Early spring decorating

Yep, early spring.  And actually it doesn't even look like early spring up here.  It still looks like winter.  Saturday was beautiful but we were out and about doing errands south of here all day.

Today is in the high 40s but very cloudy and rainy.  It feels cold and raw.  We're still surrounded by snow and the woods are full of it.  I was reading this morning about some folks from southern NH who thought the past weekend would be a fine time for a simple hike in the White Mountains and ended up having to be rescued.  Here's a quote from the article:

"The hikers were not prepared for the winter conditions that are still present in the White Mountains, and did not have adequate cold weather gear, lights or navigation equipment such as a dedicated GPS or map and compass.

"Conservation officers remind people planning to hike the White Mountains that trails there remain packed with feet of snow and ice.  Weather may appear warm and comfortable at lower elevations during daytime, but temperatures quickly turn colder at higher elevations or when the sun sets."

There you have it on the very best authority: hiking trails in the White Mountains remain packed with FEET of snow and ice.   It doesn't appear to be too much different in our own woods out back.

So with all of that, it's easy to see why I have not been in any hurry to take down my lighted winter houses or to remove the maple-sugaring decor I bring out in early spring.  Sugaring is actually still going on.

Still, with Easter coming this weekend, I feel as if I need to change to something that looks more springlike, so I'm posting about my early spring decor while it's still in place.  I'll just post pics and say a word or two about each one.

 I love this sugaring themed linen towel that I found in a dresser drawer at my parents' home.  Beautiful!

 This is the centerpiece on our dining room table.  Little cake dome on a doily, centered on the sugaring themed towel.

 Inside the cake dome, a little maple syrup tin in the shape of a sugar house, and a little wooden pine tree, barely visible.

 Here are the maple sugaring shelves on the hutch.  Syrup tins, labels and spiles, maple candy molds that were my grandmother's, even a little bottle of maple syrup.

The bottom shelf I did in green and white as a nod to St. Patrick's Day and the eventual coming of spring leaves and grass.  The jadeite came from my childhood vacation cottage.  The Colonial Homestead sugar and creamer are from my collection, and match the set that is in my grandmother's pondside cottage.  The little "Love is Kind" cross stitch (to the right of the ironstone soup tureen) was done by one of my daughters as a teenager as a gift for grandparents.

I recently came upon it in my sorting, and was struck by how nice the frame looked with the jadeite and other greens on the hutch. 

Here's a somewhat blurry photo of the hutch in its entirety.  Love the jadeite teacups on the top shelf!

Hope you've enjoyed this peek at our early spring decorating.  I'm still liking how it looks.