finds and fadings

Sharing some of my latest finds with you...

Aren't these plates perfect for fall? The thrift store only had two each of these dinner plates and salad plates, but that's OK. They'll look pretty as part of a place setting on the table. They're made by Vernon Kilns (USA). 

A pretty hand-painted pitcher...

Mini hobnail sugar and creamer...

Another owl to add to my collection, but this one is different. Instead of a figurine, it's a vintage clip and quite heavy. Found in my favorite antique shop.

This was my best find, by far.  A brand-new Dooney and Bourke wristlet! Still had the original price tag of $75. My price was $13. :-)

These aren't thrifting finds, but they're still bargains: wire magazine holders from the Target dollar section. They were $3 each. I snagged the last two. The navy and aqua colors are perfect for my office. I just need to make labels for the fronts. 

Meanwhile, being the end of August, the gardens are fading. All my potted annuals are history (except for one hanging pot of petunias in a shady spot) and some of the perennials are starting to dry up.

The end of August is when Sedum starts showing its beauty and since I have it planted in the butterfly garden, it's nice to have something blooming while the Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan are fading away.

I just cannot get over my coleus this year. This pot started out as four small plants. At first, these plants weren't doing well. The leaves started to shrivel up and were crispy. I tried a sunny spot, shady spot, more water, less water...nothing was working. One of the plants even died. I was just about to give up when I decided to move the pot to the other side of the house. I don't know why this was the "magic spot", but wow! Next year I'm planting coleus in the ground in this spot.

I had to run into the grocery store while I was out this evening and I found mini mums for $2.99. I bought two yellow and one purple to plant in the planter box that previously held basil (now harvested and made into pesto and frozen). I guess fall really is coming. I'm one who wants to hold onto summer just a bit longer.

working in the yard

 Another beautiful, sunny spring day in our neck-of-the-woods. We've been spoiled by this wonderful weather all week. Brian had the day off work today (he usually works weekends), so we went to Home Depot and picked up some pansies and a couple of herb plants. The place was packed! Rain is moving in tomorrow and the rest of the week looks cool and cloudy, so I think everyone wanted to get a start on yard work today. We saw a lot of customers buying big hanging baskets of ferns. Wonder what was up with that...why the popularity of those all of a sudden? It almost became a joke while we were walking around the store because everyone we passed was carrying at least two of those baskets of ferns. 

This is the first planter I put out on my porch every spring and pansies are always what I start with too, as they can withstand the cool weather. They always look kind of pitiful when I first plant them, but they'll perk up and fill out in a couple of weeks.

 Cilantro and dill are two herbs that can also handle cool weather, so I started with those in a planter instead of my herb garden. I figure if we still have a danger of frost at night (which is very possible until mid-May), I can move the planter into the garage.

 We were outside for several hours this afternoon, planting and dragging outdoor furniture out of the garage, pulling weeds, cutting back perennials, raking, and sweeping.

Just the other day, the hostas simply looked like purple asparagus coming out of the ground. Now those purple shoots have burst open and the leaves are slowly unfurling like little twirling ballerinas.

If you are looking for an easy, spreading groundcover that likes the shade, try pachysandra. This is about six years worth of growth but we started with only a handful of plants. We actually had no idea it would spread this much and it's now overtaking our stepping stone path that leads to the patio. And it's not fun to dig up ~ it has strong roots! So just a warning to be sure and plant it somewhere where you don't mind it really spreading. This plant is so hardy that it stays green all winter. We also never water it unless we have drought conditions.

Another plant that grows at least an inch a day in the spring ~ sedum.

 

 I could not believe the chives in my herb garden when I saw this plant today! It was just a tiny plant I stuck in the ground last year. This thing is already a monster. That's lemon balm in the background - a perennial in the mint family that loves to take over a garden, so I have to keep that under control, too.

 Clementine was watching me out the living room window. I don't know what she was looking at when I took this photo. Perhaps a bug. We've already seen bees (a good thing), box elder bugs, one of those small white butterflies (another good thing), and the most dreaded flying insect...mosquitoes. We were sitting on the patio yesterday evening and we were already swatting at a couple of those wretched things.

So, where's my hard-working man? Aha! Caught him red-handed. Guess his work in the yard is done for the day.

 Mine, too. 

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! How's the weather where you live? Are you doing any yard work this weekend or are you up to something else?

around my home ~ indoors and out

Hello, friends ~ how's your week been? I was actually sick most of the week; but 

nothing major. Just a raw, sore throat, headache and tiredness. Just enough to make

me feel yucky and not have a lot of energy. I doubled my vitamin D and took a

tried-and-true supplement, Allibiotic. I swear by this stuff. If you take it at the first sign 

of a cold or scratchy throat, you can pretty much avoid a full-blown cold. At least that's

how it's worked for me, Brian, and Tim. (My mom swears by it, too.)

Do you remember the round, wooden mirror I bought a couple of months ago

and couldn't decide where to put it in my living room? I had thought it would look good

on the fireplace wall ~ here's Brian holding it up for me. Nope, too small. And I wasn't 

keen on hanging sconces or anything else beside it to balance it out and fill in the

 white space. 

 

Turns out, I found a better spot for it: on the wall right inside our front entrance. I hung two

 San Francisco prints on the smaller wall to the side. The larger one is a vintage painting

that we picked up in an antique shop last year and the small print is just a page from

a calendar that I framed. The city of SF holds a special place in our hearts, as that's

where we spent our 25th anniversary five years ago.

I think the new mirror looks a lot better than the gold, oval mirror that was there before.

 I was getting tired of the plates, too. The gold mirror is now in the master bedroom.

 

The past two weekends, I've frequented a farm in our area to buy a ton of tomatoes

and some other veggies, as this is pretty much it until next summer. (Waah!) 

We enjoyed one last batch of fresh gazpacho ~ so easy to make in a food processor.

 

Topped with cucumber and avocado, it made a delicious and healthy lunch.

And then with the rest of the crop, I put tomatoes, garlic, and rosemary in a big

roasting pan and tossed all with olive oil and salt. I slow-roasted in the oven for a 

couple of hours until the tomatoes were saucy. The house smelled so good! Then I

packed the sauce into freezer bags. I have five bags in my freezer right now. It'll be

so awesome to use these summer tomatoes in spaghetti sauce, chili and soups 

this winter.

And then going on around my yard...Brian planted these fountain grasses in the little

ditch area in front of our house beside the driveway. We don't have sidewalks in our

neighborhood. The other side of our driveway has a larger ditch and that's filled with 

tiger lilies. I'm happy to see that these grasses are doing well and have grown a lot in 

the past month that they were planted. I can't wait until a few years down the  road when

 they're really tall and they sway in the breeze. Fountain grasses have always been one

 of my favorite plants, especially in the fall.

All my potted flowers are still going strong.

 

 

In my butterfly garden, the sedum is in full bloom. I never used it as a cutting flower until

I saw a few bouquets on blogs. I now have a bunch in a Mason jar on my kitchen table

and I'm happy to report that this is a great cutting flower ~ they still are colorful and sturdy

even after a week on my table.

 

Looks like my cherry tomatoes are pretty much done for. All the leaves are

drying up. Makes me sad. I love being able to step outside my door and pick 

fresh tomatoes off the vine. And cut flowers for the table and pick herbs to use

in my cooking. Can you tell I'm a warm weather person?

Farewell to the Black-Eyed Susans, too.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!