Summer Gardening and a Surprise!

Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been absent for the past month but life and summer has kept me busy. We’ve been busy planting in our field area that we had cleared just before snow flew in January. My business suddenly decided to breath life back into itself and I got the idea in my head that after a decade I should redesign my website. Do you have any idea how challenging it is to wrap your head around a computer program after a decade? And with menopause? Yes I ask for a lot but it’s all good!

Summer has been bountiful as far as plant life goes thanks to the great amount of rain we received this spring. This is one of my favorite flowering plants called Sneezeweed. It’s the first to bloom in the spring and the last to die back in the fall. Best part is it decided for the first time this year to add some yellows flowers to the arrangement.

I also love Hydrangea, every variety, and I have to say I love this incrediball Hydrangea. It doesn’t flop from heavy heads and if you deadhead the flowers it’ll make more. I planted up this little garden two years ago and my dwarf boxwood hedge is coming in nicely. Another two years and we should have a real hedge.

 

 

Incrediball Hydrangea

 

 

Blue Endless Summer, except they need to include a disclaimer with this shrub, it doesn't really bloom all summer!

 

Limelight Hydrangea

The heads on the limelight get as big as my head and they turn the most incredible green in the fall.

 

 

This is a type of Hydrangea Paniculata f. grandiflora and I love all the ferns just above him along the top of the wall. We get tons of ferns that will suddenly jump up around here and Mister Man keeps mowing them down only to have them jump right back up. He isn’t trying to mow the ferns just the grass but the ferns are literally everywhere!

 

 

My best friend Deb, yes even the same name, and I have been talking a great deal about gardening and Hydrangea and with my birthday coming up soon she surprised me with an amazing gift clear from Seattle Washington! Two huge Viburnum and a Let’s dance starlight purple hydrangea. The Viburnum are planted and staked since I’m going to grow these two as trees and my new Hydrangea went into a new garden I just started that will be nothing but Hydrangea. I personally don’t think you can ever have to many Hydrangea.

 

I don’t know what it is about olive trees but I have a slight fascination with them so I picked up two small plants early this spring and imagine my surprise when they actually grew olives!

 

Yep, they grew olives, black olives that are ripening! This is very exciting for me and I don’t even like olives….lol.

 

As for this guy he’s been loving his life of hiking, swimming although he doesn’t actually swim he’s more of a wader and finding mud. I snapped this picture the other morning after his hike and he was panting on his side.

 

So that’s what I’ve been up to a life of gardening and work and loving being outdoors. I hope all of you have been enjoying your summer and I’m going to try and get caught up with you all.

 

Enjoy your Labor Day!

XXX

~Debra~

Come on Baby Light my Fire......

 

 

Great news I had my physical last week and I’m in great shape and the doctor was thrilled I’m right on time with MENOPAUSE!

 

 

 Ladies, ladies, ladies I’m here to say it isn’t as bad as you think. Ok everyone is different but I am thankfully suffering from one thing and one thing only…..HOT FLASHES! 

 

 

I discovered something that was a tad unpleasant during the heat wave last week….heat brings on hot flashes! You would think Mother Nature would take pity on us and not try to evenly roast us inside and out! But life goes on and with busy lives we don’t have time to stand in front of fans all day.

 

 

Now I’m not trying to freak you guys out there but I found a little something that would work for men too on a hot day……personal necklace cooling fans! You hang this puppy around your neck and it blows cool air on you and I have to say it’s a very nice comfortable COOL air. No hands required so Mister man could wear one when riding around on the tractor to keep himself comfy and cool too. So I ordered us each one and nice price too around ten bucks.

 

So next time something is wearing you down, even men, take a look around on the Internet and I bet you find a helpful answer to your problem. If not you’re about to make a million by designing what you need. Try a personal fan I have mine hanging around my neck and I’m smiling!

 

I hope you’re all having a wonderful workweek!

 

XXX

~Debra~

Objects of Affection!

