Scarlet painted-cup

Happy Monday lovies!! This weekend was a pleasant one mostly spent at home with the Mister. The weather was just amazing then good ol' Monday rolls around and it's back to overcast and rainy. 

Le Sigh......

Unfortunately we lost two baby chicks this weekend as well. We really weren't surprised that it happened... they were very weak. It's not fun to wake up to find their little cold corpses in the bottom of the cage though... it breaks your heart a little. We buried them in our backyard among the other dead things. I swear, we have a mini Pet Cemetery back there. In happier news the sun was out and all the beautiful wildflowers of Texas are peeking their heads out of the ground. We have a vacant field behind our house that was just covered in Bluebonnet's (which is the State Flower) and these lovely Scarlet painted-cups. It was breath taking! Whenever I see a field full of flowers I'm always compeled to run through them or roll around in them. Maybe it's just the "romantic" in me. Either way it was a great excuse to break out my new floral dresses and flower crowns!! I mean where else is the best place to wear a flower crown than in a field full of flowers... duh! 

There were butterflies and bees buzzing all about. I love the sounds of Spring... all the birds start to come alive again and start to build their little nests. We also noticed that we started to hear crickets again at night... which to me is the best sound ever beside little peepers! Hopefully the frogs will come back again this Summer. We love to sleep with the windows open at night and fall asleep to the magical music of nature. It's truly the best and it has to be good for ones soul right?

The Mister and I welcome the bees and butterflies in our garden! We love them... the little honey bees are so friendly and non aggressive. They love our Passion Vine that we've been growing on our fence for years. It's the "happening place" in our backyard for the insects. The only bugs that we don't invite into our garden are the pesky little guys that eat up all our vegtables! No sir! We already had something nibble away our Mammoth Sunflower sprouts that we had planted. 

I saw these flower crowns at Renegade Craft Fair while I was there and ran over and promptly bought two! I purchased this orange and white one and one another with simple white daisies on it. You can get some for yourself here at Gardenhead. I see myself wearing them all Summer! It was just a "happy coincidence" that it matched perfectly with my dress and the Scarlet painted-cup's.

There are more wild flower images to come throughout the Spring so be prepared!! Have a lovely work week and I'll be seeing you all again right here on Wednesday.

Dress: Thrifted

Tank top: Target

Shoes: Target

Flower Crown: Gardenhead

Life.... or something like it

I've been pretty stressed out lately... not to bum anybody out. Nobody likes to read a sob story... the truth is I should be a very happy girl. I have everything I've ever dreamed of... yet sometimes I just get a bad case of the blues. I really think weather has a lot to do with it. This whole week has been nothing but overcast, rainy days. This is great though! Texas needs as much rain as it can get and it's only making it better for those beautiful wildflowers to Spring up and bloom. The past week I've had some sleep issues as well which really takes a toll on me mentally and I physically get worn thin. I can fall asleep with the help of a sleeping aid but can't stay asleep. I wake up with anxiety and can't find anything to ease my mind. Let's just say I've been doing a lot of late night "Pinning" and have been catching up on some books that I've been meaning to finish. I wake up exhausted and run down. Seriously... sleep is precious to me and if I don't get at least 7 hours I'm not pleasant to be around. Everything in my life is just peachy though.... I don't have anything to complain about. I'm working out on a daily basis... eating healthy and have been achieving all my goals that I set for myself. I should be smiling but I just can't seem to for some reason. I'm hoping that this weekend the clouds will clear and the sun will come out and shine down on me. 

This pattern book that I've started to take on and write is really quite difficult. I'm finding that my patterns don't really make a whole lotta sense... I've been calling them "back alley patterns" because mathematically they don't add up. It leads to a lot of pain and frustration and then I just feel like giving up for the day. I should be producing more "product" for stores but I just can't seem to focus or concentrate on anything at all right now. 

