily sorry for those who have difficulty with music, slideshows, large images slowing their computer down.
I do this blogging for my own self. I know that you guys read it. That is fun for me and for you. Music is part of my own personal muse. There have been many days a song has prompted me to blog. And BTW, I get many private emails and some occasional post, that the song they heard when they arrived made their day. The music on my playlist happen to be some of my personal favorites and I rearrange them now and then. This music always makes me happy and I likes being happy! If you smile a lot, you will have less wrinkles.



On another note - we are having a ball with all of you collecting feathers! When you get to The Humble Arts website, there are a bunch of feathers hidden within the pages there. This will be a month long event, so keep searching! And be sure to tell your friends. We have some great items at even greater prices available this month.

The feathers are flying!

Wow, Our Wacky Wild Wing Ding Fling has officially started over at The Humble Arts ! Be sure to take a peek around,
find feathers and let me know through here or at my email addy. It's sure to be finger licking good.
Here are some of my offerings for the month:



I am so humbled to be featured on a dear friend's blog! She does features on Fridays and picked "moi" for this week. Tina is a terrific blogger herself and is the most amazing and prolific scrap-booker I know! Check her out at:
Mommy Complex You may think you already know everything about me, since my life is an open book, but, I feel almost famous. LOL. Thank you Tina for seeing something in me that you found worthy. God is always good.

More tantalizing tidbits!

Have you ever thought, gee which came first the chicken or the egg? Well, folksies, we at the Humble Arts have got all the bases covered. We have hens, roosters, eggs - the whole gambit of goodies for you to choose from come May 1.
BUT WAIT!
For those of you who like to play to win doorprizes, this tv commercial shows you just a sampling of the goodies YOU can WIN by doing a few simple things.
First, you can get one entry in the drawing for one of these goodies by putting our fun little banner on your blog.
Secondly, you can get yet another entry in by promoting our Wing Ding Chicken Fling on your own blog.
Lastly, you can find a feather on each of the participating member's blogs - find the feather, email the member blogger with WHERE you found the feather.
BUT WAIT!
On May 1, we will also have a few feathers flying around The Humble Arts. Find those and you will get YET ANOTHER entry! Wee Dawgies!

If you have just arrived and are wondering how to go about getting the banners and links, please read the thread below. Any questions? Email me.

Giveaways

Okay folks
Here is the first rule of the Humble Arts Wing Ding Chicken Fling giveaways.
Take either picture below and post it to your blog. Leave a comment here, letting me know that you have done so. That is one automatic name in the pot for the drawings.
I will be posting some pics of the giveaways later.
If you would be so kind as to place this in your sidebar with a html/javascript, linking it to
http://www.thehumblearts.com/ with the ((a href="")) link, we will all be clucking like hens together! Yippee! Let the fun begin. If you aren't sure what the heckfire shoot I am talking about, just email me and I will walk you through it. Easy Peasy.

Here a chick, there a chick, and Giveaways

My gal pals at The Humble Arts have challenged each other to creating chickens for our May edition. We've been clucking around some ideas and have decided that we want to do some giveaways as well. There will be plenty of goodies to go around.

Now to qualify for the giveaways, we will be hiding feathers within the blogs of the Humble Artists blogs. (You will find the links in my right hand column.)

Check back later for more details . . .

Spring has really Sprung

Hello Folksies
I finally saw something today that I thought had vanished from my world. The sun. Yep. The actual, honest to goodness SUN came out today. I hated that I had to work! I wanted to be home playing, frolicking, dancing in the great outdoors. But I did the next best thing. When I got home just a wee bit ago, I took some pics to share with you. Things are really starting to come alive and bloom. It is still pretty chilly here most mornings and evenings (and some days too!) But these brave flora and fauna have been waking up and unfurling their beautimous bounty for me to see.
Below is my first azalea to bloom each year. It's in the front yard under my huge old oak tree. This was the first plant I put in the ground when I moved in this house 16 years ago. Yeah, it was one of those almost free because it's almost dead plants. My yard is full of those~


Above is my oregano already poking back up next to my trusty rusty old victory garden shovel.


Now this little lilac is very special to me. Both of my grannies are long, long gone. They loved each other as kindred spirits as soon as they met. They shared their love of family, stitching and gardening. They often exchanged seeds, starts, etc. This lilac was one of the sprigs that my NY Granny gave my hillbilly granny 62 years ago. I thought it was lost to me three years ago as it got all woody, no blooms and in general, doing it's swan song. One of my dear clients, a master gardener at 95 years young, told me to cut it back quite severely. I figured, what the heck. I did, it lived and is growing back nicely these days.

