January cold

 

Hello my friends and family.  How are you?  I realize it has been a while since my last post, and here it is, mid January already.  Not very much has been happening at Mourning Dove Cottage.  The January cold has hit us and we have been having dreary gray rainy weather...day after day after day, but this morning, there it was, the sunshine!  What a nice surprise.  The months of January and February tend to get me down and I find I would rather like to hibernate with the bears until spring comes.  I filled the bird feeders and Otis and I enjoyed the warm sunshine for awhile. 

 

I am reading "The Shoemaker's Wife" by Adriana Trigiani.  Most mornings I curl up with a good book by the fire and a nice hot cup of coffee.  I've also been cleaning out and organizing closets and cupboards, and doing some redecorating after the holidays. 

 

Maybe spring isn't too far off.  I have hyacinths starting to bloom in a pot in the garden. 

 Until next time....

 

Flea market shopping, antiquing and vintage consignments

In the heart of North Carolina is the town of Asheboro.  A town worth spending the day in... browsing antique shops, looking for treasures in the vintage and consignment shops and enjoying a bit of lunch and a cup of coffee.  

The town murals are interesting and fun, painted by one of the local artists.  

Up and down main street you can find all kinds of shops.  

And all kinds of treasures!  

I found a few of my own treasures, one being, the old bankers lamp, or desk lamp with the green shade.  I have been looking for one of these for quite some time.  A real bargain at $15.  

I am always on the look-out for shops like these!  I love finding small towns filled with lots of wonderful old treasures.  

Are you a flea market and antique shopper?  

Hope all of you enjoy your day.

Just around the corner

Curled up on the sofa this morning with my cup of coffee trying to stay warm, my thoughts are of spring.  We had a taste of it this weekend and Monday was beautiful but now it is cold and windy again.  Seems we are just on the edge of moving from winter to spring.  

I walked outside to get a few pictures and noticed ice in the bird bath.
On the weekend when the temperatures were in the 70's, Galen and I planted potatoes, onions and garlic in the garden.  It felt wonderful to dig in the warm earth.

 So now we wait with anticipation for those warm days of spring, which I believe are just around the corner.

Shopping at a farm and garden supply

How often do you go to farm and garden supply to shop and have fun?  Probably not very often.  Well, there is a place in Grifton, NC called Yoder's, owned and operated by the Mennonites.  A restaurant and bakery on one side and the farm and garden supply on the other side.  I think the reason I like this place so much is because it reminds me a little bit of home back in Pennsylvania amongst the Amish and Mennonites.     

Nothing fancy about it, just everything from tea cups to lawn mowers...  

and anything you can think of for the garden.  I'm looking forward to returning in the spring to check out all the plants and vegetables.  

Their bird aisle was stocked to the hilt with all kinds of bird supplies, beautiful bird houses and any kind of birdseed you could think of.  

Not to mention hummingbird feeders in beautiful colored glass.  

And the restaurant served daily specials, fantastic pies (everything made from scratch),  

and the best coffee.  

So you can see why I love coming here.  A little bit of home away from home.  And look at the cute bird house I bought for the garage.  

Early morning beauty in the garden.

 Early this morning as I glanced out the bedroom window I could see a white glistening frost covering the garden.  It was beautiful!  With my cup of coffee and camera in hand I headed outside.  

The pansies looked like they were dipped in sugar ready to eat.    

Soft, white, and beautiful!  

 Sad to say, by noon, it was all gone.  

Is it spring?

......because today sure feels like it.  It's 65 degrees and climbing.  

The garden was calling me early this morning and as I walked outside with my coffee it was the best feeling in the world.  Can you tell I'm so ready for spring?  I did some weeding and as you can see the garden still has a winter look, but I see some periwinkle blooming and the iris, daffodils and foxglove are up and spreading.

This is a great time for planning the garden.  I've already ordered some rose bushes and will separate some clumps of daisies and verbena to move to other places in the garden.

Otis and Riley were ready for a walk and so was I on this beautiful sunny day.  They enjoyed running around at the rec center and played in the clover.

Yes, it feels just like a spring day!

Hope you're enjoying the weather where you live!