Now that the holidays are over I am in an early spring cleaning mode. I do not think that there is one room, closet or drawer untouched and I must admit it is a pretty good feeling to know that everything inside is really clean and organized. That puts a smile on my face because when spring officially arrives I can direct my efforts outside. So much to do and never enough time, but I love working outside and relish the thought that in a couple of months I will be spending the majority of my time in the beautiful weather.

Our bathroom is sporting darling new hand towels which were a Christmas gift from lovely friends. They are adorable, aren’t they? They fit perfectly in our farmhouse. The farmhouse officially is all decked out for spring!

It is unusually warm today which is making me very ready for spring flowers. No wildflowers last spring which was so disappointing. I am so very hopeful that this spring we will have roadsides and fields full of pretty flowers. I am dreaming of yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, purples and whites. My camera will be ready and waiting…

We don’t have chickens so re-purposed this old vintage chicken feeder as a bird feeder. It works great for feeding the birds and adds lots of personality to our oak grove. What items do you re-purpose?

We have long time friends who are cat lovers like us. They have spent most of their lives loving and enjoying cats. They are now without any kitties, but a sweet neighborhood cat has adopted them and drops by to offer kitty loving every single day. My friends love receiving a daily kitty “fix”! This cat must be very exceptional because he knows our friends need his loving! Cats really are smart and know “these” things…

This is Soda da Cat. Adorable or what?

This is my fabulous Friday find. I have a sofa I really love and it is just a traditional sage colored sofa. It is very comfy and I love the color. Today I found two wonderful pillow covers to use with it. I will wait until March so I can officially put them out in honor of spring. Vivre is French for Live. The best thing about having a solid sofa is I can change the look by simply changing the pillows. Love the sage green in these with just a splash of red. These are from the spring line at Pottery Barn.

This beautiful photo is from a friend of Cowboys. His family owns a pig farm in France and this photo speaks a thousand words on the bountiful loveliness of their country setting. I could plow in these French fields forever and a day on this beautiful farm. I have never had the opportunity to visit France, but am positive it is the French countryside I would want to explore! (Thanks to our French friend for sharing photo)

November 2010 I posted about Sundance of the Desert, a rescue, who lives in New Mexico with one of my people friends. Sundance is such a special dog and very much loved.

Sundance very much enjoyed his fall leaves last month! Isn’t he adorable?

Sundance woke up wondering where did all his leaves go?? Does this dog have personality or what? My thoughts are that this rescue is so very happy to have a loving home that he is going to enjoy every single moment of life with “his people”. I can assure you that Sundance has made a huge impact on the lives of his people and doesn’t it make your heart happy to know this rescue is happy, loved and safe? Makes my heart happy.

Girl Scout Cookie Lip Smackers. How cool is that?? I love Lip Smackers and am on the hunt for these. Keeping fingers crossed I can find them this week. I have been using Lip Smackers for years and excited to locate these cookie flavors! Doesn’t take much to make me happy!

This is not a large beautiful barn by Montana standards, but this “spoke” to me. It’s simplicity is what makes it a terrific structure and I loved this barn the minute I spotted it. This one was not far out of Eureka. This barn was sitting in a field in the middle of nowhere with the beautiful mountains in background. I could have stayed here for hours to soak up all the beauty…

My least favorite month is January. I do not do cold and dreary very well. (Our January weather has been beautiful so far, but I have high standard for temps and really dislike anything below 80!) January usually leaves me restless, bored and yearning to be somewhere else. Some years I am very productive and other years I am more like a sloth just moving slowly. Last January, after returning from the Rose Bowl, I was really super productive and managed to do my spring cleaning early. January and February also saw me in a very positive purging mode. I continued purging all spring and summer and can honestly say there is not one item I need to pitch this spring. Yay!

This morning I decided my spring 2012 cleaning would take place in my computer with my photos. Much deleting and editing needed there!

Here is a photo I just edited! Montana 2011.

Happy New Year. Hope everyone is having a relaxing day full of family, football and food. Here’s hoping for many blessings in 2012.

This 1910 vintage postcard is part of my vintage anchor postcard collection. I love vintage postcards and this one is a beauty. I love viewing a snapshot from past from this pretty card.

Let me preface this by saying I am not much of a drinker. I love a margarita or two in the summer and maybe a champagne for New Years. Now that I have clarified I am not a lush I will tell you a story. Two summers ago my Montana friends daughter sent them a bottle of Lemoncello cream. While my friends were enjoying a drink after dinner I declined. My friend then poured me a little taste of Lemoncello cream to see if I might enjoy that after dinner. I had never tasted one before and it was like having a little ice cream slush. They kept the bottle in the freezer so when poured it was like having a little mini frozen dessert. For one solid week I would have a little shot here and there of this new frozen “dessert”. Imagine my horror when two weeks later I realized I had polished off the entire bottle! I ran to the local liquor store to replace it since my friends daughter had given it to them for a gift only to find out it was rare and really hard to find. No one in Montana carried it. Oh gosh, we laughed so hard. I have yet to replace the bottle in Montana, but it is on my list to do next summer. I think their daughter may have heard that mom and dad never got a taste of that particular Lemoncello, but saw her recently and she is still speaking to me!

If you want the best after dinner drink ever you might consider trying a Lemoncello cream!

Loving me some precious gifts from friends!

Anchor Bookmark, Hope Ornament, Giddy Up Ornament and Miniature Montana Souvenir Plate. I love them all!

More photos to come!

Slider the cat taking a break from Christmas on Christmas Day. He belongs to son #2 and obviously knows how to get “comfy”!