Fresh From the Garden....A Closer Look

I have been living vicariously through all the beautiful garden posts and blog parties all summer, not participating in any of them as yet. I have shown bits and pieces of my garden but not the full picture.

Why??

My garden is not growing well!

We had a terrible drought that left our lawn brown and crunchy and the only thing growing now is the crab grass.

The flowers have been pretty crabby too.

But then my perspective changed when I scrolled through Jann's Up Close and Personal with July Blooms post over at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson. She and some other lovely ladies are hosting a Garden Party that you can link up to.

Inspired to finally do a garden post I grabbed my camera and went outside to take some fresh pictures, up close. I managed to find some that are doing just fine.

One plant that did not fail me is my favorite orange Daylily. I tried to buy more at several garden stores but was told they are too common to sell. I was tempted to dig some up on the side of the road where they grow in abundance, but decided I like my freedom more ;-)

My fairy garden in a bird bath is doing just fine, being in and out of the shade most of the day.

The Impatiens seem to like their spot in this old rusty floral vase.

I mix in a lot of different decorative things in my garden and these wooden mushrooms are my newest edition. I got them at a great garden shop in Port Hope, Canada. They will never fade!

I had to have this heavy plaster swan when I saw her at an estate sale. The pink Impatiens love riding on her back.

I did have red Impatiens in this bicycle basket but the squirrels stole one of them so I just let the Sweet Potato vine take over.

New to me is this Umbrella plant that I fell in love with and had to add to my garden this year.

More Impatiens amongst the Hostas….

My middle garden is over run with Black Eyed Susan's right now, which is fine with me. I decided to grow a pot of Spearmint this year and it is getting huge. The cute white elephant water can is a yard sale find.

I got tired of the ground cover that is choking out my Bee Balm and other flowers at the far end of this garden. With my granddaughter Cassidy's help, we pulled a lot of it out. I decided to take my chances and plant some Perennials now instead of waiting till Fall. This Coneflower is not in the ground yet but will go on this end along with yellow Coreopsis and Lavender.

I never thought these Lilies would bloom but they all are and they are huge.

The garden doesn't look so bad when you get up close to the flowers. Editing the pictures helps a lot!

Thanks Jann for the inspiration!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these fun blog parties:

Garden Party
Anything Goes Pink Saturday
Home Sweet Home
Over the Moon Link Party
Gardens Galore

In Full Bloom

This post is a photo diary of my July garden, after lots of rainy days in Upstate NY.

I am joining Pam at Everyday Living, at her new garden party that she is hosting throughout the summer, called Gardens Galore.

My "Garden" sign is blooming....

The Hostas are ready to bloom.....

Almost, but not quite there.....the Black-Eyed Susan, which is what makes up the whole first part of my middle garden, will be in all it's blooming glory in a few weeks...

To see more beautiful gardens, click on the link at the

top of this post to go to the party....

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these fun blog parties:

Gardens Galore

Share Your Cup

Home Sweet Home

Munching My Way Through Recovery

It has been 17 days of recovery from my hip surgery and I am doing okay. I don't like being out of the loop of blogging and my blog parties so I am posting a little update on what is going on around here. It has been mostly low key and boring with a little excitement built in.

Mostly I sit in my surgery chair all day, in between visits to the bathroom and the kitchen for something to eat. I have visitors in and out all week, ie. the Physical Therapist, the nurse and the crazy lady that runs in, takes my blood and runs out all in about 15 seconds...really! She told me she does about 30 patients a day. She may stay a little longer to chat if it is about QVC or fashion!

I have had dear friends visit also, bringing me wonderful dinners and to chat for a little bit. It is so funny how people think you are so fragile while recovering. I have to convince them that they can hug me and that I can talk for more than a few minutes!

My mantle looks like this these days......quite different than the bunnys on parade I had as decor in March for Easter and Spring. There is a combination of Get Well and Mother's Day cards and one of many bouquets of flowers I have received.

Speaking of Mother's Day......my daughter and family, along with my husband and son cooked a Seafood Boil for dinner with Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble for dessert! Yum! I will post the recipes later in another post. My daughter had gone to the Public Market (downtown Rochester, New York) Saturday morning and got most of the ingredients for this delicious dinner. I was sitting in my chair the whole time they were cooking waiting to hear the words, "dinner's ready!"

 

So now that the weather is getting a little nicer here I am feeling a little cooped up inside. I went to the side porch, hobbling with my walker, to have a peak outside to my side yard. There I saw that everything is growing abundantly and in need of a bit of weeding. Oops! forgot....I can't garden for a year, according to the surgeon. Just try and keep me away! Anyways, I got to see my fading grape hyacinths and my red tulips blooming.

 

 



And then I spotted them! Two lone purple lilacs on my lilac tree! That tree is only about 4 years old and only has bloomed once! I was so excited to see them there finally, but it was a little bittersweet having to view them from a distance! They bloomed just in time for Rochester's famous Lilac Festival.




As soon as I am able, these Impatiens will be potted into various containers to be put around my garden. They were a gift from my son for Mother's Day.

 

So I mentioned at the beginning that there was a little excitement during this two weeks of recovery. This past Monday night my husband asked my dear friend Bonnie to come over and stay with me so that he could go to his softball game. He missed the first one of the season because of my surgery and he is the coach and the pitcher of our church softball team. 

 

Part way into the game I got the dreaded call. He had been hit by a line drive ball off the bat right in the forehead and was down for the count. It was just one blessing after another from there on. Two of his teammates are EMT's so they immediately attended to him. They also went to the hospital and stayed with him the whole time he was there (till midnight) and called me with updates. One other guy on his team drove his car home from the field to our house, which is about 40 minutes away. My friend Bonnie's presence was so calming that I actually did not panic and we prayed and chatted in between updates. She also stayed way longer than planned, just not to leave me. I felt helpless but the Lord blessed me and my husband so much during the whole incident.

 

Yes, I have been very blessed through this whole surgery and recovery, having my daughters and husband take care of me, friends visiting with food and lots of well wishes through cards and email.

 

Today I got a really nice surprise from my sweet friends Lisa and Ron......a special delivery from QVC of Germack Gourmet Medley......

 

 

Something new to do while I sit in my recovery chair......crunch and munch my way through 3 jars of this delicious mix!

 

 

Till I blog again.....

 

AnnMarie :)



 

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 :)