Collections........Heuchera

Heuchera, better know as old fashioned Coral Bells, have become one of my favorite plants.  The Heuch is pronounced "WhoK", then add  "er-uh", sorta like that!

Dan Heims, a well know breeder of Heuchera and who's nursery is just down the road from us, has been working diligently on developing a broad range of leaf colors that is quite spectacular.  They have developed leaves in burgundy, orange-coral, silver, green and lime green and variations of the above.  These plants do have a small flower on a long upright stem, which isn't very showy,mainly, Heuchera are grown for their leaf color and texture.  And did I mention, hardy and easy to care for.....so many desirable features in one beautiful plant.

They say "if you have three of something, you have a collection"......I think I have a collection of Heuchera.  Here's a sampling:

The Heuchera on left is Green Spice,on the right is Midnight Rose.  You can see its small flower, the flowers look light and lacy, I think.

These three deep burgundy plants are all named "Prince", the white and red flowers, around them, are all sedums and, in the background, is blue oat grass.  

The purple leaf here is Midnight Rose, they are hard to see, but the leaves have a silvery dot pattern with a hint of rose. The green leaf with the burgundy underside, on bottom right of photo, is Sashay.

I have a few more, but you get the idea, the darker leafed plants do better in full sun, than the light green, for instance.  Most of mine are in places that get a lot of sun.  This week, with the temps in the 90s, it may burn a few leaves, I'll just trim them back the end of the month and they'll be good as new by October.

This would be my plant pick of the week.....and you could  find yourself starting another collection.

I'm linking this post to the following blog parties, please join me and remember, I appreciate your comments and love my followers :

An Oregon Cottage

Bloomin Tuesday at Ms Green Thumb Jean

A Southeran Day Dreamer's Outdoor Wednesday

Time for a Blog Redo

Today I decided to take the time to change over to the new Blogger template.  That was easy, except the format became much wider, so..........one thing lead to another and now, I have a complete new look!

The photo is of a small shelf that sits beside the bed and holds many treasures that are near and dear to me.

On one shelf sits a "rose ball" I bought, a long time ago, it is a small ball covered with tiny rose buds and next to it, in a small white embroidered frame, is a photo of my sweet hubby.  A little keepsake school photo taken when he was about ten or eleven.

He is still a little cutie in this families eyes! Well, maybe, not so little anymore!

Hope you like my new look!  It's a little pink, but I think it compliments the rose buds.

Besides, pink is just a paler shade of red!

Classy Free Labels................

'Tis the season for making jams, jellies and preserves....yahoo!

Homemade jams and jellies are not that difficult to make, some fruit, some sugar for freezer jam, no cooking.  Cooked jams and jellies take a little more time and effort, but still pretty easy.   I use boxed pectin, not everyone does, but they have developed simple and clear directions for making these tasty treats and you have the insurance of the fruit setting, if you follow those directions.

Nothing taste better in the middle of winter, than warm toast spread with homemade jam, with or without peanut butter.

Home made jams and jellies are, also, a thoughtful and generous gift for a friend, or a hostess gift, or a wonderful "thank you" for a favor.  So, here is an idea to dress up the jars that contain the taste of summer's bounty.

Last week in the Portland newspaper, the Oregonian, they ran an article on printing you own labels, on your computer, to add a special touch to your homemade goodies. 

Cute round ones like this and....................

 

old fashioned looking labels, like these.  Great for gift giving!

 

What a fabulous finishing touch and so easy, just click on the site below, choose a label or tag, download and print label on sticker paper or tags on card stock.

 

 

I am going to cut a circle of fabric, to cover the lid, and tie it on with ribbon or raffia.  Voila'.....gift wrapped cuteness!

 

Lookin' good just sitting on a pantry shelf!

For more information and list of sites where you can download these, and other labels, click on  http://mobile.oregonlive.com., click on Food Day, type canning labels into search box or look for headline. 

A little fresh fruit, a little sugar, a little time all wrapped up in love with the added touch of a well designed label.....doesn't get better than that.....now, does it?

