Pink in My Garden

My fave colors in the garden are deep blue & pink, and this year the pink shone through.  And right when my peonies were blooming, my neighbor's pale pink roses came cascading down over my fence as if perfectly placed...like a little gift to me!  So beautiful!  .    

(All photos taken by me with my iPhone.)

It's Lilac Time!

Just like last year, my beautiful French lilacs are blooming which makes me very happy.  I have about double the amount I had last year, and they seem to be a bit more fragrant this year. 

And just to update you on my faux brick wall, as you can see, it's still going strong!  I've changed the knobs on the dresser to black, got a new round mirror for over the bench, and painted the mirror on the dresser black.  

Floral Workshop at Wild North Flowers

A few weeks ago I did something I've always wanted to do...I had a quick lesson in flower arranging!  As most of you know, I. LOVE. FLOWERS., & take frequent pics of them like here, here & here.   (It's also been five very long months since I've seen my garden, & I'm having major withdrawals.)  A  dream of mine has been to do this & it's definitely on my bucket list, but until then, I have to start small.  When I saw that a local flower shop, Wild North Flowers, was offering a workshop I thought...sign me up!   This was such a fun night, &  it happened to be just before Valentine's day so this was a gift from my hubby.  

We were all given an urn that was filled with a ball of chicken wire & water & also was taped at the top with a grid for easier arranging.  You might be asking, like I did, where the heck do you get chicken wire?  Apparently it's at....Canadian Tire!   (You can learn so much from this blog. haha)  The first thing we did was choose our greens.

One thing I learned was that the arrangement should look good with just the greens...before any flowers have been added.  I actually love this look.  Apparently with green being the Pantone colour of the year, the trend for many brides is to just do the greenery in their bouquets & arrangements.  I think this is stunning & very dramatic especially with the backdrop of white in a winter wedding.

After we were finished with the greenery we chose our flowers.  So for whatever reason, my fave colours in the garden & in a bouquet are purples, pinks & whites,  (I do not do reds, oranges or yellows...I know, interesting psychology...there are people out there that only do the reds, oranges & yellows...I've met them at the garden centres.  Hey, we are all different, right?)  Most of the flowers hadn't opened up yet because you want them to open up gradually & to last longer.   

The tricky thing about doing a vessel floral arrangement is that it has to look good from all sides...no pressure...hence the turn table.  Just when it started to look good from one side I would turn it & it wasn't happening on the other side.  Fortunately, there was an instructor there to help at all times & to guide us through the process.

  

Another very cool thing that happened at this workshop was that I got to meet another blogger, sweet Kaylee from The Blondielocks .  These workshops are open to individuals or groups if you like...perfect for wedding parties, mother & daughter(s), birthday parties or just friends wanting a creative night out.  I had such a fun time & highly recommend this!

So here's the finished bouquet...I'm a little embarrassed to show it cuz it is my first attempt but here it is.  

Have a great weekend, & please let me know if any of you sign up for this!

(All photos are mine taken with my iPhone.)

Moving the Outside In

With temps getting quite a bit cooler at night, I've had to start bringing all my ferns & tropical plants inside.   My garden didn't do that well this year as we had extreme heat for a long period of time. I totally forgot what green grass looked like! But at least the potted plants were very happy.   It's always quite a challenge trying to keep the ferns alive over winter, but I love the look of them inside a home. 

This little purple Aster was meant for outside but I loved it inside, so it stayed.  Also, in case you're wondering about the kitchen, (confession) I still haven't painted the lower cabinets or bought handles (gasp).  Finding the time (& energy) with 2 teens & a puppy... the thought of taking down the doors & painting is a little overwhelming...but it's on the list for this fall.

I'm sure this tropical plant won't last in the family room but it looks good.  This room has had some changes over the summer...you may notice the hanging light & rug from here.  Also, I did the quickest & cheapest slipcover ever...I used a dropcloth.  I'll do a little post on it later.   

A BOUQUET FOR YOU!

This past week I've been picking bouquets of peonies over here...doesn't get any better than this.  I've gone from lilacs to peonies.  Absolutely one of my fave flowers in my garden.  Of course once you pick them they have to go in every room in the house cuz they just smell so good...wish this was scratch and sniff. 

I like to put them in all the bedrooms...it's beautiful to go to bed and wake up with that smell.  And just a little advice to parents out there, they make teenagers wake up much happier when you place them next to their bed!  ;)  
 I also put some next to my daughter when she was studying for exams.

I'm definitely going to be pinning these!

(All pics taken by me with my iPhone).

Enjoy your week!

Backyard Pergola Reveal

So every blogger out there seems to be posting all their fall decor, and I'm still talking about my backyard!  To be honest, I'm not quite ready for fall, and I always find it hard transitioning from my favourite season, summer, to fall... hey life goes too fast, why rush it?

So this space (which is half of our back deck) all started to transition last year when I purchased a pergola from Home Depot which we are extremely happy with.  Then this year I picked up these striped cushions from the Superstore and painted these very basic brown cushions.  I've had great success at the Superstore...we got our patio set from there a few years ago, and most recently these black metal side tables.  They were $10 each on clearance.....wow!  I'm sure I'll bring them in for the winter and use them somewhere in the house.  I like to use as much of my outside furniture inside over the winter.  Like my ratan chairs, I always bring them in and use them in living room.  Oh and I move the lanterns in for the winter too.

My original thought was to buy three side tables and then stagger them as an alternative to the original coffee table that I got with my patio set...which is a little too ordinary and boring for me.  But I'm eclectic and also don't like everything to be so new, so when I put them in the space I actually decided to use a bench from my picnic table set as the coffee table.  Then I moved the coffee table to the side for extra seating (see below) and placed my seat cushions and roll top cushions on top for extra seating.  I actually really like this look and it mixes it up a bit. Also the seating is quite low so the eye continues into the garden.  I love to use things in an unexpected way...which is also why I use my birdfeeder as a planter (see below).

One more thing I did this year to the space was replace my curtains that I made last year from drop cloth.   They had a plastic liner which I thought was a good idea at the time but turns out it wasn't, because it held in the moisture and blew in the wind (what was I thinking?).  So this year I made more curtains out of a drop cloth without a plastic liner and I like them a lot better.

The jute rug seen here is actually from my dining room.  I just propped it with this one to see if I liked it...and I do.  So now I'm on the search for an outdoor one.  I found one at Lowes in the spring, but when I went back to the store to purchase it, they were sold out. :(

Hoping to get a few more nights on this back deck before the cold comes.