I think this vacation that me and the Husbear are planning on taking is just the thing we need. Some rest and relaxation is key towards living a happy life. I love the beach and the sound of the ocean.... especially the seagulls. I miss seeing the dolphins chasing after boats and the various types of sandpipers we encounter. I need some "me time." Time to unwind from all the hub bub and commotion of daily life. I know the Mister needs it too.... poor guy always busting his hump for us. I appreciate all that he does for me and our beautiful home. 

In happier news my BFF just got engaged! You may know her... Amanda Bustamante of Nestled in Nostalgia said "yes" to her handsome boyfriend James Vick. I couldn't be happier for the two of them! The chicks are doing better as well! The Husbear and I are so relieved. We think we know the cause of what made them so sick. Apparently water had spilled in their little make shift cage and with the heat lamp being on mold grew on the bottom of the bin in a rapid amount of time. We think that the chicks may have eaten some mold on account of them having seizures and losing control of their balance. I feel so horrible just knowing that we may have cause this by spilling water in their cage. We had no idea that mold had taken over as we clean out their cage on a regular basis. It grew extremely fast!! We immediately cleaned out their cage and changed their food and water in hopes that they would get better. They have regained control of their motor skills and have ceased having seizures. Two of the little guys are still very weak and have "splayed legs". We are hoping to correct this condition and that they start the thrive. 

As you can see it was quite an overcast day but that didn't stop me from getting gussied up and having a mini photo shoot with The Mister. Oh.... he wants me to inform everyone that he is the photographer behind all my fabulous photos. He is such a sweetheart helping me with my boggy! I do appreciate it ever so much. Other than that I think this about sums up my life right now. I'll be praying for sun this weekend! Hope everyone has had an awesome week. 

Dress: Thrifted

Cardigan: Target

Earrings: Old Navy

Shoes: Kohls

xoxo

An Interview with Veranellies

Hey there Lovies.... remember when I was talking about getting interviewed for a feature about me and my business Nothing but a Pigeon? Welp, the time has come and here it is..... just pop on over to Veranellies and read about my handmade creations! The lovely Trisha Pelletier 

(the woman behind the bloggy) features Etsy artists from all over every Sunday called 

"Buy Handmade"on her darling little blog Veranellies. You can read all my interview questions and see my Studio where I crochet my little heart away!! Here's just one of the pictures... but to get the full deets you have to take a quick hop, skip and a jump over to Veranellies. 

Remember to buy handmade and shop local ya'll!

Sophie and me in my Studio in East Austin.

Please show some support and follow along with the lovely Trisha here on...

Etsy

Bloglovin'

Twitter

Pinterest

xoxo

and it was all yellow...

It's Monday once again... I can't believe the weekend has come and gone already. Spring is "officially" here and I'm so happy to see all the beautiful wildflowers in Austin. Spring is such a magical time... everything is all abuzz. I have some exciting news to share as well! I applied and was accepted to participate in Pop Shop Houston's May show! I'm super stoked and nervous as well... this means I have to put on "my big girl panties" and drive myself to H-Town. Luckily the very sweet and talented Bri Ussery of The Good Hippie offered to let me tag along with her! I've also decided to take on a new business venture! I'm in the process of writing down my crochet patterns in hopes of having them published in the near future! Eeeeeeeep! In other news.... we've had a little bit of a stressful weekend here on the Hart farm. The five new baby chicks that we just got are not doing so well.... we are not quite sure what the cause of it is yet. I have to say it's been pretty stressful and disheartening to watch them suffer and not know how to help them. We've done everything we could think of to do for the lil' guys... now we just have to keep our fingers crossed in hopes that they pull through. I don't want to bum people out... no one likes to hear bad news on a bloggy.

These beautiful Mustard Plants have popped up in all the fields around our home. It's like a sea of yellow all over the Eastside of Austin. There are Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushs sprouting up as well. I decided for this occasion it was only appropriate to wear my yellow dress I purchased from Modcloth this last October. I'm still not ready to bare my arms yet so I bought this cream colored cardigan to go with it from Target the other day. One can never have too many cardigans! The neutral cream color will go with pretty much everything I own.

