Flowers In The Holiday House

In order fit even a small Christmas in our house adjustments have to be made.  GG's family trunk moves into the bedroom, the couch is moved closer to the door and our 2 chairs rest uncomfortably side by side.  Stacks of books and pots of succulents are moved first here, then there, finally into the bedroom while we ponder what to do long term.

In the meantime GG cuts a foot or two off the tree and all its bottom branches.  The tree is then placed into an old crock and the space around the trunk is anchored with bricks and rocks. We fill the crock with water and hold our breath.  The water stays, no leaks for another year.  The charm of an uneventful tree raising will never pale for me.

Then as I slide a pan of french toast into the oven and start cooking bacon, GG fills tumblers with champagne and orange juice for Blaise and Keeley who have arrived to trim the tree.

This is my secret: I spend so many hours decorating for others I will do anything to have the lights and ornaments put on my own tree.  I'll cook for you, watch your children, hell I'll weed your garden.  But put lights on my own tree? Never.

We have ornaments from my many past lives, GG's family, Blaise's family and others we have been gifted over the years.  There are vintage postcards stuck in between the branches and somewhere there's a pickle.

We're heavy on pine cones and birds, old German crystal pieces and my favorite, little Finnish elves from GG's grandmother Ami. I'll be moving them to them kitchen windowsill where they bring us good luck all month.

I pop a vase into the bedroom, still wondering where all the books will go.

By now it is dark and we turn off all the lights but the tree, pile on the couch and breathe deeply.

Ahhhh. Christmas is in the house December 2011.

Are you ready for a visit or a two?  If so link up, and we'll be by for a mince pie and a glass of something warm.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Flowers In The Hot House

I can not tell a lie ... I brought home a handful of flowers from work on Saturday.  Hydrangeas, both hot pink and some of the beautiful blue/green we had used in Saturday's wedding.

The blue went in the living room and a short stem of the pink adorned the 'what's it for shelf' in the bedroom.

Random moment: a birthday card for GG from our friend Beth.  Now you know her other name.( But she'll always be GG to us)

 I watered early in the day and even managed to cut down some plants who had seen better days.

 Then I just had enough energy to pick a small bouquet of blooming oreganos, lambs ear and one geranium blossom to dress up the kitchen.  I guess a little goes a long way.

Please notice extremely lovely garden tomatoes not found in our garden.  We have reaped about 10 cherry tomatoes so far this summer.  Thus we are forced to haunt every farmers market we can find, spending a small fortune on our favorite Cherokee Purples. The jalapeno is ours, she said proudly.  We've had better summers.

But never hotter.

So leave me a comment, link up or just holler and I'll be by to visit you.  I hope your air conditioning  works better than ours does.

 xo Jane

Once Upon A Time

A 3:00pm wedding on a 93degree Sunday in June can be quite a challenge no matter how cute the house and garden.

An outside bar must be kept well stocked with much chilled water and wine. And reading material should be close at hand to distract the guests.

If you are a friend and florist you might worry that the chuppah flowers will wilt in the heat so you decorate minimally.

 

If you are a flower girl what starts out all fun and games,

can quickly lead to restlessness and an urge to go join the other children blowing bubbles in the back of the yard.

But if you are a bride and a bride, even if one of you is very pregnant, the heat is incidental.

You don't perspire, you glow.  Love, laughter and a few tears have quite a way of bringing your body temperature down.

And as in any good fairy tale, the day always ends in someone's air conditioned house with music, food, champagne and of course, a cake .

Oh, and the news that it's a boy.

Congratulations and much love to the brides.  Thanks for inviting us to share your special day.

The Dilettante Gardener

That's right, once again I'm hooking up with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day at May Dream Gardens.  Though I'm not a garden blogger, I am a blogger who gardens so I hope my offerings are acceptable. I had hoped to show a little more seriously than last month, but my hopes were dashed.


It was a question of devoting some serious time getting perfect flower pictures, looking up their Latin names, sharpening my pencils and getting down to  blogging business or mowing the lawn.  The lawn won. If you were my neighbor you would be grateful.

But it's spring, a perfect time for frivolity and flowers.  So with the smell of freshly mowed grass drifting in through the open windows, a sunny day still lingering, let's take a stroll.

Take a deep breath of the Koreanspice viburnum ( ahem, viburnum carlesii), its sharp,spicy scent fills the backyard.

   Around the left side of the house in our faux shade garden two little favorites.  Epimedium, no clue what species, any ideas?  And the lovely brunnera nacrophylla, the false forget me not, spreading everywhere, and welcome to every inch it takes.

 

 In a front bed a small clump of narcissus bridal crown, and our ornamental plum, prunus cerisifera,a vision in pink and burgandy.

 

Around the corner a clump of creeping phlox.(P. Subulth), in its second year, just starting to spread and a glimpse of muscari.

 

And a very welcome visitor under the back deck.

Sweeter than all the roses.

But now come on inside and I'll show you why I really love to garden.

Because you can take it with you.