Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas Stick

The tree is nice this year...traditional...

 but here's my favorite tree...I cut a ten foot stick tree from the woods...then tacked it to this beam.


the beam sits in the foyer...Its a four foot section of a floor support that was removed from the house during the renovation...the contruction folks tossed it on the trash pile...I snatched it to safety, cleaned it up, added
levelers and it is a permenent item in my house.

it is hard to see in the photo, but I dressed the stick tree with old metal & crystal icecycles,
gold dipped acorns and tiny ornaments.

I did the same thing on the console on the opposite wall...

a Xmas tree treatment not for everyone...but it works for me!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Stop Stairing At Me


When I was a kid I always wanted to live in a two story house. My parents bought and sold a lot of houses, but we always ended up in a one story ranch. My father believed staircases resulted in 'wasted space'. Now as an adult I still don't really have a great staircase. Even though I live in the old plantation house the staircase is steep and narrow - not any thing like the one Scarlett tumbled down. I had been collecting these photos as inspiration for my next house's staircase. However, I've now decided that my next house will be on one level. Not because I'm concerned about wasted space (sorry dad), but I don't want to worry about my future knee replacement or spending my 401k on one of those old people chair elevators! At least I'm thinking ahead.
But, if you need stair inspiration these are good ones!










Thursday, December 13, 2012

Shutters and Xmas Cedar

When I was a kid we lived in a lot of different houses.  My grandmother said my parents moved every time the kitchen floor needed mopping. 

OK, so it wasn’t quite that bad, but we did move often.  It was always the same town - just different sub-divisions.  My parents were masters at trading up!  


Almost every house had shutters – which I thought odd since none of them worked.  They were permanently screwed to the house.  So from an early age I always wondered ‘why bother’?


Now I have working shutters.  They’re original – 1830. We had to replace some of the hardware.  The shutters had been screwed to the house - of course.  But, the hinges were still attached and working.



This house is perfectly positioned to make the most of the sunlight.  The sun hits the back of the house warming the kitchen and hangout area in the morning and warming the living room and dining rooms in the afternoon.  In fact the sun is positioned directly in the center hall entrance.  I keep the shutters closed during the summer months.  The afternoon sun is like an oven.


Last weekend it was time to open up the shutters. 



While I was working my shutters, I had a moment of inspiration and decided to do some holiday decorating.    
  
Last year I think I tossed a wreath at the front door and called it done.  Even inspired I still lack patience, so for me decorating has to be quick.  Killing two birds with one stone, I cut down a couple of cedar trees growing too close to the guest house.  Instead of tossing them on the compost pile I stuffed them in the empty concrete pots on either side of the front door, filled the base with boxwood, fluffed the wreaths with cedar, red ribbon and painted gourds from the garden. 



Decorating done! 


 I might not win the Garden Club prize but at least I’m no Scrooge this year!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Art in the Fields

I have acres of fields and pastures around our house. I've decided I need sculptures. Any of these would do nicely!






Thursday, December 6, 2012

Remembering Garden 2012

I have really been so busy professionally this past year I've neglected my blog schedule.  I keep finding photos and notes I had plan to post but never found the time to do so.  The other day I ran across a few photos from this years garden.  It was a big year for peppers, tomatoes and beans - and perennials.  Now that we've had our first frost it's nice to look back on these photos and remember the results. 











Monday, December 3, 2012

Paper White Cocktails

Last year I had paper white problems.  For some reason I decided to ignore conventional wisdom and wait until early December to plant the bulbs.  I was convinced they would be bloomed out by Christmas. 


I was wrong. 

My paper whites came into full bloom starting a few days after New Years and lasted until mid January.  So, anyone visiting my house in the month of December was greeted with green stalks.   All of our January guests – of which there were none – would have gotten a lovely paper white experience.  In fact I think I was even out of town the week they were at their peek. 


So, this year I planted them on Thanksgiving weekend.  So far so good. It appears they will be just right in time by Xmas week.  As long as they don’t get to leggy and fall over.


Last year I remember seeing ‘An Urban Cottage’ 
(www.anurbancottage.blogspot.com) mention how to controll the legginess.  Steve posted an article in January which illustrated how to use bit of gin (or vodka or tequila – although I’d never waste good tequila on a dish of paper whites) to stunt the growth of the stems while not effecting the blooms.  When the stems are up about 3" water them with 1 shot of alcohol to a 1 cup of water.  Then repeat the next time you water. Seems like one side effect was the faint smell of alcohol mixed with the paper white scent.  I look forward to that!  My paper whites got there first shot of Tanqueray this past Sunday.  I guess you could consider it a sort of a Sunday brunch. 


They are looking forward to a festive holiday season.

  




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