I'm linking this post to the following blog parties:

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Day Dreamer

Rednesday at Sue Loves Cherries

Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

It's a Blog Party

Please come with me to visit the many fine blogs and a special thank you to each of the wonderful blog host.

Summer Time Blues.......

I don't have summer time blues, but it seems my garden does.............

with Hydrangea and Blue Oat Grass looking cool on these warm summer days!

While your here, come sit a while and view the garden from this bench........

under the arbor that will, one day, be covered by this Jackmanii Clematis.............

and the Crown Princess Margaretta rose.........

here is a view of the Crown Princess up close.  Note that this rose is not only a beautiful peach color but it has the most wonderful fragrance.......

this seating area is finished off with yard sale finds and a couple colorful pillows for comfort!

 

More Blues.....the planter on the wall is a "married" piece, the turquoise stamped metal came from a cute shop, located between Wilsonville and Sherwood, called Tollen Farm and the flowerpot holder, I found at a yard sale, pots and all.

Since this wall of the house is under an eaves but gets glaring, hot sun in the late afternoon, I planted sedum in the pots.  Not to sure, I like that idea but I'll give them another year of growth and see how they look then.

I added a little metal table where you can sit your cup or glass and another flowerpot planted with sedums......all we need to do, now, is add lemonade.... sit....and relax!

Come with me to visit the following blogs where I will be participating in their parties.  A big Thank You to the following hostess:

 

Blue Monday at Smiling Sally

Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Bloomin Tuesday at Ms Green Thumb Jean

Wednesday at A Southern Day Dreamer

Yes, Sunday was the grand finale!

Finished off my fun and fabulous weekend by redoing and cleaning out our garden shed.  Fun????  That's a mater of opinion......well, the cleaning part wasn't so much fun but the redecorating part.....now, that was fun.

This is more of a storage shed,as opposed to a cute little garden "room". In the winter this is where most of the lawn furniture and tools  are stored.  It gets a lot of use, I really do pot plants in here, my garden tools stand at the ready and we fill the bird feeders here.....it's an out of the way place for the cats to take naps under cover, when it is raining.

The good news is we have a public park on the other side of the fence behind the shed, the bad news is we have a public park on the other side of the fence behind the shed.  We like the fact that no one can build behind us, we do have to give up some privacy to get some privacy but it's O. K..  There is an eight foot chain link fence that surrounds the park, I use it to support several vines and climbing roses and they cover the yucky fence.

In my earlier blog about garage sales and Barn House Flea Market, I mention, the screen door.  That was my motivator for cleaning and rearranging the shed today.

 

 

 

This is before we attached it to the wall, this is my idea of a "privacy screen"....has a cool personality tho'!

 

 

The funky shelf, on the left, is made out of an old box and some screen, it is still sturdy enough to store the extra flower pots.

Above it is a half of a Burma-Shave sign.  Back when we were selling, I found TEN Burma Shave signs under a table at an estate sale for $10. TOTAL.  One of my MAJOR SCORES!  Of course, I sold the rest, I do have one that is intact that I kept, too!

 

 

I added the vintage red chair, a small table and some flowers!

 

 

 

 

This is my potting table, I keep hand tools in the berry carrier....the window is more of "screening" from the park.

Under the bench, we have two plastic garbage cans we use one for potting soil and the other for bird seed storage.

 

An old pop case works as a small shelf, above it I hung a rake head that I use as a tool hanger.  Look NO cobwebs.......that won't last long!  When we moved to this house, 20 years ago, this was a woodshed, we've not finished the walls but we did replace the roof with clear Plexiglas for added light and shingled the outside. 

 

Thought I would share this....I used an old metal newspaper box for storing my garden stakes, probably, a newer plastic box could serve the same purpose....also, it is a nod to my years in the newspaper business.

 

I love summer, especially weekends like this that are sunny but under 80 degrees........I can get really motivated, I'm glad this job is done and I LOVE the screen door!

I'm joining the following blog parties:

Tabletop Tuesday

Bloomin Tuesday

Oregon Cottage Garden Shop

Outdoor Wednesday

Rednesday

Come visit all of the other inspiring blogs and everyone loves comments.

