Zinnias

I love zinnias. When I picked this bunch last night, the smell immediately brought back memories of childhood summers. These are from my two plants in the cutting garden. It took them a bit to get started, but now they plenty of buds and look like they will bloom until frost.

 Ever since I bought the plants, I have been envisioning a zinnia bouquet here. Lovely!

 The sewing machine has been out all summer. For some reason I have been in a social sewing mood. I have made my way through plenty of projects in the last couple of months; some fun, some mundane.

 This vase was a vintage find a couple of years ago, complete with a matching glass flower frog. I haven't gotten too many chances to use it. I always envisioned peonies in it and was sad to have missed the opportunity this year to pick a few. Mandy suggested I use it for the zinnias as the stems were rather short (I hated to cut longer ones because of all the buds I would be cutting too!) and it works wonderfully.

Zinnias are even pretty in lamplight!

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Summery-ness

Are you soaking up summer? Drinking in all of it's loveliness? Somehow, we think fall might come early this year. There are a couple of signs it is just around the corner and the air has a fall-ish quality to it.

Summer sure has whizzed by fast. I am just trying to enjoy it while it lasts!  Life is just going along as usual, some slow and some crazy days. Here is a couple of snapshots of what is happening around here......

 I had fun making up Color Therapy in Tunisian Crochet for a class sample.

 Fairylights for the porch! (Never enough time to sit out here...)

Reading lots of old favorites this summer. But this one is a new friend by a favorite author, Emilie Loring. So excited to be reading!

(I ordered it used from Amazon and thought I would sun it a bit before reading, completely forgetting rain was in the forecast! Yes, it is a super clean book now! It took three days to dry out.)

It has not been a good garden year, but the marigolds are gorgeous! 

 I have been getting quite a bit of sewing in lately. The newest Akita shirt. Love the fabric!

Raspberry muffins! In these fun paper holders.

Meadowsweet shawl, which was love-at-first-sight. A perfect small project summer knit.

That is what I have been up to. What about you?

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Hydrangeas 2017

The hydrangeas are blooming! I always look forward to seeing their flowers and I am always hopeful that the recently planted bushes might flower. This year one did!

(I know I go a little crazy with pictures, but it is so fun watching them grow from year to year!)

Two weeks ago it started out like this, pale green centers that slowly turned pink. I think this is a "Peppermint Swirl" variety, but I will have to double check. The other small hydrangea I have is an unknown, it has never bloomed and was a gift. But I think this is the one that I bought, I will have to see if the label matches.

 And this is the flower this morning, all pink and twice as big!

It is lovely to have a bit of beauty to gaze at when going in and out of the house.

The hydrangea on the corner is going strong. It was covered with flowers two weeks ago. I am glad I took a moment to snap pictures when I did, as all the storms we have had have left it looking a bit bedraggled. It also isn't as heat tolerant as the others and fades quicker.

I hadn't realized how large the hydrangea is getting until I looked at last year's pictures!

I love all the shades of pink it goes through!

We have been busy doing a bit of damage control on one of the brother's houses. All things considered, my little cottage made it through the storms quite well. I only got a few small rivers in the basement, but they dried up quickly and there was no damage.
Goodness how the summer is flying by!

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Happy Summer!

 Happy Summer friends!

The summer busyness is in full swing around here, lots of comings and goings and lots of projects getting accomplished. We are still hard at work on the trim, but very close to having it done, we are on to the painting!

In the mean time, how about a garden tour in honor of the first day of summer?

We always have fun trying new combinations of annuals in our large flower pots. This year's choices are petunias, marigolds, dusty miller, snapdragons, alyssum and celosia.

 With all the warm weather in the last two weeks, they have really taken off! We are loving all the colors!

 The garden seems to have gotten a bit of a slow start, but is finally coming along nicely. The usual carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, beans, lettuce and peas. Oh and dill that re-seeded from last year!

 Our one raspberry plant has gone a bit wild, it is the taller plant in the front of the box. Mandy is trying to decided what we are going to do about it, in the meantime, it looks like we will get a nice crop of raspberries!

The strawberries are going strong! A bit on the smaller side because of the warm weather, but oh so good.

I have been working on my "cutting garden". Trying to decide what to plant and what would be just enough. I was so excited the peonies bloomed this year, but missed the chance to pick any or get pictures.

 It is amazing how much all the bushes have grown! You can't quite see them, but there are two more hydrangeas behind the boxwood and they look like they will also bloom this year. I am so looking forward to it!

After last years renovations of the sidewalks and flower beds, I am finally happy with the way this side is shaping up. Because I took out the bit of a sidewalk that curved around the house, I was able to make the bed bigger. I think I might need another plant or two, but while I think on that the bleeding heart fills the space. The bleeding heart loves it here and I am not sure if I want to move/replace it. It does get a little wild, but because of the shade it stays green for most of the year.

Well, there you have it! That is what is growing at the little cottage.

How is your garden growing this year?

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Happiness

Happiness is a pot of giant Zinnias!

(Planted along the side of the house in the cutting garden.)

A sneak peak at the current project underway! Yes, trim!!

It has been a few full fall-into-bed-already-half-asleep kind of days, but I am so so excited to finally get this project accomplished!

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Not Many Apple Bloosoms

 Spring is in full swing here and we can feel summer already on it way in the yo-yo of weather. Lilacs are filling the air, crab apple trees are putting on a magnificent display and we have already mowed the lawn three times!

But my little apple tree is surprisingly naked. The top branch does have a few blossoms, but the lower branches just have leaves. I don't know what happened.......

 There is lots of other spring things going on around here though! Mandy and I have been tackling our quite hefty to-do list. We are getting a head start on summer and visits from relations! So there has been a lot plumbing(leaky kitchen faucet), changing cabinet hinges, cleaning(oh that spot under the basement stairs!), fixing(no more tipping t.p. holder), caning chair seats and general busyness. And if we have any spare time on nice days, there is always a spot of yard work! A few beans were poked in, some carrots and radishes scattered about  and lettuce planted. 

I am still plugging away at my sewing closet. It is so close to being done! But I am distracted with other projects and a sewing project for someone else that has a deadline. For right now I am enjoying the view into the sewing room, loving the calmer cleaner look.

Kerri enjoying a little outdoor grooming.

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More Spring Tulips

 I hope you're not tired of spring flowers! I'm not! I never seem to get enough of  tulips and daffodils. They are such a long awaited event. These will probably be the last of them though....

This week has been a typical week, a bit of sun followed by overcast skies and rain. Hopefully, the weekend will be nice. I am torn between tiding up the last few things left on my sewing closet re-do or getting outside and working on the flower beds! I guess I will have to wait until Saturday and see what weather we get......

Hope your weekend is filled with lovely May flowers!

 

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