The Cardinal: Magnificent Bird!

I was brewing a nice hot cuppa

 and happened to have my camera close by me-

so I grabbed it and quickly snapped a few pics

 of this glorious and beautiful bird.

This is also Ohio's official State Bird.

These pics were taken from quite far away

 through my kitchen window

with no tripod so they aren't very crisp.

Had I taken the time to grab the tri-pod

 this handsome fella would've been long gone.

In the pic above I think he sees me,

it appears as though he's looking  directly at me.

I love we can see the seed in his mouth.

Oh, was he such a gobbler!

I have been sooooo MIA -  lots going on in my life:

two choir friends have had serious surgeries,
  two choir friends had babies, another aquaintance passed away, 

 and I also burned my poor tummy badly.

(Warning: take extra caution handling boiling water when getting it out of the microwave!)

But I truly am on the end of my mend!

I am going to be FINE -  so please,

no worries, all is healing well! I promise!

All of this happened since my last post, so it's been kinda crazy!

I sincerely apologize for not visiting you -
 my wonderful blogging friends though, nor posting,

due to feeling pretty crummy.

One good thing happening lately is we're in the middle

of having a good portion of the downstairs repainted.

We're in that horrible drywall dust/holes filled/cracks smoothed

dusty/rotten/messy/icky stage right now.

We're not changing the color as much as freshening up

and covering problems fixed this time around
 using a much higher quality paint.

I am so excited, and can't wait to have this all behind us

so I can re-decorate and blog about it again!

(It can't happen soon enough, that's for sure!)

"No pain, no gain." 

That's has been our mantra lately
 and what we keep reminding ourselves. A lot.

I am also excited because my husband took out

the upstairs old broken bath medicine cabinet.

We refreshed the paint up there too - same color just fresh!

I just love having a place to put artwork on that plain wall now.

On my way over now to join in on the fun at

Judith's blog Lavender Cottage

 for her linky party!

Click on her icon below to take you there
to see all sorts of awesome mosaics each week!

Throw together a mosaic of your own, 

and join in the fun to start your Monday out nicely!

If you haven't tried PicMonkey's free editing for all your pics
you are really missing out on brightening up and fixing all your pics.

They have a really fun Mosaic program- and it's all super easy to use.

They also have awesome tutorials, I am still learning it myself!

(Be sure to try it, you will be so glad you did!)

This is NOT a paid endorsement, just me loving PicMonkey
and knowing you will too!

AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT!

♥

~Michele

Make it a truly blessed and wonderful week!

Linking also to:

Nature Notes   *  WATW  

♥♥ HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY ♥♥

Happy St. Valentine's Day, friends!

♥

Here's a bit more Val Day decor around here at our nest..........

Whether it be inside...............

Or outside..................

Or perhaps used to be outside, but now resides inside....

Speaking of which, this is something new

 I purchased from a fellow blogger Dru Anne 

(from A Fine Farmhouse blog.)

She posted about the grand opening of her etsy shop here.

I bought a few things!

If you are a fan of country farmhouse you will love her shop!

Look for her to be adding more to it, too, soon!

A beautiful and special homemade card from a tea society friend.....

Wishing you the very nicest of things,
and much love ♥  on this special day...........

But the greatest of these is LOVE.............

source: internet

Wishing you a day full of love!

As always, thank you for your visit!

Linking:

Tuesday Cuppa Tea   *   No Place Like Home   *   BTTCG

There's Something About Roses...

Thought I'd re-visit and/or re-vamp some pretty rose-themed
pics now that we're into St. Valentine's Day week!

Oh, isn't there just something about roses?

They've been the symbol of romance throughout the ages!

Be it a romantic gift from a loved one...

 


    

Found on a beauitful china tea set 
or on a porcelain spoon,or on decorated sugar cubes....

Or soft deep red vintage velvet roses 
sitting inside an old silverplated dish....

Delicate pink wispy painted roses on lovely china
at tea time....

Around this nest it is quite easy to find roses
when one knows where to look ; - )

Fragrant rose petal soap flakes is a personal favorite...

Roses on a pretty place card & napkin ring
 when having a friend for formal afternoon tea...

Or on a yummy piece of cake....

The time I made macarons-
they deserved to be presented 
on matching rose-themed china!

Roses are especially wonderful if one's daughter grows them; 
especially unique ones... fresh garden roses have the best fragrance!

(I've shared this a lot but it is just so awesome!)

I am very slowly learning how to garden.

 Roses, treasured though they may be, are so danged fussy.

 Ours don't like how tall and shady the trees have become. 

(We really need to re-think the gardens this year.)

Just thinking about the garden has brightened my mood!

I hope you've enjoyed the "roses" at our nest
 as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you!

As always, thank you for stopping by!

Have a Happy St. Valentine's week!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Mosaic Monday  *  No Place Like Home  *  BTTCG  *  

Teacup Tues  *  Tuesdays at Home  *  Roses of Inspiration   

Make it Pretty   *   Tuesday Cuppa Tea