New Frames and Spring Bulbs

Is it Spring yet?

It's nearly March and it seems as though everyone except mother nature is ready for this cold weather to lift, and warm temperatures to start moving in.

This morning it's 21 degrees below zero. And that's before the wind chill!

However, to make the weather a little more bearable, the grocery store had buckets of beautiful Spring bulbs this week.

My bright, yellow Daffodils remind me that despite how deceiving the weather currently is, warm Spring weather is right around the corner. 

Another discovery while shopping was this antique frame that I found while looking for a light fixture with my mom. It was in an antique shop down the road from them called The Duke and Duchess.

The painting that I got for Christmas from Ryan fit perfectly in it. It's now beside my chair in the living room. At $35 I thought it was a good find.

You can read more about the beautiful painting here.

I also found some Hyacinths, which always fill the house with the scent of a garden blooming in early Spring.

While cleaning out an area of our basement, I came across a collection of small gold frames I've collected from thrift stores over the years. At 50 cents each, a small collection of them isn't expensive, but they make a pretty display on our dresser.

And our home isn't the only place that's ready for the arrival of Spring!

I was excited to see that my parents had started setting up the shop. It will be opening soon, and it's coming together so nicely.

The Oxalis (Four Leaf Clovers) are already out on display among some of the beautiful antique pieces they've been collecting. 

An Update on Bremfield's

I'm so excited to share with you a bit of a sneak peak into how Bremfield's is coming along.

You can follow along with the who adventure here.

It's looking so beautiful. Most of the painting is finished, the gorgeous brick walls have been sealed, they've moved in their antique display cabinets and this week painted the ceiling white and installed lighting. The next, and greatest project is the installation of my mom's kitchen. This is where she will bake all of her delectables for in the cafe part of the store. It will be quite a job, but they are so excited. After that it's the fun part - setting up the merchandise and filling the store with product.

She spent the weekend doing her first wedding in the actual store. Every other wedding has been done in their basement.

You can see here all of the doors and trim are now white. It makes it so bright and clean. Also, you can see the beautiful antique display cabinets they found while picking in an old barn. They are absolutely gorgeous. Each is slightly different, but all are charming with the antique glass and metal legs. The one below that has the detailed wooden base is being prepped to be the cash counter. There was no glass and they loved the old, wavy, greenish glass of the others so much that they didn't want to replace them with new glass. And since you don't want to see the storage behind this counter, they will paint it and have found textured wallpaper to give it some character.

The front entrance is nearly finished. They added beadboard and just need to touch up all of the trim. I'm happy they opted to stick with white. It's bright and reminds you of a European greenhouse with it's large windows.

And finally, because they were too beautiful not to show, here are a couple photos of the wedding flowers. The bride wanted simple bouquets of white hydrangeas with a bit of bling.

The table arrangements are simple vases with cut white hydrangeas and some crystal beads draped on the outside.

This is the small bouquet for the flower girl.

The bride's bouquet with a few cream spray roses and some tiny jewels added.

And the arrangement for the signing table. Everything was simple, yet timeless.

I'm looking forward to showing you what it looks like once they are finally open for business.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had a lovely day yesterday. There were no afternoon classes so Willen spent the day at home. We had breakfast and snuggled and read and played and finished celebrating the day with a movie night. Ryan has been down and out for the past couple days so a quiet night in was perfect.

I was spoiled with a beautiful bouquet of Ranunculus from Ryan, and Willen, oh my... He makes me so happy. (Sometimes a bit insane, but I really do just love him so much!)

First, earlier this week, he came home with a handmade ornament that he spent days making during his "jobs" time at school. He was getting quite tired of painting puzzle pieces and I really had no idea what he was talking about half the time. But the finished product was so adorable.

Then came my Valentine's gift, which I received on Thursday when he came home from school. He was excited and wanted me to have it so I could actually wear it on Valentine's Day. He had made a beaded necklace in reds and pinks, (practicing their work on patterns) and a card that said "I like you." 

I'm glad he "likes" me...

Of course he was too cool to really show any emotion about most of what he made when he first showed me, but when I put them on display, and especially when I proudly wore his necklace around, he couldn't help but smile proudly.

One of my most favourite parts of him going to school are all of the beautiful pieces of art he brings home. They're something that I will cherish for many, many years to come.

Isn't this just the happiest bunch of flowers?

I got up early the morning of and made cinnamon rolls. Warm cinnamon rolls for breakfast never happens as they just require to much time. But it was a special breakfast. And, I discovered I could roll them out and put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, you simply set them out for an hour until they reach room temperature before letting them rise, and then baking them. It was worth the extra effort.

Willen and I also made some dark chocolate bark with pretzels, pecans and salted caramel for candy grams for his teachers.

I have the most beautiful Valentine's in the world.