The Bird Book Print and an Old Picture Frame

After our recent community yard sale, we were stuck with quite a few things that didn't sell. Most were donated locally, but I did keep a few of the old picture frames thinking that I could diddle with them and use them down the road.

I still have a few places at The Nest that need a little decorating, so decided to put a few things together to bring up there, and here is one of them.

This was originally a bronze-brass metallic

wood frame.

I sprayed it with Rustoleum

in an oil-rubbed bronze color

(the same one that I used on the knobs

for the kitchen cabinets up there)...

...and left just a little of the original finish

showing through...

I recently discovered a source for vintage prints

that were cut from old books.

The shop sells at very reasonable prices,

and I don't have to tell you what some

sellers charge for these.

This one was the title page from a vintage

bird book.
The seller has a water colorist on staff,
and he, or she, gently colors some of the
illustrations, as was done with this one.

I made a copy of it,
(of course, saving the original)

and fastened it to a nice piece of burlap that

I then used to cover the cardboard that came

with the frame.

Vintage-looking prong fasteners

hold the print to the burlap...

Here is a close-up.

It was hard to get a good photo due

to the reflections on the glass...

It took about ten minutes to put the whole thing together 

while waiting for the paint to dry on the frame.

What could be better than this

for a vacation place called "The Wren's Nest"?!

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I had also ordered a few other prints from this seller,
and I will share them with you on a future post.
If you're interested in browsing this shop on eBay,
the name of the store is Interior Elements,
and you can find it here.

Have you created anything "on the fly" lately?

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Today I am linking with Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party
and you can find it here.
I hope that you enjoy your visit!

A Blue-Eyed Spider and Some Vintage China Plates

Do you remember me? The summer has begun, and of course, I am too busy for words. Or at least, too busy to blog. I still think of you, though!


We have been back from the Wren's Nest for almost a week, and have spent most of the time working on our poor yard that had been neglected for 12 days. Need I say more!


While we were in Hendersonville, we went to the annual Garden Jubilee, and though I purchased a thank-you gift for our friends who watched our house while we were gone, I was so proud of myself for, in addition to a few Iris rhizones, buying only two other things, one of which was something we really needed and I specifically hoped to find there (I will share the other one with you in a future post.)

We needed a doorstop to hold open the door

that goes from the screened porch into

the enclosed porch,

as the wind keeps blowing it shut.

I thought this guy was the cutest little thing,

and he is very good as his task

since his body (a rock)

is quite heavy.

There were all sorts of artisans there,

and I was amazed at how crafty

they all were...

And speaking of clever artisans,

I loved this display of broken china necklaces.

The vendor actually used the plates that she cut the pieces

of china out of to display the pendants that she made 

out of said plates.

If you click on the photo below to enlarge it,

you will see what I mean...

 

We attended this event with our friends who recently bought the unit next door to Birdsong Cottage and had a great day. Of course, this was the only "great" day we had, since most of our time up there was spent doing hard labor on The Wren's Nest. Who can figure? More on that saga later.

I'm hoping that your week has gotten off to a great start!

The Ligustrum Border

Hello there!


At the back of our rear iris and daylily border is a row of Ligustrum. I am not sure which species it is, since it is one of the first things that we planted when we started to establish our garden beds. We initially put the row of these bushes in to offer some privacy between our yard and that of our neighbors in back. Those folk have since sold the house, and the new people are very nice. I am not much of a fence person, but the new people put up a wood fence which I ended up loving because it provides a back drop for our garden now. This year the Ligustrum are blooming beautifully with lovely white flowers that have the nicest scent. They have really come into their own this year, and I'm wondering if its because the fence offers them some protection.

 You can see the white blooms back by the crepe myrtle,

which will later also bloom white.

The ones on the left got a little bigger,

so in the fall I will trim them a little...

Here is a closeup of one of the blossoms.

Look closely and you'll see who else likes these!

The bushes have dark green waxy leaves

that stay lovely all winter long...

Here they are on the left,

shot while I was standing in the left side of

the garden looking across the border...

The irises have waned,

but the daylilies have set many buds.

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We will be leaving for The Wren's Nest in the 

next couple of days,

so I may not be able to post much.

I hope that life is treating you well!

Forever Susan: A Lily, not Me!

Back in March I planted a couple of lily starts in pots. Last week I transfered them from the pots to the garden, and am delighted that one of them is already bloomed. You can read about these here.

I was so excited to see how pretty this is...

I'm looking forward to seeing how the others

turn out!

Thanks for coming by.

A Hydrangea on the Deck and One on the Bush

Recently I mentioned that we had some early warm weather that fooled the garden into thinking that spring had come. This was followed by two freezes. Well, the hydrangea were all in bud when this happened, so the buds all fell off and the leaves shriveled up and turned brown. I was rather upset because when this happens we usually don't get very good flowers on the bushes.


The leaves have started to fill in and new buds have set, though nothing will be as large as they usually are in May. Though I was really sad about my favorites not putting on their usual show this year, imagine how happy I was to see one large blossom that managed to stay warm enough over the deck. It is now in full bloom.

I wish my bushes were filled with blooms this size...

...but I'm happy that I have at least this one...

But not all was lost.

Our oakleaf hydrangea, which grows in front of

the woods surrounding our house,

must have liked the cold snaps

because she is blooming better than ever...

...with her huge and majestic flowers...

 

I hope that you are having a bloomin' good day!!