NaNa's Garden

My garden is finally coming alive. The days are starting to be warmer, even if only for a few hours in the afternoon, but that is helping to green everything up.

I was out in my yard today with my granddaughter Chloe, playing ball and looking at all the different things in my gardens, some vintage, some getting there!

I always go thrifting with buying for my shop in mind, but occasionally......okay, more than occasionally.......I keep a few things! This red metal chair is one of them. Partly because it is big and too heavy to ship and mostly because I love it and it is red!

I saw this castle in a catalog and my husband surprised me with it as a gift.

He also surprised me with this fairy door and windows. Around the corner from the castle is where the fairies live. We had this thing about circling items we wanted in catalogs as gift ideas. It definitely makes it easier to decide what to buy for each other and you always get what you want!

Chloe loves to go over and pet the deer. I got it at a yard sale where I practically had to fight the guy for it. He was selling it but reluctant to let it go because his late mother painted it. I am happy to have her just to watch Chloe go over and pet the "mommy" deer.

This bleeding heart was very small when my husband bought it for me. It must be planted in the right place because it is thriving there. The metal frog with the pink flower was a gift from my friend Lisa.

Chloe is a natural! A perfect pose next to my made in Mexico metal sunflower.

I have a lot of frogs in my gardens and this couple is my favorite. I think of it as me and my husband! Surrounded by Hosta and tiny blue Spring wildflowers, he is hiding a bouquet of flowers behind his back waiting for the right moment to present them.

We "inherited" the Christmas tree ferns when we bought the house. They are such a beautiful shade of green and just fill in everything beautifully. They multiply too so they are popping up all over my yard and they look great all the way to September. There are Lily of the Valley sprinkled in there too. I love the random, wild look of a garden as well as the perfect manicured one, so I left this area to grow where they may.

A Jim Shore frog lives in the ferns every summer.

Chloe is mesmerized by a tiny red spider crawling on the stepping stone my son made at school.

I love this terra cotta bird bath. I got it in the early 90's at the Renaissance Faire in Sterling, New York. Made by a local artisan, it has a frog perched on a leaf.

This bird bath was found at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in nearby Canandaigua. It is totally rusted cast iron which makes it perfect for a vintage junkie like me. The plants are Marguerite daisies, a gift from my daughter Jena, that will soon be a mass of tiny white flowers. Next to the daisy bed is my orange Daylily, my most favorite flower of summer. Growing up we had the exact ones all along the side of the garage. 

I was so intrigued by gargoyles after seeing them displayed all over the gardens at a summer cottage we stayed at. I had to get one for my garden, but just a small one. They are a little creepy looking! The background plants are chives which will have fuzzy purple flowers on them. I transplanted them from my farmhouse 18 years ago!

I bought a tree face for my husband one year which started a must-have trend for our yard. As you can see here, four trees have faces on them, each one a little different from the other. They do make an interesting addition to the garden. That's my kitty, Miss Kitty, perched on the brick fireplace.

More Christmas tree ferns all along the garage and Chloe in her Cozy Coupe. The CM on it stands for Christian Michael, my almost 16 year old son. It was also used by my first granddaughter Cassidy who is now 9 and will be used by Jeremy Craig (JC as they will call him), due in September, when he is old enough. Those Little Tikes toys last forever!

Chloe found it a fun game for me to chase her around the path with the stepping stones around the tree. I had to slow her down because of all the roots coming out on one side. My husband spray paints them every year not to stumble on them when making his way to the grill.

At one point she wanted to hop around. It was really hard for this old body to do that, even with two new hips!

I think the new growth on the pine tree is so pretty! It is a huge tree and the focal point of our yard and gardens.

I have always wanted to live by water, probably from going to the Thousand Islands every summer as a kid. I just love the sound of water nearby. Well, I kind of got my dream. There is a creek (really a water run-off) running under our yard from the other side of the street, and then along the back of our yard. When the water is high there is a constant sound of rushing water in the air. I'll take it!

If you made it to the end, thanks for taking the tour with me. It actually helped me see all that we've accomplished in 18 years. There is so much more to do and maintain but I am not in a hurry. I do what I can, one day at a time.

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these great blog hop parties:

Wednesday's Adorned From Above
Fluster's Creative Muster Linky Party
A Little R & R Wednesday Linky Party
What's It Wednesday
Fishtail Cottage Garden Party
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday
Feathered Nest Friday
Fertilizier Friday/Flaunt Your Flowers
Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Weekend Retreat Link Party
Weekends Are Fun Blog Hop
Pink Saturday
Strut Your Stuff Saturday Link Party
Amaze Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Masterpiece Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Return to Loveliness
Cottage Garden Party
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
A Little R and R

Decorating my Garden

I have always loved working on my gardens. I am not the best green thumb but I do know what I like to DECORATE my gardens with!

Last year the theme seemed to be frogs....you know how when your friends and family know you like or collect a certain thing, that's all you get for gifts for forever?! I had frogs everywhere.

This year I was a little lax in decorating and even in planting new flowers from spending too much time in my other passion...... hunting for great vintage finds. Until I went on vacation. The landscaping at the cottage we stayed in was so pretty (the above picture), that I was inspired to come home and refresh mine. I "stole" some ideas and started hunting for my garden decor immediately.

With my new perspective, I had a keen eye for just that special item. There, while still on vacation, in the local Amish farm market was my first find. My generous husband let me buy this metal windmill with the silver ball....a style and look I had been eyeing for a long time!

(You'll have to forgive the following pictures of my gardens for their lack of life....we are struggling to keep the flowers and grass alive in Upstate New York with our unusual 90+ degree weather and no rain. Everything is crunchy! Try to just look at the items I am talking about!!)

In a local antique shop there in Penn Yan, I met Paul, an 80 year old sweet gentleman who builds model sailboats on the side. I found this great all brass and completely rusted and weathered floral stand.

One of the ideas I "stole" was to put pots of different colored Impatiens around the gardens. This white one is hanging in there! The deer nestled in the periwinkle was lovingly painted by a woman who had just passed. Her son wanted too much money for it at his yard sale, for sentimental reasons, but then decided to part with it for a lower price for my garden!

 

My new sunflower is about 5' tall and all metal from Mexico. I got it at a shop on Main St. in the town I live. Another potted Impatien peeks out from the white iron chair.

My most favorite additions to my gardens are the next two pictures. I have always loved the free spirit of fairies and the magical fantasy that surrounds them ( I am a fan of Tink). My husband knows that and so for our 16th wedding anniversary last week he gave me a fairy door and windows to put on our huge, old pine tree.

Since our wedding day I have called my husband "My Knight in Shining Armor". For our anniversary he also gave me a castle.....

So, despite the hot, hot weather and the sun poisoning I got on my arms from the hot, hot sun I am enjoying the summer and my new garden decorations. Now we just need some rain to decorate our gardens with and bring everything back to life!

How is your summer going?

AnnMarie :)