Camping

"But the place which you have selected for your camp, though never so rough and grim, begins at once to have its attractions, and becomes a very centre of civilization to you..." - Henry David Thoreau

*picture from I Suwannee

How My Garden Grows

This was my garden from last year:

Cut to 2010, and the great blizzard we had in February.

The tree? Dead (well, to be fair, it was on its last leg and probably half-dead already).

The pomegranate bush? The sage bush? Calla Lillies??

Dead Dead and Dead.

What did survive?
My orange daylillies, my blue pin-cushion flowers (pictured first above), my Japanese maple tree (thank God), and the paprika yarrow (third pic above).

So, we bought a peach tree, I dug up and divided the daylillies, moved the pin-cushion flowers and yarrow, and added a bunch of mulch - after we weeded and weeded and cleaned up all the dead plants. (Evidently, along with killing plants, snow brings with it lots of little weedy seeds because after the snow melted, the bed filled up with butt-loads of weeds.)

This is how it looks now:

Pretty sparse right now

Oh, and these little creeping blue flowering things... which I don't know the name of. But I bought a little 4-inch pot of them at Home Depot last year, and this stuff has grown!! So much, that I divided it, and the divisions are about 3 times larger now than the 4-inch pot I planted last year!

So, the plan now is to buy some more of the purple fringe-flower bushes to fill in the bare spots. I think that will help tie it all together, and I love their purple leaves!

More to come once those are planted, but for now, here is stage 1.

A Little Pink for your Friday

I'm not normally a pink person, but in these images it just makes me a little happy!

Oh, and I'm so excited I just have to share with y'all - I learned how to sew a zipper into a pillow (finally)!! Sew exciting for me (har har)!
If you're interested in learning how to sew a zipper into a pillow too, you can at Design*Sponge.

Have a great weekend!

*pictures from: Decorology, Elle Decor, Better Homes & Gardens 1961 via Flickr, Flickr, Desire to Inspire, Joe Nye via Flickr

Pretty Window Treatments

(I wish I had a better, more catchy title... but no.)

Curtains and shades add so much to a room. Here are some pretty pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Following those, here are some definite drapery DON'TS:

Hanging your curtain panels high can add height to your room... but don't hang them too high. Otherwise they'll just end up looking ridiculous like these do.

Toga style.

The fake-drape. Would it have been so bad to actually hang these on a real curtain rod??

I tend to like the idea that simpler is better. Too much trim, ruffles, pleats, pattern... it gets to be too much for me. But, I love the look of layering drapes over shades - natural or fabric.

Just my 2 cents.

Have a great Thursday!

*pictures from: #1 and #2 Cote de Texas, #3 Decorpad, #4 Traditional Home, #5-#7 Cote de Texas, #8 Decorpad, #9 Cote de Texas, #10 My Home Ideas, #11 Cote de Texas, #12 Cote de Texas, #13 My Home Ideas, #14 My Home Ideas, #15 Velvet and Linen, #16 Cote de Texas, #17 Cote de Texas, #18 Decorpad, #19 My Home Ideas, #20 My Home Ideas, #21 Desire to Inspire, #22 Little Green Notebook

**I am not naming where I got the "bad example" pictures from, however - if they are yours and you want them down, just let me know.

Plate Update....

So I went to some thrift stores this weekend, but didn't find any contenders... not...a...one.

I think I'll need to scour some actually IN Dallas or Fort Worth. But I did find a really cute white purse for $5 at the Salvation Army!

It's Monday - back to the grindstone.
On a better note, at least the SNOW we got Saturday has melted!

Decorating with Plates

Lately, I've been keeping my eyes open for some plates like this to decorate a wall in our dining area:

I love the look of plates grouped together on the wall. So simple and easy.

They can work in bookcases and hutches too.

What do you think? Are you a fan of this look?

And, more importantly, do you happen to know where I can find some inexpensive plates like the first picture in green/white?? (I've already checked with HomeGoods...)

Have a great weekend!

*pictures from: Google Images, Haven & Home, Desire to Inspire, Haven & Home, Southern Accents, Southern Accents, Blue Hydrangea