~Opening April: a Visit to the Garden & a Giveaway~

And April is upon us . . . 

and so are my allergies!

I do love all the budding trees, I only wish they didn't make me sneeze

(wow- poetry without even trying)

Okay, obviously my sinus headache is making me a wee bit loopy- among other things.

Spring has definitely sprung here in my bit of the world. Though to imagine our spring correctly so far, just think of daffodils with blankets of snow and cheery blossoms being swept away in torrent of rainfall flooding the streets. Seriously, this past month of March broke the record in my area for the heaviest rainfall- ever.

At this point the 'April showers bring May flowers' idea is rather frightening- anymore 'showers' and it will all be washed away. I think for this year we should change the rhyme to 'April sun brings May fun'.

(again- I am on a really lame rhyming spree)

Alright- getting back to 'spring' and 'flowers', we did have a fair margin of sunshine yesterday, so, even though I felt as if a truck ran me over, I dragged myself outside to take a quick inventory of garden happenings before the rain found it's way back.

And here is what I found . . .

not one, but TWO of my tulips have decided to bloom! 

Two-tulips . . . 2 2 lips . . . tutu lips . . .

(ahh! seriously, this has to stop- I've gone mad!)

Anyway- here they are in all their cheeriness. They were planted last fall and I had completely forgotten what color they were. I am so, so pleased with their brightness- good job me!

Moving on . . . 

some blue bells have come up, tucked among the mosses . . .

and the daffodils continue to delight- and as I have a good deal, 

a few like to come visit with me in the house- they like company.

These soft primroses are the only things I've managed to get potted and on the porch.

More blooming and lots of green.

These lovelies I can see right from my craft room window here at my desk as I type.

Love them- miniature and delicate. 

And that is about all I could manage before my body broke down and took me back inside.

HOWEVER- I have a little more garden for you . . .

It's Giveaway Time!

In order to celebrate our arrival into spring and gardening season

I have a little package of  'flowered' goodies to send to out there to one of you!

But first, a little background.

This is my most favorite magazine of all time:

I started reading this when I was 14-maybe 15 years old. 

Back in the early nineties. 

Back when I spent my time dying my hair black, 

listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam (I am a Seattlite after all),

and wearing my boyfriend's rock t-shirts, long-sleeved button up plaid shirts and my Birkenstocks with wool socks. It was grunge, and it was beautiful. 

Okay, not really, but I was a teen- humor me.

So there I was- grungy clothes with holes and jet black hair sipping tea with this magazine in hand.

Just pouring over each page with heart beating rapidly over gardens and cottages in England and woman artists and proper 'teas', travels to Europe and delicate bath products and recipes for foods my 'Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup Life' had never encountered.

And here I am, eighteen years later- no longer grunged out- I don't wear socks with sandals or stock up on 'alternative' music. But I do have an old house, a garden, and dreams that continue to include 'England' and 'Cottage' in the same sentence. I paint, and arrange, and decorate. I love 'classic' and 'traditional' and 'lovely', and as crazy as it may sound, so much of that has been introduced to me through this magazine.

And so . . . as my most favorite issues are from the nineties when I first started reading them, I have found myself with an extra copy of "April 1997"- and I am excited to be able to share my love with one of YOU!

Here are just a few pictures taken from this issue- since it's April, there is lots of gardening inspiration!

Aren't they lovely and serene? I tell you- I could go pass out on that bed above any moment!

But not before I show you what other 'spring time' goodies I'll be sending off as well:

A darling antique postcard with a very cute spring poem . . .

A brand new 'spring' journal with lined pages . . .

(a gardening journal perhaps?)

Some cheery blossom Susan Branch stationary- complete with envelopes with little bees on them!

And of course, some flowers themselves- in seed form that is.

So . . .  here are the DETAILS:

This giveaway is open to those in the US and Canada- 

( Sorry, but I'll be doing another one later, open to all!)

If you want to enter, just leave a comment any time between now and April 8th-

I will be drawing a random winner on some random hour on April 9th 

(because my life is rather random right now)

And if you'd like TWO chances to win, than you can either tell me in a separate comment that you follow me or subscribe to my blog or however you follow- because you do OR

that you signed up to follow my blog- because you didn't before, but now you do OR

you can have an extra entry for letting the people who read your blog know they can come over here and enter. So- that would be a possibility of three possible entries at the most- right? Does that make sense 'cause it's all kind of dancing through my loopy brain at the moment.

Okay- so please comment if you'd like to enter and I'm going to go pass out in bed now

and I'll actually be off on Spring Break this coming week- so have a lovely Easter and I'll be here next week to see who I'm sending these goodies to!

Cheers!