espalier.....

one of the duties, as the gardener to this particular property, is to keep this beautiful espalier looking good.
combined out of 11 bradford pear trees and trained into a living fence...

installed 6 or 7 years ago (can't remember) and underplanted with hosta...,,,,

it borders one corner of the pool area......

it grows like crazy and needs a haircut about every three weeks! see that wheelbarrow there? i call that "my office". i have included this photo with the 5 foot ladder, to show scale and YES i have to stand on the TOP rung of the ladder to reach the top of the espalier (don't do this at home). can you picture me up there, in my stylish wellies and vintage apron and hair in braids?? ya, right......

although, i DO wear my hair in braids.

at what age, is it too old to wear braids?

or teeter at the top of a ladder?

not a bad place to work, eh?

i love my job.

mm

mmm

i hope Hurricane Irene doesn't wreak too much havoc on YOU......

evacuating NY City?? unheard of. oh my.

right around the corner...

feeling restless yesterday....
we took off for a drive through the country. we had not traveled far...

when i spotted this cheerful white weed, merrily dancing across the field.

it turns out.

it was just what i needed.

i go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.

~john burroughs

a few more glimpses...

into my living/sunroom/not sure what to call this room.....i have been slowly adding more brown and earth tones to the room.....as summer winds down (although still hotter than Hades) , i am desiring the early and subtle colors of autumn.......i moved the old hutch, to this wall between the large windows. it weighs a millionish pounds or more.......i used sliders that you slip under the feet, that make it mucho easier to slide across the carpet.

i usually rearrange alone....by choice, mind you.
i brought in this old hose reel, plucked from the garden......to sit on top, for a more industrial look.....and added a plant plopped into a galvanized bucket.

i then removed everything from the hutch......and arranged a carefully folded pile of some of my favorite white and cream blankies........i worked in a quilt store years ago.... the very first job i had after being a stay-at-home-mommy for 13+ years.......where i got lots of practice in how to artistically fold a blankie and shmooz with country music stars.

love the old knob.

i have had this hutch for over 25 years......one of the first antiques i ever bought.

i have thought about painting him many times, but i am glad i did not.......having a dark piece in a room really "grounds" the room.

creamy crockery (use an english accent while saying that...it sounds much better, doesn't it?)

i brought in a white trellis from the garden too.

i also, switched out the chairs at the little farm table......the brown tones announcing the drought laden gardens and colors of the late summer harvesting......

and i added this milk crate with dried whatcha-ma-call-its.....sorry i can not recall the name of this plant! but i do recall that it is the plant, minus the dried heads, from which brooms are made....anybody know the plant? anybody....it is so beautiful.

the folding chair and,

this old desk chair were in my "prop" room, waiting to be dusted off and seen in a new light.

the heavy old desk chair wears this cool metal plaque on its back......i imagine it was used during WW11......the stories it could tell.

it is those quirky details that give a house its soul....

that, and the quirky people who live there.

i strive to be quirky.

mmmmm

mmmmm

i am joining these parties..

debra at commonground blog for inspiration friday

and

laurieannas vintage home for farmhouse friday

thanks ladies!

other lives...

my old 1999 jeep has been in the shop for a couple of days.......new compressor for the air conditioner needed........so yesterday, i went to town, rearranging my sun/living/never know what to call this/room......and of course big kit-ten and little miss daisy had to join in the fun!
i removed the painted white coffee table and stuck it in the attic (i call that the "prop room") and replaced it with this old medical cart from the back porch.......rubbed the rust off with "mr. clean's magic eraser" (do you know about this amazing product? you must check it out!)......and i am lovin the new look.
all old pieces, that lived other lives......pulled together.

the top was just a little too rusty for me, so i topped it with an old wooden tool caddy that has the coolest tin bottom.

love them curvy legs.

added some chunky white candles......

old bottles sitting on a piece of poor man's silver......

and a hand forged copper bird feeder with a broken chain.

pulled the old fan from the prop room too.

gratuitous kitty toes...couldn't help sharing those, just because.

joining

debra at common ground blog

for vintage inspiration friday

have a wonderful weekend friends!!

erin

xxoo

it's the little things...

dainty sweet peas plucked from my summer garden.


these perennials have bloomed twice this season, despite the opressive heat..... and yes, oh my, their fragrant soft pink blooms are so beautiful to behold...but......

it is their delicate, curly little tendrils...ever reaching..... reaching.

that really fascinate me.

and one of the many reasons i love nature so very much.

joining kim klassen for texture tuesday

and exploring the little things.

the light...

what a glorious weekend! filled with happiness and light. the beautiful light of friendship and creativity and affirmation.

i woke up friday morning to a surprise deluge of comments and new followers... so FUN....it turns out i was featured on Miss Mustard Seed's Blog, seen here, and this sent new friends and new affirmation my way!! welcome! and thank you so very much! i worked hard on my newish dining room and how wonderful to be able to share it! when i blogged about my dining room, i hadn't yet figured out what to do with the 1970's brass light fixture (which i had painted black years ago), so i painted one coat of white craft paint to it and kinda let it go...until the inspiration came to me.
using what i had, i added my hand made doily bowls, left over from another project, to some of the lights......up side down.....really just balancing there on the bulbs! i thought about creating new doily lampshades, yunno with real lampshade frames and all.... but settled on this for now.....it may change....most likely will.... things around here usually do! right, hubby? he loves me anyway, for all of the changes.

and then i added translucent white ghost leaves (from Anthro's clearance table) and pieces from a deconstructed windchime (long ago tangled by stong winds)..... oh look, you can see i need to do another coat of white paint....but that will probably not happen....... and it is fine with me...yes, it is.....it's good for my never ending "recovering perfectionist" work, to just leave it. ha

the dangly bits and bobs create such beautiful light.

you can read about my handmade doily bowls here.

the light is sooooo pretty coming through the window into the delicate lace of those bowls.

it's all about the light.

the beautiful light.

i must say...... just how overwhelmed i feel right now (in a very good way)....with all of this luminous light around me...... to have so many people respond so positively to my dining room, but most especially to my paintings!! so many have expressed interest in purchasing my paintings, especially the "horsey" painting. my paintings are a labor of love for me and i want to share them! please know that yes, my paintings are for sale (to the right home, of course) and you can e-mail with any inquiries........i'll do my very best to respond (with my lack of typing and computer skills.....hey, i am artsy-fartsy)......i promise, i will get back to you :0)

we received some much needed rain today and there's more in this weeks forecast......aahhhhh, time in the studio painting for me!!! in search of that light.

my bloggy friend, Lucinda of Cobalt Violet often ends her posts with

"blessings and light"

isn't that beautiful? i love that......

~blessings and light~

erin