Here is some more of my hillbilly granny - This little patch of phlox has been salvaged and brought back to life recently. I am tickled!

Okay, you KNOW that I had to stick a weed in here. But I loves me some ajuga or commonly known as bugle weed. It is quite regal and proud. I dig it up wherever I see it in the yard and
place it where I want. I hate for it to be cut down. It only blooms a short while.

Okie Dokie, that's my blurb of happiness for the day. Hope everyone else starts to get some
good things blooming.

He is Risen.

I'm a Winner!

Well hush my mouth! I am one lucky girlie today! Got online and the first email I see is from lovely and talented Mary of Something about Mary C.
Mary was having a giveaway for visiting her blog. Guess what? I won! Yippee.
Thank you MaryC! Friends, she is a must read each day. I must admit to reading all her archives once I discovered her. Which is a domino effect; I found Mary through: Nicola.

You know folksies, we are all winners in this blogging thing. I mean, people find their way to your blog, read about your thoughts, and sometimes they will respond. When they do, you have made a new acquaintance. I have been online for about 12 years or more. During that time I have made some great acquaintances and some very true and real friends.

Anyhoo, thanks MaryC. If you really KNEW how MUCH coffee I actually consume, you would know for certain that the random generator could smell it brewing from here.

A new language

I know that it's said you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I just refuse to believe it! For pete's sake, I learn new stuff every day. For example, I am learning a new language. Actually been learning it for a few years. I call it googlish. Each time I visit someone's blog I must enter a new word. I find it most amusing. That's better than being aggravated. I have even begun to understand some of this new googlish. Take this one:
phently - It could mean many things but looks like faintly to me. How about quatibil -
that one could be trickier. Could it mean gullible or another expletive expression for What? Another bill???

When I was a kid, my folks would speak pig latin at the dinner table. Quite infuriating to nosey 8 year olds. Well sir, we bloggers now have our own form of pig latin and no one will know our secret language but us. How about some whown dical tyang undepre ilicalim to go with your ssesl tohoo cedntes. Reati?

Betcha I could finally win a scrabble game with any given letter in my tray these days! Oh wait a minute! So that's how they come up with these words!

The Humble Arts April Edition is now Available!

Friends we have some talented artists on The Humble Arts. This month we have some crackerjack offerings that we sure would be humbled to have you take a peek at! Head on over to our site and if you don't already receive our monthly newsletter, be sure and sign up. We won't spam you!
Clicking herewill bring you there. Poof! It's magic!
Now here's a sneak peek at some of it:

Something fun

Hi folksies!
Another banner event; a few posts consecutively! Spring must be affecting more than my allergies!
I took a few pics this morning to share with my HARTS sisters of a project that I am working on. It is a scrappy string quilt. I am wanting to use up scraps that I have collected and this works perfectly as a means of getting rid of them. I was inpsired by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville - (the link is on my right panel for anyone interested in this fun and productive way of getting rid of scraps.) While this is not a new way of quilting, it is definintely a marvel for those of us who are scrambled in the brain. I love to see how the colors move together. I generally grab any random scrap from my box and that is what gets sewn next.


On the block above, I appliqued a flower for fun. I like having fun.

Of Tulip Trees, Magnolias and Poplars

I am so very excited. The tulip tree bud(s) are starting to really open. Now mind you, this is a wee bitty tree. It began life as a shoot off of a HUGE tree at my uncle's house in Yonkers, NY three years ago. That I even got it to root, much less LIVE and now grow, is amazing to this gal. Guess it likes the South!
It stands about 5 ft tall right now. This is the second year it has bloomed. I am thrilled.
For those who have asked, it is also known as a Japanese Magnolia.
Other trees, which are also called American Tulip trees are the Poplar. My granny always called them cup and saucers. That is what they look like when they bloom:


American Poplars are fairly common on our property. I love them for their blooms and fragrance. My allergies don't like them, along with all the other fauna I so enjoy. Zyrtec works well for me and hey! as an added bonus this week, the generic of it is on sale at Rite Aid. Yippee.
Poplars are nice trees. Just sort of prone to lightning strikes on my property for some reason.
They grow very fast. Which is why I am hoping that this tulip tree in the back will grow fast! Of course, considering I rooted it three years ago and it is currently 5 ft tall, I would say that it is fast growing.
Thanks for reading, folksies.

