Tag Archives: nature

Baby Boo Pumpkins ~ Grow Your Own

For the past five years at least, my husband has planted baby boo pumpkins for me. We plant a small variety of other food-bearing plants and also some flowers from seed. Some of them come and go but the three that remain regulars in our garden are baby boos, tomatoes and cockscomb. One year we didn’t plant them and summer and fall just weren’t the same.

I adore pumpkins! I love all shapes and sizes, from Baby Boos, to Cinderella, to Blue Moon to Fairytale. I am obsessed with their form and love to use them in my fall displays, and the more the better. The cost to create a substantial vignette can add up really fast but a packet of seeds is only pennies. Even though my husband does the work of planting them, I have helped in the past and their really isn’t that much to it. If you have a small patch of ground that you aren’t using you can plant the seeds in the spring and just ninety days later you can harvest 60-100 baby boos from one packet of seeds.

They take up a smaller plot of land than other varieties. That’s one of the things I love about them.

We have close to fifty boos that are about ready to be picked. I’ll leave a lot of them on the vine for a couple more weeks but went ahead and picked a few now so I could get a start on my vignettes.

They’re just so cute. It’s impossible to have too many. I’ll share more boo vignettes as we get further into fall.

Next week I’ll share part 2 of my Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be enjoying an outdoor concert by the band Boston. Woohoo!

Phrase Art Phriday: Seed Days

Welcome to another Phrase Art Phriday where I share a piece of original photography overlaid with a favorite quote, phrase or thought. As summer winds down I would like to share another picture from my garden.

As much as I adore fall, I am always sad to see summer go. Mostly because of the cold weather that looms ahead but also because all of the beautiful green will soon fade away.

Do you ever have days that feel like you’re spinning your wheels and not accomplishing much? Then all of the sudden one day you feel like you are knocking things out left and right? Those days seem like the most productive days when in fact they are the “flowers of tomorrow” that were produced during the “seed days” of putting in the hard work. Who doesn’t love to see the blooming take place ~ that sense of accomplishment after completing a long, difficult project that turns out better than one imagined? I love that feeling.

But I’ll admit, there are some projects during which I hate the process and when it’s finished I don’t even like want to look at what I’ve created. Sad, right? Whenever you find it difficult to “enjoy the journey” change your approach and remind yourself that you’re in the “seed days”. When you feel like you can’t wait to wrap it up and move on, try to see the mundane task as a precious seed that you’re planting, watering and watching over in order to bring forth the sweet smelling bouquet of accomplishment. Then not only will you have the beautiful flowers, you will be able to remember fondly the time well spent planting the seeds.

Tomato Picking and a Sneak Before Peek

We are in the height of tomato season here and I am reveling in the juicy bounty. I can’t count how many BLT’s I’ve already had and I plan to have many more. Thanks to my husband for planting so many vines we have an abundant harvest and thanks to these little punkins, the tomato picking has been a joy.

Burgers and salad anyone?

I hope you’re enjoying the summer. I’ve been soaking it in and am not ready for it to be over yet. I’ve also been finalizing my kitchen projects. I’ll have a full “before and after” to show you next week.

In the meantime I want to show you one “before”.

The charcoal walls are now gone! I can’t wait to show you the new color along with my easy DIY window treatments and lots of other projects and vignettes I have put together to bring in the farmhouse feel I love.

Phrase Art Phriday: Thirst

Have you ever been so parched that all you can think of is downing a huge glass of water as soon as you can get to one? You know that feeling when the ice cold water hits your mouth and you chug, chug, chug it down like you are dying of thirst? That feeling of being satisfied, having your thirst quenched that only water can give. That kind of thirst is a satiable thirst.

Then there are the thirsts in life that cannot be satisfied. I’ll be honest and say that when I have a sugary dessert I am not satisfied. I want more. And more. My sugar cravings are insatiable and somewhat life-controlling if I allow them to be. For some it might be shopping. The “thrill of the hunt” never goes away. I love to shop but I do get my fill after a really long day of it. For others the desire for success might be a relentlessly driving force. No matter how much this person achieves it is never enough.

