Earth Hour

 What did you do during Earth Hour?

The hub and I crawled up into the big bed and we're watching Dial M for Murder on his laptop! 

Cozy as two bugs in a rug.

Labels:  Earth

Fabulicious

The hub and I stumbled upon a fabulous new cupcake shop in Franklin this afternoon. Oh dear. Pull the gun right out of your holster and shoot me now.

Of all the times for me to leave my camera at home .  .  .  I never leave my camera at home! Geesh! (Well, that's obviously not quite true, now is it.) I borrowed the hub's iPhone and took a few delicious photos of the front room, all decked out in a stupendous array of merriment.

Apologies for the blur and not-quite-right photos, but I couldn't contain myself -- had to share in my joy to find such a gem. I did as much as I could with Photoshop. Sorry chillins'.

With all due respect to Nashville, I am very excited to be finding a more sophisticated array of shopping choices these days. (Hey, I mean we only got a Nordstrom's in the past year! What tha?) It seems a long time in coming, but slowly little ol' Nashvul is opening little shops that remind me of back home. And, no wonder in regards to this one -- The Cowgirl Cupcake Co. originated in Bal'more. Say no mo. But I will, of course. 

The hub and I were so excited about this, we actually discussed moving back to Georgetown during our drive back home with our goodies. That is, after the kid finishes his stint here, of course. How exciting is that? (Our final resting place changes every week, so don't get too excited, k?)

The kid is heading East for his spring break with some friends; so what a wonderful "excuse" to buy a dozen for the road, eh? I know they all will be thrilled to open the box and find these wonderful delights.

I mean, who wouldn't? Am I right, or am I right? You know I'm right.

The hub and I also treated ourselves to one each that we brought home for later. Well--later came earlier for me. Y'all know I ain't nothin' but a cupcake ho; and if one has my name on it, I'm gonna go in for the kill as soon as I can. I had an "oh wow" moment(s) with my chocolate and pink buttercream bliss. So much better than the other cupcake places around here, let me tell you. One can definitely taste the love put into these little gems. Just look at them! No, I mean really, look at 'em!

Schweet!

Labels:  Food, Franklin, TN

Sweet Baby Little Foot

Looks as though Bethy is going to be a grandma soon!

Sending all my best wishes and prayers to her daughter Kayln and baby-to-be, Sweet Little Foot.

How exciting!

Labels:  Beth

The Little Harpeth River

I've been riding my bicycle through the parks as weather permits. We had a lot of rain last week so I'm trying to catch up. I have passed this sign a million times and have wanted to stop and get a little history on the area; and finally I did.

The Little Harpeth runs alongside the bike path which makes for a lovely ride. On most days, I fight myself to keep moving; but yesterday I found myself once more chasing shadows. The light is so brilliant this time of year that I just had to bring my ol' point-and-shoot out and snap a few.

 I hadn't even noticed the creek bed's layers until I looked closely at this shot. 

Growing up, we had a creek down the street where us kids always ended up on hot summer days. At the time, Four-Mile Run was just about the same as this little creek, shallow enough to wade through. In the spring, I would bring tadpoles home to watch "grow." We always had buckets all over the dining room around that time. I can't really remember any frogs ever evolving--probably because either 1) my mom dumped them while we were at school, or 2) the cats ate them. Ha! I never gave it any thought, actually. Kids.

Do you remember original Levi jeans in the late 1960s? Geesh, remember how they could almost stand up by themselves when you first bought them? They needed to be washed like a million times before you could even move in them. Seriously. Ha, I distinctly remember getting my first pair; and of course, my momma wasn't about to wash something that had never even been worn! (She was kind of a funny washer--growing up during the Depression, I guess.) Well, of course we ended up in the creek that day. Can you imagine walking in new Levi's that are wet? And, remember, we had to roll them up because our parents would never dream of buying the right size so we could supposedly "grow" into them? (My short legs are still the same length as they were in the 60s! My pants were always rolled up. Still are! Ugh.) How much ya wanna bet those little legs were chaffed raw by the time I made it home! Ouchy. 

Ahhh, cheers to childhood memories and chasing spring shadows.

Labels: Arlington, Childhood, Spring, Tennessee, Virginia

Easter Egg Parade

Can you believe Easter is just around the corner?

I've been busy trying out some new techniques with my old dyes. I just couldn't wrap my head around making any Pysanka this year.

It's already, like, countdown time!

