Here's What's Blooming in My Garden Now

Not my typical post, and has very little to do with antiquing (unless you count heirloom plants as antiques which, technically, they can be), but I played in my garden all day today, and here's what's blooming:

These buttercups are like of sea of sunshine in one corner of my garden!

My Asiatic lilies are on the decline, but the peach ones smell wonderful!

Pure Southern perfection - my magnolia smells as good as it looks!

My purple clematis vine stands regally in the corner opposite the buttercups.

The bee balm are standing in attention (they look like jester caps, don't they?!) You can see the clematis in the background, with my azalea bushes under planted.

Perennial geranium are still in bloom, long after the azaleas (these are planted between my white azalea bushes).

The spirea bushes are waning, but still pretty in muted pinks.  One set of knockout roses (background) have been pruned as climbers, the bee balm is just this side of the roses, and there's purple salvia and emerging black-eyed Susans surrounding my 'Augustine' putti.  Butterfly bushes are to the far right.

Butterfly bushes are just starting to bloom.  I place one of my four hummingbird feeders right in front of these, giving the hummers a choice of  nature's blooms or my homemade sugar water.

My hydrangeas are just starting to bloom also.  I have seven of these bushes - they're huge - and I need to relocate at least one of them this year.

There are a few stragglers remaining of my Spring wildflowers - snowflake anemone on the right, and a tiny little blue flower on the left (Love-in-a-Mist, which is one of my heirloom plants.  These make a wispy sea of delicate, green fronds with the tiny blue flowers when they're blooming en masse).

Here's a photo from last year, showing the Love-in-a-Mist en masse.

Adjacent to the main yard, you enter my courtyard where, along my garage wall, I have my climbing roses, and lavender planted at the base.  With full sun, these plants thrive here!

This past week, I have been busy harvesting lavender, both English and Dutch.  A bumper crop year, I have already cut 8 bunches as big as these, and have more to cut!  May-June are super busy in the garden!

This little guy was getting drunk on my lavender!  Bottoms up!

I've planted several containers:  pentas, dracena & potato vine in two huge containers; geraniums, dracena, alyssum & lobelia in two more; and lantana (lemonade) in the small one below (the poodle statue memorializes my little Coco that I had for 11 years).  These are all in my courtyard.

And I planted two of these small boxwoods this year, thinking I'll shape them and take them inside - later.

My husband keeps our grass in good shape.  This view looks toward our river property, making for great scenery.  You can see my other set of knockout roses to the right in the above photo.

And this is where I/we sit to enjoy the show in the garden, and entertain visitors.  You can see the hydrangeas in the background, right.  The draping evergreen branch in the foreground is a weeping cedar atlas.  It has a gnarly twisted growth that spans more than 12 feet along the brick wall!  

 Here are some of today's visitors in the garden:

 These two robins, one in the water (female, I think), and the male on the ground, bottom R.  I think they were checking out the real estate in the Magnolia section of the garden today, may have already moved in, judging by their activity.

 This bluejay decided the pool at the base of the Magnolia was worth jumping into.  I can hear the robins saying, "there goes the neighborhood".

 Bluejay, preening on the trellis, next to the magnolia, after swimming.  I plant four pink mandevillas on the base of the trellis each May, and they grow to cover the trellis by August or so.  That's a snowflake viburnum behind the trellis.

Then the cardinal showed up for the open swim.  This is, by far, my visitors' favorite pool of the garden.  See those plants behind the birdbath?  Those are my Lord Baltimore hibiscus - major work each Spring staking those.  I'll post on their progress later....they should be blooming by July.

And now, the sun is setting, the cushions are in, and the garden will rest for the night.  Me too.  And tomorrow it's supposed to rain, which means more growth in the garden, more lovely surprises.  It's all good. :)

This week, I'm linking up with The Scoop Link Party #70 with Anita from Cedar Hill Ranch and all her friends!

Moving Twice, Going Nowhere....but a Chance to Restyle

This week will mark two years since we did it....moved twice...and went nowhere.  But out of that dismal process came my chance to restyle a space I was never happy with in our home.

We had our wood floors refinished on the first floor of our home two years ago this week.  I hope I never need to do it again. But I do have some tips to share with you if you choose this mission.  I could have lived out my days with my floors the way they were, but my husband was embarrassed when company (family, mostly) would come over.

