Time for Changes

We are in spring finally but here in California it doesn't feel like spring.  Today it was only in the high 50's and for us that is cold.  Our winter was warmer than that.  Still I have felt like cleaning and tweaking my house, moving things around and have that urge to change everything.  Do you ever feel like that?  With money tight these days there are only so many things you can do.  I decided to look at what I have and see if I could move stuff and rearrange it to give my home a new look.  So looking around I decided to make a change.  I have a cupboard with wire doors (I know there is a name for it but for the life of me I can't think of it) and it had all my cookbooks in.  I decided to take them out and use it for a display of my crocks. 

I have a few in there already but I am not quite sure how to display them.  I have a few more that are not in there yet and some a little smaller.  This is right in the front entry as you walk in.  I want to get a few larger ones for the bottom so hopefully I'll be able to find them at a good price.  I also think I should add other things to coordinate but not sure what.  Any ideas? 

I never realized how many cookbooks I had.  Going through them wasn't easy because I want to purge some but I kept saying to myself I needed to keep this one or that one.  Why is it even if we don't use something a lot, we still don't want to give it up?  I have to learn how to change.  I want to live more simply and get rid of what I don't need.   I think it is a matter of discipline, something which I am trying to practice.

I also moved around some of my crocks that were on my kitchen shelf  which is just below the ceiling that runs along 3/4 of the kitchen.  I really liked them there but that also needed a change.

I put fabric over the top and tied it with twine.  As you can see, this one has a little too much twine.  I have some where I just put cheese cloth that I aged by soaking it in coffee and tied it on top.  That looks real prim and great on a crock. 

If anyone has some ideas of what else I can mix in with the crocks in my cupboard, please let me know.  I've seen some great combinations of what other people do but now I can't remember.  I should just take pictures or tear them out of the magazines but of course I don't do that at the time.  Also now my kitchen shelf is a little bare, need help there also.

To bring some spring into my home, I changed the flowers on top of my hutch.  I always have artificial flowers there and at Christmas it is full with pointsettas both red and white, some berries and pine cones.  I love that set up and always hate to take it down.  Now I have some hydrandras and mixed flowers, trying to keep with the red tones because I have red and cream colors in that room.

Like I said, the weather here is not spring-like yet but I'm sure it will be soon.  I'm ready to start planting a garden.  My husband and I decided to buy a raised bed that they sell at Lowes.  We can't start one in the ground because we have gopher friends who love our yard so we will put down weed cover, wire mesh to keep the criters out and then the raised bed and soil.  I love the feel of soil and watching the plants grow.  I get so excited when I see the flower and then the vegetable.  My kids think I'm a little nuts when I tell them I saw a little tomato on the vine.  That is how I am, I love anything that grows from the earth.

Soon we'll have lots of sunshine and warm temperatures and children will be outside more and the birds will be building nests.  Schools will be finished for the year and summer will be upon us.  The cold, frigid days of winter will be gone and we will all enjoy a more gentler time.  I know life seems a little sweeter when the weather cooperates. 

Life has many seasons as well and each one brings with it challenges of its own.  May all your seasons be pleasant ones and if you have a season with lots of rain or thunder, I hope you come through the storm much wiser and stronger as you see the sun shining on the other side.

Until next time, keep feathering your nest and tweaking those branches, make your home your own and fill it with the love only you can bring.

Hugs
Kathy