Joy. Introduced to our casa…early this year.

I ordered my decal from Tasty Suite…

and stuck it smack dab in the middle

of our door…

then surrounded it with a homemade a little of this a bit of that tropical wreath.

Joy. is just the exclamation mark this wreath needs wants.

And hopefully reminds us…and those that walk in to our home

that…

When you wish someone joy…you wish them

peace

prosperity

happiness…and all good things

~Maya Angelou

Tropical tidings….a tad early

Joy to you.

**And for even more joy and pure lovliness check out Melissa at the Handwork Chronicles

beautiful give-away...

It could be your's...enter here

Plants Not To Be Sneezed At!

I am ashamed to say that until earlier this year I had always turned my nose up at them - heleniums that is. Then earlier this year these plants were the subject of one of my garden club meetings. Our speaker Martin Blow came from 'Special Perennials' a nursery near Hankelow, Crewe. I must admit that this was one of the meetings which on paper did not appeal to me. I almost stayed at home which would have been my loss. The nursery holds a National Collection of heleniums and Martin is a most knowledgeable and enthusiastic speaker.

Martin explained that these plants are known as "Sneezeweed" in America ( I am not sure why), whilst in Germany they are called “Sonnenbraut”, which translates as 'Sun Brides" . The latter seems a much more fitting name for these bright and cheerful flowers.

You will find heleniums in a range of sizes from 18 inches to 6½ feet. The taller varieties will need staking. With careful choice of varieties it is possible to heleniums bloom in your garden from June - November in the U.K. If purchasing a new plant the advice was to look out for a healthy young plant and make sure that there are no distorted leaves. When planting remember that plants need plenty of sun or at least part sun. Heleniums like moisture and should be watered in dry spells.

There is no need to feed them. Martin advised us not to subject these plants to 'The Chelsea Chop' but instead to do some judicious snipping, when the plants are 6-7 inches high. Most heleniums are self branching anyway. A September snip of dead flowers is recommended which encourages plants to continue flowering until October/November time. Once established in the garden It was recommended that plants should be divided every three years, either in late March or early April.

After the lowdown on cultivation we were treated to slide show. I managed to make a note in the dark of the plants which particularly appealed to me. These included :
Vivace - red
Bruno -red
Dauerbrenner - yes,you guessed right - red !
Ruby Tuesday - red and my must have!
Walhorn - new to the U.K. and again red. Notice a pattern?

What does this say about me ? Once again I am steering away from yellows and oranges even in the gloom. However I surprised myself and came home with my first helenium, an unexpected gift in September - Helenium Sahin's Early Flowerer. According to 'Special Perennials' -"The flower colour is variable from reddish-orange in hot weather through to egg-yolk yellow in cool weather." You can see its flowers in the photo at the top of the page.

I hope to add one or two more heleniums before too long in my effort to extend late summer/early autumn colour and interest in my garden, something it sadly lacks at the moment. I have not told himself yet that I would like to visit the nursery and its garden which opens under the National Gardens Scheme next year. The nursery also attends a number of plant fairs especially in the north west of England. For those of you who are too far away 'Special Perennials' offers a mail order service and its brilliant online catalogue is a useful resource, especially the garden diary and growing guides.

::Digesting::

...and it seems blogspot has digested The Majorityof my blog faves

Dayum.

Bear with me...and let me know if you are one of the missing

sounds so ominous.

ouch.

So…..

::Thankful::

...for Big Black dogs managing all the comings and goings...

