Lazy Cool Sunday

This morning when I went outside to drink a cup of coffee on the patio - the air was cool and it seemed like the heat of summer has moved on out.  It was 59 degrees and nearly jacket weather.  The sun came out quickly and suddenly before you knew it, it was over 80 degrees outside.  Certainly better than the 104's of last week - but can't wait til it feels like fair weather. 

Last April at our annual Mckinney Garden Club plant and seed exchange, I picked out a little 4" pot of Texas Rose Rock....it had a few sprigs and was about 6" tall.  I decided to plant it next my lamppost near other little bits of pink plants...JFK rosebush and also, pink salvia.  Here it is just over 4 months later in full bloom and gorgeous.  I've read its very easy to propagate and transplant around the garden.  Great great filler plant. 

 A few years ago, I picked up this really cute vintage worn bench at the 'Blue Door' downtain Frisco.  It was painted light yellow and I kept it outside in my flowerbeds.  This summer, I decided to strip it, repaint and distress it.  I made my own chalk paint with plaster of paris, water and paint....the color is deep aqua (Benjamin Moore) color matched at Lowes, then distressed it with black antiquing glaze.  My antiquing skills aren't that great...then I put a good coat of clear minwax and buffed it off after drying.  Now the bench resides in my bedroom for a little spash of color against all the gold.

A little Caramel goes along way

A few months ago, I decided to take on two of my closets...my sewing room and master closet.  First, my little boring closet in my sewing room....I was inspired by the beautiful craft closet redos on pinterest and across the web....especially this one...Pam Garrison's and this one...Everything Etsy! love her use of wire baskets.  I opted for the scrapbook paper instead of paint, stair risers and iron shelf brackets from Hobby Lobby.

 The paper I bought at Hobby Lobby too, its 12 x 12 sheets in a packet - of vintage reproduction papers.

 After lots of paint and sticky fingers from the spray adhesive - here's she is all finished.  I cut the sheets in various sizes and layered them on top of eachother.  I also added pics of my ancestors, because I love old pics and my family - always inspiring!  I accessorized with baskets, wicker and wire and finds from antique stores and of course Hobby Lobby.  I love how it turned out.  I've had to respray a couple sheets at tbe top.  But for the most part, its held up well - a lite layer of modge podge over the top helped too!

 This is my favorite feature.....a 1/4" dowel rod running through 4 shelf brackets, is a great way to store ribbon...can be a pain to add new rolls, but easy to cut strips and re-roll in place!

 Over Labor Day, I decided to take on my closet in my master bedroom.  As you can see - its a hot mess, from ugly plastic hangers, bins and lots of crap. 

 It was really bursting at the seams, I finally remembered to take a photo - after I had taken most of the clothes out.  Below, Jojo liked to lay on top of my jeans and capris!

 Decided to purge and donate lots of luggage, I had acquired through various sample sales at work to charity....wasn't sad to see this ugly red set go!

 Here's a big mess that in the bottom, an old TV (donated), lots of cables, old computer and more luggage!

 Found a gallon of paint that matched my bedroom, 'caramel' in the entry closet and still good after 3 years.  It took 2 coats and also used stair risers from Lowes cut to size and more shelf brackets from Hobby Lobby.  Bought storage boxes from the container store and also Hobby Lobby.  It took forever to paint - two coats! But really happy with how it turned out - below are a few pics!

 A small dress form holds earrings and a birdcage holds necklaces. 

 This rack is perfect for flip flops!

Still have two more shelves to add here, but will wait until the brackets go onsale at HL.  Love how this turned out!  It looks like Caramel overload in the pics, but looks good in person!

A Little Fall of Snow.....

Last night we had our first little snow here in Mckinney.  Big flakes fell for a couple of hours starting around 9pm and when I woke up on Monday morning, all that was left was this little dusting.  I took a couple shots, since its mid-February and this could possibly be our only snowfall of the year!

Yep, that's it.

This weekend, I wanted to try this heart potholder, from MarthaStewart.com. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to 'bias tape' and it wasn't perfect.  I made two, the first one a trial run and then got the second mailed off to moma for Valentines Day.  Fabric from Hobby Lobby and I used 'insul-brite' for the lining....and I think baby rick rack is just adorable on anything!

