...an indoor plant I haven't killed. Trust me, this is worthy of celebration. Though our house has lots of windows and light, it seems it is lacking in ledges and counters on which a plant can sit and enjoy direct sunlight...and so we (ok, I) have laid many a plant to rest after a short, painful existence. I'm happy to spare this sassy pink plant the ol' yard bag funeral.
On an entirely unrelated note, here's a sweet little tune I've been enjoying on this somewhat drab Monday afternoon...
Here's a little snippet of our Vday cheese-fest (pun intended). Yum yum yum. Because let's be honest, for me Valentine's day is simply about eating well...oh and spending time with the one you love...riiight. So, I popped into the local cheese shop, and among other things, loaded up on Quebec soft cheese as well as an Italian cheese injected with red wine (hello!). We gorged ourselves on crusty bread, garlic stuffed olives and salad (my fried Feta salad I will share sometime). Not too shabby. Oh and I awoke to that beauty bouquet of hydrangeas on the kitchen table - nice work husband. Now if only our fancy bottle of wine hadn't turned to vinegar and needed to be poured down the sink...
A little bit of pretty on this Thursday morning; a photo from our lovely ladies lunch on Sunday!
Before our Muskoka holiday, Cory and drove up to visit his parents in Elliot Lake for a few days. We boated, over-indulged in some fantastic food and drink, relaxed and spent lots of time in the garden, mostly feeding this guy...
I also took the opportunity to snap lots of pictures of their expertly maintained, colourful crop of gorgeous flowers. I must to remember to steal some Lavender to plant next year...
p.s. Stay tuned for some beauty wedding invitation suites in the coming days!
Along with the greatest corn on the cob in the world (bold statement, totally accurate) my local farm veggie stand grows these beautiful zinnias that I'm in looove with. They are currently brightening up my kitchen...and my day!
As promised, here is another potentially nap-inducing garden post. Though the joy of soon plucking my first pepper may not thrill you, dear reader, for me it is pretty darn exciting. In other jaw-dropping news (no?) a sizeable lot of roma cherry tomatoes should be ready for picking very soon and hot damn the cilantro and romaine are tasting good!
Sometimes I find blog posts about people's gardens a total snooze...so naturally I thought I'd do one myself! Our front garden seems to take care of itself (says the ignorant gardener). The peonies are just about ready to pop and the clematis is sprawling. Last year was our first summer here and we kept the back patio garden pretty minimal since we were busy buying furniture and a bbq and staining the deck (ick).
I consider myself an 'underdog' in the gardening world, mostly because my husband has little to no confidence in my abilities (justified) and is perhaps secretly rooting for the aphids (traitor). And so, fuelled by his low expectations, I am determined to make this garden flourish dammit. I've done up a few hanging baskets as well as two railing planters - beauties I must say. Next up the veggies, because for Cory a plant has no purpose unless you can eat it...and in some ways I have to agree (says the gluttonous gardener). Like my philosophy on biking, the journey is always more rewarding if it ends with you eating something, i.e biking to get ice cream, biking to get a bag of doritos, biking to get a freezie (yes, I'm 12)...you get the idea.
My herb seedlings, basil, thyme, cilantro and stevia, are just starting to come up - which I'm not gonna lie, fascinates me on a daily basis. I've also planted some romaine lettuce, mesclun mix and red peppers as you can see. We also have several tomato plants but they're not very exciting yet (what, you say, and these are?). Last year I fought a losing battle to some nasty earwigs but this year, armed with my insecticidal soap and crop of marigolds (thanks for the tip Roisin) I will prevail !! [read last line in Sean Connery voice for impact]. Warning: future boring garden posts are inevitable.
Aren't these paper flowers by The Green Vase absolutely gorgeous? Having forced a few of my bridesmaids to undergo hours of tissue pomander crafting for our wedding, I have a vague idea of the skill and patience it must take to make these beauties!
{via Creature Comforts}
Images {The Green Vase}
Our little patch of purple crocuses is a great reminder that spring is here...at least today. Sadly the weekend forecast is beyond bleak. All the more reason to get out and enjoy today's sunshine!
What you can expect next week:
I bought this big beautiful kale at the market a few weeks ago and I'm happy to see it's still going strong. I'm also happy to have to have something pretty to look at amongst the chaotic mess that is my studio at the moment...groan.
As promised, here are some more images from K+M's wedding day! I've always wanted to make program fans and was thrilled with the result - they were also very necessary as it turned out to be a warm day. As an added bonus my friend Jess discovered that a program fan makes a great dancing accessory. That's right folks, fanning while dancing = cool (in case you hadn't heard).
Of course I wish I had more blog worthy photos but check out a few of the details below including the gorgeous flowers and colourful banners made by the bride, who also expertly sewed the wedding party ties in a great range of colourful fabric - damn she's good. Kelly, I have a few unfinished curtain projects if you'd like to come over?
Despite the fact that the weather didn't co-operate (rain = a slight change of plans) we were able to enjoy the outdoors for the cocktail hour. A great bluegrass band played away and many tasty drinks + appetizers made the rounds, we couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more! Congrats to a wonderful wedding and an amazing couple!
Dahlias are pretty gorgeous. I've been really enjoying ours except when earwigs, my most loathed bug, eat them...which is often as I can't seem to be rid of the damn things! Clearly my earwigs are living the good life - I would say in the bug world, they qualify as morbidly obese. I picture them giving each other high fives with their creepy pinchers and doing chest bumps with their shiny oversized bodies each time they demolish a new bud. I will just have to enjoy this photo of one of my few uneaten blooms while I quietly plot my revenge...
A few weekends ago Cory (the ol' ball n' chain)and I went to the Christie Conservation Antique show. We didn't make any major purchases however we came home with several crates, which were on our list, as well as an awesome globe. Cory laid claim to the man crate (a former housing for explosives of course) for his magazines beside the couch, while I have filled the other two with plants & herbs on the back deck.
My most amusing purchase was a handful of 1950's novels featuring female protagonists, most often making poor choices in light of their romantic inclinations and loose fitting blouses."Soldiers Daughters Never Cry" was a must-have due to the fantastic cover and rousing description, "In the carefree atmosphere of Vienna there followed an interlude of high comedy and devil-may-care lovemaking, ending suddenly in the onslaught of Nazi Terrorism". Amazing, right? They just don't write em' like they used to.
As this is our first summer living in our new home, it's been exciting waiting and watching to see what would pop up in our front garden. It's amazing how much more interesting this kinda stuff is when it's your own home (note: apologies if this is boring you to tears because it's not your home). I have yet to actually plant anything in the front, with the exception of a cluster of succulents I stole from my Dad's house. Half of them wound up in a tiny planter on our deck so I'm definitely going to need to steal some more. Speaking of stealing; to the morally compromised teenager who ripped off some peonies to give to his indifferent girlfriend, I would sleep with one eye open. I saw you...
