Garden Party

 When Brenda of Cozy Little House invited me to join her 

Summer Cottage Garden Party, I was excited for several reasons.

First was to be joining some of my favorite bloggers who boast of beautiful homes and gardens.

But more important for me, was the motivation to get my garden in order.

The lyrics to Ricky Nelson's Garden Party (I grew up with Ozzie and Harriet) came to mind.

The line that I always liked best is,

"You see ya, can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself".

That line really resonated with me as I was planting flowers, weeding flower beds, moving furniture and fluffing the garden to please myself.

A major change in the garden this summer is new covers for the IKEA chaises.

I'm on a "use what you have" kick and remembered an old duvet cover with matching shams that were languishing in the window seat.

Essentially, I made tablecloths with ruffles that just drape over the chaises.

They can quickly be put on, whisked off and stored in my little Garden House every day.

Lulu thinks the chaises are for her and spends more time on the chaises than we do.

With the chaises ready for summer, the next step was to move a bench from the side of the garage to underneath a tree next to the fire pit.

I found another sham in the attic to use as a cushion for the bench.

The fit of the pillow is "close enough" and an old SUMMER banner finishes off the look.

On the trip to the attic, I also unearthed the yellow pillows that used to be on our sofa and brought them down for the adirondack chairs.

 I came across a scarf my mother brought me from a visit to relatives in Norway.

 The scarf works well as a tablecloth and I smile when I look at it wishing that my mother could be here sitting in the garden having a cup of tea and reading - she was never without a book.

It has been 14 years since my mother passed away (she would have been 101 last Sunday), but I still remember the last time she visited me -she sat in the garden and chatted with me while I planted flowers.

The rest of my preparation for the Garden Party was weeding, planting, trimming and adding little touches.

A little red, white & blue on my vintage window,

 and a patriotic display on the porch

will remain through Labor Day.

Everything I did was to please myself

and of course Steve, who likes to see his quiver of old boards in the garden.

I only wish that all of you could actually drop by today and visit me in the garden.

Don't forget to visit the other ladies participating in the Summer Cottage Garden Party.

Brenda of Cozy Little House

Jennifer of The Cottage Nest

Kris of Junk Chic Cottage

Carolyn of Aiken House & Garden

Rue of An Old-Fashioned World

Su of Butterfly & Bungalow

Cathy of My 1929 Charmer

Courtney of Golden Boys and Me

Jane of Blondie's Journals