I just adore this Vintage Hat! I bought it some time ago in Ohio... it's been through a lot but it's still one of my favorites. 

I've been wearing gold jewlery lately. These bangles I bought in Ohio as well at a yard sale. I love finding neat little "treasures" don't you? 

These nude wedges are becoming a favorite of mine.... they go with pretty much

 everything I own.

I'm so looking forward to taking a day trip with my girlie's to Brenham, Texas here in the near future. Our friend Megan is pregnant with her first child and we plan on having a 

"mini maternity photo session" with all the gorgeous wildflowers! It's gonna be a lot of fun.... I can't wait to share the images that we capture with ya'll. Brenham, Texas is known for their Bluebonnets. There is also The Antique Rose Emporium located there as well. It should be a wonderful trip! 

Speaking of trips... the Mister and I have finally picked the dates for our beach get away! I'm so looking forward to laying out on the beach with him and our pups. I can't wait to see how Sophie takes to it. I do love Mustang Island and all it's charm. This Spring sure is promising! Has anyone else been planning any fun day trips or mini vacations as well? I would love to hear all about it... comments are always welcome here.

Dress: Modcloth

Cardigan: Target

Shoes: Target

Hat: Vintage

Bracelets: Yard Sale

Rings: H&M

The Peplum story.

Happy Friday Lovies! How was everyone's work week? Mine was a breeze after the previous week at Renegade Craft Fair! I had a chance to squeeze in this quick photo shoot with the Mister right before the show. The weather wasn't every agreeable so we decided to try a different location other than our regular backyard. We didn't venture too far .... right outside our front door. I don't show off our home too much but it's definitely not hard to miss. Our neighborhood is very colorful to say the least. I love it though..... living on the eastside of Austin has been a blessing. It's not too far away from all the thing's that we love about Austin but just far enough away that we can still get some peace and quite. We love having a huge backyard to raise our chicken's as well as a wonderful little garden and my fabulous Studio. (Which will be featured soon!) We live in a up and coming "Green Community" called Agave. The houses are "Modern" but have a "Surburban Vibe" to them as seen here on Modern Austin. Check out this awesome Tumblr I stumbled upon. That gives you a good idea about what life is like here in the Agave district. 

So here I am "bringing it on" in the Peplum top I purchased quite some time ago. I finally feel like I look "okay enough" to wear it. The majority of the weight I lost was all in my torso area... that's where the women in our family love to store our winter supply of fat. Can I get a holla' for genetics over here? Horizontal stripes aren't that "forgiving" so it's taken awhile for me to work up to this point. I still shudder inside at the sight of some of my photo's but luckly you don't have to see all the un-edited awkwardness. Oh... and I also wore super stacked wedges so I would appear "Giraffe like" instead of an Oompa Loompa. No offense to Oompa Loompas!!

As you can see our home is very Turquoise! The Mister let me pick out the colors of our home when we purchased it. I was completely shocked at first sight but I'm used to it now. It's one thing to look at little samples when you are making a desision but then to see it HUGE in real life is quite another...... I cried when I first saw it. The color's are "Tropical Twist" and "Cornucopia" and some Brown color that I did not choose. The house was actually a two toned all brown mess when we first bought it. We were allowed upgrades so used it to re-paint the exterier instead. I'm glad we did because Brown on Brown was not working for me. Now when I give directions to guests that are coming over I just make it easy and say ...."It's the Turqouise and Orange one".

I just recieved these earring's and necklace from Caitlyn of Most Adoringly all the way from Utah! I was super excited to get them.... I also have two beautiful bracelets as well. 

Like I stated before the weather wasn't agreeable making for a very interesting photoshoot. Hopefully things will start to "Green Up" around here... we've had enough rain so far! Things don't generally stay green for long in the Austin sun... especially if we are under yet another water restriction. Which is fine with us... we don't really care too much if our lawn is green. We just need to water our Garden to keep it fresh ya know? 

