No Place Like Home # 21

If Home is where your heart is then may your Home be blessed... John McLeod

Happy Easter Monday and welcome dear friends to my weekly blog party!

We here in Canada are enjoying a long Easter weekend as today is also a holiday for my hubby and he is taking tomorrow off too. Guess what he will be doing? It's time to start painting again. This time it is the den and then, alas, the office. It's going to be a lot of work because there is so much 'stuff' to move especially in the office. But it will be good to get it done.

Over the weekend I wrote a Good Friday post remembering our Lord's sacrifice for us. I also posted an Easter tea using some pink and aqua china. Daffodils, bunnies and chicks also showed up on the tea table. If you would like to see that post, just click here.

Last week's party served up so many wonderful ideas and recipes. They were all marvellous and thank you so much for sharing. You are a wonderfully talented group of ladies! These are my features for this week and I hope you enjoy them! 


Emily @ The French Hutch shared her lovely Spring nest complete with a family of bunnies nestled inside. Very cute!

Debbie @ Debbie-Dabble had a wonderful display to share and this time it is her pink Easter tree and bunny village.

Gina @ A Simple Cottage Life  shared these cute carrot treat boxes with her tutorial. Great for hostess gifts or at a place setting.

Marilyn @ Mountain Top Spice shared her table makeover with lots of storage space in this little table. Great job!

Snap @ Tales From Twisty Lane shared a very sweet tea post using her Easter bunnies and lovely tea ware.

Pam @ TEA IN TEXAS shared her adorable bunny tablescape. Loved her bunny plates!

Mimi @ A Tray of Bliss made these adorable bunny print cookies. Almost too pretty to eat!

Thank you everyone for participating last week. As a courtesy, and if you would like to be featured, you should have a link back to my party.

Now let's see what you are creating in your home and garden to make it a cozy place to come home to for your family, your friends, and yourself. 


Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. - Edgar A. Guest 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

Pretty Aqua and Pink for Easter

Everything is new in the spring. Springs themselves are always so new, too. No spring is ever just like any other spring. It always has something of its own to be its own peculiar sweetness. - LM Montgomery

Hello dear bloggy friends!
Easter is early this year so our weather hasn't quite reached that stage of balmy breezes yet but it's coming! We've had a lot of snow lately but then it is still March so one can expect this here on PEI.

Springtime is like the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. ~ Lewis Grizzard


I have set my tea table with some daffodils. Have you ever noticed their lovely fragrance? Even with a stuffed up nose, I can smell it.

My china today is a collection of some of my favourite colours, aqua and pink. Easter is such a lovely holiday and its soft colours whisper to us of more loveliness to come.

The aqua teacup and teapot are made by Gracie China.

The pink teacup is Aynsley made in England. 

Bunnies and chicks are joining us too. The chicks around the vase of daffodils actually hop. My Auntie P and Uncle Doug sent them to me one year just for fun. The napkins are a gift from a blogger friend. Aren't they pretty with their scalloped edges?

Tea is like a hug and a handshake; something about it warms friendships and inspires confidences. ~ Victoria magazine


The bunny sitting in the teacup was also a gift from a blogger friend.

I have made some little chocolate tarts decorated with coloured eggs. My grandchildren are going to love these! The lovely Limoges plate was given to me by my Aunt Judy.

I am still fighting this terrible cold I've had for two weeks so I am taking lemon in my tea today. 

Easter is of course much more than chocolate and cute little bunnies. It is a special holiday celebrated in memory of the Lord's great sacrifice for us. 

When our children were growing up we always gave them their treats on Saturday because we thought it was important to keep Easter Sunday special. 

Besides having a wonderful Easter dinner together, some families exchange gifts this time of year. There are so many things to enjoy about Easter. 

So, let us enjoy this wonderful holiday but let's also remember what the Saviour did for us. He gave us the greatest gift of all; Himself, so that if we believe in Him and follow Him, we will have eternal life. Hallelujah!

Thank you for your visit and I wish you all a beautiful and meaningful Easter. God bless you, my friends!