Vintage Tablecloths and Tables!

I've mentioned before that I am a collector!

Here is a collection that I started several years ago; vintage tablecloths and hand towels.  Fortunately, I started collecting when you could still find these at garage sales and auctions very reasonably priced.

Not all of my tablecloths are perfect, but I don't mind, I use them like they were intended and, then, throw them in the washer.......only wish I had an iron to throw them into, lol!  Actually, ironing is likely the reason tablecloths, for everyday use, fell out of favor.

Yes, in the 30s, 40s, 50s the kitchen table was always covered with a cloth, or sometimes, an oilcloth cover.  Placemats became popular in the 1950s along with Mr.. Birdseye's frozen dinners and T.V. 

Here are a few tablecloths from my collection........

and a few hand towels.................

  I love the cheerful colors and designs on all of these linens but I, also, love the beauty of white linens.......

my photography skills don't do proper justice to these gorgeous white on white hand embroidered towels.

 

Moving on to tables....here is a sweet gift, I received recently from a special friend...the little red

table on top of our red and white enamel top table.  This little table, must have originally been a child's toy, it is so darn cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the little table would be charming used to hold condiments on a picnic table or, it may come into its own at Christmas, mixed with my collection of snowmen!

  

For sentimental reasons, I am ending with a special linen piece that was made by my grandmother.  This is an example of Hardanger, or Norwegian drawn work or needlework.  The "holes" are made by gathering the fabric threads together and embroidering around them to hold them in place, very delicate.

Call me sentimental but, to me, linens speak loudly of their previous owners....some of them were lovingly created by someone's hand, many were used to dry  hands or the dishes, that where then, set on a tablecloth where the family gathered for a meal.

The colorful linens were meant to make a woman's work a little cheerier and easier because a woman's "place" was in the kitchen......I'm pretty sure, not even Ward Cleaver dried dishes!

Thanks for stopping by and joining me at the following blogs:

Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally

Tabletop Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

White Wednesday @ Faked Charm Cottage

Rednesday @ Sue Loves Cherries

Metamorphasis Monday

Followers and comments always appreciated!

Our Barn House Adventure......

Wow! Here it is only Saturday evening and I've had two very full, fun days of shopping and creativity shared with friends and family.....

Our little troop, Staci,Lucy, Anjee, Ron and I, left Sherwood at 9 o'clock this morning headed for Barn House Flea Market in Battleground, Washington.  A little more than an hour later, we were there.........after some major parking confusion and congestion, we were directed to a front row parking space.

We were greeted by this........

A barn and field crammed with chippy white furniture, burlap, lace, galvanized metal, old farm tools, black, white, beige........I was really busy looking and absorbing the creativity that surrounded me.....but I did manage get a few photos to share.

 

As you can see, the crowd was great and I saw lots of happy shoppers with their hands full of purchases!

Then look at this................

I don't know who's space this was, but some one created this mini-garden, with incredible detail and design, using live plants, rocks and miniature furnishings.

Here are my BH purchases.....not much, but things that I love......a roll of burlap upholstery webbing that I purchased from Tracey atCottage Industry.............

in the blue bowl are the great flash cards, I got these from Lisa at A Thing For Roses, I will use them later for collage.

We all had a great time and are glad we went.

All this, after a Friday morning where we went estate sale shopping in the country and found some good stuff at super cheap reasonable prices.........

 

 

This great wood screen door will soon be attached to the back of our small garden shed, where it will act as a "screen" from the park behind us.

 

 

I have several pieces of enamelware and I'm always attracted to their bright colors so I picked these up.  The face from an old scale was in the free box, I'm going to hang it in my garden shed.

I bought a few more things at estate and yard sales Friday and the displays and repurposing at BH inspired me to use those purchases in creative ways. In fact, I plan on getting started soon on redoing my garden shed.

For someone who claims to be trying to simplify and is clearing out..........I sure bring a lot in AND I still have one full day of the weekend, Sunday, left.....WooHoo! 

Visit me and other great blogs at Flea Market Finds @ Her Library Adventures, Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday and Garage Salen Partay @ Debbie Doos.