Hydrangeas my happy place

Look at these babies

I know my good friend Kim

at

Savvy Southern Style

has not been happy with her hydrangeas

because of the hot summer down south

I believe she got five blooms

this year..

so Kim this post is for you...

I have 2 bushes

one in the front of the house

and the other is in the dog run in the back

this picture was taken a few weeks ago

don't think I will be getting any blooms

year

last year this bush was

~SPECTACULAR~

and gave me these that have dried 

This February the Hubs

thought it needed trimming back

TO THE GROUND

we always get in a fight when he has

those big hedge trimmers in his hands

I told him

~please~

DO NOT TOUCH THE OTHER ONE

as you can see I didn't get the blooms off

last year or I could have had 2 baskets of dried flowers

this was a few weeks ago

yesterday

the ones in the front that are lighter can be dried

but the dark blue ones I find when I cut those

they will shrivel up and won't be good for dried flowers

I tried yesterday and ended up putting them in a vase with water

along with some of my

California lillies

I have to wait until they are turning on the bush

next to be harvested is my lavender

this was early spring

now

I have about 20 plants

in the front yard

I caught the Hubs eyeballing them

before they bloomed

he was going to cut them back because

"they look like  *&%#   "

you fill in the blank

again I pleaded.....

he admitted yesterday they looked

~awesome~

He got to these bushes before I could stop him

~escallonia~

after

before

on the right

there are 5 of them

he got to them right before they bloomed

I still have 3 on the other side of the house

they are suppose to look like this

that's my red crocosmia in front

I love these they get pink flowers sometimes

in February and then again in June

oh well no one goes to the front entry anyway

and maybe they will come back strong

next year

I would love to put hydrangeas
all along the front of the house

 I am going to get a few more cuttings
before we head to the farm


if you would like to see some beautiful dried arrangements

today on Luciane's beautiful blog
Home Bunch

she is featuring a designer

Armonia Decor

that uses them a lot

go check it out

seriously stunning
I think  I need a few more plants!!

linking to
Savvy Southern Style's
Wow Us Wednesdays

Romantic Patio Party & dining room make-over

The other day while out shopping with my friend

~Jen~

remember the uber talented

seamstress~designer~ artist

we decided to go to the thrift store

~score~

serving dishes and chargers

they looked so pretty with food on them

they say white plates makes food look better

wish I would have gotten a picture of the

broccoli and carrots with strawberry yogurt as the dip

we had on Friday night with friends over

~it was pretty~

that was $2.99

I can see some pretty ribbon in those holes

at Christmas time

the tray was $1.99

then I got chargers

.99 cents each or .69

I  can't remember

I have square everyday dishes and I knew they would work perfectly

I don't have fun table runners for each plate

got to get some of those..

and I hate the plates being on my nice dining table

so these are perfect

My dining room has gotten a baby make-over

Jen told me a while ago to take the big

dining room table leaves out and make it smaller

so four people can enjoy a cozy meal

that way we will use it more

she was right

Then get a small table to be able to sit and enjoy the beautiful

outside setting with the waterfall feature

a place to have coffee and chat with girlfriends

never in a million years

would I have thought up that

I looked for a table on

Craigslist

until I found the perfect one

$125

a perfect match

see how well the wood matches

I like to sit and look at my pretties

which otherwise pretty much go un-noticed

I moved a chest from upstairs down

to fill this area up

sorry this corner is dark and I needed a flash..

the chest is better though

right?

she was right we really do eat here more often

even the two of us

then when the holidays come the leaves will go back in

for the 12 of us

I still love my china

Noritake Halls of Ivy

Oh no...I can't be thinking

of the holidays

we haven't really had a summer yet

The weather has warmed up somewhat so we

 did eat outside on Friday with the new chargers

I got some cool lantern type lights

that our friends helped put up

we're short a few strands and had to go get more today

I think then I can drape them more

but they make the place feel so romantic

I even caught some smooching going on...

we had a great weekend...

right up until we heard that our little

farmhouse was broken into :(

Did you all have a good weekend

my friends?

 

Matthew's having a brother

I'm so excited we are having another

~Christmas grandbaby~

only this is one is going to be a

~boy~

Matthew Man wanted a baby brother

and what Matthew wants

Matthew gets!

We'll see how happy he is

when brother comes

Congratulations kids

Oma & Oma can't wait!

Backyard project

The Hubs and his new toy are

~inseparable~

the other day he got a little project done

there weren't enough rocks for the steps

and there were lots of weeds

growing between them

He spent a few hours cutting back all the ground cover

then brought 3 rocks around

The digging part was hard

before

after

now he's back up working on another

project

clearing a space to put in a

garden next summer

&

a tree house for Matthew Man

this is what I'm dreaming of

I saw this on Layla's blog today

I don't think it's what he has in mind