Labels: Easter, Pysanky

Vert

It all may be chickweed, but it sure is green! That's one of the lilacs that is bursting with blooms. Probably need to go cut some more for the house. Mmmmmm.

 Still fiddling around with my cloches.

And, after the teenager's girlfriend's birthday last weekend, I decided to keep the cake platter out and use it. It is actually too short for a real cake anyway. Pfffft. May as well put it to some use!

Storms rolled in yesterday afternoon, thank goodness. I fed all evergreens and azaleas; so I didn't have to water them! 

(But I did anyway--in the rain. Crazy old woman out in the rain with the hose.)

I finally did get to the shop that was selling these gorgeous hydrangeas! 

I found a beautiful plant with two different colors hidden in the back of all the others. 

I wish I could plant this one in the front yard; but they said this variety is not hardy enough. Pout. 

By the time I get all the indoor plants all settled into their favorites spots, I will have to load them all into the car for the summer at Riverside. This is the first time, ever, that I've been able to keep orchids. I'm thinking they'll be really happy at Riverside on the screened porch--that is, if I can get them there without breaking all their tender little necks! Always a challenge.

The teenager was on spring break this past week. He and the hub headed to Riverside for some needed R&R. The hub was just home from Mumbai and Shanghai; and the teenager has been busting butt with 21 credits his final semester. They both needed some down time; but it was wonderful having them back home yesterday.

I'm a happy gurl.

Labels: Flowers, Hub, Spring, Teenager

Spring, Sprang, Sprung

Spring has sprung, indeed. Here are cut lilacs (scratch and sniff) from the back yard. Mom had brought some cuttings from our childhood home when she moved here. This year, they are chock-a-block with blooms for the first time. The smell is intoxicating. It takes me back to the days of working at USA TODAY in Arlington way back when. JR and I would bring freshly-cut bouquets in every week from our gardens--lilacs and peonies being my favorites.

The tulips we planted last fall are just about past their prime. We sure have enjoyed them. After looking at this photo, I'm thinking we need a gnome in here somewhere. What do you think?

Speaking of peonies, look at what has already broken through the ground. Seems really early. I think a lot of us around the country are hoping that the weather stays warm. Oh my. If we get a freeze, there will be so much lost at this point. Ugh. (Do you say pe-oh-nies or pee-in-ies? The latter is my accent.)

I cleaned last year's dead from our hydrangea bushes this week. I hope to have lots of blooms on here as well. Fingers' crossed. They've been really tiny over the past few years. Hmmmmm.

It was then that I discovered my window-box liners have just about disintegrated. Oy. I have a replacement set ordered, arriving just in time to plant! Trying to put my thoughts together for plantings.

The iris are a little small this first year, but they are brilliant just the same. Hopefully, they are happy where they are planted and will multiply in the coming years.

Enjoying the rain against the window panes.
Music for the soul.

Labels: Flowers, Spring

I Dream of Poppies

I've had this photo on my desktop for ages, and I finally decided to share it. It doesn't even look real, it's so gorgeous. 

I have always wanted to grow poppies but have been unable to. It's probably due to the humidity and heat of the summers that suck the life out of them (and me too!).

This photo was taken in the gardens at Lindeth Howe Country House in Bowness-on-Windermere a couple of summers ago. Obviously, I have yet to post on the stay. I need to because it was a magical place.

Perhaps soon.

Labels:  England, Jacq, Flowers,  Bowness-on-Windermere, Summer

More on Memphis

There was beautiful sunlight when I was in Memphis. This building reminded me of New Orleans and the shadows called to my camera.

At one point, when I was lost--as usual--I drove by Sun Studio. Of course, I had to turn around and go in! Great website, by the way. Check it out and listen to some good ol' Elvis, Jerry Lee and the man in black. Ahhh, to be here in its heyday would have been amazing. Sigh.

It's a tiny little place, but wow, what memories were made here. If these walls could talk! (Probably wouldn't want to know what they were saying!)

There were tours but I was on my way out to Graceland. Perhaps next time. 

Pfffft, and I never did find Graceland. Yes, I am so direction challenged! I've learned to take it in stride; so when I saw a sign for Nashville, I just headed back home. That's two times that I've planned on seeing Graceland and twice I didn't make it. 

Three time's the charm?

Labels:  Memphis, Tennessee, Music

St. Paddy's

 Pesky little fellers, aren't they? They certainly left their mark while we slept. I'm still sweeping up.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy St. Patrick's Day!