Today was a day for being lazy. I have certainly enjoyed the weather today - a wee bit of sun after several days of gloomy rain. I know, I know, April showers bring May flowers. To which I say humbug- I am ready for some sun with an occasional shower to help the flowers.


Calamity Kim is having a great giveaway! I loves this blog and if you haven't visited there, you really need to:

http://calamitykim.typepad.com/calamity_kim/2009/03/calamity-kims-apron-celebration-giveaway.html

Her work is always fun inspired.


Also, wanted to remind everyone that The Humble Arts will be updated on April 1st!

Sneek Peek

Here's a sneak peek at what I will be offering on the Humble Arts next week . . . shhhh!

The Truth about Annie . . .

Well, it's official. All my much heralded anticipation and excitement about Spring arriving - and it's sprung already!
I am the type of person that always walks with my head up with a smile on. I was always told that a smile is the best thing a person could wear. I was also taught to walk with a book on my head for practicing good posture; some things just stick. Of course, in the Spring, I walk around my garden with my head facing the earth and bending/stooping quite often looking for Annie. Sweet Annie that is. You see, the truth about Sweet Annie is that it is a weed. I don't say that loud enough to offend the sweet thing. But shhhhhh, weed she is. She never grows where sowed, I have learned. Instead, in her whimsical way, she grows wherever the wind or birds may leave her and that is generally where you don't want her to be.
Stealthily each spring I walk around much like a gardening Sherlock Holmes, stalking the Annie . . .
Today I have found some already peeking up. I am certain that as the days grow even warmer and the sun shines even brighter that I shall be rewarded with more.

After a few more warm days, I shall dig this up and transplant it where I want her to be. I won't wait for her to grow much more; she likes to stay put to grow gracefully and fragrantly.

So what is the truth about Annie? The truth is, I never know where she will grow, I am just glad that she visits me each year.

Here is what else is blooming in my yard today:

Quince

This Pussy Willow already has opened it's little paws. I started this tree from
a sprig five years ago. It is very happy!


My baby tulip tree! Yea! It is getting ready
to bloom! I can hardly wait.

Happy Spring Everyone!

Another Spring Is Coming Post . . .

Yesterday was another lovely day in my corner of the universe. The sun was shining brightly, birds were singing at dark thirty and the temps got close to 80. Almost too warm for an almost Spring day, but, I won't complain too loudly since last week we had snow.
As I am sitting here drinking my first cuppa strong black coffee, I began looking through some of my older posts. I started to get excited while looking at the dates of these posts. What excited me was the pictures I posted of my flowers and veggies starting. It reminded me that while I can't see them yet, they will be returning SOON.
Like these pretties from spring last year:

wild fragrant rose on my little yellow picket fence

echinecea in all it's glory

catmint, peonies and bouncing bet

my beloved black hollyhocks!

fragrant sweet annie

wild chicory (I loves me some weeds)

tansy

And oh, so many others waiting for the warmth of the sun to wake them up. Thank you Lord
for the renewal that Spring brings.

SPRING IS COMING! SPRING IS COMING! It has been a long, relentless winter - full of dreary, cold, wet, did I say dreary days?! Even the most cheerful Pollyanna as myself can get dull from dreary.
God is so good to give us birds that sing in the night, early morning and on dreary days. I have been watching the nests in my front hedge. There are three different nests. The parents have been busy. The nests are too high for me to peek into. And a few fledglings have already left! I never got to see what they were, shucks! I could here them from where I sit at my computer and their hungry cheep cheep cheeps made me so happy, it warmed up the cold, wet and dreariness inside.

Winter Wonderland?

We finally got snow. After months of missing the white fluff by miles, we got several inches of it. At my house it was just about 6 inches. I took a walk about the place early this morning and here is some of what I saw:





Folks around here get very giddy with snow fever. It is an all around good excuse to have a snow day. Whenever they hear it will snow, they buy up every loaf of bread and every ounce of milk they can. Wonder if that is how it is in snow belt states? I mean how much bread can you eat in one or two days?? While I love it and am certainly glad that I have gotten to see it this year, I am already knowing what the road conditions will be like the rest of this week. We just are not equipped for this much snow at one time. But gosh, ain't it purty???

March at The Humble Arts

Come on over and visit us! We have some great gift giving items all very reasonably priced!
Clicking here will bring you right to us! While you are there sign up for our monthly newsletter.