Friday, July 18, 2008

Flowers & Arbors & Bears, Oh My! (Awards, too!)

Look at this happy face that greeted us during our visit to western Massachusetts!



What a delightful time Amanda and I had at the Berkshire Flower Co. in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Just look at all of the the beautiful flowers and rustic twig furniture!


Oh, I think this bench would look FABULOUS in my garden!!! Amanda convinced me it wouldn't fit in the back of the van (I think she inherited those genes from her father!)...


What's this? Why, it appears that the woodland creatures from behind the flower shop have come out to welcome us to western Massachusetts! They posed so pretty in front of this white gazebo, which would also look spectacular in my backyard!!


I am torn between the white iron pieces and the natural twiggy pieces. Isn't this arbor sweet? I can just picture it with morning glories or a moonflower vine climbing up the sides...


Amanda made friends with this little fox... I'd love to introduce him to the Foxy Loxy garden statue that lives in our backyard.


Doesn't Bambi look sweet in front of the geraniums?


And look who howled a big "Welcome to the Berkshires!" for us!


Hey, I think I've seen these two guys in my own backyard!!


Awwww, this litte guy reminded me of my own Mr. B... It's hard to believe that each piece is carved from a single tree trunk... I am in awe of the creativity and talent of the wood carver...

Here's Mama bear and Baby bear... Where could Papa bear be?


"Here I am!!!" And look at that "Papa Bear pose" he got into so we could take his picture! He hopes that you'll stop by to see him and all of his friends if you're ever in the Pittsfield, MA area!

"Tag - I'm it!" I've been tagged to list 7 little known facts about myself by Deborah of Pictures, Pots, and Pens. Deborah covers a wonderful variety of topics on her blog and she takes the most beautiful photographs (such as her recent post where she included incredible closeups of flowers, many of them being visited by busy bees!!)... Thank you, Deborah! Okay, not too long ago I listed 7 things, so I'll try to come up with 7 more!

1) My favorite times of day are dusk and dawn (although being a night owl, I don't catch the dawn as often as I'd like).
2) The older I get, the more I dislike the L-O-N-G snowy New England winters. I wouldn't mind if winter only lasted a month or so, but it seems to go on and on forever...
3) That being said, without the winter, I probably wouldn't appreciate spring as much as I do, and spring is definitely my favorite season!
4) I often include potato chips as one of the ingredients when I make sandwiches. Not on the side, mind you, but inside the sandwich.
5) I never get tired of "I Love Lucy" reruns.
6) If I'm flipping through channels and come across "Under the Tuscan Sun" or "You've Got Mail," I don't go any further. Some people have comfort foods. I have comfort movies.
7) Last summer I bought a GPS unit for my car and immediately after hearing "her" voice named her Delilah (after the Plain White T's song that was a mega-hit at around the same time I bought the GPS - I love that song!!).

And now on to the awards!!!!

Alaura at Cottage Rose was kind enough to pass along this Arte y Pico award to me! Thank you, Alaura!! Be sure to visit Cottage Rose for tons of inspiration... Alaura's blog is full of home projects and before & after photos - so many great ideas!

The guidelines for giving and receiving this award are as follows: 1. Pick 5 blogs that you feel are deserving of the award. 2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone. 3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of the link to the blog that gave it to him/her. 4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the link of 'Arte y Pico' so that everyone knows the origin of this award. 5. Show these rules on the award page


Kady from Life on Bonnie Lane has presented me with this lovely award!! Thank you, Kady!! Kady is the kind of blogger who I would love to have as a next door neighbor as she would brighten up the whole neighborhood with her smile and sunny disposition!!

Thank you all for your awards and the game of tag! I’m passing along the awards to all the wonderful blogs in my sidebar – you all deserve it!!! And I’m opening up the game of tag to anyone who reads this and would like to post 7 things about themselves on their own blog!! If you decide to do that, you can just leave a comment here so others can visit your blog and learn 7 things about you!!

Donna

12 comments:

Robin said...

what cute little guys! I love allt he pictures and it looks like you've been having lots of fun visiting these sweet little shops!

Anonymous said...

Morning Donna, before I read your post this morning, I just want to say - I just love this song Delilah that's playing. I don't listen to much new stuff, but I've heard this song and just love the chorus - Oh, it's what you do to me! Oh, well, I'm going back to see you blog today.
I know, I'm a silly...shelia ;)

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm back. What a nice post and Amanda is gorgeous! I love your blog and see you've made a magazine cover. Isn't that fun? Come see me today I have a couple too!

Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

carolyn@simple~primitive~devotion said...

I love reading about your trips! Nice pics too! Conrgats on your awards! Oh, and about the ships in the sandwiches, we have done that since we were kids! LOVE them in a sandwich! Most people think we are nuts when we put the ships in the sandwiches! LOL!

Anonymous said...

More great photos of your trip with your daughter! Love the wood carvings--how do they do that? Don't ya hate it when your kiddos inherit the negative-husband genes when it comes to dragging cool stuff home?

Congrats on your awards!

Connie said...

What a lovely flower shop, sweet lady! I plan on going to our nursery today to get another star jasmine. Ours is doing so well on the patio then I thought I'd get another one to keep it company!

Congratulations on your awards.

I'm not sure I'd "introduce" the animals to each other though. Who KNOWS what will take place at night when no one is there, my enchanted chickee!! Wooooohooooo........

Smoochies,
Connie

Cottage Rose said...

Donna I love the pictures you posted. Amanda is so pretty. I once watched a man do the chain saw carving, it was amazing. I love it when you take us on one of your trips. Thank you so much. And I think you should have stuffed the garden bench in anyway, or tied it on the top. lol;
Hugs;
Alaura

Joanne Kennedy said...

That is such a darling shop. I would have wanted to take them all home with me. I'm a sucker for animals.

I had to laugh about naming your GPS. I did the same thing. I didn't like the female voice so I switched it the male. His name is Fred.

My sister got hers first and named her lady Betty. Then her friend got the same Lexus as my sister and named his GPS Wilma so I played along with the whole Flintstone names and went with Fred. I'm wanting my other sister to get one and name hers Barney. If she gets one with a male voice. If not, guess it will be Pebbles. LOL

Hugs,
Joanne

Life on the Edge said...

What a fun place to visit! Thanks for taking us along. All love those benches and arbors, and the twig furniture. Those are things that I really love. It's always fun to see those tree stump carvings too. There are some talented people out there!

So glad you liked the award! Also enjoyed reading your tags.

Kady

NnN said...

I want the cat carving!! :)

Rechelle ~Walnuthaven Cottage~ said...

I love those little garden animals. The cottage blue reminds me of the color on my bathroom walls. AND as I've been restoring my kitchen cabinet hinges, that cottage blue is perhaps the second color that was painted on. Yes, it's been cleaned away, but I made mention to my hubby that I thought it was a nice color :0)

Rue said...

Hi Donna :)

Amanda is gorgeous! I love all the shops you went to and I would have been right next to her in the apron area LOL

I have comfort movies too and You've Got Mail is always on my list ;)

hugs,
rue