The Good, The Not So Good and The Unfinished..

Are you guys sick of hearing about the garden yet?

I promise after this post that I won't bug you for a while about it

...at least until the fall when we really get going.

But I wanted to show you how it all ties in with the Glass House.

Looking through the gates this is the main focal point....our little house made out of old windows that my sweet husband built for me.

Remember I told you all about it on my very first blog post.

Someone (me) really should clean that birdbath....I swear I fill it with fresh water everyday.

I'm afraid to bleach it because of the birds.

Maybe I should have it pressure cleaned.

Looking into the glass house.

This is coming around the corner off the back porch

The long term plan is to edge the walkways with landscape timber and to plant a border of flowers.

I made the little candle holders out of dollar store ivy bowls.....just twist two heavy wires around the lip to form a little basket top.

Then I just hung them on little shepard's hooks I had.

Side view of glass house

I hung this from one of the trees so that when we entertain
out there I just need to put a little table under it and it can become a drink station.

I found it in this really cute store in Georgia called Refind,
but I recently heard they had gone out of business...that's sad it was such a neat store.

I believe it's off an old lamp.
Just place a candle in there and it creates the prettiest glow




Now, here is where I tell you the Not So Good!
I've learned allot about Gardening lately and the number 1 thing I have learned is that
I know absolutely nothing about Gardening!!!

My Mother and I attended a Vegetable Garden Seminar a couple of weekends ago and as I sat there listening to these very knowledgeable Garden experts i was counting off in my head all the mistakes I made....OPPS!

Now is the time to tell you two of my major faults

1. I never research and plan out a project first...I am WAY to impatient for that.

2. I almost always choose form over function

So, therefore I am just now finding out that my hopes of harvesting beautiful heads of lettuce won't happen until sometime in the fall/winter. My cute little beds will have to sit partial empty until then. But that should give me plenty of time to re-till them and fill them with more compost...another mistake I made.


Until then...this lantern makes me happy. We found this in a great little antique store in Sea Island, Georgia...the same place that the gates came from.




This would be the gates....let's hope the vines I've planted
will cover up that ugly chain link fence very soon!




Can't have to many Fleur- de- lys in the garden

So there you have it!

Our little garden that is still far from finished.....but it's been a great lesson in patience for me.

The kids and I were ecstatic when we saw our first tomato on the vine.

And, I think that's how we will feel every time we notice something new.

So that's okay that it's not done, full to capacity and lush yet....

everyday we can look forward to a new garden surprise!

Be Sure and stop by to see Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and look at all the wonderful things.....http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2010/07/show-and-tell-friday.html

Potting Table

I've been wanting a potting table for the garden,

so yesterday when sweet husband was in a good mood I brought the subject up to him. No problem he tells me....since neither one us really wanted to spend any money to make one we came up with this idea.

3 old windows and some scrap lumber he had.

He even used old hinges off the windows.

I'm so happy with it and it matches with the glass house.

Isn't it just perfect for that area.

Now, if only I was sure that the cantaloupe would fruit I'd be a very happy girl...

It's better to have tried and failed...

Now I'm not saying I failed...but I certainly didn't succeed.

It started off as a pretty simple project.....take off the current fabric, paint the frame and reattach new fabric, no problem...right?

YEAH WHATEVER....two trips to Joann's and a glass of wine to calm my temper and I have somewhat put it back together.

Thank goodness Burlap is inexpensive.... This picture really doesn't do the fabric justice, it's actually very pretty on the chair...if only I could have got the nail head trim in correctly...but really towards the end I admit I was so frustrated I was beating them with a hammer...not a pretty sight.

But for now it's done...just don't look too closely or god forbid sit on it!

I will redo it one day after the meds kick in...Just Kidding

Tomorrow I promise to show you the potting table my sweet husband made for me today. Really, honestly there are no words that strike fear in his heart quite

like....hey honey I have an idea.

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Finally Happy....

This time I am happy with the bedroom.

It was really bugging me....it just wasn't right.