My life, my love, I give to Thee,
Thou Lamb of God who died for me;
Oh, may I ever faithful be,
My Savior and my God! ~ Hudson

I am joining the following parties as well~

 Tuesday Cuppa Tea
 Bernideen's TTCG Blog Party
 Tea Cup Tuesday
 Share Your Cup Thursday
 Home Sweet Home

 Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

Good Friday Blessings

Above all powers

Above all kings

Above all nature

And all created things

Above all wisdom

And all the ways of man

You were here

Before the world began

Above all kingdoms

Above all thrones

Above all wonders

The world has ever known

Above all wealth

And treasures of the earth

There's no way to measure

What You're worth

Crucified

Laid behind a stone

You lived to die

Rejected and alone

Like a rose

Trampled on the ground

You took the fall

And thought of me

Above all ~ Michael W. Smith

Source

Gone my transgressions, and now I am free - all because Jesus was wounded for me. ~ W.G. Ovens

Thank you, Lord, for the ultimate sacrifice You made for us. 



Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

No Place Like Home # 20

Having a place to go - is a home.
Having someone love you - is a family.
Having both is a blessing. ~ Donna Hedges

Happy Spring! and welcome my lovely friends to another No Place Like Home where you are invited to share your tea time, collections, home and garden posts.

I am so happy that the winter is behind us and we can look forward to lovely warm days and fields of flowers, birdsong, and getting our gardens prepared for the season.

This is what the little garden outside our side door looked like last week. You can't tell by the picture but the bed is heart-shaped. There is very little snow but it will be a while before I see any life in it. I stays rather cool here until May, sometimes even June.

And this is what it looked like this time last year. Quite a difference! That bank of snow was over your head and almost three-quarters of the small pine tree was buried in snow. The little garden is buried completely under all that snow. Brrr! We had a much better winter this year for which we Islanders are all very thankful.

We are getting a Nor'-easter today but that shall soon pass. It doesn't look like it today but Spring is here!

On the weekend I celebrated Spring in a post featuring my Rose Chintz dishes. If you would like to see that post, just click here.
My dishes make me happy just looking at them. Do you have a pattern that makes you smile? 

 Last week's party served up a cornucopia of ideas and recipes. They were all marvellous and thank you so much for sharing. You are a wonderfully talented group of ladies! I have broken my features down into categories and I hope you enjoy them! 

Crochet/Knitting/Quilting/Sewing-
Janice @ Mz. Witherspoon's Cottage shared some lovely crochet work. 

Cathy @ My 1929 Charmer shared the adorable Spring bunny she knitted. 

Collections-
Jann @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson shared her 'accidental' collection of lovely blue and white transferware. Love it!

Teatime & Recipes-
Sherry @ The Charm of Home gave a review on a lovely book, Tea With Jane Austen. Her post included a teatime accompanied by a sponge cake which was one of Jane Austen's recipes. 

Tablescapes-
Pam @ Tea In Texas shared a wonderful St. Paddy's Day Tea including a darling St Patrick's nutcracker. I've never seen a nutcracker like that before.

Gardening- 
Thelma @ Thelma's Days shared pictures of her beautiful garden. 

Thank you everyone for participating last week. As a courtesy, and if you would like to be featured, you should have a link back to my party. Now let's see what you are creating in your home to make it a cozy place to come home to for your family, your friends, and yourself. 


Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. - Edgar A. Guest

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

Welcome Spring!

"It is spring again.

The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Hello dear bloggy friends! I hope you have all had a wonderful week. Some of us celebrated St Patrick's Day with our green and Irish treats.

The teacups are from left to right, a Claddagh cup which was a gift from my son, a lovely green Colclough, and a hand painted one created by an artist blogger friend.

A dessert made with pistachio pudding and St. Paddy's Day cupcakes with shamrock sprinkles.

I have been counting down the days till Spring for a while and happy days are here again because it's this weekend. Yay! Today I am celebrating the splendour of springtime. Won't you join me?

Spring is a glorious season of renewal and soon all the songbirds will be back and I look forward to hearing their birdsong in the trees behind our home. Another thing I especially enjoy is the sound of the those little tree frogs called spring peepers singing.

Soon bright flowers will be putting on a show in their beds and the grass will turn green. The trees will be showing off their lacy boughs and bees and butterflies will be flying about.

You know Spring is here when you see new lambs skipping about in the fields and the cattle are grazing again. It's a wondrous and magical season and I thank God for it.

