making us happy...

 Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners 

who make

      our souls blossom.

—Marcel Proust

 As I dropped off my son at elementary school yesterday I

 happened to notice a mother and her young daughter. I couldn't help but smile BIG as I witnessed a happy moment with them.

The mother was holding the girls hand and skipping with her to school. Yep, I said skipping! Both of their hair had caught the breeze and was happily joining in their fun as they made their way to school flapping and swooshing in the morning sunlight.

I hadn't expected to see such joy and happiness at such an early hour and it nearly made me wipe my sleepy eyes in disbelief but there was a long line of parents in cars right behind me so I only slowed for a moment though the image lasted with me all day.

I'm certain that that mom never knew what an impact that she had on my day but more importantly what an impact she had on her little girls life by taking a moment out of her morning and skipping with her daughter to school.

I hope you find a happy moment in your day!...XXOO

retro goodness and dreaming in tulips

Have you heard of Lisa Congdon's project called  a collection a day ?

If not you can read about it here...

below are some of her images from her collection...I especially love the candy collection...my favorite as a little girl was the Ice Cube blocks of chocolate...they are different than any other chocolate and really do just melt in your mouth, yummm!

above images from lisa congdon

While the weather outside lately has given us rather surprising sub-freezing temps and snowfall as well, ...inside I've been playing around on the computer and dreaming of flowers...

 

...there's Willow taking her morning romp and loving the snow as always! Even though she originally came from Texas (as a rescue pup) I think she is now a true Central Oregonian thru & thru :) ...

...I'm dreaming of the cutting garden and the new bulbs to plant as soon as the ground thaws...

peonies, lilies and tulips are a few of my favorites...what about you??

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.  ~Lydia M. Child

before

Keep dreaming!

TGIF and thinking of Spring

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
- Eleonora Duse

Source: twoandsix.typepad.com via Amber on Pinterest

Drumroll please and the winner is...

Papel1
My nieces and nephews really have helped me express love and of course my husband. I am now following you.
Judy



Judy you were the lucky post #6 that the number generator picked...  I will be contacting you soon
and CONGRATULATIONS!

And to all of you a big THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to share with us and leave your comments...I appreciate it! There is nothing else like love, a noun and a verb all rolled into one!

For those of you who are my new blog followers...welcome and make yourselves at home!...and those of you  who have been here before thanks for sticking around :) You all make my heart sing!

I made a tag for those of you who were "runners up" if you would like.  I'm not quite sure if I did it right from my blog but I think all you have to do is click on it and download it.  It is just a small token of my appreciation.

                                                    get tag here



Anyway, we have a 3 day weekend here and I have already survived a 10yr old boys sleepover party and a snowstorm, so I hope the rest of the weekend will slow down so I can get some rest (sigh)...


XXOO to all

EDITORS COMMENT:
I don't know what happened but somewhere out in blogland is the #6 from the "result" line on the number generator...good grief, it was there before I hit "publish post" and for whatever reason didn't show up on the other side... I'm still not sure what exactly happened but I guarantee it was there when I hit the generate button...  :)

Valentines, love and Roses

Today was one of the first Valentine's Days in many years that I wasn't working in a florist shop and being stuck a million different times in my fingers by rose thorns...At one point I remember having the brief sensation that if I took a drink of water it would escape out the thorn poke holes and I would end up a water sprinkler {{smiles}}

I did get the chance to play at the computer for a while and jump in on a challenge with a new online digital arts group that I joined...

The challenge was to work with the birdcage image and the theme was Free...

I enjoyed my time and found that the color of Valentine's day pink snuck its way into my color scheme for the day I'm afraid, but I rather liked it.

OK sooooo

I wanted to talk about LOVE for a minute...

in my giveaway here  I was bold enough to ask who had influenced you the most in loving others...

Well, I noticed that I hadn't even bothered to answer my own question and if you are interested, I would have to say my answer is My MOM...

She is gone now, passed away nearly 2 years ago and yes, I miss her terribly.  

Through all the tests and hardships that my family went through when I was young she did the best that she could and lovingly backed me up, always and without fail...

I think when many people think about Valentine's day the first thing that comes to mind is the romantic type of love but that is only one of many...There is the enduring, family, committed type, and even the strong favorable type; like I LOVE chocolate...

that old saying Love is a many splendor-ed thing, I think was right...It's complicated but oh-so-delightful and I can't imagine life without it!

Love to you all!!!  

Keep love in your heart...and pattern fun by helen dardik

                                                                                                                                            Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead~OscarWilde

This needlework sampler is something I found out thrifting the other day and decided to keep for myself...I liked the sentiment and the colors...It might just find itself framed and hung on one of my walls...

These little beauties are designed by Helen Dardik over at the Orange you Lucky blog...

I really love the color choices of her work and the graphic features blow me away...

Happy Wednesday and don't forget to tell your friends about my fabulous giveaway!

XXOO

returning the love... a giveaway

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and because I believe in sharing , 

I want to share some LOVE...so I am offering a Valentine's Day giveaway to one lucky reader!!!

You will be receiving a $25 gift certificate from CSN stores. 

CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from modern office furniture to cute cookware to chic lighting! (Awesome,right?!)

One lucky reader will be chosen at random on February 20th.   

To enter this giveaway, 1) leave me a comment sharing who has influenced you the most in loving others...

  For an additional entry, 2) become a follower of amber blue skies.

   

XXOO Good luck!!