April snow showers

I know the old saying is "April showers bring May flowers" but here in Colorado we sometimes get snow showers instead.  That is what is happening today.  Lately we have been have weather in the 60's and 70's and boy does that make me want to get out and buy some flowers.  But of course I know better and today is one of the examples.  Right now the flakes are pretty big that are falling but it is not sticking to the sidewalks or streets.

I was hoping to get the foothills in this next picture but it is too cloudy today.  They are really beautiful with a light dusting of snow.  So all you will see here is the neighborhood behind our home.

I took some pictures in the front yard since my flowers are more in bloom there. For some reason the backyard is behind.  Everything looks pretty with a little snow on it. You can barely see my little purple flowers by the lamp post.

The rule of thumb here is to wait until Mother's Day to do some planting.  The first Spring in this home it was so nice in May that I decided to plant all new flowers and bushes in front of the house in the middle of the month.  Well of course it snowed a week later and killed most of my new plantings.  I now wait until the first of June to plant anything.

Springtime in Tuscany

I love my dining room mural.  It makes me feel like I am Tuscany sitting on the terrace having a glass of wine and enjoying the cool breeze.  Now if I only had that view to look at in my own backyard. (sigh)   I thought that I would remove the bunnies in here and go back to my colorful rooster.  He goes so well with the mural.

Now I just need to put away the Easter on the buffet and get it redecorated.  Of course that will have to wait until the weekend.

When we took our dogs for a walk this morning I saw this in my neighbors trash.

I just can stand to see perfectly good items go to the landfill.  I am all about recycling.  I only throw out what cannot be recycled or donated.  I didn't see anything wrong with this except that it has a few nicks on the side.  I am going to take it off the stake, remove the greenery and repaint it.  I think it will look nice hanging on the door or even inside a wreath.  Look at me already thinking about Christmas.

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Savvy Southern Style, Beyond the Picket Fence, DIY by Design, The DIY Dreamer, The Style Sisters, The Bajan Texan, The Happy Housie, A Delightsome Life, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours, Posed Perfection, Ivy and Elephants, All Things With Purpose, Katherines Corner, Embracing Change, Anderson & Grant, Rooted In Thyme, Imparting Grace, Between Naps on the Porch, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Shabby Art Boutique, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Nancherrow, My Romantic Home, Life With Lorelai, Serenity Now, The Shabby Nest, DIY Vintage Chic, Just Us Four, Craftberry Bush, Scrapality, Pieced Pastimes, 3 Little Greenwoods, Pink When, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Thoughts From Alice, Tabler Party of Two, DIY Show Off, Finding Silver Pennies, I Should be Mopping the Floor,   Dwellings The Heart of Your Home, Huckleberry Love, Karen's Up on the Hill, Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Cozy Little House, Our Home Away From Home, A Stroll Thru Life, StoneGable
Elizabeth and Co , Home Remedies

Sitting room bookcases

Today I have been trying to get more organized.  I have been moving some Easter decor down to the basement and getting some rooms back in order.  One room that I have been working on is my sitting room.  Lately I have been using it as a catch all room.  Well, that has all changed.  There are still a few more sections to decorate, like the desk and fireplace.  At least I have all the junk out and  the bookcases done.  Now I hope that I can start using this room for reading.

I like to use most of these items throughout the house so this is pretty much another storage area for me.

Now I can concentrate on the desk and fireplace.  Since I took down all the Christmas in this room I had been placing things on the mantel in no particular order.  I took a picture because I thought that it didn't look to bad.  A  few of these items go on the mantle on the other side.

I think that I will leave the candlesticks on the floor but of course I need to have more candles.  I will have to see what is in the closet across the room.

Linking with
Savvy Southern Style, Beyond the Picket Fence, DIY by Design, The DIY Dreamer, The Style Sisters, The Bajan Texan, The Happy Housie, A Delightsome Life, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, Common Ground, From My Front Porch To Yours, Posed Perfection, Ivy and Elephants, All Things With Purpose, Katherines Corner, Embracing Change, Anderson & Grant, Rooted In Thyme, Imparting Grace, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Shabby Art Boutique, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Nancherrow, My Romantic Home, Life With Lorelai, Serenity Now, The Shabby Nest, DIY Vintage Chic, Just Us Four, Craftberry Bush, Scrapality, Pieced Pastimes, 3 Little Greenwoods
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StoneGable, Elizabeth and Co, Home Remedies

Porch living

Now that the weather is getting warmer I am ready to start cleaning up my two back porches and get out there.  I bought some new pillows for the upper deck area.  Last year I repainted the furniture and bought new cushions.  I am doing a Tuscan theme for the deck.  I would like to get some type of a side table to put near the grill and a rug.

