Buttoning Down for Winter

Jan here, with a moving in update. I've told you about the back porch at our new house. The view gets better with every change of the seasons and angle of the sun!

But there's another side to our new home. I love the front of the house, too.

This is our front door and the perennial flower bed we inherited from the former owner. This is much like it looked when we first saw the house in April - dormant plants. We added my favorite blue bird bath and our herons (made of iron and stone,) plus the bird feeders. After a summer of neglect, it was time to put these plants to bed.

You might wonder why I was so pleased to find this mature garden. Well, if you've been around the Cafe for a while, you know that we've moved. A lot. Our average time of living in a place was five years until we moved here.

I have planted - and left behind - more flower beds than I want to think about. With each garden, I've left a little piece of my heart planted in that ground that I tilled, fertilized, planted, mulched, watered...

But here, in this new place, we have no plans to leave this garden behind for many years. My dormant green thumb can come out and play again!

In case you're wondering, that brown thing
is the downspout from our eaves-troughs
(aka gutters)

Since we were expecting another winter storm to come through on Sunday, I spent a couple hours on Saturday morning trimming, pulling weeds, deadheading flowers, and cutting back. Of course, I had a helper!

I also did a little planting - - -

A few crocus bulbs strategically placed,

And my great-grandmother's rose that lived in this pot all summer during our move.

Here it is, in its new spot and cut back for winter. I'll buy a cover to protect it from the frigid cold we're expecting this year, and it should be just fine next spring.

And here we are! All buttoned down and ready for the winter storms!

Jack celebrated with a nap, and I celebrated with one of my favorite treats - an "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" cookie! Click HERE for the recipe!

How do you get ready for winter?

Jan Drexler loves her family, her home, cooking and just about anything made by hand. But she loves her Lord most of all.

Stop by Jan's website to learn more about her books: www.JanDrexler.com

Birthdays and Flowers

So, Monday was my birthday - one of those big ones - but never mind about that. We're only as old as we feel, right?

Well apparently, my family and friends were more into celebrating than I was, and I received two beautiful flower arrangements. Flowers are lovely, but the life of cut flowers is so fleeting that I decided to celebrate them here.

From my sisters - who delight in calling me "the elder" because I guess that's revenge for all the times they had to do as I said. Yeah, who's kidding who here?

The second bouquet, which really came first and in person, is this beautiful arrangement from a friend. It also came with a chocolate mousse cake, so who's looking at flowers?!

But before there were birthday flowers, I had been noticing the abundance of flowers in my neighborhood. We've had A LOT of rain this summer so some flowers are thriving and some are washing away. In any case, since I didn't do much cooking this past week, I figured I'd celebrate some Brooklyn gardens.

My church has a committee of angels who cultivate the most gorgeous garden.

Apple trees! As I posted this I was suddenly thinking of the significance of apple trees in a church garden. 

Hmmm

No flowers here, I just love the sight of the steeple soaring against the blue sky.

And speaking of flowers - THIS is about to go live.

Wishing you all a garden of delight today.


ETA: For Mindy

Flower Power

Missy Tippens

I've really enjoyed the flowers this spring and summer. I've been on a quest (like in previous years) to get just the perfect magnolia photo to use on my blog or elsewhere. The problem is that it's difficult to find a perfect bloom at the perfect time at a height I can reach!

I thought I'd share a few of my favorites I've captured so far as well as a few other photos of gardenias, roses and hydrangeas.

Some of the earliest blooms we had were the knockout roses. The bushes were packed with blooms this year.

Below is one in my yard that I thought was beautiful. I'm not even sure what it is! It's different from the one I shared with y'all before.

Here is one of my favorites, wisteria--so very southern. This particular plant was growing outside the entrance of a store at an outdoor shopping center. It was so pretty!

Here's another mystery to me (below). Does anyone know what it is?

Here's one of our gardenia bushes. It was packed with buds and blooms this year! (You can see the multiple buds below.)

And here's one of my favorite photos from the many I took of the gardenia blooms. I wish y'all could have smelled the fragrance each time I left my house! This bush is right beside the front porch.

And now the ones I've worked so hard to capture. My neighbors probably think I'm crazy for all the days I've been out in the yard photographing this tree. :) Plus, I've photographed the magnolia trees at our church, too! For weeks, after the worship service, I've walked around one particular (huge) tree, trying to find new blossoms that are close enough to the ground to reach with the camera (my phone). There's nothing more creamy beautiful than a magnolia bloom.

I hope y'all enjoyed a walk through my yard this spring and summer! We've had a beautiful season. Now it's time to replant the pots on my front porch. The pansies can't take the hot sum at this point. I'll share photos of the new flowers later!

www.missytippens.com

A Country Sampler

Have I mentioned how much I love living in the country?

After living my entire life in either small towns or suburbs, our move to the country has been a nice change. One I'm not apt to grow weary of anytime soon. 

I love our evening walks that sometime take us into the woods, through the pasture...

And around the tank.

Especially when there's a beautiful sunset.

This week was much quieter than the week leading up to Easter. And while I'm still in love with nature, it's mostly the flowers I've been watching this week.
The amaryllis are in full bloom.

As are the roses, snapdragons and other annuals.

And as we drove through the countryside over the weekend, we were able to catch the tail end of the bluebonnets. 

Oh, and would you look at the smile blooming on this little munchkin's face.

I dare you not to smile.

So, if you'll recall, we spent most of the last year renovating my in-laws' house. And while we've been living in the house since mid-December, there was still one room that wasn't complete. But as of Friday, the powder bath now has sink/vanity.

You see, we'd picked out a vanity that we loved. But when it was delivered, it was damaged. (You can't relate, can you Ruthy?) So we reordered and the second one was damaged even worse than the first. Then we had to make a decision. Take a chance on ordering again or come up with another option. 

After seeing something a friend posted on Facebook, we came up with another option. One that began with finding a really cool slab of spalted maple. And finally, after almost four months...

It's nothing at all like the one we'd originally ordered, but I love it none the less. For starters, I got the vessel sink I'd always wanted yet the other vanity didn't have. Beyond that, though, this vanity has character. It's got imperfections. And instead of trying to hide the rough edges, we decided the highlight them. 

Honestly, it turned out better than I expected and I couldn't be more pleased.

So that's my uneventful week in nutshell. What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Three-time Carol Award nominee, Mindy Obenhaus, lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com

 

Wonderful Flowers!

Missy Tippens

Since I only cooked once this past week (and it's a recipe I've shared before), I decided to share some photos I've taken recently of beautiful flowers.

First, a wonderful arrangement that some of the current Seekerville bloggers sent me after my father passed away. They were a stunning arrangement, and the roses smelled wonderful! Here a photo from the day they arrived...

And here they are nearly a week later, after the blossoms opened fully. They were so lush, just gorgeous.

I also wanted to share some photos of the really creative, pretty arrangement of flowers at church this past Sunday. Such clever use of different sizes of vases!

And I love that we have an alter guild, volunteers in the church who do the flowers each week. They're so talented!

Now, on this one, I need your help. I love these bushes! Such pretty colors--leaves and flowers. I see them everywhere. But I'm not sure what they are. Maybe you can help me!

Okay, y'all share your expertise.

Are you starting to experience spring in your area?


www.missytippens.com