Flower Boxes, Beds and Blue....

This year we planted the impatiens in the window boxes late.

We think planting them late has been to our benefit.

They are holding up nicely in the heat of July!

To keep it simple we planted impatiens in the tin buckets

along the steps.

They have filled in so nicely!

Do you remember what this garden looked like last September?

It has been so much fun watching the plants bloom.

We are getting spoiled with having fresh cut flowers

in the house....

We did plant some herb....

well you know I am married to a chef!

And sauce always tastes better with

fresh herbs (and a little red wine)!

We have two Blueberry bushes and

added the zinnia seeds for color...

Snap dragon's bring back wonderful childhood memories

of my grandmother's house.

These are from my mom....

I'll have to ask if they came from my grandmother's house?

Miss Sarah was my side kick in the flower garden today...

she has chicken coup fever....

I'll explain later...

As we were sitting in the grass to get our pictures....

We noticed Tony and Lily playing tennis...

Lily would do this all day!

(I am sure you spied the tennis balls in the garden

in the previous picture!)

And of course...

Blue is doing what he does best...

Basking in the sun!

Thinking a nap sounds good right about now, too!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Mud Room Update....

I had high hopes of accomplishing so many projects this summer...ha ha!! Jokes on me. I feel more like I am in slow motion...I am blaming it on the sun! This project started over a month ago.

The only part of the project left to finish are the curtains....I'll share more about this dilemma later!

This is my favorite change to the Mud Room...the shelves.

I love them! Tony and I built them together...

We made a video of us building them,

but I promised him I wouldn't post it!

It might have won the comedy award of the year.

The Laundry sign I purchased from Susie Harris

almost 2 years ago...one of my favorite signs!

The "We are Open" sign hangs to the right of

the dryer....

the other side says "We are Closed"

How I would love to shut this room down

some days!

The baskets are awesome....

all the needed laundry stuff is

hidden inside.

My grandfather was a true treasure hunter!

Whenever he found an old cigar box, he would

purchase it for Lil Tony to store his baseball cards.

He gave this box to us 2 days before he passed away.

It is the perfect size for fabric softeners.

Makes me smile every day!

I don't know about you, but our washer runs everyday!

With keeping it pretty...

the dog treats are stored in a glass candy jar

and

their moist food in the basket!

You can read about their dry food here.

This tray was a $3.00 find at my favorite antique store...

it got a face lift and some scrap paper for the bottom.

The Iron Stone pitcher holds some zinnia's we planted from seed.

The dresser has been a wonderful addition to this room.

The drawers add the much needed space we need.

I am still in the process of organizing them...

So....here is what it looks like today...

and the dilemma is...

Curtains....

Should I do half length?

Which means we would add a counter...

but the cords get in the way of a counter..

and what color counter?

Or should I do full length curtains...

maybe in white....

or maybe in a funky graphic design? 

If full length, I would probably keep them

open, so one could see the shelves.

What are your thoughts?

I opened the side door and stepped outside to get

better picture of the dresser...

and the humidity was awful...

fogged up the camera lens...

although I kind of like the picture!

So there is the latest up date on the Mud Room...

I'll keep ya posted!

Happy Ours....

In my brother's neighborhood  the cottages have names and the name hangs proudly on the porch. Some of the names date back to when the original cottage was built, even back to the 1800's. Isn't that so cool. One afternoon when strolling the streets we saw a cottage named "Happy Ours"....Since seeing this cottage  name, Tony and I on occasion will joke about "happy ours"....

Then the othere day we discovered the previous owners left some old wood in the back of the garage...chippy...old wonderful wood.....

I grabbed my paints and used the Cricut to cut a stencil....

Don't you love free projects?

In case you are wondering....

Mark and Kelly named their cottage

"Second Chances"

and made a sign this winter...

Making signs can become addicting...

here is Kelly's latest....

Hope you are enjoying your

"Happy Our"!

Little or Big.....

Do you keep a flower journal?

How do you remember what flower was what color?

Do you plant from seeds?

Are you amazed when those little seeds grow into beautiful plants?

How many beautiful shades of green do you think there are?

Did you know a bag of Ivory soap keep the deer away....

at least from eating your plants and

apple trees?

Are you speechless when you see mother nature at its best?

Who would have thought two buck would grace our yard...

Don't you love when you have the time to slow down

and enjoy the little things in life....

or are they really the big things?

Weekend Reading....

Aww....do you hear that? It is the sound of nothing.....it is peaceful to my ears! Actually the birds are chirping and the frogs are singing....beautiful. It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to do a "weekend reading" post. Now, there is a list of house hold chores that need to be done but I have decided to procrastinate....

Before I started my weekend reading I stared at this photo for awhile...I took this photo (with my phone) during my travels a few weeks ago.  The garage is stone and reminds me of our garage and I am in love with the stone wall and flower beds. So here I sit, outside, looking at the photo and then looking at our garage....and dreaming of planting more flowers. I wish I could sneak a peek over that wall....do you think it is more gardens or a patio?

Miss Sarah is sitting beside me with her orange juice (she's too little for coffee) and lap top in hand. She is researching chickens. We told her as soon as the garage is finished we will add a chicken coup and chickens. She found this photo and I am loving the idea of a red chicken coup to look like a barn.  Melissa it looks like I might be emailing you soon for some help with buying chickens!

Thank goodness I read Pamela's post next about a cup of OCD! Maybe that is what Miss Sarah and I are drinking this morning! It is so good to know you are not alone in this world. Wait until you see how beautiful her new wood floors are....

Tony and I have not had the chance to entertain this summer like we use to. So instead I have been enjoying reading about party ideas.  The Party Dress has so many great entertaining ideas.  My favorite is the baseball theme party...or maybe it is the sunflower party....we would love to do an outside "drive in" movie party in the fall. How about you? Have you planned any themed parties this summer?

Gus and Lula....I know I have shared them with you before. I love their story. You know adoption is near and dear to my heart. It is such a special story and a precious gift from God......I am very very very happy for them!

This morning I ended my reading with Laurie Anna naming their new farmhouse....now you didn't think I would tell you the name, did you? Go say hi....and tour their new farmhouse....beautiful! 

Well friends, I guess I must clean and feed the kids breakfast!

Happy Weekend....

and stay cool!!

Summer lessons....

Could it really be the middle of July? We love summer and wish we could stretch it out to last a little bit longer! This summer we have spent most of our summer evenings and weekends watching baseball....

And loving every minute of it...

It has been a season of learning how to win

and how to lose....

Wonderful life lessons are being learned...

And....

Watching your children lean on each other....

{Priceless}

Flower surprises.....

Since this is our first summer at the Pond House,

we are having fun watching the flowers bloom.

It is a surprise each time a new blossom opens.

There must be at least 12 different Day Lilies.

Maybe next year I will try to look up

their offical names....

The Lilies need divided...

we will tackle this next spring.

It will be easier to divide them,

since we know the colors of the Lilies.

Now we can plant them in certain flower beds

and share them with friends.

I am loving the color of  the deep wine and peach day lily.

 I wish the blooms lasted more then a day.

There is an over abundance of Tiger Lilies...

(which is a good thing)

Next year we plan to move some of the tiger lilies to the front of the fence.

Our neighbors have tiger lilies lining the front of their property...

We think it will look pretty to have them on both sides of the road.

There is one more day lily waiting to bloom.

The stems are as tall as us...

so we are thinking it might be a tiger lily?

It is so much fun finding these surprises in

the flower gardens!

Linking to Mosaic Monday