It Only Takes a Spark!

 As I used to teach my Sunday School and Bible School kids-"it only takes a spark to get a fire going. And soon all those around will warm up to its glowing". And that is what happened around here today. It all started with an early text message inviting me to a Mother's Day tea and fashion show next Saturday with daughters #1 and 3 and grand daughter #4...and hopefully my sister-in-law can join also. The invite includes a request to bring your favorite teacup and that was the first spark. You see, back in the day, I collected both bone china tea cups and teapots. I used to have a shelf that went around the top of my dining room where I kept them all displayed. I also brought them down for use every time I had a Brownie Mothers' meeting at my house or when our Jr. G.S. troop would have their Mothers' Day events and my cups and pots took center stage.

Of course, my taste has changed since then and the shelf is no longer there and my Brownies and Juniors have all grown up so my collection has found its way into a large Rubbermaid stored in the garage. Of course, this invitation precipitated a visit to that storage container to pull out all of the cups and see which one I wanted to use and which ones I would share with any family who was "cupless". Lol

Of course, my choice was actually in the house and it comes out every St. Patrick's Day. It is a sweet little lily of the valley cup that my dad bought for my mom. My mom also collected bone china cups and saucers and I guess that is where my love of them must have started. I also have very fond memories of my dad's garden in springtime and it is the only time in my life that I have ever seen lily-of-the valley flowers growing. They are so beautiful and almost don't look real. In any case, here is my choice:

And here are the others up for grabs:

And I don't know if that got me thinking "granny style" or what but I opened a drawer and spied a doily that my mom had crocheted and I grabbed it out and knew right where I wanted it.

And then that got me to thinking about another of my mom's doilies that I glittered up a la' Martha Stewart one year for gifts for the family. I use it often but if it doesn't get stored where I'll see it I sometimes forget to bring it out and, since I have started using a bit of a gold accent in the family room, I thought I could find a spot for it there...and I did.

I woke up to these little cuties yesterday:

These are rain lilies and usually only bloom when there is a shower in the horizon. It has been so DRY here that I got excited and held my breath all day...but not a drop. So, when they were still blooming today I didn't give them much credence but, sure enough, they came through and we had a nice bit of rain. Of course, nowhere near what we still need but it definitely helped and things "greened up" a bit.

The hydrangeas were really happy with the rain. The ones on the other side of the yard aren't feeling it just yet but these guys are coming around.

I also spied this beauty-a few weeks late but that's fine. Everything in the garden is struggling right now because of the lack of rain so I will take what I can get.

So that's it for today. I've got a busy week ahead...appointments and I think maybe some shopping for a new dress for the tea. Daughter #1 and grand daughter #4 and their pupper will be spending the night on Saturday and then on Sunday daughter #2 will be here to celebrate with me. She and her family are participating in a group competition on Saturday so they will miss the tea but I am blessed to get to see her and spend time with her on Sunday-not sure what we will do but it will be fun!

Before I forget-which is exactly what I did last night and I was out there much too late trying to take pictures-here is what the solar lights are looking like. I think I would like them a little "shorter" so I'm thinking of seeing if I can't jam them a bit further down into the dirt and, I'm not crazy about the light they are putting out. The box says "warm" light but these are reading as the "cool", blueish light to me and it's not my favorite. I'll see if they change as they have a chance to absorb more sunlight.

I hope to be back sometime soon with a bit more of our tour but until then, stay safe and stay tuned.

P.S. I can't believe what looking at these pictures reminds me: pressure clean drive and walkways, repaint fireplace smoke stack, get down some new mulch, fill ALL urns with flowers and so many other things that I just seem to overlook as I'm living with them but, as I'm enlarging pictures, the flaws just can't be hidden. LOL Not enough hours in the day!!