around here

I'm writing this post at 10:00 PM on Thursday night - thankfully, upstairs and safe -  after being in the basement family room for a couple of hours due to tornado warnings. We had thunderstorms all day with brief pauses where during one of them, I went outside to take some photos. I love spring and finding the promise of new growth after a long winter.

Sedum in the butterfly garden...

 

Chives in the herb garden ~ and, of course, the lemon balm is already popping up too, as you can see in the background...

 

The tiger lilies in the backyard around the composting bin are loving the rain. I swear they grow at least an inch a day!

 

Lilac buds...

 

Since I can't play in the dirt outside yet, I bought some succulents and planted them in teacups, two new mini vintage planters (the deer and the chick), and a milk glass container. How do you like that gorgeous teapot? I recently found it - plus matching teacups, saucers, little plates and a creamer - at Goodwill. The milk glass container was also a Goodwill find. More on all that in another post.

I did some painting today, too. My aunt had given me a painting last fall when she was packing her house to move out-of-state. I loved the painting itself, but not the frame. Auntie had painted the frame red, which - to me - clashed with the painting. I got a small jar of Americana Decor chalk paint (the color is Serene) at Hobby Lobby and gave it a whirl. I'm not much of a crafty person, nor am I a DIYer, so I was a little nervous at first.

Here's the painting after the first coat. Much better, don't you think? I just now noticed after uploading this picture to my blog that Clementine is photobombing this photo. I shouldn't be surprised - usually one of the cats is doing so. Anyway, I have to give a thumbs up for this paint. It went on very smoothly, gave great coverage without having to use a primer, dried quickly, and had no odor at all. Now I just have to wax the frame and then decide where to hang this painting. At first I thought it could go in the living room, but the light blue frame clashed with the aqua accents in the room. Blue overload! I think I'll wait and hang it in our bedroom after we paint and re-do that room. (And that's another huge, looming project.)

I'm turning the laptop off now and reading for awhile before I go to bed. I'm in the middle of "The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy" by Rachel Joyce. She's the author of, "The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." Are you familiar with that book? Brian and I read it last year and we both loved it. So when the author came out with this sequel, we couldn't wait to read it. I've had the book on my amazon wish list since it came out, but the price has been too high to buy the book. I kept checking my library's web site and was thrilled to see last week that they got the book! Brian read it first - in two days - and he said it was excellent. I'm halfway through and loving this book. One of those that's hard to put down and has you reading way past your bedtime.