Happiness is....

When your lilacs are blooming! 

 I know many of you are past this point but it's our time for lilacs and it's such a joy to see!

The fragrance drifts and draws you to it.  I just want to stand there and bathe my nose in it!

For me today....happiness is....lilacs! 

I've pretty well finished with my fairy garden which I'll show later this week.

Right now I'm just taking in this moment....

Tales from the Chest

Well I just know you were all just chomping at the bit to know what I have done with all the drawers in the new chest!  Right??  LOL…

I made a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond and purchased these silverware organizing trays.  I bought some open ones to store the napkin rings.  I'm just thrilled with how organized this is.  The one holding the napkin rings in here is 18" long so it has a good amount of room.

Now before anyone gets any ideas of stealing from me- there is no "real silverware" in my horde collection of flatware.  

I have to admit that my most recent tablescape was so much easier to do than in the past.  

You may get a good laugh out of this (or at least know why I am known as Dizzie Lizzie)…. I had the table set up with the dishes and glassware and toddled back to my office/storage area to pick out my flatware and napkin rings.  I literally stood there for a few moments wondering why I couldn't find my flatware or napkin rings.  Duh… I laughed at myself as I went back to the chest of drawers that is conveniently near the table and of course there they all were!  I was tickled at how easy it was to select what I wanted this time.  Admittedly the trays cost a small chunk but I felt it was worth it to have the organization and not to cause any damage to the wood.

In my other chest of drawers in the living room I have a horde bunch of placemats.  I took out the round and square shaped ones and loaded the bottom drawer since they fit the small round table the best.  Slap me if I buy any more!  Good thing is that I organized them so the more summery stuff is on top.

So that's my Tales from the Chest

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Gardening and Memorial Day

Swing on over to my garden blog for my most recent gardening post

"A Walk Through the Backyard- Ready for Memorial Day"

A walk through the backyard...ready for Memorial Day

Hello everyone! 

Are you ready for this upcoming long holiday weekend (those of us in the U.S. that is)?

I'm ready to putter around the gardens and have some grilled food and relax. 

 I've been running some sprinklers since it's been so dry lately.  We finally got some rain last night.  The hostas are filling out fast.  

The Jack Frost Brunnera have gotten a lot larger but aren't covered in as many blooms as they usually are.  I've always enjoyed this plant because it continues to grow larger and bloom for about a month.   

These are already getting larger .  The patio is messy- well everything is.  The trees have been dropping their seeds and there's pollen on everything.  We should be getting more rain on and off over the next few days so perhaps it will wash away the pollen.

The turkeys have been fun to watch but have been destructive.  I picked up a cheap roll of wire fencing and Dan and I made sort of a random pattern around these hostas.  They've been clawing so much they've sort of shredded these hostas.    I'm going to have to be less welcoming to them from now on.  

Look closely at the bird bath-  they dirty it up the something awful- even leaving feces!  Yuck... I took this before I got my planters filled last weekend. 

This lemon yellow Lantana is great for attracting butterflies.  I found this German Ivy at the store and decided to try it.  It's already grown a lot so I think it will be an easy one to take care of.  

Further back you can see the "Hosta hill" has really taken off.   The Sweet Woodruff is blooming like crazy.

 I took this late in the day yesterday.  That's a Sum and Substance Hosta in the forefront, an On Stage hosta on the left with the yellow and green mix, and at the back is the Empress Wu that keeps getting larger each year. These are my largest hostas.

I planted this red/white star impatiens along the border.  They had gotten a little leggy and are just starting to bloom again.  I'm looking forward to seeing them take off and start blooming like crazy!

This miniature iris seems to have a mind of it's own.  It's moved up the hill as the years have gone by.  The Creeping Jenny has moved in all over the place.

I made a path for the garden cart to wheel in and out of several years ago and I lined the one side with a bunch of these "June" hostas that I had found super cheap at Home Depot.  They've continued to do well and have gotten larger.  The Sweet Woodruff has moved in along the path- I just pull the cart right over it and it doesn't seem to care. If I was a perfectionist I'd be yanking it out...but I'm not.  I love to see things naturalize a space.