Splendid Willow

 

I need to tell you a little something about myself….I’m highly suggestible when it comes to objects. I know instantly if I love something and then I go on a mission to find whatever it is. My latest obsession is an antique French plaster plaque that I’m blaming on Mon over at Splendid Willow and Loi at Tone on Tone.

 

Yep, this picture is a small area in Monika’s home and I love how she did a little something extra with the Kanji black marks….gives her plaque some emphasis  don’t you think?

 

 Tone on Tone

Then Loi came drifting on the scene with his amazing plaque and I was off and running trying to find a plaque of my own. I want his fabulous green secretary too but that’s for another time.

 

 Master Henriks
 

I love pieces of artwork that have life of their own and make a simple statement. I'm all about keeping it simple and elegant.

 

 Veranda
 

Veranda came out with simple flower medallions on faded worn wood and I was over the top. I need to find something with that aged green color I love it!

Tone on Tone

 

Loi at Tone on Tone kept torturing me with yet another fabulous plaque when he did a post on designer Frank Randolph's home that was featured in Veranda.

 

Trouvais

 

Are you noticing how these simple works of art work in any setting and with any type of furniture?

When I saw this grouping of plaster plaques offered at an auction I knew there were plenty out there to be found and I only needed one!

 

My Plaque
 

Lucky me I finally found an antique French plaster plaque of my own two weeks ago complete with aging. The sucker is big and heavy so wherever I decide to hang it Mister man is going to have to do a little work so it doesn’t rip down the plaster wall. I found this item at  Alhambra Antiques and have purchased many things from Olga and have been thrilled with every piece.
 

Judy Frankel Antiques

 

Now I’m on the lookout for a small industrial looking cabinet like this one for our downstairs bathroom that I showed a small part of last week. Shame this was sold because it was the perfect size for my needs.

 

Beth Webb Interiors

 

Now my newest obsession is trying to locate the perfect small bench/stool like the one pictured here. I have a small piece of antique zebra that I’ll be upholstering the seat and then the piece will be going into our newly redecorated living room when it’s finished. How about you what are you hunting for this week?

 

I’d like to thank Steve over at An Urban Cottage for rescuing so many of us with his post about our reading lists going away. Steve took the time and effort to find options for us to transfer our lists…so thank you Steve I know you saved me!

 

Short week this week for all of us and I would like to wish all of you a happy and safe 4^th of July celebration. We’re going to be doing extra celebrating around our household because it’s also Mister Man’s birthday!

 

Happy 4^th of July everyone!

xxx

~Debra~

 

 

 

 

Lighting up my Life

An Urban Cottage

 

I’m going to tell you a little something about decorating and me until I find what I want and what I love I would just as soon leave a spot empty. Because of that little tendency of mine we have been without bathroom sconces in our downstairs bathroom for three years! I kid you not. In fact Mister man likes to refer to me as Picky but Patient.

Desire to Inspire

 

Even though we live in an antique home we still like modern touches and don’t want to live in the past. But you also don’t want to take the interior to far from the style of the house. Love this mix of old and new.

 

Elle Decor

 

Our downstairs bathroom is somewhat narrow and long with a high ceiling so we couldn’t have anything that stuck out into the room to far. And the electrical boxes were already in the wall so not like we could move those to a height we needed them to be.

 

 

I choose a modern mirror that echoed an antique pivot mirror so I needed lighting fixtures that worked with the mirror as well. But also something that would soften the modern touch somewhat.

 

 

And we have two different wall treatments going on in that bathroom. Since the bathroom walls are so tall we were able to put beadboard on the lower part of the wall and hang my favorite…grasspaper! So now I was working with a natural texture and a modern fixture. All that was needed was something to bring it all together…..

 

I don't really like this bathroom just the light fixtures but they extend to far out.

 

My image

 

And then I found them at RH the perfect blend of modern and industrial and the shades have a slight feminine touch to soften things.

 

 My image

 

I still have a few other things to do to this bathroom like stick a plant in that pot but the bathroom is headed in the right direction. So how about you, do you settle or wait?

 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the summer. Me I’m finally out in the yard and up to my knickers in dirt planting away and couldn’t be happier!

 

Enjoy your week everyone!

