Of birds and a front porch revamp

Hundreds, if not thousands of birds inundated the skies above our little white cottage the other day.  I knew something what's going on outside the minute I heard that another bird had been trapped in the chimney and was desperately trying to get out...  when I went outside to see what was going on I was immediately elated by the sounds and sight of many many birds that covering the sun, filled our space with daunting shadows...

Where had they come from and oh how marvelous, and enchanting the very sight of them murmuring in the woods... the sound of many birds, the swish of black wings everywhere, the flashes of shiny blue heads on naked branches like a dazzling cloud, swirling, pulsating, drawing together to the thinnest of waists, then wildly twisting in pulses of enlargement and diminution... I opened up my arms widely to the sky and close my eyes under then, as they went flying in masses over my head, almost believing that I was one with them... flying so synchronously, swiftly, and gracefully.  It was just truly amazing.

 I couldn't stop taking photographs...

Last week I started embellishing the front porch.  I retouched the settee with the same black paint it had and covered the sits in some leftover fabric I already had in a pretty black and white pattern.

I could have bought cushions already in this pretty pattern of black and white, of course, but it wouldn't have make sense knowing that those feral are out there and the pretty new cushions will be soiled and destroyed sooner than soon.  With the fabric, I can always have it remove it in a zilch, throw it in the washer and that's it... simpler, cleaner and cheaper too. 

Then I decided I wasn't going to use the body pillow I've been using for the last year or so and only kept the smaller decorative pillows. A red one for that punch of color to match the door and flowerpots.  

It occurred to me this year to paint the little white table (below)

where I usually keep the reindeer lantern on in black...

Here it is in black!

And why hadn't I thought about doing that before?  I love how this little table looks now, and how now I can see a cohesion that was not there before with the rest of the furniture.  The red from the flower pot is now more noticeable too.  It looks more elegant this little table in black, and I don't know why I never saw this before.  Now I wait for the plants.  I want more red flower pots to fill the little space.  The geraniums that I'm winterizing in the dinning room are almost ready to be taken out, but I want flowers, lots of them all in red.

Remember the CHAIRS I upholstered last spring using a cute little thrift store dress?  Well, the chairs looked very cute then indeed, but the colors got faded away very quickly and by the end of last year the poor chairs had almost lost all its colors and charm... 

I knew they had to be upholstered again this spring, but I had a can of spray paint in my hands, and I was too lazy for the job, so what I did?..... I spray painted the little thrift store dress chairs and voila... like new!

The callery pear trees that grow so abundantly around here in the wild are already in bloom and when you drive on the freeway you can see them carpeting those roads as you pass by them in lovely white flowers that, soon will be filling the air and the pond as spring breezes carry them away in arms of dreams.  It's like seeing snow in May.  They're so beautiful.  Two or three of these lovely trees live in our woods, and I wish there would be more of them instead of that bramble of Chinese privet, but then again when it comes May I love those privets in their white, little rosettes skirting my gardens like they do!...  life is grand and beautiful, isn't it.

I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday and an extra special new week!  I'm looking forward to new mercies, new mornings filled with sunshine and good health!  Hugs, and blessings to you my dear readers and friends!