So....... I removed everything, put the bed in a different spot and put back some (not all) of the black

(and yes removed the new blue duvet....sweet husband never said a word..)

The only thing sweet husband had to say was that he thought the medallion in the middle of the big architectural piece above the bed made it look like an eyeball. And I don't think he is to into being looked at while he sleeps... But I like it so I think it needs to stay.

Do you think it looks like an eyeball?

OH.... and the candles above that I thought were so beautiful.
Were not so beautiful when I had to spend an hour scraping wax off the bed and wall.
NOTE to self...Look but don't Light!!!!!



My little jewelry/dressing area



I still have holes to patch from where I moved things.
This can be a rotating display....so maybe I'll stop making my sweet husband hang and rehang things on the wall.....yeah right.

Close up of the pattern on the rug.

It's a lot of color and pattern for me....but I love it so much.

My favorite new candle....Low Country Luxe - Savannah scent

http://www.lowcountryluxe.com/

Next project....completely redoing my son's room....and he has a list of requests plus his own ideas of what he wants. Yikes...this should be interesting.

Looking through the garden gate

Would you like a sneak peek into the unfinished garden?

This is looking in through the gates....there is still lots of work to do.

But I thought I would share a quick peek!

Alright...back to work I go

In the garden still.....

Okay so the garden is going much slower than I ever planned. We have had a few obstacles...such as a big footed dog not understanding boundaries...goodbye Okra, you never stood a chance....a massive flood in fairy land....don't worry their homeowners insurance kicked in and they are in the process of rebuilding, an investation of white flies, yuck, and last but certainly not least a few misunderstandings between the contractor (aka husband) and architect (aka me).

But I think we may be back on track and all on the same page....except maybe Layla the aforementioned big footed dog....who really just wants to play in the garden...but who can blame her.

So today we were able to get one truck load of rock laid in the garden area,

with any luck maybe another truck load tomorrow. And now that we have the details of the gates squared away maybe the contractor (husband...who isn't really happy about all this at the moment) will work on them tomorrow too.

In the meantime I have found a few pictures of inspiration to remind me that there really is a rainbow at the end of all this...and I wanted to share the pictures with you.....

A lovely spot to sit and enjoy all the hard work a garden takes

A stunning gate....


What a great secret hide out to read your magazine in



This is the ground covering that we need in the fairy garden...wonder if they sell it here in hot South Florida?



I'm off to get some sleep so we can start bright and early again in the garden...





(All photos from Country Living)

Come on in for a tour...

I went a little shutter happy on our walk around the cottages at The Cloister this morning.....but I hope you find lots of inspiration in the following houses, gardens and gates like I did.




Would you look at the window above the front door....



The wall is made of Tabby....which is a mix of shell, lime, sand and water...it is so beautiful.

A better view of the gate....I am so in love with the gates and doors on the houses here...it's like their own secret access to some wonderful magical place. Matter of fact because of this morning's walk we went hunting for our own "gates" for the garden. And I found the most beautiful iron gates....right price and right look. Can't wait to get them home and put them up.

Now here is a great garden gate

This is a beautiful house....the whole front is all windows..

This side porch is completely made of window

Are you looking at the arched entrance to the house....stunning!!!

Love the windows

I think these are made of zinc or copper? But not sure...either way they are awesome!

Don't you just want to step inside and see what's there.

Wish you could see the top balcony, but the sunlight was to much.

Another beautiful gate.

Wish these pictures had come out better, the landscaping was beautiful and very well done.

Look at this urn...it was the center of attention. And see the door up top the balcony.

This was brick and they painted over it....great idea

I found a pineapple....look in the peak of the entry.

Another inspiring gate.

Two more beautiful urns.

This house was HUGE....and gorgeous.

This picture wasn't the best quality...but look at the front door.

View of one of the streets.

Another picture of the great landscape on this house.

Beautiful house with a beautiful bench. Sorry for all the pictures, I just couldn't help myself. This place is so beautiful....I hope you get to visit it sometime soon.