Fun With Flowers

This morning I read a post by Stacey of Poofing the Pillows titled "When It Feels Like Your Creativity and Motivation Are Just Gone!" - Stacey has a good excuse because they are in the process of building a house.

I on the other hand have projects waiting like painting the back porch and sewing new covers for the chaises in the garden, but I can't seem to push myself.

So, rather than tackle one of the big ticket items on my list, I headed to Trader Joe's.

These days my creativity seems to be limited to photography 

and I decided to buy flowers and have fun simply styling them and taking pictures.

 5 different bouquets of flowers became the props for playing with my camera.

I keep seeing pics on Instagram with a bag of flowers hanging on a hook - this is my version.

Another pic I see is flowers (in some sort of container) on a chair - I like my massive lavender plant peeking out in the background.

This spring, bicycle baskets filled with flowers catch my eye on IG - I staged mine in front of a favorite house in my neighborhood knowing that the out of town owners wouldn't be around.

After snapping the photos, I had to find homes for the flowers - I think my new pig on wheels makes a nice accompaniment to the daisies.

The vignette I set up last week before we headed to Sacramento to visit our daughter was looking really sad,

so I spiffed it up with the purple freesia - at least I think that's what the flowers are!

I have loads of asparagus fern in the garden, 

but it's a pain to sweep up and the carnations seem to last forever.

I added left over greenery to this bowl on the dining room - Lulu was a bad girl when we were in Sacramento and ate my new air plants that were sitting in the bowl.

It was fun to play with flowers and my camera and now I'm motivated to play with flowers and stripes - new chaise covers and pillows coming soon!

Hello Spring

 

I'm joining a wonderful group of bloggers for a Hello Spring Blog Tour.

You'll find the links to the other blogs at the end of this post and if you're visiting from one of the other blogs, thanks for stopping by.

We actually had a winter this year so like most of you, I am thrilled that spring weather is finally here.

The harsh winds and heavy rain have abated and I am busy getting our house ready for outdoor living.

Spring is happening in the house, 

but the majority of my time is spent in taming the jungle that popped up in our garden due to rain, rain, rain and more rain.

The first section I tackled was the side of the house and there is still much to do, but at least we can walk down the sidewalk.

Steve is happy that the weather once again allows him to sit on the bench in the sun each afternoon.

This little spot under the living room window was a disaster, but it's coming along nicely -

 an old red chair (found on the side of a street) adds colorful height to the space.

Far and away my favorite spring change is my little garden house.

I wanted to use it as more than a shed for holding tchotchkes so I created a fun little library for myself using whatever I could find around the house.

The denim chair cover had been hiding in the attic and it is simply thrown over a plastic garden chair.

The house is tiny, but there is just enough room for a little table.

I would love to say that I have been spending my days sitting in the little garden house, but the jungle is calling.

Fortunately, I love working in the garden

and then stepping back to see what I have accomplished.

And now let's see what everyone else is up to this spring.

Monday 

   Let's Add Sprinkles ...  Common Ground  ...  The Essence of Home ...  Bluesky Kitchen

Tuesday 

Ms. Toody Goo Shoes ... Art and Sand ... Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Wednesday

Botanic Bleu ... My Heart Lives Here ... Cottage At The Crossroads ... Fern Creek Cottage  ...
Decor To Adore

Thursday 

The Dedicated House ...  Ash Tree Cottage ... Hyacinths For The Soul ... Let's Add Sprinkles 

Keeping It Simple

For more than a year I have been cleaning, organizing and purging in an effort to simplify my life - I am far from finished.

Instagram and blogging provide a "diary" of my daily life and one of the things I have noticed is that not only do we have less stuff, but my decor is becoming less cluttered.

We had family visiting for a few days and as I stepped back to look at my table setting the other night, I marveled at how much less was on the table.

Rather than rushing out to buy flowers, I used what I could find in the garden which meant using small pitchers to hold the blooms.

The meal was paella so bowls were required and I used a very old set of World Market dishes.

I don't know if it's my iron or me, but I really did iron the table runner.

Keeping with the blue and white theme, I used some vintage napkins and added a little more color to the table with simple bouquets.

Less stuff means less time for cleaning and more time for gardening

and that's a good thing because I am trying to get my garden ready for the Spring Blog Tour.

Please stop in to see how bloggers around the country are decorating for the season.

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Join me at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for Share Your Cup

a little adventure . . .

In January I wrote a post titled, Beading Frenzy, and I talked about a workshop I hoped to attend called Digging LA led by Kaari and Molly Meng of French General.

Well, yesterday a dear friend and I left Ventura at 6:30 a.m. to drive to Los Angeles.

14 of us including the Mengs gathered at French General for chocolate croissants and a little bit of shopping in the fun little pink shop.

I apologize in advance for the pics - I didn't want to carry my good camera so all the pics are taken with my phone and I certainly couldn't ask anyone to turn off the lights!

French General carries a wide variety of beads

and lovely notions both old and new.

I spent more time looking at the beautiful cabinets

displaying goods throughout the shop

than I did shopping.

Before I could eat one more croissant, Kaari handed us cute little totes,

showed us the enclosed map and told us to meet them in a parking garage in the flower district - of course we got lost.

And that is almost the last of my photos - many of the shops had signs saying, "No Photos".

I snapped a few shots of the United Artists Theater (it opened in 1927) on a quick tour after lunch at the adjacent Ace Hotel.

The interior is spectacular, but it was impossible to get good photos with my phone.

I didn't go home empty handed - I couldn't pass up the chipped enamel Mardi sign.

Vera of Rowhomes and Cobblestones recently mentioned that she was born on a Tuesday and I actually had to check the internet to see the day of the week of my birth - turns out it was also a Tuesday.

The fabric came already hemmed on the edges so all I have to do is hem the ends to make a table runner.

Of course now I'm sorry I didn't pick up some of that fun red, white and blue fabric or the cloth measuring tape - might just need to go back.

Or maybe I'll save for the France Getaway - anyone want to join me?

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Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup