Bienvenue au printemps!

Well not quite yet, but only a few more days!  There is nothing more I love than getting outside with my family, opening the windows to let the fresh air in, and enjoying a crisp glass of wine on the patio on a warm evening.   I spent a lot of time this weekend getting my 'garden' ready for the new green sprouts to make their way into the world.  This is something you may not know about me, but I tend to my plants almost constantly starting this time of year.  I love to stand outside in the warm evening and water them, pretending like I actually know what I am doing.  I also encourage my son to help me in the garden so he can appreciate the life cycle of plants and caring for personal belongings (responsibility, see Heigh Ho Heigh Ho).

When my grandmother moved from her home in Havertown, PA to an apartment in Wayne, she gave my parents some of her irises.  Some were then given to me when we bought our house and I now have numerous plants that bloom, gorgeous purple flowers every spring.   So it means a lot to me to take care of them.  When we move from our current home, I plan to take a few with me and keep the traditional alive.  I also love my hydrangea plants that were given to me on mother's day two years on a a row.  They will be going with me as well!

At every change of the season I like to look around for home decor to match.  I mean I don't go crazy and buy matching throw pillows and hand towels, however I do pick up little pieces, like the one picture above, to place sparingly around the house.  This is one I just found at my local Home Goods, which I check our regularly for just about anything to decorate my house.  I love this piece because it is a bit primitive being that is is a sampler (a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework), but the robin egg blue frame brightens up the traditional brown or black.  I also have a hard time finding Spring decor that is not 'Eastery,' and there are no bunnies or easter eggs in sight on this one!  The ribbon flowers and pearl and button centers are so perfect; a big warm welcome to Spring...............

Midgetville

One night a few months ago, I was hanging out with my husband and a few of his friends in our basement, getting ready to watch a fight on the telly.  It is a bit hazy, but somehow the topic of Midgetville came up.  It's really quite foggy (most likely due to the mass consumption of my favorite libation of the moment, Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc) how this topic came up.  Possibly because my husband's office is based out of Vienna.  Apparently this is was a well known 'tourist attraction,' and common knowledge to native Northern Virginians, but it was news to me.  And very curious news.  I had to know more and would like to share with you what I found, in case you care and like weird trivia as well.
According to the Wikipedia:Fairfax County, Virginia

The "Midgetville" in Vienna, Virginia was a collection of six small cottages that were torn down in 2008. In 1882 the site was a small summertime resort that people visited when they wanted to escape the stressful lifestyle of Washington, D.C. In 1892 the area was purchased by Alexander Wedderburn. In 1901 the hotel burned to the ground, but a normal-sized two-story building was built around the same time at the corner of the property. In 1930, one of Alexander Wedderburn's sons, George, built six small Spanish-style cottages. A courtyard in the middle of the property was sometimes used as a fairground or a farmers' market. The Wedderburns briefly established the Wedderburn Music School on the site. The cottages were rented out but the place eventually became overgrown with ivy and trees.^[1] In 2002 the family signed a deal with contractors to tear the place down and develop the property.^[2] Though the proposal created some controversy, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the project.^[3] The cottages were all destroyed and the trees were removed in early 2008 to make way for "Wedderburn Estates." Contrary to local legend there were never any midgets that lived there.

I particularly liked this ditty about Bailey's Crossroads:  

Urban Legend has it that the houses were built for the little people performing in the Barnum & Bailey circus. (Bailey, of Bailey's Crossroads fame, supposedly built the houses)
Most of what I found in addition to the Wiki was more of the same.  A collection of little buildings that are no longer there and did not house 'little people.'  Much to my dismay I did not find anything that led me to believe I could drive in under 30 minutes to Munchkinland.  Darn! I would really have loved to get my hands on those Lollipop Guild nuggets.