Labels: St. Patrick's

Memphis in the Meantime, Baby

Somehow I was able to snag some pre-sale Jack White tickets for his show in Memphis. I can't tell you how crazy excited I was; and holding on to them for over a month just about drove me crazy! He's out on his own now--no Meg, no Dead Weather, no Raconteurs--just Jack and his new back up bands. He has two. An all-female one and an-all male one. He's been mixing it up between shows. Gotta love his spontaneity and pure love for music. You never know what's going to happen at his shows which makes them even more exciting. At first, there were only five shows--a private show in Nashville at Third Man, and then he was on to Chattanooga, Birmingham, Memphis and Austin. Wish I were in Texas right about now. He seems to keep adding more shows to SXSW.

Memphis is a three-hour drive from Nashville, not too bad at all. As excited as I was, the drive was nothing. As soon as I arrived, I checked into the hotel the hub had arranged for me and then I was off exploring. The first thing I wanted to do was find the venue since I was going it solo for the evening. Wanted to be able to map my way back after the show! Meanwhile, it was right around the corner! Yay. No worries, then. Above must be the "old" Daisy. Isn't she beautiful? Wow. But we were across the street at the "New" Daisy. Ha. That's where they put us heathens! 

Will-call didn't open until 7 p.m. so I killed some time and walked around Beale Street and listened to some live music for a while, enjoyed people watching and clicked some photos before I headed off to dinner.

I thought twice about going to BB King's for some que but thought, well, we have one of those in Nashville. And, so, off to the Rendezvous it was--famous in its own right. Had to check it off the list, ya know.

Finding the place was no easy task. It's literally located in an alley and this is the little sign above the door. Okey dokey.

What a kooky place! Paper plates and plastic silverware but white cloth napkins! Go figure.

Not being a rib person, I ordered the beef brisket. Not Texas style, mind you, but still good. It had a nice crunchy crust on it.

They serve up a lot of food and FAST! It was on my table likety split. And yummy, it was.

Of course, I had to take a stroll through the gorgeous Peabody Hotel, yet another infamous Memphis landmark. We had stayed there years ago when the kid was still quite young; and he loved the ducks, of course.

And looky at what time it was!! The ducks had already marched out from the elevator (they live in their own "penthouse" on the roof) so I was in for another treat. Schweeeet! That would never happen again in another million years! There was some good mojo flowing in Memphis on the 13th, let me tell you!

After heading back to the hotel and changing; I could hardly contain my giddiness. I waited until about 7:30 to let the rush get through. I wasn't about to get into the CF with all of those youngins'. I had an extra ticket that I was going to just hand to someone who was looking to get in; but then I found out the Daisy just "crossed" your name off the list as you went in. Ugh. I had to literally "walk" in with a person. A Stranger. Lawds. So I had to walk into the street and yell, "Anyone need a ticket?" Ha! Now y'all know how shy I am!! But I wasn't about to let a JW ticket go to waste. Lord forbid. Next thing I knew, this kid walks up to me and says his dad was looking for a ticket. Brawhahahahaha!!! (All I could think of was the kid doing the same for me--"My mom would SO MUCH LOVE TO GO SEE JACK WHITE but couldn't get a ticket.") Bless his heart.

Long story short, we waited for his dad to drop off his little sister at a sitter's and then wait for him to find a parking spot! (giggle) Poor guy came running up like a bat out of hell. When he asked how  much, I just said "pay-it-forward." (Remember when I got the RAK in the mailbox? Yeah baby. Boom, I'm good!) And damned if he didn't get it! Loved that! And, we all had the best time. Of course, all three of us were were up at the stage by encore! (Almost got kicked out tho in doing so--ooooopsy. Nasty, big bouncers at The Daisy!) But never you mind about that! 

There were no cameras allowed so I left mine at the hotel. These are all from Jack's site. And let me tell you sir, they were not fooling around. People were being escorted out left and right! Oooofy. I didn't even make my normal "concert" calls on my cell!

Alright, let me just say . . . Oh MY GOSH! This was the best show EVER. Honestly. I have to put it right up there with Bob Marley and the Wailers back in the day which I've always said was a phenomenal, once-in-a-life-time experience.  Now I have two of those. Pinch me.

He was KRAZY good. It truly makes a difference when you love what you do and do what you love. He was enjoying himself as much as we were, I think.  I'm still buzzing with excitement when I look at those pictures. 

Jack is absolutely brilliant.

Sigh.

Labels: Memphis, Music, Tennessee