There's the bracelts! I'm also sporting some fun stackable rings I bought with Mandy Bustamante at H&M a few weeks ago. I love them! The wedges I bought a year or so ago at Forever 21. I'm not gonna lie.... it's pretty hard to not break your neck while walking in these. They are for special occasions only. 

That wraps it up for this week. Do ya'll have any special plans for this upcoming weekend? I hope to get some rest and relaxation in with the Mister. Have a great weekend Lovies!

Peplum Top: Forever 21

Skinnies: Target

Wedges: Forever 21

Sunnies: Target

Jewelry: Most Adoringly

Rings: H&M

Hello Spring!

 Hiya! Spring is officially here and I'm loving every single minute of it! We've had so much rain the past few weeks that all the little wildflowers are starting to pop up! I love seeing Texas wildflowers in fields off to the side of the road. All the Bluebonnet's and Indian Blanket's are peeking their heads out to say "Hello!" It's my favorite time of the year in Austin... before it gets scorching hot and everything is fresh and new.  I'm playing around with a little app I got a while ago called "Afterlight". I just love it. I may have gotten carried away with the faux light leaks... back in my hayday I used to have to tape up my plastic Holga in hopes of preventing this from happening. Oh how things have changed! I was going for a "vintage inspired" vibe. I found this little frock at my favorite thrift store Texas Thrift located on the eastside of Austin. I love that place... it's truly a hidden gem. It's a little stressful going there sometimes because it can be super crowded and their are always screaming babies running around unattended. I like to pop in my ear buds and crank up the music to drown out the background noise. 

I went just the other day and scored an awesome vintage pastel dress that looks like a creamsicle. I also found and purchased my first vintage Pyrex bowl. I'm super proud of that! 

As you can see things are really starting to "green up" around here. I can't help but smile when I walk outside. Spring is so magical... everything starts to come alive again. 

My milkmaid braids are a little sloppy. What can I say? I'm a little rusty and have been out of practice since the ol' haircut of 2013. It's finally long enough that I can braid it.... but only if I use no less than 

a bazillion bobby pins. The Mister can tell you how annoying it is to find bobby pins scattered throughout our house. It's cute, easy and helps to beat the heat on those hot summer days. 

I love wearing these white ruffly socks with my shoes in the summer. I'm not gonna lie.... I get a ton of disgusted looks when I wear them. Especially from women. I really don't understand what the big deal is? Why do people care so much... is it because technically I'm too old to be wearing them? Or they think I'm "trying too hard" or something? I just have to take it with a grain of salt. Haters gonna hate. The only thing that matters is that I like them and they are here to stay.

I started to wear earrings again too.... which is a big step for me. I broke these little bobbles out to go with my dress. The Mister approved and stated that they resemble Neptune. 

I adore these yellow wedges I purchased from Kohls last year. Yellow is a happy color... I especially love mustard yellow. I like to "mix it up" and add a "pop of color" to the ol' wardrobe and I think these are a nice nod to the climate change..... socks and all. 

Dress: Thrifted

Socks: Target

 (yup they're from the little girls section)

Wedges: Kohls

Belt: Thrifted

Our garden this year....

Hi there! The Mister and I are always super excited when Spring starts to come! We love to plant things and watch them grow! Seriously.... we start planning it in February and get all amped up about it. This year we are not planting green beans. Last year we got "beaned out"! We had so many that we couldn't eat them all or give them away fast enough so we started canning them. We still have some left over .....just in case of The Zombie Apocolypse. This year I'm all about fresh Herbs! I do love a good herb garden! There is nothing more satisfying than being able to walk into your back yard and cut off some "freshness" and sprinkle it on your food like a Boss! Bam! So awesome! I love fresh basil, mint and cilantro on everything in the Summer. It's very refreshing in "infused water".... which I plan to be drinking a lot of this Summer. So the Mister and I made a few trips to "The Home Depot" and picked out some things to plant this Spring.... here's what we've got planned.

