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Clean up – Part 1

I think the only way I am every going to get my rose bed in shape is to publicly out myself and my lazy, procrastinating ways. Here’s the rose bed. Yes there ARE roses in there amongst the weeds.

I have very little sun in my garden but have eked out a little around one corner of the deck. I have six or seven rose bushes. The tall gangly one is a Queen Elizabeth. Very regal, that rose.

I went to our local, expensive nursery (since Lowe’s and Home Depot weren’t cutting it, florally ~ and honestly I’d prefer our little local guy get my money even if his prices are twice as high) and bought some stock, decorative cabbage, dusty miller, pansies and marigolds to freshen up the pots on the deck.

Oh and take a look at that bird feeder – normally $120 and I got it for $30 because the little doohickey on the cupola broke off. I’m going to go online and see if I can find a minature weathervane to stick on top. I’m hoping that there is a market for barn decor for the dollhouse set.

Aren’t these Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum) adorable? You know me – I like things for the name as much as the thing itself. I just think this will look sweet sitting in a low pot on our little table out on the deck. The mother ‘hen’ is surrounded by little duplicates of herself, the ‘chicks.’

I saw it in a Sharon Lovejoy book called Sunflower Houses and have wanted to plant it ever since. If anyone has children I would highly recommend Sharon Lovejoy’s gardening books. Or even if you don’t but love enchanted gardens.

Okay ~ I’ll be back…..

I’m not really back – just taking a break before I start on the pots on the deck. I had to jump in and say, though – omibob the world of dollhouse miniatures! It’s fascinating. Did you know you can actually buy an itty bitty teeny tiny jar of LEECHES for your dollhouse? What room in god’s green acre would that go in?

Okay back to the garden….

Clean up – Part 2

Alrighty then. Weeded. Planted. Swept. Now the rosebed looks a bit bare and spindly but the only greenery left in the bed was invited there. I redid two of the pots on the deck. The garden will be quieting down pretty soon but since I’m in mild Northern California I do have another month of roses. I have a long standing tradition of pruning them back on New Year’s day. I think I’ll get one more blooming out them this year.

One is never quite alone in the garden. I have to be very careful when I’m weeding, planting and generally stomping around in the garden because of these little guys. We have hundreds of them. Some of them no bigger than my thumb nail. I was just getting ready to pull out the spent petunias when he hopped onto the edge of the pot.

There is nothing quite as satisfying as spending a day out in ones garden, whether it be a cottage garden, a formal Japanese garden or just some pots on a deck.

Longing

I covet this house. It is an adorable, white farmhouse style house (no farm though) on a pretty piece of property around the corner from us. I drive past our street every now and then just so I can drive by and look at it longingly. Today I decided to drive by and take a picture. Only I feel so ~ I don’t know ~ sneaky or invasive taking pictures of other people’s property. So I’m driving by trying to look inconspicuous (as inconspicuous as you can going 5 mph with a camera stuck out the window). This is the best shot out of the two I was brave enough to take. I’m going to go put on camoflage and walk down there and take another.

Anyway this house is set back on an expanse of lawn. There is a low rail fence that surrounds the property with a big white archway over the driveway and a smaller one over the walkway. The rail fence has roses and lavender planted in front of it on one side and rosemary all along the other side. There is a long, grey gravel driveway to the right that leads back to a garage. There are actually a number of buildings that make up the property. The house itself with its little porch and its pleasing symmetry, a small granny cottage just to the left of the house, the garage and another small building, a shed perhaps. All are painted white and have pale grey shutters on the windows.

It’s just so charming and not overy sweet looking. You can’t see it in the picture above but in the big tree on the left there is a porch swing hanging from one of the large branches. If I lived here I would sit out there every morning with my cup of tea and do the crossword puzzle.

I have an affinity for little, older houses. I love the creaking, sticking windows, the worn floors, the kitchens that are designed for practicality and not entertaining. My favorite house (one I actually owned, not just stalked like my little farmhouse above) was built in the 1940’s. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom with cardboard made to look like tiles on the wall (we did renovate that bathroom), the cabinets in the kitchen were metal (another renovation), it had a hardwood floors throughout the entire house except for the kitchen and a family room that was added on later. All told it was about 1100 sf. When we redid the kitchen and the cabinets were pulled out we found a little toy car and a spelling test dated 1948. The house had a nice sized porch with room for a couple of chairs and table and a hanging boston fern (I am of a mind that all porches require a hanging boston fern).

There was a detatched garage behind the house with a laundry room and I have many memories of making a mad dash back to the house in the rain with a basket of laundry. At the very back of the long, narrow property there was a studio with a half bath which at first was a storage shed then I commandered it and turned it into my home office. We had picket fences and archways laden with Sombruil roses (bring a cut one into the house and it will perfume the entire space). It was truly a lovely place.

We wanted more room and to get out of the bay area so we sold it about five years ago. A decision we tend to regret now and then. The new owners added on to the back but kept the overall look and feel of the place. Then they moved and the people that bought it from them have totally remodeled and the house now looks like a McMansion and "has been totally stripped of any of it’s charm", according to my sister who still lives on the street.

I would love to get my hands on a similar house and lovingly bring it up to date without compromising its origins. I would rather have a small house with a big heart than one with no history or soul.

Candlelight

This entry is really for Mimi – who has her own beautiful, pressed glass goblets that she puts to more traditional use. Mine I recieved from a friend and I thought they were a perfect size for a votive candle. They look so lovely flickering on the window sill. Both from the inside where I’m sitting (at my eating area/where I sit all day working table) and from the outside, greeting people as they come up the front walk.

