"Vacation"

John and I have been in colonial Williamsburg this past week on "vacation." Which is to say we've been working our posteriors off giving my parents' whole house a not-too-extreme make over. Painting, trim work, de-cluttering, new window treatments and art and fixtures - we're giving it the works.

It's been great fun, though, since my folks tend to give us carte blanche when it comes to their decor, so I've been gleefully filling the thrift-store pile with every doily, stuffy old tapestry pillow, dark burgundy drapery, and extraneous knick-knack I can find. My dad collects antique clocks, so those are the focal point of most of the downstairs - I can't wait to show you guys. Everything's a bit brighter and cozier. Oh, and we also managed to brow-beat them into buying some new furniture, since most of the stuff they have is nearly as old as I am - but not in a good way. More in a bad, saggy-green-leather-couch-from-the-80s kind of way.

So all that to say: sorry if posting has slowed somewhat this week. I promise I'm not neglecting you without cause, and I'll try to make up for it with a few "after" photos when we're done in a few more days. Deal?

And speaking of photos, yesterday we all took the afternoon off to walk around the historic district here and play with our cameras. Four adults, four cameras, and two tripods. We were a sight. But we had a blast, and since all the flowers are in bloom here, they nearly had to drag me away from the beds of tulips and poppies - SO PRETTY.

Don't believe me? Check this out:


Have I ever mentioned that poppies are my favorite flowers? I've loved 'em since I was a teen - any color, any variation. Of course, poppies can't grow in Florida, so the first time I ever saw a real one was on my honeymoon in DC. John and I stumbled across a giant bed FULL of bright red poppies somewhere downtown, and I walked up to it in a daze, gingerly touched the petals of one giant bloom, and then there MAY have been some laugh-crying, but if so you're not allowed to judge because you weren't there and those poppies were freaking beautiful.

And I'm sorry to keep going on and on about this, but you guys, LOOK WHAT MY NEW CAMERA CAN DO:

WHEEEEE!!!

A few more shots from yesterday:

The guy on the left even posed for me. Very polite, those Brits.

At one point I spotted two little girls dressed in colonial costumes picking flowers in a field, and I nearly passed out from the cuteness. Fortunately I managed to stay conscious long enough to take these pics, though:

Seriously, is this not the cutest thing?! Parents, promise me now you'll dress all your children in bonnets and take their pictures in a flower field. Yes, even the boys. PROMISE ME.

Hey, how did another poppy picture get in here?

:D

And finally, a few shots of Mr. Bee in a pretty Wisteria hedge:

I took the contrast down in this one because I like the almost watercolor-y look. What do you think? Good? Bad? Too busy?

Thanks for bearing with me through my "vacation" photos, guys! I'll have more project-based pics soon - and, fingers crossed, also a fun geeky Easter craft sometime...er... before Easter. :)