BEFORE:  foyer, just inside front door.

BEFORE:  center of open floor plan, under breakfast table.

First, get at least two estimates - we got three. It pays not only from a monetary standpoint, but also to listen to the methods each prospective contractor would use. Then, go with your gut....on every aspect.  My contractor said there would be little to no dust, but my gut said otherwise.

For me, going with my gut paid off ten-fold.  It involved over $100 in plastic and frog tape, and more than 40 hours of my labor, taping every orifice and light fixture on the first floor, plus, every doorway and recessed light on the second floor, to seal off any residual dust.

Taping process: center of open floor, breakfast area, before the move.

Taping process:  Family area, before the move. Note the wall-to-wall cabinet units/TV, stereo speakers, as well as the  wrap-around sectional, and rug & chairs (foreground) - all either ditched or reconfigured after the move.

And did I mention that I moved - twice - and went nowhere?  I spent hours, first photographing inside cabinets (so restocking would be easier than relying on memory), then boxing everything from those same cabinets in the dining room and family room, and placed them in the basement.

Cabinet contents, packed, labeled and stored in basement.

We scheduled movers the day before and one week after the floors were completed.  The movers moved furniture into the sunroom, the basement, and (the heaviest pieces) into the garage.  Then everything (except the garage contents) was covered in a lightweight, cheaper plastic - for good measure.

Existing basement contents, covered for good measure.

Furniture in basement, covered.

Sunroom, filled, not yet covered.

Garage, heavy furniture pieces

The sanding process began around 8am, and by noon we were approving the stain.  The stain had to be mixed to match the stairs, as they did not need sanding, just resealed.  The trickiest part of the process for me was sealing off the kitchen from the rest of the open floor plan - I had to create a makeshift curtain of the plastic, taping heavily on door frames where there was not a wall dividing the spaces.

IN PROGRESS:  Breakfast area, after sanding completed.  Upper portion shows the makeshift curtain created to seal off kitchen

IN PROGRESS:  Dining Room, after sanding completed.

IN PROGRESS:  Coat closet, matching stain to previous color, as the steps were NOT refinished, only resealed.

AFTER:  Dining Room, stained and sealed.

AFTER:  Breakfast area, stained & sealed.

AFTER:  Family room, stained & sealed.

AFTER:  Corner of breakfast/family room, looking toward DR (L) and kitchen (R).

The move back in (the following week) gave me the opportunity to switch things up a bit, without ruffling too many feathers.  We ditched the existing arrangement in the rectangular family room area, including two chairs and rug in front of the fireplace, the boxy TV within the three, side-by-side wall cabinets (broke those up too!), two 1970's era stereo system floor speakers, and the five-piece sectional couch that wrapped around two walls.

All my husband wanted was a chair suitable for his tall frame, to watch his new, big-screen TV.  Check!  What I ended up doing was taking the buffet/credenza from the dining room (same Henredon line as in the family room) and making it the center console in the family room, book-ended by two of the three wall-to-wall bookcases.  This made the perfect staging for the new, big-screen TV.  I took the third bookcase and flanked the opposite side of the fireplace.  I then made a flexible seating plan of the rectangular floor space.  I broke up the sectional couch, omitting the corner piece, and made a loveseat on one end of the room, and I placed my husband's new, wing-back leather recliner chair in conversation with the loveseat.   On the opposite end, near the fireplace, I placed two slipper chair sections of the couch in diagonal with each other, and then purchased a new, swivel bucket chair that can rotate in either direction - toward the two chairs, or toward the loveseat and the recliner.

AFTER:  The family area.  Top photo shows the TV viewing area; bottom photo shows seating area around fireplace.

My dining room actually looks better without the buffet/credenza, and it gave me a chance to get closer to where I'd like that room to be - more of a library.  I moved another leather wing-back chair we had stored in the basement into the corner of that room, and purchased a light for a small leather-top table I bought at auction to set beside the chair, in front of the window (photo is dark, hard to get optimal lighting for a good photo).

AFTER:  The dining room.

There's still a  lot of things I'd like to do in styling my home (like recover those chairs in the DR for starters), but one thing's for sure - I don't want to refinish floors ever again - at least not while I'm living in the house!

