Better Late Than Never??

I had the best intentions of posting these back in June...

Even July would have been acceptable...

And now it is August.

I don't know what happened.

Truth be told, I don't know what has happened to the past several years.

I think it may have been a touch of stage fright....

Or just wondering how to pick up where I left off when so much has intervened.

Things that cannot be summed up in a single blog post...

And although someone very wise once said it is usually to start at the beginning, I'm not sure where "the beginning" is even anymore.  So I will just start...and try to fill in gaps and pieces as I go.

I have not decorated for the holidays the past several years like I normally do...

Mostly because 2 years ago, all my things were packed in a storage unit awaiting an extensive remodel project (fondly referred to as "WWR"...i.e., "When We Remodeled.")  Last year, the remodel was fairly complete, but, alas...I was...and am still struggling with the boxes left in its (and the major flooding we experienced in the process) wake.

So...long story short...I finally managed to make it through the boxes that held my Americana decor, and surprised myself by actually putting some things out.

(Top of my jail cupboard)

And, what goes up at my house, doesn't easily come down....

Actually, I start putting up the Americana in May in honor of Memorial Day...and then leave it up until Labor Day...which I consider a very Americana kind of holiday....

(In my laundry room....)

So there you have it....

A start....

Better late than never.

(PS...I've missed you all terribly!)

Joyous Easter Greetings!

Wishing you a blessed and joyful Eastertide......

The Legend of the Pussywillow

According to an old legend, a mother cat was crying at the bank of a river in which her kittens were drowning.

The willows at the river's edge longed to help her, so they swept their long graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens who had fallen into the river while chasing butterflies.

The kittens gripped on tightly to their branches and were safely brought to shore.  Each springtime since, goes the legend, the willow branches sprout tiny fur-like buds at their tips where the kittens once clung.....  

*****

Here in Nod, our pussywillows are just that...legend...as they lie beneath a blanket of white....  Old Man Winter seems fond of our frozen landscapes, and isn't quite yet ready to make his departure.  He "gifted" us 13" of that white stuff yesterday/last night....  

(View from my kitchen window)

But this afternoon, the sun peeked through, and spring's hope was renewed....

Hope it's spring where you are......

Once In A Full Snow Moon.....

It's a full snow moon tonight....

They come around more often than full blue moons....

And almost as often as blog posts from me; but hey, I've almost posted as much so far this year as I did all of last year, so anything is possible.

The truth be told, there just hasn't been much exciting going on in Nod.  I know that hasn't stopped me before (because, really, I can't remember the last time something exciting did happen in Nod), but I'm getting winter weary.  

And that almost always spells trouble.....because "winter weary" is a close cousin to boredom, and when I get bored, I either eat or shop too much.

Case in point:  The following list of damages that I incurred at the antique show a few weekends ago.  (Take note because this is as close to a confession as you're likely to get....) 

Sweet little German candy containers....They will be in good company with the rest of my herd....

A hinged French butter mold (oh, and a few cookie cutters):

How could I possibly leave this heart mold behind?

You better not be counting the number of chairs that come home with me....

 And everyone knows I have a shoe fetish....

This red and while quilt stole my heart:

This Swedish bible belonged to the dealer's great grandfather. I never understand how people can part with their familial treasures... What I would give to have my great grandfather's bible....

No, I don't collect mammies, but I couldn't leave her behind...and she looks ever so sweet in my laundry room....

Other than that, not much is news.... Tomorrow I will be going with Little Crow to find a new wizard....  Three surgeries down and he still has a very wayward knee...and tremendous pain.  Your positive thoughts and prayers, if you are so inclined, would be most appreciated....

Enjoy your snow moon.....

~Remember Me When This You See~

Things have been a bit hectic here, but please know I remember you all and keep you well in my heart....

Happy Valentine's Day....

Sweet Remembrance Heart from the talented Julie of Primitive Heartstrings

~Remember Me~

Cranky Crow Meets Dicky Bird...and the Tale of Two Jacky/Jackies......

