Forsythia Blooms

Last week while at my local grocery store I passed a huge bucket of Forsythia blooms. I have never seen them here in my neck of the woods so I snatched up two bunches and happily brought them home.

They should last several weeks as one bunch was already blooming and the other had not yet opened it's flowers. I love the twisting branches and the delicate little flowers. Spring is already in full swing here with temps averaging in the 80's but getting up near 90 a time or two.

The mornings are absolutely lovely to spend in the garden outside. (I'll show you what I've been doing out there soon.) I hope are enjoying your Spring, and if you are having Spring snow where you are... stay warm and know that it will soon pass!!!!

Backroads and Blooms- March at Sweet Salvage

 This months Sweet Salvage theme was Backroads and Blooms.

 It was full of rustic goodness mixed with wonderful Springtime vignettes.

This bakers rack would be so cool in a pantry!!

I love these butterfly chairs.

 There are some great little watch faces there this time for making jewelry or putting into a piece of mixed media art.

 Isn't this cool??  Id love to have this in my backyard somewhere. 

Bright spring green is everywhere.

 I will admit... I am a sucker for cute clothes. This corner is jam packed with jewelry, clothing and accessories.

Have you ever seen a cabinet card this big???? (Yep, that's me in the mirror... Say cheese!!!!)

 I know it's been done before, but a true flower bed always makes me smile. :)

I love the display of wall crate shelves. Its so fun and funky!!

One of things that most people don't get to see is the amazing prayer circle that the team always does before the doors open.  Kim always has such wonderful words of encouragement, and uplifting motivation. They always end the circle with a prayer for a successful day with lots of happy customers.

It makes me smile every time I see it.

Jumping the Gun??????

 Okay, in my haste to alleviate the stressed out ladies who sent me emails asking me about Google Reader and the Followers Gadget going away... I may have jumped the gun slightly. There is a possibility that although Google Reader is definitely going away, the followers gadget (through Google Friend Connect) may not be.
I have not been able to find any current information that says the Google Friend Connect is going away. The thing is... I can't be sure one way or another. (You know how Blogger is... Getting information from them is like pulling teeth!!!) So let's all take a deep a breath and see what happens.

I sincerely apologize if I freaked any one out.
I would still recommend doing the things I suggested in my previous post, because it never hurts to give people several options to follow you the way that works best for them.

Yes, I believe you heard right...Google Reader is going away!

But don't panic!!! There are some other options out there for you whether you are worried about losing the blogs that you follow, or are worried about losing the followers on your blog. :)

From what I can gather, Google is going to get rid of Google reader and the Followers gadget???? some time in early July.  They say they are doing this because it has become redundant since the launch of Google+. You may have seen the Google+ followers gadget on my blog and many others recently. If you have a blog and haven't upgraded from the Blogger profile to the new Google+ profile, you might want to do so. 

To do that, just click on Google+ in the left side of your blogs dashboard.

You will be given instructions on how upgrade. Make sure you fill out the profile well, and add your blog under "contributor to:"  If you don't do this, it will be very hard for people to find you after you leave a comment on a blog. Now just go to your layout page and "add a gadget" This is where you will add the Google+ Followers.

 I also recommend  that everyone who has a blog, also adds the "follow by email" gadget.

That way, people can get your new posts in their email inbox.

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If you want another option... I have a great one for you. It is called Bloglovin' and it is a wonderful way to follow all the blogs you currently follow.  Once you create a free account, you can even import all your followed blogs from your Google account. It works much like the Google reader, but I honestly like it even better. It's very easy to navigate and I think you will all like it very much. They even have a great Ap for mobile devices.

Once you create an account, you can click on the drop down menu next to your name and find the follow buttons (for those of you who have blogs) Just add the code they give you to your blog as an html gadget and you will now have a way for people to follow you through Bloglovin'.

(Make sure you do a post and let your followers know about this too.)

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I know change is hard. We all like things they way we are used to them. Nobody wants to lose the blogs we follow or lose the precious followers who make blogging so much fun. Thankfully, these changes are really not so bad. I would like to encourage all of you who follow my blog through Google Reader (thank you) to choose one of these other methods to follow my blog before July 1, 2013

Follow me via email
(Just enter your email in the box on my sidebar... I promise... no spam.... just a new post once or twice a week. :)

 or
You can follow me in Google+ (the gadget is on my sidebar)
or
You can Follow my blog with Bloglovin  (also in my sidebar)

UPDATE!!!!! Okay, in my haste to alleviate the stressed out ladies who sent me emails asking me about this... I may have jumped the gun slightly. There is a possibility that although Google Reader is definitely going away, the followers gadget (through Google Friend Connect) may not be.
I have not been able to find any current information that says the Google Friend Connect is going away. The thing is... I can't be sure one way or another. (You know how Blogger is) I sincerely apologize if I freaked any one out.
I would still recommend doing the things I suggested, because it never hurts to give people several options to follow you the way that works best for them.

Vintage Kitchen Light Fixture

I love my kitchen since the new paint job, but one thing that has always been an issue has been the lighting on the counter at night. Until recently, I just added a lamp to give me the extra light I needed, but I have always longed for a cool light fixture that would fit with the look of the house and also provide great task lighting. Well, That day finally arrived!!!!

My wonderfully talented and handy Hubby built me this light fixture over the weekend! Yes, that's right... he built it from scratch! I showed him photos of the kind of fixture I wanted from (where else?) Pinterest,  and he made it happen! 

The shades were found on Ebay and after much searching he also found the little fixture that holds the light bulb. Then we went to Home Depot and bought plumbing pipe. 

 He put it all together, sprayed it all black, wired it, and spent quite a bit of time in the attic re-enforcing the space above the fixture so it would be nice and sturdy.

 I was doing the happy dance in my kitchen the first time I was able to really see what I was 

cooking!!!

I know he reads my blog pretty often so I would just like to say....

Thank you baby!! You are the best hubby ever!!!! 

Dried Hydrangeas

Last week after hitting Sweet Salvage, my friend Lynn and I continued down 7th Ave to see what other trouble we could get into! We came upon Rust and Roses while they were setting up for a sidewalk truck sale. Oh my... the stuff was all so cool and all came from various European countries.

I have always liked the antique bread bowls that come from Europe and the guy who was selling them had them in abundance! Unfortunately, the sale wasn't supposed to start until the next day!

Well, Lynn wasn't going to take no for an answer and she used her feminine charm to convince the young man to sell us a couple of things before the sale started!!
(Thank you Lynn!)

Well, after bringing my fabulous new bread bowl inside I decided it needed something in it... so off to the web I did go, to see if I could find some preserved or dried hydrangeas to put in it.
I found some beautiful ones in a shop called Hydrangea Rangers.
I ordered them, and within 3 or 4 days they arrived in perfect condition.

I love the way the bowl and the flowers look on my dining room table! They are absolutely perfect for spring and summer and they make me so happy to look at them!!

I hope your weekend is filled with sunshine antiques and flowers too!!!!