Linking with Debra of Common Ground: Be Inspired #142

and Courtney of French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday

My Personal Memorial

A tribute, to my father, on this Memorial Day (Decoration Day, as it is also called).  He fought during WWII, mainly in Italy.  He lost his leg while keeping watch for the enemy in a foxhole.  My mother once said she dreamt of his injury the night it happened.  Mom stood by Dad, through the pains of raising three war babies born in '43, '44, and '45, until he returned in '46 (pictured), after months of recovering in an Army hospital, and a Purple Heart for his service.  

Dad and Mom had six more living children together - I am #9.  Dad used to scare Mom when he would take the older kids out into the ocean with his leg removed.  Then there was the time that Dad & Mom were traveling on vacation with all nine of us, in the station wagon, and he had his prosthesis off when pulling into a gas station.  Dad opened his door, the leg turned such that the leg (with attached foot, they were wooden then) was facing opposite its rightful position, and the attendant looked horrified, to which Dad responded, "With this gang, you never know whether you're coming or going".  Always a humorous, loving man, Dad's artificial leg became a source of entertainment to many grandchildren, who would drop small toys inside the side vent hole to see them disappear, only to once again watch them reappear as Papa would remove the leg (imagine the little ones' looks on their faces seeing his stump!).

This past March, I visited the American History Museum in DC and snapped the two photos above - a reminder of Dad and the sacrifice he made for my family - and yours.  He never talked about the War, as much as many of us would have liked to have heard his first-hand accounts.  There are a few letters saved which he had sent to Mom through those years - always censored first by the US Government prior to their shipping overseas.  They spoke of family, devotion, and hope for the end of the War and safe returns.

There's a lot of first-hand accounts of history of WWII that I don't know, but a couple things I do know for certain.  One is that the mental wounds of war, now labeled PTSD, were unmentionable in the days of my Dad's service and my growing up.  But Dad suffered, mostly in silence, and so did Mom.  Another thing I know for certain is that the physical remnants of War remained with my Dad throughout his life - bits of shrapnel emerging through the skin and needing removed surgically, periodically.  When the Boston Marathon bombs exploded on those innocent victims, I immediately felt empathy for the survivors, knowing the struggles they will inevitably be dealing with in their future.  As do all veterans of war, any war.

I am thankful, especially today.  For family, for our country, for service, and for our history, both known and unknown. 

Be Our Guest!

Of all the rooms in our home, my guest bedroom is certainly one of my favorites, and for several reasons, all of which have one common denominator:  everything in it is collected over time.  It's styled with a little Country French bedroom set & various other pieces of furniture either bought at auction, estate sales or antique shops; the textiles are in some of my favorite pale colors; and it's home to most of my antique & vintage purse collection displays.  The room enjoys morning sun (there's a glimpse of the window on the left, in the photo below, and there's a swivel rocker just in front of the window to allow for curling up and reading, or just looking around.  Come, be our guest!

This is the view from the door, as you enter the room.  The vintage bedroom suite is Country French in painted yellow with florals & applied wood trim, but I mixed it up with an existing brass bed instead of the matching head & foot boards to keep it from feeling too matched. The stool at the end of the bed was slipcovered and purchased from Sweet Melanie.  

Detail of items displayed on top of chest of drawers.

Vintage fashion display and mesh purse tree collection beside chest of drawers.

This is the dresser/bureau, opposite the bed. Flanking the bureau are two cases displaying some of my vintage and antique purses.

Close up of dresser/bureau top & vanity items.

Left side of dresser/bureau: display cases of vintage & antique purse collection.  The glass display sitting upon the small chest is a vintage Du Barry Beauty Preparations cosmetic counter display case.

Right side of dresser/bureau: display case of mostly vintage children's purses.

Vintage desk & chair in corner of room.

  

A chippy, painted cedar chest sits along the left wall upon entering bedroom.  An old, wooden machinist's chest holds more vintage beaded purses, as do the Ryker display boxes on either side of the chest.

If you'd like to visit and see more of my home and collections, leave a comment, and I'll oblige with a future post, sharing one room at a time.  Each is different, and I promise they're not all set up with so many displays, but I have tried to concentrate confine corral style much of my purse fetish in this room.  It's a nice, quiet place to go, whether you're a guest or a resident.

This is a first for me - I am linking up with:
 Debra Oliver's Common Ground, "Be Inspired #141"
Jennifer Rizzo and her "Fabulously Creative Friday Linky Party"
Courtney's French Country Cottage, "Feathered Nest Friday"