Spring outside, Spring inside

Greetings from sunny Virginia. Here I am with a cup of chai and the wash on spin cycle in the laundry room.  Light colors, in case you were wondering.  I switch between chai and Earl Grey, sometimes Irish Breakfast tea...in case you were wondering about that. I doubt you were, but just in case.

On Saturday I posted about Spring arriving in Portsmouth on the outside.  Now you can see Spring arriving on the inside. 

So you can see that I love ceramic birds, right?  I'm not sure what it is about them.  I'm not wildly enthusiastic about any kind of inside bird, like a parakeet.  I do love cardinals and other outside birds.  I always have some sparrows that nest starting this time of year in a trumpet vine and trellis I have out front.  When I used to brush my husky, who is in heaven now, I would take his abundant fur and leave it near the trellis for the birds.  I could see it peeping out from their nest.  I do love the sound of my mourning doves cooing outside the bedroom window in their plaintive tones.

I have a little rule about various collections.  I have to be able to buy them for $5 or under. This helps me be selective and increases the thrill of the chase for me.  I try to keep the birds under $3, if I can. 

I had a turkey burger at Red Robin for lunch yesterday.  I'm not wild about chain restaurants but I do like Red Robin...yum.  And then the siren call of Michaels drew me in to the store. I was powerless,  assure you.  I found three sets of birds which met my specifications and, well, it was like I'd just discovered King Tut's tomb, trust me.  I found the biggger blue and yellow birds and the sweet little pair with the rosebuds.  The other ones in the picture came from the Dollar Store years ago.  

Naturally I had to come home and set up a vignette with a vintage bird cage.  This whole bird cage thing is all my mother's fault because she decorated with one in 1970, long before shabby was chic or anyone else thought of it. Mom is like that...a trend setter.  She also owns well over 200 pairs of shoes in every color of the rainbow.  She has very tiny feet, so she buys all the cool shoes that no other adult woman can wear when they go on sale.  Don't you hate her?  Now most women don't have a pair of green shoes.  I think Mom has three pair of green shoes, at least that I've seen. One never knows. 

I bought another pair of birds that I'll show you later in the week.  There's been a crown decorating trend for all of us cottagey shabby chic'ers, as well as a ceramic bird trend.  This white pair with a lovely finish have crowns!  Crown them with many crowns, the birds upon the nest!  I don't know...