DC in the Spring

Jefferson Memorial through the Cherry Blossoms, Tidal Basin

The Crowd Gathers, 7 a.m.

Zen Like

Fairy Wood

Tidal Basin, Round the Bend

Because after Monday in Boston, I could use some pretty, some happy.

I took these photos one week earlier, on a business trip to Washington.

XO Terez

Winter Love

Some random snapshots of February life in Boston to warm your heart XO Terez

Blizzard 2013

A few glimpses of our two days with Nemo in Brookline, Mass.

Curb Sailing

Turtle Bug

When you live in a heavily populated metro-area with lots of students, in a town with a high turnover rate in apartment living, you can end up ideal curb sailing conditions.

Curb sailing is a little like garage sailing: but better. Goods procured from the curb are free.

Sunday afternoons are prime curb sailing time in Brookline: folks have taken out the trash and anything else they want to get rid of in their apartments for the week, and it's not too dark to make the grave mistake of picking up something you really shouldn't.

Late this winter I went downstairs to drop off some trash and I was faced with the rear of a solid wood dresser. The back was unremarkable except that it was solid wood, no press board or gaps, so I hurried around to the front to see if there were any knobs or pulls I could pilfer in the name of scavenged art. You should have seen my mouth drop open when I saw this:

By the Wayside

At first I just wanted a photo. But then I thought...I could get it up the stairs with some help and use it in my living room. It looks like something you might find in the basement of Anthropologie with scarves spilling out of it, no?

After a frantic phone call to Crystal we got it up the stairs and found it a new home:

Folklore Dresser

Someone else's trash is my treasure, for now. The beauty of curb sailing is that it's guilt-free--I didn't pay for this piece, so when I tire of it someday, I'll just haul it down the stairs and send it out into the Universe for the next scavenger to pick up.

Some other items I've found out and about:

~*A ridiculously cute-shabby-chic-mirrored-gilded plant stand:

Plant Stand

~* A space-saving-shelf for the radiator:

Radiator Shield

One important rule of curb sailing: one item in equals one item out. Bon voyage, blue velvet wing back chair!

Bye Bye Big Blue

XO TEREZ

Seven Sparrows

Family of Seven

::Today was our first real snowfall-that-stuck of the winter season. We've had a fairly mild winter--most of my scarves and mittens have stayed in storage, and there have only been a few days when my eyeballs felt like they were freezing in my head. I needed to get a few things from Coolidge Corner this afternoon so I bundled up and headed into the storm.

My neighborhood is filled with folks who keep their bird feeders well stocked, year round. Excellent for the birds, not so great for the skunk that lives somewhere in my hood nor the squirrels who frolic on my roof when I'm trying to sleep. {Well, good for them, but not for me!}

I stumbled upon a bird feeder hidden behind a sparse hedge up the street and came upon about 50 house sparrows buzzing and flapping and flinging themselves through the snow and each other to get to a full container of seed.

To the right of the feeder was a simple garden urn, with seven sparrows standing sentinell 'round the rim. I hoped they'd stay still so I could pull my camera from my pocket and take their photo, but they flittered away. I stood very still, and they came back. I kept snapping away and after about 50 shots I got the one above. Good thing because two frames later the neighbor woman opened her front door to get her mail and they all fluttered away.

I love the number seven. There are seven people in my family immediate family. It's always represented a symbol of love and hope for me. I'll take these little darlings as a sign of good things to come.

Happy New Year!

Stay warm!

XO Terez

And Cut!

PS here are the little guys one frame later, breaking their mark. I love the little guy hidden in the lattice under the porch. Can you see his little head peeking out?

Saturday Stroll

Starling Sitting

Lunch Buddies

Canadian Invasion Formation

Too Shy for the Camera

After finishing some Christmas errands I decided to walk from Park Street to Hynes through the Common and Public Garden. I was treated to a show of starlings gobbling up red berries and Canadian Geese participating in a glamorous synchronized swimming performance. The ice skaters cutting away at the Frog Pond looked a little out of place with the green grass and balmy temps. Will we have another record snowfall this year? {I hope not!}

XO Terez

Walk to Work Wednesday

A Little Birdie Told Me

Golden Path

Between the Rails

Asphalt Applique

Renegade Bunch

The leaves have finally started to change but it feels more like the tail end of summer than the middle of fall--upper 60s today and plenty of sunshine. The steam radiators in my apartment don't know the difference: still clunking and spurting out heat despite the balmy air. Such a treat in November makes me wonder if we'll pay for it in February: a squirrel is already trying to build a den in my ceiling and it's not even freezing at night yet.

XO Terez

Walk to Work Wednesday

John, Andrew, Paul and Matthew

Sneaky Sunlight

The Breakfast Club

Beacon Street Water Works

Mini Mums

How did it get to be November already? Autumn this year has been less than spectacular--the leaves are stubborn and refuse to change or fall from the trees. We've already had a snow storm--and still many people are without power. As for the temperature change, I don't mind...too much. I sometimes wish the summer away--the heat and humidity are worse in my mind than the bone chilling temperatures we're expecting in a few weeks. Fall and winter means Mamcat's-Not-So-Secret-Anymore-Hot-Cider Recipe, pot roast, Jane Austen, knitting, purling, quilting, Baileys & Cocoa, snowy Sunday dinners with friends, the Nutcracker, down comforters, holiday handmade gift making and purchasing (and sometimes keeping!). By February I'll be through but for now I'm settling in with a mug of tea and already enjoying the incumbent holiday season. And finally...finally...my fingers are itching to create some new baubles.
XO Terez 

Pre-Fall Foliage

Green Heart

Slippery Little Suckers

Divine Vine

Verdant Texture

Mamacat: Might You Want To Paint?

Bruised Heart

For some reason this year, more than ever before, I've been paying attention to the wonderful diversity and visual appeal green foliage has to offer. In New England the red, yellow, orange, and maroon leaves get all of the glory in Mid-October. And they are truly spectacular--but the next time you are taking a stroll, take a careful look at the green carpets, vines, hills, waves and seas of leafy bits. They deserve their own recognition and acclaim.

XO Terez

Kitty Roll

Oh! To be a kitty in a pool
of late summer sunshine.

Hrmph. I'm a bit hot so I'll start
to think about rolling over.

Oh bother, I think I might be stuck.

Er, ah, almost got it!

Ahhh. Sweet shade.