 Basting layers together

 Adding bias tape to the top layer

 Bias tape around the heart and a zillion pins later

The inspector is checking the quality of my work...

All done - two down and these were so cute, but i'm just not great at base or at the 'V' up top.  Check out these adorable potholders too from Big A Little a..... I love these, she really makes it look easy! The next one I make, i'm totally using the scalloped stitches...so cute!

I've also been working on organizing my fabric...and my sewing room..update coming soon!

Let' Catch Up!

Hard to believe its been 4 months since I posted my last update.....but after the holiday rush things are finally slowing down a bit.  I'm going to make a commitment to blog more in the New Year!

Dad and I went to DC in October.  He had never been and I love DC, so we got him a plane ticket for his 70th birthday back in April and he had to wait 6 months to cash it in.  We had alot of fun, did tons of walking and saw some amazing sites.  Below are some of my favs!

 A view of the monument at dusk....beautiful!

 Dad in the 1930s infamous lunch line at FDR's memorial!

 The Korean War Memorial....one of my favs!

 The WWII Memorial, probably one of the most beautiful War Memorials in DC!

 We hopped off in Chinatown and had some brews and egg rolls at 'Wok n Roll' formerly known as Mary Surratt's boarding house circa 1865.  (the infamous 'nest' that hatched the 'egg' to kill our beloved 16th President)

 Arlington National Cemetery.  I really had no idea of the magnitude of this cemetery.  Watched the changing of the guard, saw Custis Mansion (poor condition, ugh) and the famous gravesites.  Probably my favorite of all our stops. 

 Dad's having a little fun and decided to 'Fight the Power' with the other Occupy DC lunatics.

 This was our beautiful hotel, the historic Mayflower Renaissance just off the Farragut West and North stops, sure made riding the Metro easy.  I wish I had a pic of 'Potbellys'...that became one of our nightly staples...I think we ate there about 5 times - yum!  Daddy and I had a great time, we both got Library of Congress library cards and that was one of the highlights of the trip.  We also ate at Old Ebbits Grill and that was well worth the wait. 

 Here's my Halloween decor..haha - had a ton of Trick or Treaters and it was alot of fun!

I had Thanksgiving at my house, went and picked up Mom the day before and we cooked all day.  The turkey was so good!  We followed Barefoot Contessa's recipe and it wasn't pretty, but it was delish!  The Zerbos joined us too.  Becky and her family couldn't make it, and daddy had to work - but ther was 7 of us and we had a great time!  Here's Joey in front of the sign that Ben drew...so talented.  Mom got to stay a whole week and we had lots of fun.  We even made pepper jelly one day...except I don't know what we did, my jars never congealed!

 The dessert table....unfortunately, our chocolate pie - the one with the pretty meringue in front didn't set up - so it was just a puddle of pudding!  But the pecan was yummy and the pumpkin cheesecake was super rich!

 All the fixins - right before we said 'grace'.

 Right after Thanksgiving, I decided to put my trees up and this was a super cheapo one from Walmart that my mom picked up for me after Christmas last year for $20....it was really cute....and a great deal for the price.

 Ben was kind enough to draw a new sign for my entryway!

 Big tree is up and fire going - this was early December.  I miss Christmas already - already have it on my calendar for end of November to put up early and especially to get my lights on the house earlier.

Spent a few days in Oklahoma for Christmas, it was alot of fun, came home the Monday after and by Wednesday I was sick....hacking cough and congestion - no fun for the new year. 

Hot, dry and all those darn weeds!

Its been a long 3 months almost since i've posted an update to my blog.  After a wonderful start to spring and a warm summer in June, I thought I had the beginnings of beautiful flowerbeds that I would enjoy sitting on patio staring out all summer long.  But Mother Nature and inexperience proved to be my downfall.   I laid the last of my lasagna garden in mid-March in the hopes that a cool wet spring and early summer would break down the newspaper and cardboard.  Unfortunately, this didn't happen, as spring turned into a very hot and dry summer, no earthworms to break down the paper and no rich black soil to take its place. 

It seemed the only plants surviving this summer where the roses, my new wisteria and a small lantana that I had thrown off to the side as an afterthought.  Even trying to water daily was an absurdity against the 110 average days of July and August.