Looking over towards the fountain.  I think we can finally turn it on because I believe the trees are done dropping their seeds.  We'll get to it this weekend.

I took these pictures early this morning- aren't the ferns pretty!  I love how they've spread on their own. Every so often I have to remove some but it's not hard.

I found another coleus I mixed in the center of my big dairy planter.  It's so interesting how many varieties there are of coleus.  

 I showed this the other day.  Dan is going to clean up the 2nd plant stand I have and I already filled another copper planter so it's ready to pop in it when he's done.

This one will sit by the house where it will get party sun/shade.

Last December when my brother in-law passed away I brought home this planter from the funeral which had some household plants in it.  They were doing pretty well but it was always my intention to re-plant it and have it outdoors.  I think it's sweet.  There is a blue ageratum in the center, with some violas along the side and this Wojo's Jem vinca vine.    I think of Jim each time I look at it.

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Have a great weekend and take time to remember those who sacrificed the ultimate for our country.

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Some Gave All- Memorial Day 2016 (T)

I placed a flameless tea light inside representing a symbolic eternal flame.

I dressed the table with this oversized flag scarf- I found it last summer at Younker's.  Since it will just be the two of us I kept the table simple.  

 On a visit to T.J. Maxx a few weeks back I found a package of placemats with a red, white, and blue paisley design that I couldn't resist.  

 I chose these dishes for a patriotic color combination.

I found these Ralph Lauren cups back in January at T.J. Maxx and I've also collected these crystal tumblers through T.J's also by Ralph Lauren.  

I'll probably make the usual potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans and we'll grill dogs, and burgers. Of course we can't forget some pie either!

Some Gave All

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Blue dishes - 

Devon Cottage by Johnson Brothers

Red Dishes-

Home Cupboard by 222 Fifth

Crystal Tumblers 

Ralph Lauren- Aston

Coffee Mugs

Ralph Lauren- Hampton's Flag (discontinued 2015) Amazon and Ebay have some

Napkins by Park Designs - Casual Classics Newport Blue

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Thoughts of Home On Thursday
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Tablescape Thursay
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Foodie Friday and Everything Else 
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Dishing It & Digging It 

Patriotic Color for the Kitchen Dining Area

Adding the red, white and blue in a subtle amount seems to work nicely and I'll keep it going through July 4th.

The melamine anchor dishes were found at Sur La Table last year.  The blue stripe dishes I've used many times.

See the pig!  She cracks me up- found it at Cracker Barrel.  She'll be a part of a seascape table before long.  I'll show her off better then!  I dug through my faux flowers and put together an arrangement for the top.  This metal bucket fits in here so well I decided to keep using it.

A re-arrangement of things that were here before.  A napkin with anchors serves as a doily for the table.

It's that time of year- here's to the red, white and blue!

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Dishing It & Digging It
Inspire Me  Tuesday

Garden Party #2

Come on over to my garden blog "Sit With Me In my Garden" and the blog party

 A Garden Party #2!

My post

"Weekend of Planting"

Link to the party:

"A Garden Party #2"

Weekend of Planting

I took the plunge and planted my annuals this weekend.  It was a mini marathon event (at least for me it was) with going up and down steps many times, digging up soil from out back to half fill some of the larger planters, filling the planters with new potting soil and then the plants which all got an extra dose of pelted fertilizer.

This cart is basically empty now with the exception of a couple of plants that I had to wait to plant for a couple more days. 

This is a rather large ceramic planter I picked up a few years ago.  I put a deep red Martha Washington geranium to the rear and two bright green coleus up front which will fill in.   I may stick a sweet potato vine in the front but I haven't decided yet.  Excuse my messy deck.  It's desperately overdue for some re-staining.  

Next to the big dairy planter I have my obelisk which I haven't used in quite a few years.  I found some nice blue pottery that fits into the rings nicely and found some shade loving p pants for it.  That's my hose that I pull out to water things.  