As most of you know, Nod is a forsaken place.

Especially in winter....

January and February are, for the most part, loathed as they are snow-filled, dreary, months offering little more to look forward to than a splash of red and an excuse to binge on chocolate mid-February.

But this February held some surprises....

 Like the opportunity to meet a fellow blogger, Jacky, from

Dicky Bird's Nest.  Lovely Jacky is known for organizing several farm and flea markets in the rural areas surrounding Nod...including some of her wonderful "Pop-up Vintage Sales."  Surprise No. 2?  Yesterday's wonderful "For the Love of Vintage" Pop-up Sale.....

Several vendors offered a wonderful variety of fun treasures.

Great signs by Karen from PLAIN FARM FOLK:

The "J Pearce Tailor" sign above, and the "Philbert & Co." one below came home with me.....

As did this little rocker:

Some great old bowls:

Some Easter fun:

Some sweet hearts....

And even a treasure for Daddy Crow....

Well, one thing led to another...and one Jacky led to another...

See, Jacky No. 1 (creator of the Vintage Pop-up Sale), also has a booth in JACKIE'S ANTIQUE MALL ON BROWN, which just happened to be just kitty corner from Jacky No. 1's Pop-up sale.  (Are you confused yet?) So on to Jackie No. 2's it was.  And, of course, a few more treasures followed me home....

This Swedish blue trunk was one of them.....

 (How could I possibly say no?)

And this HUGE pretzel tin.....

(I have a blue thing going on lately)

Oh...and a few pieces of good old wood....

I wasn't the only one being followed home though.... This gorgeous pie safe followed my friend home.  It has beautiful punched tin sides.....

February, you just might not be so bad after all.  ;o)

Hello February!

Hello February!

You are a fickle month...short in days and long in promises. But I have plans for you February!

I plan to (finally) put away the last of Christmas (really)....

...put out some hearts....

...and pay honor in some small ways to some very wise men.

I plan to finish some long overdue projects....

(Shhh...more Christmas....)

... and start some new.  (Has anyone seen my hook?)

I plan to work on the boxes left in the wake of WWR (i.e., "When We Remodeled"), so I can make myself a playroom.

I plan to hang my samplers...

...and find the ones that have gone MIA in the wake of WWR.

Those are my plans at least; but February, so much is up to you.

And Then There Were None.....

NOTE TO SELF:  Remember to check the trees for turkeys before letting Snow Dog out.....

Return to Sender.....

Wondering if anyone could provide me with some assistance please?

I've been away from blogging frightfully long, I know; but it hasn't taken long for Blogger to get on my "cranky" side.  I have visited several of your blogs and successfully left comments.  However, in the majority of cases, I receive an email notification stating that the message (which goes to your email inbox notifying you that I have left a comment) failed to be delivered.  Specifically, the error message I receive is as follows:

"Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

[Email address of the person whose blog I commented on]

Technical details of permanent failure:  Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain gmail.com by gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [173.194.219.26].

The error that the other server returned was:

550-5.7.1  Unauthenticated email from aol.com due to domain's DMARC policy.  Please contact administrator of aol.com domain if this was a legitimate email.  Please visit  https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2451690 to learn about DMARC initiative.  m83si49380524ywd87 - gsmtp."

This is worrisome to me because I suspect that most of you rely on the email notifications to know if someone has commented, rather than going back to your actual blog post and looking to see if there has been a new comment.  This is particularly troublesome for me as I often am behind in my blog reading and may comment several days after a post has been made.  The long and short of it is that I feel that I am leaving comments that no one knows are being made.

I have "visited" the site referenced in the error message I receive, and have also researched this particular error and attempted the few "fixes" that were suggested.  Nothing, however, has helped me resolve the issue.  I know I've been gone a long while....did I miss something somewhere?  HELP!!!

Thanks kindly.....