Whimsy in the Garden

Hello everyone,

We are having an amazing summer here on the Island with lots of sunny hot days(but not too hot) and cooler evenings. It has been awhile since we had a summer this lovely.

Today, I am sharing some whimsy in the garden. Every garden needs a little touch of whimsy don't you think? the little woman above was a gift from my daughters last year and she is sporting my apron and straw hat .

I love this little fairy that moves around the garden.

Our garden is large so we have a few statues to add some interest here and there.

I got this old cement birdbath at the Restore a few weeks ago.

A pretty teacup adds a little whimsy to the garden.

I love birdhouses and find them hard to pass up.

This old iron stove was sitting on the side of the road for junk day a couple of years ago- a little spray paint and a Fairy rose and it added some interest to this corner of the garden.

What could be more charming then a real little fairy in the garden?

I like to have a few birdbaths scattered around the garden.

A mirror behind the statue adds a little intrigue.

I love this birdhouse from tjmaxx.

The same spraypaint on this obelisk draws the eye into this bed.

A place to put some seed for the birds and welcome you into the garden.

The little woman decked out for a wedding- our grandneice and nephew were in a wedding recently and they came to the garden for photos so I thought it would be fun to add more whimsy.

I love this birdhouse also.

Mary tucked into the virginia creeper.

Cute little cement rabbit.

And finally this bicycle from our local Winner's and spray painted pistachio green adds some whimsy as it gets moved around the garden.

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers for my Mom. It has been a difficult road for Mom as at 87 bowel surgery is always major. I am happy to say that Mom is showing improvement but it will be slow. She still has a tube in to drain her stomach and has not had anything to eat in 12 days except a little sugar and water in her iv. She was smiling today but we are still waiting for that cup of tea-hopefully tomorrow! I pray after going through all that she has, she will make a good recovery and be back at the home where she has lived for the past few years.

Thank you so much from Mom and I for your kindness. I have not had much time for playing with my camera lately but these are some pics from over the summer.

Take care,

Carolyn

Harvesting Parsley

Choosing a method for harvesting parsley is always a judgment call. Parsley is the little black dress of the herb patch. It can work with lots and lots of dishes, is a very green, bushy little plant that looks good in the garden and is relatively easy going, as in not fussy. It's also available for snipping all summer long.

It is so ubiquitous, in fact, that around the holidays some grocery

Funnel Spiders

Funnel SpiderAugust 30, 2010

One of the first things we noticed when we moved here were the large funnel spiders (grass spiders).  As spiders go these are about the size of a quarter.  Their webs are a thin whispy sheet with a characteristic funnel shape that the spider hides in.  They were everywhere to the point that we resorted to spraying to knock down their numbers a bit.  The risk to

A Japanese Garden; Can You Guess the Movie?

Japanese Garden
Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens
Pasadena, California

The opening scene in a WWII war movie was filmed in this Japanese Garden. In the movie, the setting is Japan and the bridge is painted red. At the time that I took this photo in January 2010, I didn't make the connection. While watching this movie again today, I immediately recognized the garden. An all-star cast includes Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Hal Holbrook, Glenn Ford, James Coburn, Robert Wagner and Charlton Heston—and other popular actors at the time. Can you guess the movie?

The Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens is a great place to visit while in the Los Angeles area. Located in Pasadena, California, it is worth a day trip to explore the collections, indoors and out. In addition to the Japanese Garden, other themed gardens include: Australian, Camellia, Children's, Chinese, Desert, Herb, Rose, Shakespearean and the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science. If you are fan of bonsai, there is an impressive display!

The Japanese Garden is one of the most beautiful that I've ever seen and I was there in winter. I'm sure it is even more spectacular when the apricot, cherry, peach and plum trees are in bloom.

Japanese Garden
January 10, 2010

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Harvesting Basil

Harvesting basil for winter access is fragrant fun.  Your patch of fresh basil, catnip, parsley, oregano and rosemary can be bountiful contributors to your winter herb stash if you have a few hours to spare.

Over the next few weeks, we'll cover some gardening ground as it relates to fall and winter herb harvesting projects, culminating in a step-by-step tutorial for making herb wreaths.

You Are Cordially Invited....

Calling All Bloggers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and any other bloggers who might be in the Asheville, NC area on

Saturday, October 16th.

You are all cordially invited to a Saturday Brunch at 10:00AM, at my house.

Following the Brunch, we will go antiquing around Asheville.

Sound like fun?

RSVP to lavenderhillstudio@att.net by October 1st, 2010

I hope you all can come!

Welcome Home,

Penny

Beating Bedbugs Naturally

The admonition ". . .and don’t let the bed bugs bite." was never truer than it is today when super pesticide resistant bedbugs are taking a bite out of a record number of unprotected sleepers. Barring a few super noxious and possibly illegal chemical treatments, bed bugs can be a challenge to get rid of. I wrote a blog about it a while back that you should review if you're having problems.