 

XXX

~Debra~

 

 

That's Amour or love is in the air!

 

Well we now know spring is here and love is in the air when Dylan and I walked out and were greeted by this guy doing his thing. Yep, that would be a male turkey all blown up and doing his courting dance. Thankfully he was to busy putting on a show to be bothered by me and picture taking.  In case you’re wondering Dylan’s an odd dog he doesn’t chase the animals in our yard he has better things to do then waste his energies chasing birds. He did sit down and watch the show a few minutes.

 

The tom’s blow up with air and spread their feathers and walk in circles constantly turning to give the ladies a full view of what a stud he is and how he would make a great mate. Just look at that foot work!

 

He preens, clucks and gestures to try and get the ladies attention. I think he’s turning blue in the face from holding back all that air that makes him look so big since his head is usually white.

 

What are the ladies doing while the show is going on, they really can’t be bothered most of the time and carry on eating as if nothing special was happening.

 

The males or tom’s are pretty easy to pick out when they aren’t all puffed up by their beards. See that feather hanging down off the front of tom’s chest…that’s his beard.  

 

This is a female turkey and as you can see they’re smaller, don’t have the beards and are much duller in coloring.

 

 

Mister Tom has been dancing about for eleven hours at this point, they’re very dedicated to the end results and he needs a break for dinner.

 

 

I found him an hour later up in this tree all alone and not smoking a cigarette so I’m guessing he didn’t impress the ladies much.

 

They tucked their heads down and under since owls are a predator of theirs and will come along when the turkey is sleeping and …well lets leave it at that shall we!

 

The next morning Tom was right back at it for another day of dancing. About noon when Dylan and I went out Tom was missing and so was one of the ladies so hopefully soon we’ll have babies fluttering about.

 

I know this is a home design blog but sometimes you have to show life around your home. When I’m lucky enough to walk out our front door and see this going on I want to share. And for those of you who like to place big puffed up turkeys on your Thanksgiving table keep in mind why they’re really all puffed up like that…..;)

 

Enjoy your week everyone!

XXX

~Debra~

 

 

 

Boxwood: Trim or not to Trim

Clive Nichols Photography

 

Are you like me, do you love boxwood surrounding your home in your landscape?

 

I was first introduced to boxwood many years ago when we first bought our home. It helps to add some structure to your gardens as well as a touch of formality.

 Hyland Garden Design

 

Best part is the deer won’t touch it. Boxwood contains alkaloids that are toxin to deer as well as to humans. We have a lot of roaming deer here in the country so my garden palette is somewhat limited to what the deer won’t eat.

 

 Sweetgum Horticulture

 

With over a 150 varieties of boxwood there’s something for everyone in every shape and form. Boxwood can be planted to form green walls and allee, low borders or tall as well as different textures and size of leaves.

 

My image

 

This is one of our upright box and a very slow grower. I’m hoping someday he’ll fill out his container but until then we’ve given him some height with a pretty iron ornament.

 

 Landscaping Network

 

Boxwood is a tough shrub, which is good for us since it gets buried under mounds of snow in wintertime.

 

My image

 

This is one of our dwarf boxwood and he was MIA for months this winter under the snow but when the snow finally melted he showed us all the growing he had been doing when I thought he was sleeping.

 

The Scout Guide

Did you know that shearing your boxwood into balls and hedges stresses your shrubs?

 

 

My image

 

Since our home isn’t formal and I prefer a somewhat wild untamed look we left these two boxwood to their own devices and let them grow. What do you think trim or not?

 

Southern Living

 

Even in a pot they don’t always need to be sheared to look good.

 

 My image

Since these dwarf boxwood are being used for a low hedge I’ll give them a little bit of shearing. They’ll grow to three feet if left alone and I don’t really want them that tall.

 

My image

 

I know these alliums have nothing to do with boxwood but they’re finally opening and I wanted to show you. I planted up eight different varieties of alliums last fall and as they open I’ll give you a show.

 

Happy Memorial Day everyone and if you really want to make someone’s day go thank or hug a service person.

 

XXX

~Debra~