A Birthday Gift From Mr. Old Glory

I've never been too crazy about our little back porch. It always felt like a little roof that was just tacked onto the back of the house. Aren't those pillows and cushion pretty? Gee, how I miss them. I sewed them all by hand last year, and really enjoyed them on that bench for a few weeks, until squirrels ripped them all to shreds and dragged the stuffing up the tree to build their nest. Oh, the horror. I got a little satisfaction though when a storm blew their nest down! But I digress. Back to the porch.

Mr. Old Glory framed out a lattice panel, and to me it looks so much more porch-ier. Yes, that's a word!

And now I have a cozy little nook to read a book, or watch the birds. I want to make more pillows, but should I bother? If I knew it would keep them away from the pillows, I would just through a bag of stuffing out there for them to go nuts with. Again I digress. The whole point of this post is to do a little bragging on my husband. After he finished making this, a friend said that my husband always makes me nice things, and it's true.

He made this bench for me several years ago, and it's gone through a few paint changes.

He also made me a bear, with a chainsaw! Here is Smokey in his Fourth of July attire.

And here's Smokey O' Reilly!

Mr. Old Glory even made me a birdhouse that looks just like Old Glory Cottage! He's made me lots of other things too, including a wheelbarrow that I'll show when I'm done giving it a little facelift.

Other things that I got for my birthday include that pink McCoy vase, which is the start of my pink and white McCoy vase collection up there on top of the secretary.

Two books that I had been wanting for a while, especially that Napco book. You wouldn't believe how many tries it took to finally win it on Ebay! It's out of print, so it can't be found at a bookstore.

Violas from my friend Kari, in the most perfect chippy green pot!

Flowers from my friend Nancy, who is a floral designer. I had a great birthday WEEK!
Remember that you have until 10PM Monday night to enter my giveaway, which you can enter HERE. I will post the results on Tuesday morning.
The gardens are exploding with life, and there is so much to do, so if you don't see me here very often, look for me in the garden!