Home is Where the Garden Is

Hello everyone!     I hope you had a peaceful, relaxing Memorial Day.      Even though it was hot as blazes here, we took advantage of the three day weekend to work in the backyard.

The Kong coleus just gets better looking every week!

I still haven’t quite decided where I want this cross to go.    It will find a home eventually.

This is the first year I have grown Fairytales Cinderella purslane.

Love the pink and yellow color combo and the ruffled center.

This is a pot of what I thought was standard yellow purslane, but turns out the blooms are star shaped so I am not certain what variety this is.

Thank you for visiting and for taking a leisurely walk with me around my yard.       I hope to see you again real soon!

I will be crashing joining the following parties:

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer 

Tuesday Garden Party@ An Oregon Cottage

Bloomin’ Tuesday @ Ms. Green Thumb

Happy Gardening!

Marlee

Garden Cross

Happy Memorial Day everyone!     I have been a homebody this weekend and have thoroughly enjoyed not having to be anywhere at any specific time.     Marlee time!    I need more of it.
With all this time to reflect and think, I was inspired to make a cross for my garden after spotting one in a gift store last week.     It cost $34.99.     Mine didn’t cost a dime.     I had everything I needed right at home including a handy hubby without whose help this project would never have materialized.
Using an old fence board, my handy hubby cut it to the size I wanted.

He drilled holes so he could insert dowels.   I had plans to use wood glue but he seemed to think dowels would work better and who I am to argue with a man who has a drill and knows how to use it?

Then he inserted dowels to hold it together.     I might add that I actually helped at this point by sawing the dowels to the proper size.      Patting myself on the back here.   LOL.

I considered leaving the wood as is, but chose to rub some white paint on to give it a whitewashed look.

Now came the difficult part….deciding what to add to the cross to make it special.      The inspiration piece in the store had flattened bottle tops on it but the only bottle tops I could find around here were beer tops and I absolutely refuse to put a beer top on a cross!  I took a stroll around the yard, spotted this hanging candle holder and knew I wanted that marble “flower” encased in rusted wire to be a part of my garden cross.

I took that sucker apart and added the marble flower to the top of the cross.      The cross still needed something else so I continued my stroll around the yard where I spotted a string with a couple of mirrors and beads on it that had broken off a suncatcher.       It was the perfect size.     Everything was falling into place!
After attaching the marble flower with a small nail and stapling on the mirrored attachment, I stenciled on the word jardin.      The cross in the gift store said garden on it but I like the sound and look of  jardin much better.       Here it is….the finished piece!     You should be able to click on the picture and see the details more vividly.

Not too shabby for a crafter in training!    
I sure hope the blogger issues have been resolved because I have suffered withdrawal symptoms from not being able to make comments.      I see my followers are back so hopefully that is a good sign to indicate things are returning to normal.   Thanks for stopping by!
Take care,
Marlee
I will be linking to the following parties and encourage you to visit them for loads of wonderful inspiration.


Met Monday  @ Between Naps on the Porch



Show off Your Cottage Monday @ http://www.houseinroses.blogspot.com/

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Wow us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Terra Cotta Blues

I can’t bear to discard my cracked and broken pots so I have found a spot for them in the yard….a pot graveyard for lack of a better word, where they can live peacefully amongst the weeds.       What do you do with your pots that have outlived their original purpose?

I will be partying with Courtney’s Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

and Cindy’s Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Happy Memorial Day!!

Marlee

Garden Party

I love a beautiful garden and I love a fun party so I was thrilled when my friend Diane invited me to her garden party.      Diane’s backyard is a gorgeous oasis!

The rock fountain is truly a work of art and the showpiece of the yard.

I could sit out here all day long and listen to the trickle of the water.     So relaxing!

Once the sun set, the yard was aglow from the light of the torches.

We were surrounded by beautiful flowers.

Thank you for visiting!    It is always a pleasure to have you here.

Take care,

Marlee

I will be joining the Outdoor Wednesday party @ A Southern Day Dreamer.

Country to Chic

My decorating style 20 years ago was country.     I was really into hearts and had quite a few in my home, some of which were made by my talented hubby.    One of his creations was this cabinet he constructed  for the dressing area of the master bathroom.

It has provided much needed storage but was way over do for a makeover so we hauled it out to the carport and the transformation began.

I knew I wanted to paint it white but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the doors.     And then it came to me!     Beadboard!!   We had some beadboard and paint (Cottage White by Behr) left over from another project so I painted and the handy husband inserted beadboard on the doors.

Here you can see a close up of the beadboard doors.   I really wish I had taken a picture of the cabinet before we brought it in because it was almost impossible to take a good picture in our small bathroom.    The search is on for cute knobs.

This is the top shelf.    The stained glass lamp was a gift from a family member and the small red bottle (which has a crown imprint on it) was given to me by my aunt many years ago.     I hand painted the phrase boule de coton (french for cotton ball) on the glass jar which I purchased at Wally World.

The addition of a mirror and a light under the shelf makes this the perfect place for me to put my makeup on.    There is no natural lighting in the bathroom and the white of the cabinet has made the room seem not quite so dark.

A hook was placed on the side to hang my zebra print shower wrap.    I am very pleased with this thrifty transformation.

Thank you so much for visiting!    I hope you have a lovely week!!

Marlee

I will be linking to the following parties:

Today’s Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality

Met Monday  @ Between Naps on the Porch

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Wow us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Back to the Farmers Market

Happy Outdoor Wednesday!     I am linking to the Outdoor Wednesday party at A Southern Day Dreamer.

                     

It was back to the Farmers Market this weekend because I was in the mood for fresh veggies and I needed a few bedding plants to fill in some spots in the yard.        Sunday’s lunch consisted of fresh lady cream peas, fresh purple hull peas, fresh Silver Queen corn on the cob that was so sweet it could have been served for dessert and fresh Chilton, AL peaches.     My husband whipped up a Peach Tart that was delicious!

I planted white impatients and white begonias in this shady area by the birdbath.

In this pot I combined a beautiful burgundy colored coleus with a white begonia and yellow portulaca which should spread and fill out a bit.      The  Kong coleus in the pot to the right was purchased earlier this spring and is a nice complement to the new coleus.   I love all the different varieties of coleus and they seem to be very easy for me to grow.

The black eyed susan vine from my last trip to the market continues to grow and produce multiple blooms.

The hibiscus plants were in full bloom today.    In case you are wondering that is the tail of my pink flamingo in the upper left hand corner of the picture.

Love me some hibiscus!

I was surprised to find my cereus night bloomer opening up late this afternoon.    I have posted the story on my blog before about buying this plant for 50 cents at a garage sale without a clue what it was.   It has provided me with beautiful blooms for years now.   You can read the cereus story here: Night Bloomer post

Looks like I will have another bloom tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.    I hope to see you next week.

Marlee