For the imperfection ( perfection?) of messes in the kitchen

made by once little people

creating a part of the meal…

and husbands

brining turkey’s

because they saw an article online…

and Grandma’s

making apple pies… teaching those with once tiny hands...
now large.

yep.
Thankful…sooo thankful.

~~~

The best to you and yours this Thanksgiving Day...

Hold ‘em tight.

Mini - Me

S IS FOR?



SEEING DOUBLE!

My neck nearly swiveled 180 degrees when we strolled past this little Breton cottage one summer evening earlier this year. Sadly the tree obscured the BIG cottage so I could not get the complete picture.

Saunter over to ABC Wednesday so that you can savour more posts on the letter S.

P.S. If you would to enter a draw to celebrate the first official anniversary of my blog please leave a comment here. You could win a special little short story about a special bunch of sweet peas !

Celebrating With 'A Bunch Of Sweet Peas'!

To celebrate my blog's official first anniversary today (date of first post that other folk apart from me could read -I hit the publish button a couple of days earlier than intended) I would like to send somebody 'A Bunch of Sweet Peas'. Alas these will not be handpicked fresh fragrant flowers from my garden but a copy of a delightful little book of the same name. This is based on a real story about a gardener rising to a challenge and succeeding beyond their wildest dreams.



I originally created my blog in April 2005 but for various reasons posts were few and far between until November 2008, when I tentatively dipped my toes in the water as I revealed myself to all and sundry. This came about mainly because although I was enjoying reading other people's blogs I felt uncomfortable. It seemed as if I was visiting other people's gardens but not inviting them back to mine. Also from last July onwards I had more time on my hands after finishing work. I wanted to do something creative to keep up my word processing skills and the old grey matter ticking over, so more regular blogging was one activity that fitted the bill. I was greatly encouraged by VP at Veg Plotting who was my very first reader and then by comments from other folk in the blogging community. Then when I joined Blotanical the floodgates opened and the rest is history!

I would like to say a thank you to all you lovely folk who take time to visit and comment. Your words, thoughts, practical help and suggestions have given me so much pleasure. I am so pleased to have met you and would dearly love to send you all a bunch of sweet peas! However that not being possible there is one bunch on offer. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by the end of the day on Saturday 5th December and team greentapestry will then chose a winner. I will announce the name of the recipient in a post as soon as I can after that date. I hope that the rest of you will accept a virtual bouquet. You deserve it !

Zen and the art of window painting…

As this thanksgiving week lands upon us

I plan to be thankful for rustoleum paint

and 1 and1/2 inch brushes…

among other things....

Bathroom window painted

as I plan to paint our metal windows…

black. Well a mixture of black and brown...ish

And maybe I’ll even get the big butt done.

chair that is...upholster the big butt chair...

Thankful for time.

To a productive week for all!

'I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In'

~ almost a month earlier than last year. This is galanthus plicatus 'Three Ships' which is much more advanced than it was at this time last year. I can only put this down to the mild autumn we have had up to now. The flower is now on the point of opening fully but it has been too dull and/or wet to take another photo today. Last year I was delighted to see that my original bulb had multiplied. This year it looks as if I may now have four bulbs ! I had a good look at my small collection of galanthus or snowdrops earlier this week, on the rare occasion when there was a break in the rain. Quite a few pots revealed little snouts of green already poking through the grit dressings, so I hope that it cools down soon to slow them down. Apart from 'Three Ships' none of the others should flower this side of Christmas. I can't wait to see the latest additions to the collection i.e. 'Icicle', 'Greenish' and 'Cowhouse Green' hopefully flower this winter for the first time.

I was please to be the recipient of this Best Blog Award earlier this week, most kindly bestowed upon me by Jo over at 'The Good Life' .Thanks so much Jo. I am glad that you think that my blog is worthy of such an award and I appreciate your regular comments.



I must now pass this award on to other blogs who I think deserve such an award along with these instructions ~

