Roadside Botany- Spring Spectacular

This evening I took a walk around the yard and neighborhood with the fam documenting the latest stage of the spectacular spring bloom we have enjoyed in this most beautiful place in which we live.

I have never seen so many trilliums in one place. In fact, I can't imagine that there is a place where there is a higher concentration of this lovely flower than what I saw on our street today. They were mostly white and light pink, but I also spotted some delicate burgundy flowers.

This property down the street from our house is carpeted in trillium flowers. Literally. 

 We also have azaleas beginning to show and spotted scores of fiddle head ferns, wild strawberries, and other dainty blooms unfamiliar to me.

 Then, as we were headed back up to the house, I spotted these purple flowers over near the fire pit my husband has been working on. Pardon the blurry pics- it was getting dark.

It looked orchid-like to me, so I promptly came inside and browsed some photos on the NC Native Plants Society website, and lo and behold, it is in fact a Showy Orchis!

Shucks, y'all. I just can't even find the words to describe how much I love it here and how perfect the mountains of North Carolina are! I can't wait to see what beauty is in store for us as the season progresses! 

Spring Wildflowers and Vintage Bottles

The wee one and I picked some dandelions, pansies, and some other purple flower out in the yard today. It looks as though all of a sudden spring has sprinkled itself across the yard, and these little pretties are everywhere. I have written about my vintage bottle collection here before, and if you were wondering what one does with those, here is my favorite use...

 They are so cheery on the window sill above the sink or clustered on the dining table, and the bottles are the perfect size for tiny blooms with short stems. I am loving spring, but I suppose I say that about every season here, as I am fortunate and grateful to live in a place where each season of the year is positively beautiful in its turn. I hope you are getting some sunshine and warmth in your neighborhood too!

Daffodil Dress

We are in full bloom here in Western North Carolina. I have been up and down the east coast and lived in the extreme north and the extreme south (Maine and Florida), and I have to say that spring here is more beautiful than I have seen it anywhere else. For one thing, it comes a few months sooner than it does in Maine- my dad is still looking at snow on the ground! And in Florida, you don't really get to experience seasons, you trade them for consistent sunshine, which can be nice too. But here, here in the lovely Smoky Mountains, it is all bulbs and flowering trees. It is all the yellows of forsythias, daffodils, and dandelions. It is all the purples of violets, hyacinths, and crocuses. It is all the pinks and whites of flowering cherries and pears, and the muted reds of new leaves budding on maples and oaks. Can you tell I love it here? Can you tell I really do delight in the majesty of where I live? I do. I am sentimental about spring here now- I think of what it felt like last year, coming home with our new baby girl. How appropriate that she was born just as the daffodils were stretching their heads up to meet the sunlight. I find it refreshing and inspiring.
Last week, I felt inspired to sew a new dress. I didn't want this one to take a million years, I just wanted to sew it up, sew it up right, and have it done before it became tiresome. Well, I finished most of it in two days, and then I spent a couple more putting on the touches that I like. The dress was spring inspired, and it is spring-y. It is my daffodil dress.

Our chickens are so tame. I opened the car door today and one jumped in :)

I did a faux sweetheart with ric rack at the neckline... 

and added some to the hemline as well. 

This was fun. I did a hand stitched exposed metal zipper to match the ric rack.
It's not as crooked at the top as it looks in this pic :)

Of course I added some sassy hem tape. I am such a sass. 

I used Simplicity 4491, which is a pattern that I see myself using a lot.

Imagine the possibilites!

This was a truly fun dress to sew, as the process didn't drag on and become a drag. I finished all of my seams with my serger, which I sadly have never done before. I guess I have just been too lazy! I am in the habit of adding a twill tape waist stay. It came out nicely. I feel like my construction is improving, and that's what it's all about! Well, that and having cute stuff to wear. And, unfortunately and fortunately, I don't know if I'll be wearing this one much. I like it, I think it's cute, but it doesn't fit! I have officially lost the rest of my baby weight and then a little more, and this dress is too big on top. It happened kind of fast in the last month or so, and I am no longer a 36" bust. Oh well. It would really chap my arse if it didn't fit because it was too tight.

So, it is time for what's next. That is starting seedlings...

We have great neighbors, and our buddy came and plowed and then tilled our garden plot for us. It looks better than it ever has before, and I am psyched to get to planting! The baby is bigger now, I have a ton more energy this year, and I am eating primarily vegetarian, so I think this is going to be our best garden yet. How are your sewing and sowing plans shaping up? Is everyone feeling as motivated as I am right now? 

 

P.S. I forgot to say (and I always like to!) that all of the materials for this dress were thrifted excepting the pattern, which I bought on eBay. The fabric was $2, the twill tape and rick rack cost pennies, and the hem lace was a quarter. Thrifty sewing might just be the best kind! There are no worries about what you spent on your fabric or making mistakes. More on that to come...

I Like the Biltmore in March, How About You?

Last weekend we made a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville with the in-laws and some friends that came up from Florida with them. We bought year passes again, and we toured the house (my 4th time). It is really impossible for me to fathom having that kind of wealth.

Borrowed photo- thanks!

The house is positively amazing- it is worth seeing if you ever get the chance. It is the largest privately owned residence in the world. This is our second time buying the annual passes because the grounds and gardens are extensive (8000 acres!) and lovely as well. We like to pack a picnic whenever we visit Asheville and go eat it by the lagoon. 

Borrowed photo- thanks!

Well, we arrived a bit late in the day, and though we had time to tour the house, by the time we made it down the hill the greenhouses were closed. So, us gals left the guys behind and went back the next day. It is a 3 hour drive round trip, but it was so worth it. Here are some of my shots from both days.

I think the photos pretty much speak for themselves. We'll be headed back in a week or two to see the tulips come up in the outdoor gardens- there are tons just on the verge of blooming. I'll get more shots then. Well, spring has sprung in Western NC! In light of recent, tragic world events I think it is even more important that we take time to acknowledge and relish life's simplest pleasures. It is how we honor our moments and those we share them with. I am so happy to be where I am right now, doing what I am doing, and with whom I am doing it.