I also repainted the furniture below the deck and bought new cushions for it too.   I bought a candle chandelier a few months back and I am going to install under the deck.  Here is what the area looked like last year.

Spring front porch decor

I finally got the rest of the front porch done.  All that needed to be done was the front door area. 
I wonder if the house finch couple to make a nest in my basket again this year.

I like to decorate next to the door also.  Just something simple for now and that will not blow away.  I have a big rock in the bottom of the watering can. It gets pretty windy here and today was not exception.  I had to take pictures with the wind blowing.

We only have one tree right now that is budding out.  It has the cutest little white flowers on it.  All the rest of our trees are still bare looking.  This tree is the first to open up and also the first to change in the Fall.  At least most of my flowers are coming back in the front yard.  It is too soon to tell in the back.  I still need to get back there and clean up the dead flowers.  Maybe I can get to it this Sunday.

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Birds and Bunnies Spring Mantel

It was time to refresh the fireplace mantel for Spring.  Sometimes I get in these moods where I just don't like how I decorated something and I feel that it needs to be changed.  That is what is bothering me with my living room mantel.  So now here I am once again changing the decor on the mantel. Here is what I came up with this time.

I thought my little laying bunny would look cute with bandana around his neck.

I have had this little bench as long back as I can remember.  I used to eat lunches on it, color and I remember drinking hot cocoa on it on Saturday mornings watching cartoons.  My brother would turn it over and have me sit on it and he would push me around the room.

Well let's see how long this will last before I decide to change it.  Pretty soon Spring will be over and it will have to go back to way it was.  Maybe with a few new items.

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Savvy Southern Style , DIY by Design, Beyond the Picket Fence, The Style Sisters, Ivy and Elephants, The Bajan Texan, The Blissful Bee, Oh My Heartsie Girl, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson
From My Front Porch To Yours, A Delightsome Life, Common Ground, Posed Perfection, All Things With Purpose, Katherines Corner, Embracing Change, Imparting Grace, Anderson & Grant, Rooted in Thyme, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Shabby Art Boutique, Nancherrow, My Romantic Home, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Serenity Now, Life with Lorelai, Just Us Four, DIY Vintage Chic,The Shabby Nest, Craftberry Bush, 3 Little Greenwoods,   Scrapality, Chic on a Shoestring, Pink When, Pieced Pastimes, Thoughts From Alice, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Tabler Party of Two
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My candle closet

Today I am sharing my candle closet.  Yes, you heard right, my candle closet.  When we first looked at this house I wasn't sure why there was this little room right before you entered the master bedroom.  It has bookcases on one wall and a fireplace.  I guess you could use it for an office but it is a little small.  It also has a small closet that is just shelves.  When I first saw this closet I thought this is perfect for all my candles.  To the right of this door is the door to the master bedroom.

So here is what my closet looks like.

The top shelf is used for candle holders and shades.  You can but tall items on this shelf as it goes up a few more feet to the ceiling.

The other shelves I use for my candles.  I have two shelves that are full of Yankee Candles (one of my favorite candles to buy).  It looks like I have room for some more.

I use the bottom of the closet to store my throws, blankets and extra pillows.

I am guessing that there are not a lot of people who have a closet that is solely used for candles but it is an extra space that I didn't know what I would put in there.  It looks more like a linen closet to me but we have one in the master closet already.  I am almost done decorating in this room so I will be posting those pictures later on.

Linking with
Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, The Style Sisters, Ivy and Elephants, The Bajan Texan, The Blissful Bee, Oh My Heartsie Girl, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson, From My Front Porch To Yours
A Delightsome Life, Common Ground, Posed Perfection, All Things With Purpose, Katherines Corner, Embracing Change, Imparting Grace, Anderson & Grant, Rooted in Thyme, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Shabby Art Boutique, Nancherrow, My Romantic Home, I'm Not a Trophy Wife, Serenity Now, Life with Lorelai, Just Us Four, DIY Vintage Chic, The Shabby Nest
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Huckleberry Love, Between Naps on the Porch, Karens Up on the Hill, Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, My Cozy Little House, Our Home Away From Home, StoneGable
A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth and Co, Home Remedies