I love having candles lit around the house – mostly for the ambiance but also for the added bonus of the perfume they add to the air. I’m a bit picky about the scents I’ll burn. My number one favorite candle ever is the Pacifica French Lilac. Seriously ~ stop what you are doing and get one. It is the best smelling candle in the world.

In the Fall my favorite is Sweet Scents Candles "October Gave a Party" – I think I like it just as much for the name as the scent – it’s kind of a woodsy apple cider kind of scent. Not cloyingly cinnamony like most Fall candles. Sweet Scents is an online etailer but their website is under renovation at the moment.

Other notable scents – L’Occitane Lavender – nice true lavender scent, very calming. Yankee Candle Country Linen – not overly dryer sheet smelling, really nice and fresh. And a new one I just found Yankee Candle Halloween Party – smells like pumpkin pie and creamy vanilla. Makes the house smell like something really, really good is happening in the oven.

Decorating

I’m feeling very blah about my decor these days. I actually started a post about rearranging furniture and when I took a picture of the space I realized how dark and somber it looks. We live on a piece of property that has a lot of trees. A lot. On the one hand it’s nice and shady which is lovely during the hot Summer months. But then it’s a bit dark in the house all the time.

(click on the picture to enlarge – this is looking from the entryway)

When we moved into this house five years ago we bought new living room furniture. We carefully picked out fabrics for the couch, loveseats and chairs. They really are lovely together but now, after five years I’m just tired of them. The couch is pretty innocuous – it’s a sagey, greyish/green that goes with a lot of colors. The loveseats are done in a blowsy floral in reds, pinks and the same sagey green on a tan background. Then the other two upholstered pieces are done in a faded red and green plaid.

In the second picture from the opposite end of the room you get a better idea of the colors – You’ll also notice the hot mess on the right which is our desk and computer – it doesn’t belong in the living room and was moved in here during our kitchen remodel and now is homeless. Hence my previous, unpublished post about rearranging furniture.

So my dilemma is I actually like these colors but the effect and combination of them is just so dour looking to me. I’m not sure how I can brighten things up and get the look I’m going for without a huge expense of recovering everything. The loveseats actually have slipcovers on them and underneath is a plain, creamy white. I’m thinking I could paint the round table in the corner a creamy white ($30 find off of Craigslist) and paint the entertainment center the same color (said entertainment center is a testament to the 80’s ~ heavy oak with and etched glass door. I’m not certain why we have hung on to it for so long except it does conveniently house our television and stereo system).

In one of the many decorating magazines I read a decorator was quoted as saying that one’s decor should always be evolving – move things around, shake things up. We’ll see what a can of paint does and if it has any significant impact on the room. It’s a start.

Wrapping

Click on picture to see it enlarged

Well it’s officially Fall so it’s time to start thinking about ~ Christmas wrap! (I really need to learn to live in the moment and not forever be scanning the horizon for the next season)

I just received Carolyn Roehm’s book on the subject. Pretty pictures but I’m not certain it’s worth the price. She tends to repeat ideas quite a bit. Anyway I wanted some inspiration and I do get that out of the book. She also has access to (and the money for) really swishy ribbons and Italian hand printed papers. I have Target.

I have a bit of a reputation when it comes to gift wrapping. It started back in the 80’s when one Christmas I wrapped all the gifts in cobalt blue wrap and tied them up with black satin ribbon. They were really striking. I don’t actually like the process of wrapping, fighting with tape, folding everything precision like – I like the end result. It’s fun to find interesting paper and ribbon combinations.

I did a present last year that I wish I took a picture of. I used glossy black wrapping paper and the same wide, green satin ribbon you see up on the right – I bought an assortment of faux flowers from Michael’s (pink peonies, pale yellow snow drop looking flowers, springs of lavender) and made a little posy that I tied to the top with the ribbon. I’m going to have to do that one again.

I like starting off with plain paper ~ even white butcher paper works great ~ then add the color with the details. My niece got a present last month where I tied a glittery tiara with the ribbon. Oragami papers are another good thing to decorate a plain box with. Oh ~ and rhinestones! Hot glue them on. Who wouldn’t love a sparkly present?

I know Carolyn probably spends as much on the wrapping supplies as she does the gift itself but you can wrap economically and still have spectacular looking presents. I like Target (plain wrapping paper), The Container Store (boxes and special wrapping paper), Costco (for ribbon), Michael’s and JoAnn’s (for embellishments and ribbons) for my supplies.

I also stock up after Christmas on supplies – last year I happened to be in the White Barn Candle store and they had gift boxes that were about 75% off – I bought 20 of them.

A great place for inspiration is Flickr – not for pictures of presents but I look at the color combinations in pictures and get ideas for wrapping. If you look at my Flickr favorites almost all of the pictures there are ideas for wrapping. I’ve been on a Kimono kick lately – I love the colors and constrating patterns of Kimonos and think it would translate really nicely into gift wrapping.

For this year’s Christmas wrap I’m thinking of glossy red paper and the pale green ribbon. I just need to find something else to gussy it up – a sprig of something white. Or maybe just a candy cane. Hmmm, maybe some vintage sparkly snowmen…

I’ve been on the search for pale pink and gold harlequin wrap – so if anyone ever sees anything like that let me know. I want to do a I. Magnin theme Christmas one of these years.

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