All of these things are fine, maybe even good, in and of themselves. They just aren’t meant to be that which fulfill our very souls. I will be honest again and admit that most of my thoughts are preoccupied with how to make a successful business out of doing what I love, here on the blog and in some creative form whether it be jewelry design, graphic design, DIY or something else. I don’t necessarily classify this as an insatiable thirst for me because I have yet to achieve it to any degree, monetarily anyway. And yet it tends to consume me.

I certainly have been doing a lot of soul-bearing in this series! #16 on Trust dealt with a similar topic but I’m now taking it further. Recently I decided to embark on a specific personal journey with God. I made the decision to finally surrender my yearning for success in exchange for a closer relationship with Him. I have come to realize that my desire for success has been holding me back from experiencing the thirst-quenching nature of intimacy with my Creator. Until now I have been trying to “serve two masters” and if I’m totally honest I would have to say that the success thing had my heart. I am sure this will not be a once and for all type of surrender. Especially since I will continue to blog and create. I believe that’s the path I’m on for a reason. But it will be a balancing act. Is it possible to pursue those passions and still keep my heart where it belongs, fully trusting God for the outcome? If I can have my thirst satisfied through a closer walk with Him perhaps the outcome won’t really matter.

Things in My Yard I Love~Things in My House I Do Not

I strolled around my yard this morning with my camera while it was still halfway cool and caught some summer sights to share with you. One of my favorite things about summer is having fresh, delicious tomatoes. We (and by we I mean my husband) always plant both cherry tomatoes and big tomatoes. The cherry ones are always ready to eat a good 2-3 weeks before the big ones so having them helps me be patient for the others.

The yellow cherries are my absolute favorite. They are super sweet and bursting with flavor. Last year all we could find were the yellow pear-shaped minis and they were disappointingly blah. But this year we’ve got the good ones!

There’s a BLT with my name on it once this pretty thing ripens up.

Speaking of pretty things, isn’t Bella gorgeous? She belongs to my next door neighbor but she visits almost daily.

This morning I believe she had her eye on these:

There is a family of bunnies living under our shed. I enjoy watching them. They’re cute ~ as long as they leave our produce alone. So far, so good.

This plant will soon be covered in Baby Boos (little white mini pumpkins). We (husband) plant them every year and occasionally the bunnies will eat the blossoms.

Last week my husband and I were relaxing in the living room. I stood up to go to the kitchen and something caught the corner of my eye.

Yep, this bat was hanging out in our living room for who knows how long before I noticed it. It’s the second one this summer, so my husband grabbed the phone and called animal control. While we waited for them to come get it out of our house, I grabbed my camera and got the best shot I could without getting too close. Gross, right? The woman from animal control commented that he was “a big one” then scooped him up in her net. Apparently she had been out on several calls already that night from other people with bats in their houses. Now I walk around scanning the walls with my eyes because you just never know!

Phrase Art Phriday: Embrace Your Flaws

Welcome to another post in a series where I combine original photography with a favorite quote, phrase or thought. Embrace Your Flaws is #21; the subject is a simple berry and bottle arrangement. I have been experimenting with my new camera, enjoying the way it can capture so much detail.

I had no idea when I took this picture that there was a cobweb running between the berries. But thanks to the wonderful macro, there it is for all to see.

No worries. Every house has them, right? Does the cobweb detract from the beauty of the shot? It depends on one’s focus. If I choose to view it as a negative thing that is marring the photo then I am less able to see the way the light reflects off the bottle or the way the cobweb shows movement or the way it depicts real life.

I choose to see the cobweb as a happy accident. It enhances the picture and makes it a realistic snapshot of life. Though I hate cobwebs in my house and am forever trying to get rid of them, I will embrace this one.

Tarnished Royalty

Design Your Life