Summer Flowers

Mid-August…some schools here in central Ohio start tomorrow! Yikes! 1. Where did summer go, and 2. Who ever thought of starting school in the middle of August??? Don’t those administrators and school boards have children of their own??!! Don’t they know they’re “robbing” our children of carefree summer days??!!

The burning bushes are starting to turn ever so slightly, and I see the landscape crew gathering brown, dry leaves. But not in our garden!! Oh, no…not here! Our neighbor emailed us a week or two ago, observing that the leaves on their birch were turning, and my response was that the word “fall” would not be heard around here, even as our own birch starts its annual demise. Boohoo… I’m keeping my head safely planted in the sand.

Our flowers are still happy, and so I wanted to share them with you, as summer’s last hurrah. I may (or may not) have a fall tablescape for you next week—it depends on my ability to cope with the fact, my friends. Blogging is a bit like retail, isn’t it? We need to get our posts out early enough for them to be of value and inspiration to our readers, so in that vein I may be able to do a fall post—the sacrifices I make….We’ll see. (I LOVE summer, remember??)

Besides capturing the beauty and textures of the garden, I also love to photograph the light-and-shadow play in the garden. The metal wheel at the right edge is the wheel to our antique hand plow that I’ve dragged around from house to house for easily 20 years. You can see the beautiful handles on it here, where I photographed our Chickadee Baby Love’s tussie mussie.The hostas in the garden are new this year—a gift from my friend and hairdresser! Don’t you love perennials that bring back memories of people who shared them with you?

This nook is primarily red, white, and blue until August, when the purple coneflowers join in and start to prepare us for the change in seasons. Summer is red, white, and blue, until it’s time for a change in the “theme.”

The red…

The blue, and the white.

I love how coneflowers brighten the landscape with wild abandon.

And then, of course, my beloved PeeGee hydrangeas burst forth in their soothing white. One day they’re buds, the next, it seems, they’re in full bloom. We held our Baby Love’s baptismal reception here at our home in mid-August when the hydrangeas were at their peak, so every year they remind me of that happy day.

Ummm…do you see dry leaves??? I don’t!! What leaves??

Which is more beautiful? The one yet to burst, or the one almost there? It’s hard to decide.

And guess who else likes the PeeGee hydrangeas?

This is the second year for this Endless Summer hydrangea, and she grew “demurely” this summer. I have high hopes for her next summer, now that I moved her to a sunnier spot, but I am thankful that she gave us blooms in time for the little tea party we had after Baby Love’s piano recital (that’s another post!).

She IS lovely, isn’t she?

These are last year’s geraniums! And they came from cuttings from the year before (you can see my post about rooting cuttings here). I was so crazy about this Calliope Red geranium that I didn’t want to run the risk of not finding it again, so we took the plants to our office over the winter, and they survived (though a little leggy by spring). We’ll certainly do that again this year—that way we get nice big plants early! They sure are happy in the berry cart, aren’t they?

So, Mary, Mary (not) quite contrary, how did your garden grow this year? We had so much rain in the spring and early summer that ours took a while to “catch,” but then, in the end, some of them took off and gave us a good show. I hope yours did too. Enjoy what’s left of summer!! The snow will fly in these here parts all too soon!!

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From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Blue and White in the Old/New China Cabinet

I was ready to be done with the Valentine’s red in the china cabinet and go to the more serene and perennial favorite, BLUE AND WHITE.  I’ve also been ready—for a long, long, long time—to make a major change in our china cabinet.  I mean for YEARS.  So after having gone to the Pine Tree Barn for our Valentine dinner, and once again seeing a cabinet/hutch there that I love (see below), I decided that the time had come to take the plunge and give the china cabinet an ALLOVER MAKEOVER.

I’ve been in love with this piece since I saw it last Christmas season.  I love that it’s open, and I love the blue, distressed interior.  It seems like everything displayed in it just pops—even the reds and greens of Christmas.

Lo and behold, when we went to the Pine Tree Barn, the cabinet was still there.  The next day I said (in my sweetest voice), “Sweetheart, could you take a look at the china cabinet to see if we could remove the doors (and the stationary center panel)?”  And before I knew it, I had a new piece of furniture!  Really!  Take a look for yourself and see the incredible difference!  Why, oh why, didn’t I do this years ago like I’ve wanted to?!

So we went from this:

Beautiful, arched doors and stationary center panel, with lovely “domed” glass,

To this:

No doors, no arches, no domed glass.  Ahhhh….so much more open and “approachable.”  I had never been able to “make peace” with the stand-offish feeling of the glass, as if to warn, “LOOK BUT DON’T TOUCH; NOT TO BE USED!  ONLY FOR DISPLAY.” 

What do you think?  A new piece of furniture?  More approachable?

And to the BLUE AND WHITE ~

Like I said, I’m not ready for Easter…I need space/time between holidays.  I guess I could never work in retail.  The jumping into holidays weeks and months before the calendar says they’re here, and jumping from one holiday to the next would wreak havoc with my psyche!  I need a calendar, and I need breaks.

So I was anxious to bring out my BLUE AND WHITE Spode “The Blue Room Collection,” mixed with Bianca Leaf by American Pelier—a fabulous Home Goods find.

A very vintage mustard pot holds my “vintage” hydrangeas from last summer that I love to have out on display.  A bird’s nest brings a hint of spring without stripping my gears as the gray days of Ohio linger and the snow continues to fly.

Hydrangea blooms take the place of soon-to-come robin’s-egg blue eggs.

My beloved Nicodemus chubby robin, and others birdies, are harbingers of {wonderful} things to come—in a few months.

The Bombay Company candleholder (left) once again makes an appearance, along with mini cups (larger than a traditional demitasse), which are a new auction find.

This precious little teapot was a gift from my precious friend Cookie, and the bunny is another Nicodemus piece.  The hydrangeas are real, dried from my SIL’s father’s garden.

And this bunny…well, I guess we’re inching toward spring and Easter—putting a toe out there, in a subdued way, shall we say?  He’s of no particular pedigree—he’s completely unmarked, but I’d fallen in love with him at a local store, Harick’s, and after a particularly fruitful shopping spree there with our friends from out of town, the owner offered him to me for a steal.  I just couldn’t wait any longer to bring him out!

Pears, the color of the hydrangeas, also bring a touch of spring, in the Simplydesignz dish from our son and DIL.

So I need your help.  Now that I’m head over heels with my “new” china cabinet, I’m thinking about painting the inside.  But I’m soooo scared!!!  What do you think?  Yes???  No???

If yes, what color?  White?  Cream? Very light teal (my favorite color, but may be too limiting)?  Blue like Pine Tree Barn’s??

I can’t wait to hear from you and get help from all of you super-talented decorators out there!  :)

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Here’s where I’m going to party this week:

Thursdays at Tabletop Thursday: http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Thursdays at Home Sweet Home: http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Thursdays at No Minimalist Here: http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

Be Inspired Friday at http://www.Commonground-do.com/

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From my nest to yours, ~Zuni