Summer is half over already!!

I haven't been able to get out and work in my flower beds for quite awhile because
the mosquitoes are so bad here in Michigan if you step outside the door they will
carry you away!! No kidding!

I have been debating and debating and debating with myself over whether to paint the teal
chalkboard boards on my pallet planter black instead of the bright teal. I have decided
that I am going to do it. You can hardly see the chalk on this color of paint so black it is...
WHEN I can get back outside to work.

See all these dry leaves? This happens ever year from this crabapple tree. I love the tree in Spring,
but it is awful this time of year and I can't even begin to keep up on picking up the leaves so
most of them stay put and it looks like FALL already.

Did you see my last two posts about my BFF's garden? She is so precise and not a weed in
sight and I am a MESSY gardener. ha ha! Takes all kinds to make the world go round. 

I purchase Rosemary every year because I love it so much!
I just made some Rosemary lemonade this week and hubby loved it as much as I did.
DELICIOUS!

My basil plant is huge this year. It is my very favorite herb along with Rosemary.

My pallet planter spilleth over. lol

I pray that all of you are having a wonderful summer and making tons of memories
with friends and family. I have always been somewhat of a loner, but I find the older
I get the more I just want to be alone most of the time. Not a bad thing. I do enjoy a good
shopping trip occasionally, but even that is getting old.

What are you doing this summer for fun??

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!! :)

Watches and fans and messes...OH MY!!

I found these watches at an antique store a couple weekends ago and just had to bring them home with me.
I have never seen any like them...have you?? So unique. 

This is what I REALLY should be doing today, but instead I decided to clean a fan and take photos? wow...lol!! 

I am working on filling up my new/old cabinet that has an old screen door attached. I just love it!!  That little white
basket won't stay on that stand, but we are *a work in progress* here at the moment.  

Don't you just love this cabinet? I want another one for the other wall. I can guarantee you that I could have them both filled up in no time flat! ha! 

Isn't this a neat old fan? I have loved this fan from the moment I found her {several years ago| and I use her every year.  I noticed today that she needed a good cleaning. Have you ever tried to take apart and old fan? They don't have screws that make it easy like the fans now-days. After studying her for awhile, I realized the front grill comes off so that is how
I had to clean the whole fan.  

I even had to clean the backside of the blades from the front which was very interesting, but she looks much
better now. :)  Love her soft aqua color. 

Something about neutrals just speak to my soul...

Yea...the fan pics were supposed to be at the end of the post , but Sandi goofed again. lol

Happy Wednesday and be sure to enjoy life!!