hints of green... and cherries

As the snow piles up outside, the 100 year old floors chill beneath our feet, and the Rideau Canal - the longest outdoor skating rink in the world - is  (finally and so happily) open for skating, little hints of green are so comforting. They remind me of the weeks... the few remaining months before we welcome a little boy into our family.

I'm hoping the succulents survive to be planted in the garden in May (I know the spider plants will be just fine next to the chilly window). And when I saw this Dutch-made bunting by deepindigo on Etsy, I knew it would be perfect for the white brick-walled space. It has a modern dutch wax style cotton batik fabric, a mix of Indonesian batik with Dutch design with coral red paisley.

And when the sun shines, we all act like lizards, trying to soak it all in.

And when the sun isn't shining... we use the handmade retro-style light made by another one of my favorite artisans on Etsy - Jann of LampGoods, who lives in Maine and makes the most incredible lamps.

We have a few in our hom, including this retro-fitted milkglass one.  We have a double canning jar sconce she made for us that we have yet to put up in a regularly dark room in our home.

Her work is really special.

And what's made the last few days even sweeter are the jars (yes, jars) of home-canned sour cherries I put away last summer with our brand new Wecks' jars. Those jars have worked beautifully - the cherries are delightful, and I love not only how pretty they are but how I don't have to spend a moment thinking about BPA contamination, something conventional jar lids can't claim.

Now I just have to try not to go through the cherries so quickly..