Post the award on your blog along with the name of the person who passed it on to you and link to their blog. Choose 15 blogs which you have recently discovered and you think are great and pass it on to them. Don't forget to leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Well I am afraid that I am going to break the rules and instead would like to nominate ten blogs that I have recently discovered and have been enjoying. I hope that they will accept this award. If you have not already come across these blogs I hope that will visit them soon. They are :

Wisteria and Cow Parsley
Green Theatre
Jean's Garden
Gardening With Latitude
The Violet Fern
Tales From A Cottage Garden
Midges,Moss and Mud
Gwirrels' Garden
Blue Gate Gardens
Secrets of A Seed Scatterer

They came…they shot…they left. Photo shoot part II

…And now life goes back to normal.

Who am I kidding…Normal is a city in Illinois.

Life goes back to… the way it was. Perfect all the same.

The kidlets came out of hiding. Those that were home stayed away…far away… and would come around only when the gang left…with that look of are they gone now?

And yes they can brush and spit and shower to their hearts content.

Bo... the big black dog is exhausted…tough job to weave your 175 lb body between the photographers tri-pods and several thousand dollars of cameras and lenses.

I still cringe.

But… someone needed to direct this shoot

for Heaven’s sakes.

conferring on the correct angle.

I knew when I saw Gene Pollux... the photographer rolling on the ground playing with the dog …that I liked him.

Shots would be broken up by a loud barking…

And it wasn’t the dog…it was the photographer.

They bonded…what can I say.

What a process…Phew...who knew that one shot could literally take 2 hours.And the whole process two FULL days!

I loved watching the set up… taking turns looking behind the thousand dollar lens…

lens envy. still.

Then running back to the computer to warp it and weave it and triple check

and work their magic

Let me tell you… you haven’t lived until you see your bathroom grout blown up 100 times…and realize that it is not the same color as it used to be…and you can almost see the faces on the mildew family waving back at you

eeeegads.

Gene’s wife Simone was his assistant…and a more able one you never saw.

She is actually holding a chain out of the way of the shot…and practicing her "so you think you can dance" contemporary routine. really.

an amazing multi tasker!

What a warm and friendly couple they were. The whole team made the experience that much more wonderful and injected with FUN!

But some things…

plug your ears poor pitiful key lime chandy

just didn’t make the cut....

That would be Grandma B and Simone…and a ladder on the table… holding the kicking and screaming

key lime brancholier out of the way of a shot.

You just can’t take the diva out of the chandy…tsk tsk…

The writer/stylist Becky Jerdee had such an eye for detail…and fascinatingly always kept the reader foremost in her mind

“They want to see how it fits together….they won’t like that they can’t find this…oooh they’ll like this”

a consummate professional…and talented…Oooooo is she ever talented

she left me with a couple of the design books she wrote . Love!

So…the scoop.

They were here to capture images for three separate stories for Meredith Magazines

Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath makeovers.

They liked that we did most of the work ourselves...they just didn't know they would get the bonus of the grout family.

lucky them.

No clue when They'll be out.

...and does anyone have a recipe for pomegranates

I own seven now

and a few other goodies left over from the shoot…

Yeah me.

Thanks for the opportunity Meredith!

Thanks for the fun... photo shoot gang.

Count your lenses Gene.

Just sayin'.

A magazine??? Really???

Ok…so let’s pretend you are a 13 year old that has been playin’ little league since you were 7…even on the all stars

Then one day a couple of NY Yankees come over…and ask if you wanna play catch.

Or…as I couched it to the husband…Bill Gates pops over to show you his new stuff…

AND asks your opinion.

Ok…not my dream world…but trying to get the point across to my ever loving family.

So Today…Three of the most fab, professional photog’s and Magazine stylists were over at this humble casa.

Playin’ catch

With ME.

Me….for heaven’s sake.

well…not so much me..but the abode…or parts of it.

Really?? This abode?

And I ate up every styling, photo propping and shooting

minute of it!

with a spoon I tell ya.

It was amazing and eye opening to watch these three in action.

What eyes…what talent…

My kidlets…and the husband were way over it two days ago when I announced that

