Porch Party… Please come for Breakfast

Welcome to my screened in porch…

It’s cool enough for breakfast outdoors…A little wren is looking for snacks …are the worms ready yet? 

We actually do raise mealworms for the wrens, cardinals, and bluebirds…They come to a little bowl on the patio every morning to see what’s for breakfast. Two big juicy mealworms…

 

But we’ll just have juice and cereal until the pancakes are ready…I’ll set the table with my vintage Ivy dishes to set an outdoorsy mood.

 

 

We’ll have a lovely view of the deer resting in the meadow.

The does are taking it easy waiting for the birth of their new babies…

I’ve set the tables with greenery and a sweet nest from last spring…

 

And have hung rainbow makers in the window to make the place sparkle…

And a lizard or two may drop by…they heard the worms were ready and they’re hungry…

 

This lizard is missing part of his tail…maybe the snake was after him….did I forget to mention the snake?

As I was tidying up the porch, guess what I found in the Christmas cactus? A snake skin! I had no idea a snake could (1) get into the porch…and (2) no idea one could climb a baker’s rack…no idea! But there it was, all 2 feet of it…after I got over the first shudders, I started looking at it and it was 100% complete…science project quality… from the top of his/her nose and eye covers to the tip of his/her tail…probably a lady snake since she shed her skin with such care and not even a tiny little tear!! I worked on the pictures, but could never focus it perfectly, but you would be amazed...after you get over the shudders. I’ve stretched it out  for you to see, but it was wound round and round through the plant…amazing! Avert your eyes if you’re squeamish about snakes.

Stop by the other porch parties…they’ll surely be less traumatic... http://rhondisrosecoloredglasses.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-time-to-party.html

I’ll leave you with a picture of my sweet hubby admiring the baby wrens…enjoy your day…Thanks for stopping by.

Sweet Sentiments Tag Swap Pink-attitude

Sweet Sentiments Tag Swap 001
Originally uploaded by lbjonriver

These tags were assembled for the Itty Bitty Book Club (on Flickr) as part of a swap hosted by Mary Ann (follow your bliss)...Each participant made 15 tags...could be the same one copied and embellished 15x or could be all different...Obviously these are all different...I literally cleaned house with this project...all scraps and recycled bits of paper and ephemera...some images were received in swaps, some cut from catalogs...or torn from old books...or snipped from wrapping paper...if anything looks familiar, it probably is...an old (2005-ish) calendar provided the words of inspiration or affirmation that formed the theme-Sweet Swntiments...each tag has one to provide the "Sweet" and then I went " window shopping" (there's another whole blog...does anyone go window shopping anymore?) and I found lots of bits and pieces to carry each message...one of the most fun swaps I've ever done and certainly one of the most "Green". Needless to say, lots of pink showed up...and even more Pink Thoughts...Thank you, Beverly for hosting Pink Saturday, and congratulations on its success...I'm off to visit some of the others...and to work on a fun swap for Paper Cowgirl Retreat coming up in June.

My own painted pink church Ole Ole

pink church
Originally uploaded by lbjonriver

Last Saturday I shared a few shots from a tour of one of the famous Texas Painted Churches...today I sharing on a smaller scale...a little Mexican terra cotta church that I painted and embellished to match a handmade Nativity set also from Mexico. When I found the cute pink Nativity, I knew the set needed a pink church to set it off...Ole...it's sooo Feliz Navidad...

Homesick for the Old Country...the Painted Churches of Texas

NancyGail (MyCraftyLittle Page) and I spent an amazing day touring several of the famous Texas Painted Churches...PBS has a wonderful documentary on those small country parish churches that they run now and again...The churches (the ones we visited were all Catholic built by European immigrants in what are now rural areas) are homey and grand at the same time. There were lovely faux finishes on the columns...attempting to create the look of European marble on Texas oak. And the cathedral ceilings were painted to replicate the great catherdrals of their homelands. They just made you feel "homesick for the old country" just as those Polish and Czechoslovian immigrants must have felt in the 1800's when those parishes were first founded. We loved them all, but our favorite was the Pink Church with a wonderful white altar. It was so unexpected and so non-traditional, but so calming and it really puts you in an"In the Pink" mood...except for our tour guide who must live her days with her eye on her watch and on her schedule...she was not in harmony with the Saints and certainly not a Child of the Universe as NancyGail discovered...had our tour guide been an olden days nun, Miss Nancy would have had her ear pinched!!! Go visit her blog for better color and then stop by Beverly's Pink Saturday for the complete list of posts.

Back in the day... the 50's...my family would attend church with my Oma and Opa in a little country church in Zehl, Texas...not a painted church...but memorable because services were in German and even such a plain little church had beautiful stained glass...

I don't usually change music very often, but I've chosen Nora Jones's Lone Star fot the feeling of homesickness and Old Time Religion even though it would NEVER have been played in these churches...far too tent-revival for their taste.

It's not just the Deer...Now it's the Hippies too!

No wonder I had to search all over town for Salvia with only limited success...seems the Hippies have discovered its hallucinative properties...there's even talk of outlawing it in Texas!!! I didn't connect the TV news story with the lack of pink Salvia for my garden until "David". probably not his real name, commented on my last Saturday's post with a link for a site dedicated to the joys of Salvia...Good grief! First the deer eat everything and now the Hippies might be raiding my "stash" looking for a cheap high! I'll bet there's not a Salvia left in Austin!...Just joking...well, not really...what other town wears the "Weird" label with such pride?

I do have a few pictures of my pink garden after the first week...lots of Deer tracks, but most of the young plants are intact...Notice I said "most"...they do love to munch on the rose buds and, although they usually leave the coneflower alone, they can't resist the flower buds and tender new leaves. My next week's pictures will probably have wire over the front roses to give them a chance to bloom...and the few volunteer Salvia that I found growing in old flower beds will be going to seed this summer... I'll just have to save seeds from them and start growing my own...maybe I have a possible cash crop... Well, for now I'm off to visit Beverly's Pink Saturday .

Pink Saturday WIP

If you're looking for my this fine Pink Saturday, you'll find me in the garden...well, it's not a garden, really it's the front flower bed...well, it's not a flower bed, really it's a collection of survivors...a few roses and a few ferns...but not for long!!! By the end of the day on Pink Saturday it will be a little flower bed again. I've been all over town (in New Braunfels that takes less than an hour) finding pretty pink additions that are also deer resistant...I've found pink salvia that blooms all summer lasting until frost, begonias (which deer usually pass up...they prefer the roses) and vinca (aka perrywinkles) which nothing eats! I'll join you for the PS blog tour later in the afternoon...Thank you, Beverly for the inspiration...LaVerne

Pink Saturday DIY project

I'm dreaming of a pink garden like the one I used to have...several years ago before the deer and the drought took a heavy toll on the flower beds. I must be a fair-weather gardner...just let things get tough and I lose interest...gardening is supposed to be fun...a cutting garden filled with pink flowers, a beautiful straw hat and lemonade on the veranda...like some Martha Stewart photo shoot...our part of Texas is more like a crumpled cowboy hat, heat stroke and chiggers! Friday saw temperatures in the low 90's and it's just May 1st.