before

after

remember the weekend project i was working on? well here it is! as you can see, my poor garden furniture was in major need of a facelift. never underestimate the power of a can of spray paint.

garden furniture how-to:

i scrubbed and sanded the paint off of the iron furniture (fun times)

sprayed each chair with a spray paint primer and let dry

went back over the chairs with rust-oleum white spray paint

i recovered the cushions with waverly sun and shade fabric using this method (i was never happy with the red)

sam and i are butt-tired. between trying to re-do just about every room in our house and tending after a sick little girl who was also getting her two year molars, we're beat. we did manage to squeeze in some fun with the harts and fire-pit time with the neighbors (love). we are on a mission to check off a spring cleaning checklist which involves moving my sewing nook in to the office which we are redesigning. i'm excited!

in the garden

these bright blue skies are drawing me outdoors. i want nothing more than to have water-covered shoes and my hands in the dirt. i planted some seeds last weekend and can't wait for them to start growing. lots of swiss chard, bib lettuce, mustard greens, and kale in case you were wondering.

i'm also looking forward to finishing my "weekend project."

hope you all have a lovely time doing things that make you happy. something making me happy right now is homemade guacamole. i gotta say, it's the jam. what is guacamole not good with? the answer is nothing.

happy friday!

under pressure.

my little gardener/ all i've wanted to do since wednesday

good morning! hope you all had a cheery weekend where you didn't stress out yourself and everyone around you trying to get a massive to-do list checked off. oh wait, that's just me. this weekend was stunningly perfect and i was fortunate enough to be able to spend it with my family. we tried to start a million projects, thus they are all still a work-in-progress. i am not usually a diy-er but i'm excited to share a weekend makeover with you guys . it's not quite done yet, so that will have to wait. oh the suspense!

here's the thing. i am an allergy sufferer. big time friends. it kills me because i only have problems during the spring when my gardener soul is longing to be outside. i started feeling bad last week and finally got some of this to help me breathe and keep me from sneezing all over people. i feel guilty about this because i'm trying to live naturally and not rely on any medicines and then i go and spend $30 on neon green allergy pills. i looked up natural alternatives and it seems pretty bleak. netipot every night? it feels like water torture.

any words of wisdom?

a couple of things to share...

fun fact: did you know hydrangeas are super easy to propagate? i stuck a bunch of dried hydrangeas in my winter planter arrangement. i was inspired by this. as i was tidying up my beds over the weekend i went to pull them out and they had rooted! i was so excited. i did absolutely nothing!

faq: "when you're cooking with coconut oil, does it make everything taste like coconut?"

coconut oil does have a very subtle flavor. i actually really like the flavor, but it you spice your food well you won't even notice it. i don't like using coconut oil with eggs. for eggs i cook them with raw butter. reason being that butter and coconut oil can handle high temperatures, unlike olive oil which becomes unstable.

ps i am soooo excited about the bachelor finale. my vote is on emily. care to wager?

gardening 101: winter greens

even though the cupboard (weird word) was literally bare, i was so thrilled to be able to walk out to my garden and snip my lunch. sam planted all winter greens for the fall/winter. we've had a healthy dose of rain, so they've been really thriving. i love having a mix of nutty chard and spicy mustard greens. they made a fantastic salad, which i topped with a pink lady.

the easiest way to clean greens is to dunk them in a bowl of water. all of the dirt sinks to the bottom. i then pat them dry with a thick dish towel and eat them right away.
ps i can not get enough of gruyere cheese right now.

modern garden design

as much as i tend to gravitate towards gardens of the english variety, i love the simplicity of modern design.


outdoor bathtub, no big deal


love the use of only a few types of plants. the pop of green against the dark gray is lovely.


the garden here is more tropical than modern, but next to the modern design of the house and furniture it still has that feel. love the thatched roof.


ultra simple with just grass and a few trees. the clean lines where the grass meets the river rocks next to the water makes me instantly calm. the way the light is arranged is positively lovely.


this image never gets old. the grid is so perfectly laid out. something about perfect rows makes me reminisce of peter rabbit.

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master gardener spring garden tour

for mother's day mama took rachel and i on a garden tour/plant sale hosted by the master gardener volunteers of cobb county. we started at the plant sale where i was sure that if i turned my head that my picks would be gone. people were snatching up plants left and right. the plant sale is open to the public and the prices and plants were hard to beat.




this little yellow plant was so tempting, but i ended up walking away with some echinacea, bee balm, and a little funny white flowered plant whose name i've forgotten.

the first garden tour we went on started out pretty status quo is the front and ended with the most beautiful garden surrounding a pool and looking over a lake. what a dream to live there i'm sure.




the next garden was a woodland garden full of rare climbing hydrangeas, azaleas, and oversized hostas. there was also a tiny creek that led in to a big creek. it was so private and shaded and truly designed for birds. there were birdhouses everywhere. lovely.



the last garden we went to was my favorite. there was a mixed perennial border and a succulent garden and it was so whimsical.





clever ideas...


use your pot trays as art

make a path out of wine bottles

use broken pots as part of your landscaping

see more pictures here

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friday feature: lost mountain nursery

my mom and i visited one of our all time favorite nurseries this past week. for years we have made the trek to lost mountain nursery and boy was it worth it! the plant selection and design can not be beat and there is a true gardeners spirit in the air. come early as most of the plants are in full sun and leave plenty of time to wander aimlessly as you dream of where to put that "perfect" plant...













looking forward to sharing my eventful weekend with you...

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and it was all...

there are so many beautiful purple blooms decorating our house right now. i've never really been a big purple girl, but these sweet flowers are winning me over.

please if you have a second pray that the rain doesn't ruin our little craft fair parade this weekend. i'm nervous.

i'm taking a mental health break by watching the hills and the city. i totally get the whole "reality tv" thing and why people watch it. to ESCAPE. it's like an hour mind vacation. do you think these girls have "people?" you know, stylists, hair, makeup...



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grocery store gardening

did you know that you can plant a lot of things we eat everyday just by saving their seeds? did you know that you can plant individual cloves of garlic?





talk about cheap. i'm learning all of this from my dear friend (i wish) alys fowler. i tell you again, this book is a gem.

people say we look alike.



{nibsblog}





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dear alys,

if you ever read this little blog, know that i would love for us to be friends.

love,

me

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reasons to step out in to your garden every day

atleast as spring begins to unfold. you can't pay me to stand outside for long in the summer, but right now i'm poking around at every chance i get.

otherwise i might have missed these blooms:



my bleeding heart is bleeding...er blooming! i planted it the fall we moved in...three and a half years later, here it is in all its glory. lovely, no?



foam flower



hydrangea



creeping jenny, catsmint, and spotted dead nettle



strawberries



heirloom tomatoes

speaking of what's growing this spring...



look at this little weed! can you believe it??? matilda is just blossoming before our eyes.



don't worry, i cut that corsage down to half its size. i'm experimenting and i had some creative help from this lovely lady!



we had the loveliest thunderstorm this afternoon and now it's GORGEOUS.

oh yea and that dress is part of the collection you'll see here. it's official we'll be there! we found out today we made the cut.


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