all showers…tooth brushing and whatever else goes on in the bathroom

has to stop.

yep. hold it folks.

Go to grandmas…go to the local campgrounds...

it just ain’t happening in this bathroom. Nope. Not till we get the shot.

Good grief people. priorities!

ok…so I might of been a tad over-dramatic…they’ll survive.

And the props….Oh what a ball…cherries, pomegranates… Tropical fruit and flora… enameled cast iron cookware, orchids…spa towels...

And two words…

Lens envy.

More Tomorrow…as they shoot the kitchen.

Whaaa?? Our kitchen??

Pinch me...

or don’t.

Plum tuckered out…and he barely lifted a paw to help.

Bozo. Not so much the photographers assistant.

The Enchanted Forest

R IS FOR?



ROCKS!

Deep in the heart of Brittany, France lies 'La Forêt de Huelgoat', the last vestiges of a vast ancient forest, which allegedly once spread across vast swathes of Brittany. 'La Forêt de Huelgoat', suffered immense damage in the great storm of 1987, which caused devastation in southern England and northern France. However replacement planting has taken place and it is still a sight to behold. Amidst the oaks and beeches lies a glorious chaos of majestic granite rocks, some of which are named after the forms they resemble. In a place like this you can imagine coming across korrigan, the fairy like spirits of Breton folklore but perhaps the dull skies were not to their liking ~








Nearby is the little town of Huelgoat, where we spent a couple of rainy days earlier this summer. Despite the weather there was much to keep us occupied apart from our excursion into the forest. It was not quite the Tour de France but we enjoyed an afternoon as spectators of a most serious bike race, some 25 circuits round the lake ~



The day then drew to a close and a new one began with riotous fireworks over the lake at midnight ~

Rush over to ABC Wednesday now for a ruck of Rs !

Between The Rainbows and Sprinkles

Between the rainbows and many lengthy sprinkles I have been :

• Getting much pleasure from the new bird feeding station that I can now gaze out at from the comfort of the settee. I had spotted one in the RSPB catalogue and had dropped a hint to himself that this would make a welcome Christmas gift. Out and about on my travels though I came across the same model at good old Wilkos for less than half the price, so Christmas has come early. There have not been so many birds during this month's wet spell but I have seen robins, great tits, blue tits and blackbirds visiting. Now I need to get a photo whilst they are munching.
• Running regularly into the greenhouse to see whether my sweet peas have germinated. These were sown on 1st November and I have been watching their activity or lack of it like a hawk. Well yesterday I could not curtail my patience any more and did what I should not. I gently stirred beneath the compost with my finger and was so pleased to see signs of green. I used to sow sweet peas in October to overwinter in a cold greenhouse but found that they they made too much growth before winter and became rather straggly by spring. So last year I moved to a November sowing which worked well. I have sown 'Matucana' again for its scent. I have also sown 'Albutt Blue' which is supposedly also highly scented.
• Finding it impossible to get to the allotment to sow my Solent Wight garlic but I have planted some cloves in cells in the greenhouse. I have also sown some 'Douce Provenance' peas in cells to overwinter in the greenhouse. I have not done this before so it will be interesting to see how they do. The forecast predicts a break in the wet stuff for Tuesday so I hope to do the business then at the allotment with the remaining garlic.
• Reading avidly - books, catalogues and camera magazines but more on these subjects to follow at a future dare.
• Finding it harder and harder to walk past the sulking pile of unplanted bulbs. In fact I think that the pile is multiplying daily so I have resisted Avon Bulbs tempting sale, well up to now anyway. My conscience may stir me into action soon says she hopefully.

Chair love…or not?

So…I like the warmth of tropical colors

ya think?

Yesterday...as I’m passing by the David Francis workroom ...I spy it has

some bolts of fabric outside in the driveway for 4 buckeroos a yard.

a lovely chocolate cotton

striped muted linens.

I paw through...

and there in the bottom of the box is a wrinkled up mass of color

my color

and it feeeeels like liquid mercury

yep. used to play with it…in my hand…as a kidlet

explains lots.

They have 4 yards.

It hops in my car and comes home with me.

And commences to flirt

with my big butt chair

the one from habitat.

The one desperately in need of some love

Are they made for each other?

Or... should ole’ big butt keep on lookin’?

Poor loveless big butt.