hydrangeas

The Beautiful Color Purple….

June 11, 2012 By Shirley

I love hydrangeas….

They are my all time favorite flower.

They are really blooming beautifully now….

I just can’t get enough of them.

…..The more I cut, the more they bloom…hundreds of blooms.

The seem to start out pink and pretty shades of lavender….

…..then morph to a deep purple…

“Purple Haze”…seems to be the theme of the flowers this year….

The wire around the shrub is unsightly, but the consequence is that the deer will have it all for dessert…

…..Hubby is placing another less “unsightly fence”…well, something a bit better than this….

Lavenders and purples….

My hubby set out to place decorative stakes around the hydrangeas…

…..to replace the “green poles”….

He did a lot of clearing around the shrub….then the stakes went in….

…..oops…

Every homeowner’s nightmare…he hit the cable line…A quick call to Time Warner and they came to the rescue!

We were their third call that morning, of people hitting the cable, planting lovelies in the yards….

Fixed!!…Within one hour of the call…I call that great service…

So all’s well that ends well…and the hydrangeas are now happily in the house…

In these…

And this:

My wooden French Apple Box….

Filled with hydrangeas…sitting atop my vintage homespun tea towel….

Kim from Savvy Southern Style posted a similar box with hydrangeas…I told her we were twins!

…..Great minds think alike!

And I am always picking off the little seeds that drop from the blooms onto the tea towel….

………a small price to pay for gorgeousness on the table….

As my granddaughter would say, “they make my heart feel happy”…..

I am joining the following wonderful parties:

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: French Wooden Apple Box, Hydrangea arrangements, hydrangeas, Vintage tea towel

31 Comments

Tagging along…

June 10, 2012 By Shirley

Hubby had clients to see in D.C….

…..so I tagged along.

He saw clients all day for the first day, so I just stayed in the hotel room, catching up…

…..on things I never seem to have time to do..

……….read and watch TV

The next day, we headed home….

And look what we see….yes, Wegmans!…The Grocery Store Mecca…of course I had to go in!

Just wish we had one in N.C.!!

AND… on our way home, we pass through Leesburg, Virginia…

Now…do you know where I am headed????

LUCKETTS !!!…I made it !!

As you can see, it was a beautiful day!

And lots of great stuff to see…

And even some things for hubby to see…he is perusing some old golf clubs…

And here’s a few snipits….

And then after seeing all the great things outdoors…I ventured inside….

…..and came upon Miss Mustard Seed’s fabulous items….

Too bad the secretary would not fit in the car.

Other “pretties” of hers….

We then left to go downtown to grab some lunch….

……after a wonderful lunch, I spotted an antique store on our way out of town….STOP!!!..

The shop was wonderful.. antiques from Europe: however, mostly from Germany…

There was an entire room dedicated to German grain sacks and linens….

But then look what I found!….

The store owner called it a “wine balloon”…I guess that is what they call the basket weaved wrapped demijohns.

It was huge…they had other smaller ones…but we liked this larger one…I loved the two-toned color of the weave.

I did not take many pictures inside….I was unsure how they felt about it…

So here is my stash…my treasures of the day….

I picked up the old chair with the missing seat and the milk glass candle holders from Lucketts…

The “wine balloon” and old basket…from the antique shop, German Favorite Antiques….

And this is where they ended up..at least for now….

The chair will be repainted a pretty bright color…this is my future potting bench area…

Clipped more hydrangeas this morning….

So that was my wonderful day out with my hubby…a beautiful day…as we ventured home…

I am joining the following lovely parties:

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: antique basket, demijohn, garden chair, hydrangeas, Lucketts, milk glass

43 Comments

"Nothing could be finer…."

June 1, 2012 By Shirley

One of my mom’s favorite songs…..

……….CAROLINA IN THE MORNING….

Especially when sang by the late Judy Garland.

I used to sing it along with her…..

……….Never in my wildest of dreams did I think….

that I would be living in “Carolina”…..

NOTHING COULD BE FINER…

THAN TO BE IN CAROLINA…

IN THE MORNING.

WHERE THE MORNING GLORIES (disguised as hydrangeas)

TWINE AROUND THE DOOR…

WHISPERING PRETTY STORIES..

I LONG TO HEAR….

ONCE MORE….

STROLLING WITH MY GIRLIE…

WHERE THE DEW IS…

PEARLY EARLY…

IN THE MORNING.

BUTTERFLIES ALL FLUTTER UP…

AND KISS EACH LITTLE BUTTERCUP…

AT DAWNING.

IF I HAD ALADDIN’S LAMP

FOR ONLY A DAY…

I’D MAKE A WISH..

AND HERE’S WHAT I SAY.

NOTHING COULD BE FINER..

THAN TO BE…

IN CAROLINA…

IN THE MORNING!

I am joining:

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Agapanthus, Bouganvilla, Carolina, Ferns, hydrangeas, Rocking Chairs, Veranda

46 Comments

“Nothing could be finer….”

June 1, 2012 By Shirley

One of my mom’s favorite songs…..

……….CAROLINA IN THE MORNING….

Especially when sang by the late Judy Garland.

I used to sing it along with her…..

……….Never in my wildest of dreams did I think….

that I would be living in “Carolina”…..

NOTHING COULD BE FINER…

THAN TO BE IN CAROLINA…

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Agapanthus, Bouganvilla, Carolina, Ferns, hydrangeas, Rocking Chairs, Veranda

46 Comments

There "Oughta" Be A Law….

May 22, 2012 By Shirley

“Hey Sweetie, I think I did not sell that black scale when we moved”….

“Have you by any chance seen it?”……

………”Sure Honey, I have!”….

………”You can find it on Aisle 2, Shelf 4, Bin number 32″….in the attic”

OK…so are you like me?…Do you envy people like that?….THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW!!!

………NOT SO GREAT ORGANIZERS EVERYWHERE…???….LET’S UNITE…!!!

So in about 10 minutes, whereas it would have taken me 10 hours…..

………my old scale appeared. Gotta love him…..

I am glad that I did not sell this before we relocated…

I went out into the backyard and clipped a few of my hydrangeas that are starting to come into full bloom….

They are so beautiful…just sitting out there happily in the sun….

………I feel that when I take cuttings…..I take away more of the beauty of the shrub….

But then, it makes me happy to see them inside……makes me smile

So now they are sitting in a pretty bowl that I so carefully placed in my suitcase…..

……..as I bought it in Japan, when I was visiting there with my mom and brother.

Japan, where the hydrangeas are gorgeous…and the camellias exquisite…

So thanks honey!…for being the way you are…so organized….so accommodating…

………so that I was able to pick these wonderful hydrangeas

………to place in my special bowl

………on top of the scale, that was patiently waiting for me in the attic to see the light of day again.

I am joining:

A Stroll Thru Life — Tabletop Tuesday

DIY By Design — Swing Into Spring

From My Front Porch to Yours — Treasure Hunt Thursday

No Minimalist Here — Open House Party

Savvy Southern Style — Wow Us Wednesdays

Southern Lovely — Show and Share

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Antique scale, hydrangeas

24 Comments

There “Oughta” Be A Law….