Basil is a must for me. I crave Caprese Salad in the Summer... there is no better side to have at a cookout as well. Simple and scrumpious!

Our Garden wouldn't be complete without Heirloom Tomatoes! We eat tomatoes until our mouths get sore. We love to eat them with just a little salt and freshly ground pepper on them. Or try a tomato sandwhich... Toasted bread with a little butter and sliced tomatoes! Voila! 

I swore I'd never get Green Pepper's again but I did. The year before they didn't do so well... guess we'll give it another try!

Must have Cilantro.... if you live in Austin it's a must on your fish taco's! Just sayin'.

Onion's always do well in our garden.... I think it's because they don't require that much care.

We picked up a few of these "Scottish Moss" for our shaded areas in the front. This should spread beautifully.

The Mister tilled the crap out of our Garden and added some fresh soil. In goes the Cilantro.

Then fully saturate it. 

Living in Texas we plant our Garden usually at the end of February or early March. This year we had a cold snap and lost a few tomato plants. We replanted a few things and I think we are "good to go" for this Spring. The Mister planted a few things without me.... instead of succulents for the top of our "green chicken coop" we opted for Morning Glories. They love the sun and grow pretty rapidly with little to no care. Technically I think they are "a weed" which is why they are super easy and maintenance free. They just need to be saturated every other day and Voila! They are beautiful to look at and I'm sure the chicken's will love them as do we. He also planted some Giant Sunflowers as well. The year before we planted them and we had some very beautiful visitor's from some Monk Parakeets. It was amazing to watch these Parakeets nibble on our Sun flowers. Hopefully they will revisit us again this year. If you plant them... they will come right? There will be more updates on Our Garden as it progresses... the pictures will be more exciting too as we start to produce some vegetables. Thanks for stopping by and comments are always welcome!

xoxo

Instagram lately...

Happy Monday! Life has been very good to me lately.... I can't complain at all. There are a lot of things going on right now... many many projects. Spring is here and our Garden has been planted. More on that later.... I've been very busy over in my little corner of the world. I just participated in my first Renegade Craft Fair ever! I'm still kinda buzzed. Ha! A lot of my Instagram posts have been centered around my little crochet business. I'm trying to keep people updated on my current crochet projects and reach out to a larger audience. That was one of my goals for this year and I'm pretty sure Renegade didn't hurt! Wink wink. I passed out my card and talked to hundreds of lovely people. It was a whirlwind for sure. So if you've been missing out here's a little recap of what's been going on.....

I completed a new Lion pattern.

We've got our Heirloom tomatoes all planted!

I got some awesome leather earrings from the amazing Amanda Michelle's line Curare Sweets. 

We were also booth neighbor's at Renegade Craft Fair!

Our Spring Garden wouldn't be complete without Succulents!!! We are obsessed!

Some little Purple Beets I was selling at Renegade.

Our crazy life living in East Austin with these guys! 

I had time to squeeze in a Photo Shoot with the Mister featuring this Peplum top. 

Once again we became "Proud Parent's" to five baby chicks.

More veggies for sale at Renegade.

Handful of fluff!

These Jellyfish were a hit at The Craft Fair!

Behind the scene's action at Renegade. A big thanks to my BFF Christopher Marshall for helping me load in! Whew... it was a wonderful show.

In the Studio with Sophie.... soon to be featured on my new favorite blog Veranellies by the lovely Trisha. (I think we were separated at birth).

And last but not least my other booth neighbor was the very sweet and talented Lauren Kam of Sugarmoon Candles.. I picked up one of her awesome candles and so can you! Check out her Etsy Shop and don't forget to like her on Facebook!

Follow me on Instagram!

Visit Nothing but a Pigeon's Etsy Shop.

xoxo