Thursday, April 30, 2009

Gardening

Pretty keen stuff, watching and waiting to see what comes up in the new yard. I'm giddy over having a huge, well established deep purple lilac bush just outside the dining room and kitchen windows (now if it will stay warm and not rain I could have the windows open to let the fragrance in....). There are some peonies just setting buds, something had I planted this year would take a few years to fill in that well. LOTS and lots and lots of daylilies, some irises, hostas, ferns, daffs & tulips. One lone heuchera in the back corner where Ava & I added a bleeding heart bush (her selection, she adores it)....

Ava's Dad helped me get the pond cleaned up and we got a new pump to get it back in order, I plan to plant a bit more around it to conceal the tube and soften all that rock. There is a red bud in bloom behind it and I moved a stand of rhubarb from the flower bed (hello, invasive plant) back by the daylilies. There will be more potted plants like the one on the deck for some color soon....



Fountain....



Dug out all along the house out the back door from the kitchen/basement landing to create a "kitchen garden" of herbs, some tomatoes and beans.



Unidentified woodland flower under tree by the hostas in back....



Did more in back this week than the front, it will need a lot more digging.....the bed literally is a mess of random bulbs, daylilies, a few columbine, hostas and ivy. No shrubs, no height. I'm wanting to go sort of tropical-Victorian with hot colors and bold leaves. Needs a lot of love! The clematis on the arch is filling in nicely and I believe the shrubs around the front yard are privet hedges, wonderful lime green. Had someone come put new screen doors on the porch, the old ones were L-bracketed and rigged up to where there were nearly falling off everytime we opened them. These will need painted still but are a million times better....

More updates soon!

~Ang

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Wall of Horror Etc.

Been unpacking/decorating amidst an early Spring snowstorm....shot of the back yard all freshly coated....



Bar shot, on the collonade (sp?) with vintage nudie cocktail napkins....



Added an early 60s screen from an old office building (aquired at www.foundthings.com)....needs some softening and a little color/detail on the dresser holding the TV....

Bar shot, I loooove my bar....

Hallway w/ pics in original frames of my Grandpa as a baby (lower), his Mom & sister....



Hall shot w/ bedroom & bath, bedroom now with some wallhanging detail...



Kitchen....

Grandma's cermamic "bug" (which used to reside on the wooden planter of plastic flowers on the railing to the basement in her house), now under some tulips on the island in the kitchen.....

The wall of horror. Was covered with burlap strips and striped with wide bands of mustardy yellow and pumpkin-spice-orange (effective for sophisticated country meets Arts & Crafts but not with my stuff!). Pulled the burlap and got 40s wallpaper coated with orange adhesive and parts of the exposed and damaged plaster. NO idea what I'm going to do....will require extensive TLC/restoration. Grrrr.

What a mess.

~Ang