So here's my biggest learnings.....

1. Water, water, water - even during water restrictions and late nights at work - find an alternate.  I'm liking the idea of the plant nanny and several bottles of wine.  
2. Make your lasagna garden in the fall!  That way you have at least 6 months of leaves, rain, snow and ice to break down your paper, et al.  
3. When the plant label states 'shade loving' its gotta stay covered!  DUH!  (red impatients...i'm so sorry!)
4. Nip those weeds in the bud - literally!  Otherwise, you'll pay your teenage nephew to pull for 2 hours to get them all out!  (he did a great job too - well worth the $$) 

Plants that did well - 

• Roses - mainly President Kennedy and Miss Oklahoma...go figure.  
• Red budded Salvia - fills out great and will definitely be a filler next year.
• Lantana - pink that I planted in the ground - filled out - but eventually succumed to drought.
• Lantana - yellow/red mix that I threw off to the side in the shade...hum - seems to be very green right now - but no blooms.
• Wisteria - still looks good
• Blackberry bush - started vining and was really green - had little berries.  I tried one before they were ripe - probably about a week too early, then much to my surprise - little birds ate all the good berries within the next week.  
• Hostas - were beautiful in the shade...until the August
• Coleus - still going strong under the patio
• Black Pepper plant - never changed appearance throughout the summer

1. Plants that failed....probably mostly by my own hand

• Impatients...ugh - I love these little plants - but give them a 1/2 a day of sunshine and 110 heat and their outa here.
• Hibiscus....some days your were pretty - some days you weren't....don't think i'll try you again next year.
• Mr. Lincoln rose....never grew, never bloomed - nothing..I feel like its April 1865 allover again!
• Variegated Wiegela...planted from a starter and just went no where.  
• Astilbe - probably my favorite in the flowerbeds, beside the roses - but your flower buds were a little sad and dull in color.
• Boxwoods - your boring, yet still alive.
• Petunias and Geranium hanging baskets - you were so beautiful through most of July - but the heat was our downfall - so sorry - will definitely try again next year!
• Last but not least....Tomato plant - grew tall within the cage - but not one single fruit did you bare.

Despite the horrible tempatures this summer and lack of rain (I believe we had one shower all summer....August 14th).....I was able to enjoy the patio most of the summer, from the view of my porch swing.  This morning it was a brisk 65 degrees and as i'm writing this update at 10:45 pm - its a nice 75.  No breeze, just crickets and the sound of my cat, Lola clawing at the window - to get out here with me!  I didn't take any pictures of the flowers / plants that didn't make it - just too sad.  But I have decided my patio lacks color....and I'll add pics later on in the week as the transformation happens. 

Good Mornin from the Patio

Can't believe its been 2 months since I posted.  In the meantime, the flowerbeds have filled in some - it looks like the stars of the garden are the roses, and why shouldn't they be!  its a windy day today - and its going to be toasty...upper 90s.  This mornin though, its cool and high 70s.

 View from the porch swing!

 My little nephew Joey helped me put up some of this bunting...and I put up the rest - what a chore - but I think it looks great....added corbels on the sides of my post and later today - moving my flagpole to the back.  I love my patio!  I think more than my house...hahah.

 My little hosta shade garden under the Bradford Pear tree....tucked safely in the corner of the garden.....only what to do with this hideous birdbath...think i'll seal it and paint it yellow!

 My Peace and Love rosebush!  Gaining ground on the Red monster beside it!

 The beautiful Red rose bush that has grown in to a monster and I love every inch of it.  Wish I could remember the name.

 Blackberries are getting there - I tried one - but it wasn't ripe enough. 

 My beautiful Coleus - Kong Coleus on the left bottom - love this plant!

 Sweet Rose of Sharon rosebush (sweet rose of sharon, abide with me! - one of my Big Ma's favorite songs!)

 Good mornin' Mr. President!  I love this beautiful JFK rose bush!  Started from virtually nothing, planted back in March and its filling out nicely.  Can't say the same for President Lincoln....i'm hoping its just lying dormant this year!

 My mom came down for Mother's Day and here she is trimming my rose bushes for me!

 A balloon flyover about two weeks ago - when it was just a cool calm mornin!

Me and mom made salsa when she was visiting.....it was so yummy!