Summer in Michigan!

Please come up on my front porch and sit awhile if you so desire.

I love decorating outside just as much as I do inside so it spills out onto my front porch every year.

This year I wanted to add a bit of blue/teal to my decor without it being totally blue and I think I pulled
 it off.  What do you think?

I love vintage plant stands and have had several over the years. This is one that I hung onto
and I use it ever year. The flowers in my urns are just coming back after a nasty run in
with a raccoon! 

I always add impatiens to my porch in either pink or white. They are very easy to grow and this
gal LOVES easy. 

Front porch view from my yard. I am wanting to do something to the floor. We have lived here for over
 33 years and it has stayed pretty much the same. I either want to put a wood floor over the cement or get a
 nice big sea grass rug. I also want hubby to enlarge the porch posts and put some decorative angled trim
around the top and maybe the bottom. Hopefully we can get that done this summer.

One of our kitties are always photo bombing! lol

This is reality living in the country. I got up one morning to this mess! I never did get the large
terra cotta planter replanted. The plant was broken off with no roots left. ugh!

Doesn't this look like a fun clean up?  At least all these still had the roots attached so I could replant them.

As I said earlier, the flowers in the urns are finally coming along nicely. I hope we don't have any more
run ins with raccoon's. Hubby caught one so hopefully that is the only one around. ha!

The plants growing in front of the cement are tall white phlox, but they don't bloom until late June or July.
I love their fragrance. Also, the plant growing on the arbor is a Sweet Autumn Clematis. LOVE IT!
It has gorgeous white flowers in the fall.

This is also another flower I purchase every year and they are getting harder to find. I don't
understand it and neither do the growers because an IVY GERANIUM is the easiest flower
to grow! Makes no sense. 

 For the past several years I have had a tall white wicker table
in this space, but I wanted to mix it up this year. First I had this bookcase sitting the "tall" way and I
just didn't like it. I turned it on it's side and loved it. I want to put numbers above the openings, but
haven't gotten that done yet. I can change out the decor in the cubby holes anytime I want.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of our humble abode. I love living in the country...in Michigan...
in the Summer...without the raccoons!! :)

I am in LOVE with our latest project...is that possible??

If you follow me on facebook you know that my hubby's factory closed in November of last year with no
warning. He found another job in the middle of January of this year. We JUST got health insurance after
his probation period of 90 days, had it for a week or two and then he got laid off again. He didn't find
another job until about three weeks ago so...I say all that to say this. We TRIED to keep busy to keep
 ourselves sane, but on the other hand we had no extra money to spend so we set out to do a project
with things we already had here.

We just finished up this piece yesterday that we started when he was laid off. I guess you could call it
 a potting bench, but I doubt I will do much if any potting on it as I have a garden shed also.

 I LOVE how it turned out, don't you?

It all started with this piece that we picked up at a garage sale for $2.00! You can't even buy one board
for that price so it was well worth it. I wish I had a before picture as it was a blue gray color with a LOT
of grease on the top and inside. It was previously used for a work bench and was a MESS to say the
least, but I saw potential. Didn't have a clue what I would do with it, but I am so glad we put it in
our jeep that day!

Fast forward a few weeks.   I was browsing PINTEREST and was inspired to make some type of  bench
 with it. If you google "potting benches" you will find one that is similar in nature as far as the top of it,
but more of a creamy color with a tin valance. That was my inspiration.

{My genuine antique English watering can...there is a repro of it sitting on one of the bench
shelves also...but I digress...} 

After we finished it yesterday I initially thought I would put it on the front porch, but there
wasn't enough room where I wanted it. WHO KNEW?? ha!

So we ended up putting it on the back deck for now and I moved plants etc. here,
there and everywhere trying to find the best look.

{I am loving how my tiered herb garden turned out this year!}

This is a side view of the piece. One day I got inspired for hubby to add a window and then another
day I said, "Hey , let's put some shelves on the side of the window". We did that and it sat a couple
more weeks or so. Yesterday, I figured I better get this done or it would be winter before long!!
So we cut and old post in half for the front and added some shelves on the side that I had laying
around along with the brackets.

{The post came from my grandmother's house when it was torn down. I acquired three of them and
love using them for something to remember her by}

When I look at the finished photo, I think I would like one of the shelves that are on the sides a
 bit lower than the other side so it doesn't look so "matchy, matchy", but we can do that
 anytime.

We added old table legs on each side of the window to add more character and they
were the perfect length! We couldn't have planned that if we tried.

I had the "valance" laying in my potting shed for a few years and had no clue what I would
ever do with it, but now I know why I kept it.

A bit of paint and distressing and WA LA...it was done and ready to be decorated!

I didn't want to spend one dime especially since hubs was laid off,  so we just used stuff we already had
except the $2 we spent on the initial bench. I am thrilled with how it turned out and now we can move
on to the next project...whatever that is. I am sure I will come up with something! *SMILE*

This was the photo that I put on facebook this week.
What have you made lately? I would love to know!!
Blessings~

The landscape of summer

I suppose technically summer doesn't arrive until June 20, but it sure looks like summer
around these parts. I love to visit the greenhouses at the very first chance I get and I
know for a lot of us it was earlier this year than ever. I planted several things in clay
pots this year and I love the look.

My chives always put on a good show and I enjoy it every year.

This is the path leading up to our back door. I wish I had some before photos because this area was
nothing but rocky soil when we moved in over 30 years ago. I wonder if I have any photos lurking
around. I will have to go on a hunt. :)

My mother gave me this purple flowered plant for Mothers Day. It might be called
*million bells* , but I don't remember for sure. I added it to this pail along with some
white allysum.

I have shown you my front porch before, but here we go again.  I was tossing around the idea of
painting the floor white  , but I just don't think it will look right ...do you? I would love to replace
the screen door with an old wooden chippy white door that I have in the potting shed, but I
haven't even mentioned it to hubby yet...don't think he will quite understand. LOL

Geraniums and vinca hanging out together.

I LOVE ferns on my porch in the summer!! I may just have to get a couple more next time
I get to the greenhouse. 

I found this old crate in my potting shed and decided to bring it out. I wanted to add
some asparagus fern to it as well, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

We made the mistake years ago of putting two brackets for hanging baskets on our posts.
We didn't realize until later that the person walking up the step would whack their head on
 the basket so right now I have wind chimes hanging on it. I am thinking about putting
 it on the other side of the post, but then I think it would hide my fern...oh my what is
 a girl to do?? hee hee

Happy Tuesday and enjoy your day!!

Baby Birds

I wanted to share a few pictures that I took this past summer. I had a fern hanging on my front porch and when I took it down one day to water it I was shocked to find this bird nest. Each time I took it back down to water it there was another surprise. More eggs, growing birdies, open beaks... There did end up being three eggs as you can see. These birds grew so fast and filled up the nest and were out on their own in a very short time. The wonders of God's creation... Enjoy!