The hummingbirds will appreciate the fuchsia.  Both planters have some Ivy and polka dot plant in them that will spread and drape.

This has a "Firecracker" upright fuchsia in it with white alyssum that will create a ring around the base.

I've used a different fuchsia that had an orange color for the past few years so I decided to try a new look. 

I got Dan to paint this plant stand for me since it was getting rusty and chippy.  I found a copper planter that fit in the top like it was made for it.  In the past I tried using a coco liner in the top but it ended up looking messy and the birds like to pull on it for nesting materials so I was looking for a better idea.  

I've seen people planting boots now for the past few years and I decided to give it a try.  I drilled two holes in the bottom for drainage and loaded the bottom with stones so they'd have some weight to them.  I planted Diascia in them hoping they'll be topped with lush flowers.

The design on them is a work of art.

The Eiffel Tower and flowers all around. 

I added these metal topiary frames this year to help hold up the Black and Blue Salvia that get really huge.  I chose a lemony yellow supertunia to play nicely against the blue and added a vinca vine.  Once these supertunias take off it will really fill out.  Last year the Black and Blue Salvia was so huge I had to stake it so I'm hoping this wire frame will do the trick.

I'm in love with this crazy frog planter I found at Pier 1.  I have a red striped petunia and little yellow violas in there with another vinca vine.  I haven't done much with my fairy garden yet but I'll be into that soon.

On our way out back this is a metal art object Dan bought me.  It has two hummingbirds that look like they are feeding fro the flowers.  I teeters back and forth and swings around when there is a wind.  As you can see the hostas are on their way up.  Before long you won't be able to walk through this area.  We still haven't gotten to the mulch but it will happen.

These are my Jack Frost Brunnera that are just starting to bloom.  

I planted this with all white impatiens this year.  Last year the impatiens filled out the entire insides of this metal orb.  They sell these to hang from a tree or such but I planted it.  What can I say!

You can see how this looked last year at this "link".

I asked Dan if he could paint my arbor which we moved to a new spot.  The plants are coming up fast and we wanted to get this done as soon as possible.  The reason for painting it is because it basically disappears into the trees.  

He's my painter- I appreciate the help since this is so tall and I would've been real uncomfortable on the ladder.  The color I chose is called Stone by Rustoleum and it looks a lot like the color of the fountain.

For some reason this came out looking like the sides aren't spaced right but they are.   The hanging basket has a white New Guinea Impatiens and some vinca vine.  The impatiens will get pretty large so I only one in.  I took all my pictures with my cell phone- I need to bring out my good camera but I'll wait for things to look a but more filled in.

I know it's hard to see here but it is easier than it was before.  I wanted to see how the arbor would look as a backdrop to the fountain.  We'll see how it look as the summer progresses.  There are a lot of hostas that form a ring around here that are still coming up.  We had to run sprinklers to water things since we haven't had any rain for too long.  The fountain isn't on yet because the trees are dropping debris and pollen right now.  Probably next week.

Everything I planted looks insignificant since it hasn't had a chance to fill in.  In a couple of weeks things will look quite different.  I tried to stick with red, yellow and white in my planters for the most part.  I did plant some red and white star impatiens around most of the ring here but I didn't take a picture.

This Sweet Woodruff is blooming all over.  The Pachysandra that is nearby just finished blooming.

By the garage I put the two planters I talked about in my previous post.  You can see a small brown urn in this picture which has a red Sunpatiens planted in it.  There are two of them that flank the stairs.

Out back by the big maple tree is my antique wagon I picked up last year.  See the shovel by the tree- I had my eye on them for a couple of years but didn't like the price.  I found some on discount at little boutique store last fall.  They are laser cut and this one has a moose, the moon and a pine tree.

The wagon is planted with white impatiens and some Ivy.  It gets a bit of sun very late in the day.  

The link I provided earlier shows how the wagon looked as the summer progressed last year.  

Well that's what I did with my annuals.  It will be enjoyable watching them grow.  I hope you'll come back and visit as I post through the summer and fall.

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