The little bird's nest you see is one my son brought home to me.

I can't think of a pattern more fitting for springtime than my beloved vintage Rose Chintz made by Johnson Brothers in England. Any of you who have been following me for any length of time know this is my signature pattern and why I love it so much.

It is so pretty and girly and whenever I look at it, it reminds me of my childhood and visits to my Auntie P's home in New Brunswick, Canada. 

This is a pattern I fell in love with at an early age. The big pink roses and blue forget-me-nots made me happy just to look at it. I love the little sprig of forget-me-nots and a little rose bud inside the cup.

Most of my china came from my beloved Auntie P who passed it on to me when she was down-sizing. I cherish it and her of course, as she is one of my dearest friends.

So please join me for a cup of tea. The lavender doily you see beneath the cup is one of a set of doilies sent to me by a blogging friend. 

I am using my coffee pot instead of the teapot because it holds more. 

I have been sipping gallons of lemon water and lemon ginger tea this week because I have been down with a nasty cold/flu. Do you like tea when you're under the weather?

But indeed I would rather have nothing but tea. ~ Jane Austen - Mansfield Park

Now, tell me what you love most about springtime.

Thank you for visiting and have a beautiful weekend. The Lord bless you! 


For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass so fresh and sweet;
For song of bird and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear and see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee! ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson



I am joining the following parties as well~

 Tuesday Cuppa Tea
 Bernideen's TTCG Blog Party
 Tea Cup Tuesday
 Share Your Cup Thursday
 Home Sweet Home


Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

No Place Like Home # 19

Home is where the heart can laugh without shyness. Home is where the heart's tears can dry at their own pace. ~ Vernon Baker


Welcome my lovely friends to No Place Like Home! 

Spring is on its way! I heard our first song sparrow outside my window yesterday. What a welcome sound! Our goldfinches are shedding their olive feathers and beginning to turn yellow again. The clocks have turned ahead one hour and our days are getting longer. St Patrick's Day is this week and next Sunday is the first day of Spring. Then comes Easter. Lots to celebrate this month!

Over the weekend I shared my review on Downton Abbey. How I will miss that show! 

Courtesy of Pinterest

I also shared a little tea to go along with it. If you missed that post you may click here to visit it.

Last week's party served up a cornucopia of ideas and recipes. They were all marvellous and thank you so much for sharing. You are a wonderfully talented group of ladies! I have broken my features down into categories again and I hope you enjoy them!


First of all I would like to congratulate Mrs. T @ Across My Kitchen Table for having the most clicks on her post. She shared some very lovely embroidered dish towels.

Crafts
Penny @ Penny's Vintage Home shared her Spring wreath with streamers tutorial. A pretty welcome!

Trisha @ American Honey Home shared a wonderful trough box and her tutorial on how to make her cotton branches. 

Thrifting

Gina @ Victorian Wanna Be shared her lovely finds while out thrifting. Wonderful Limoges plates and a gorgeous teacup were just some of the treasures she shared with us.

DIY
Fabby @ Fabby's Living shared her wonderful wall plate rack that her hubby had made for her. Fabulous!

Deanna @ Creekside Cottage shared the makeover that she gave her great grandmother's china hutch. I love it! 

Teatime and Tablescapes
JoAnn @ Scene Through My Eyes shared her very cute collection of themed teapots and bunnies as well as other little treasures which she decorates her home with this time of year.

Thelma @ Thelma's Days shared an Irish Tea complete with some lovely green teacups and some home made scones and Irish soda bread.

Recipes
Julie @ Julie's Lifestyle shared a different twist on Mac and Cheese with her muffin recipe. Don't they look good?

Kitty @ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen shared her recipe for a delicious Cottage Pie. I will be making this next time we have roast beef.

Bernideen @ Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden shared a recipe for these wonderful Irish Currant Scones. Yum!

Congratulations ladies and thank you everyone for participating last week. As a courtesy, and if you would like to be featured, you should have a link back to my party.

If you have been featured here at No Place Like Home then please feel free to take this button. Just copy and paste.

Now let's see what you are creating in your home to make it a cozy place to come home to for your family, your friends, and yourself. 


Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. - Edgar A. Guest 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi