An Early Walk through the Garden

The Bakers Rack with plants

Billy Graham Rose

Pink Dragon Wing Begonia

My favorite flower garden in the yard.

I woke up early this morning and had a hot cup of coffee while relaxing in the swing on my back porch. I decided to take a few pictures of the back yard and share them. One of my favorite roses "Billy Graham" is blooming right now. It's a beautiful light pink and smells wonderful. My Dragon Wing Begonia is in full bloom and looks beautiful in the hanging basket. The bakers rack on the porch was something I purchased last weekend at an antique store for $52.00. It's very heavy and in excellent condition. I am still experimenting with what I am going to place on the shelves. Right now I have put some of my orchids from the greenhouse on it and a few other plants. The sign that you see above it came from my trip to Round Top several months ago. I am getting ready to go to work and then we are off to Canton Trade Days in Canton Texas for the weekend. The weather is sunny and humid again today in Texas. Good weather for an outdoor shopping adventure.

School is out!!!

Dining room table set with Blue and White Dishes. My dining room hutch with blue and white dishes displayed

Cream and Sugar set from Estate Sale

Wicker Chair

from City Wide Garage Sale
Small Table from Estate Sale

Star Fish Candles

Today was our last day of school. The seniors of 2008 will graduate tonight and begin a new phase in their lives. We got out a little early and I got to come come home and eat a good lunch that my mom had prepared. Fresh green beans and chicken and rice. I am posting a few pictures today of several different things. I lucked upon an Estate Sale and found a few "treasures"! I found a Duncan Phyfe accent table, the cutest cream and sugar set, and a Batten burg Table cloth with 12 napkins. The table cloth with the napkins was only $5.00. I came home and washed them in OxyClean and I am going to starch and iron them later. I'll post those pics later on when they are ironed. I also found two cute white star fish candles at Anthropologie, they were marked 18.95 but they had marked them down to 3.95. The white wicker chair is something that I bought at the City Wide Garage Sale in Austin a few months ago. It was a dark green when I bought it and I painted it white and bought two cushions from Marshall's. The cushions match a quilt and shams for the twin bed that I am working on. Right now I am keeping the chair in the dining room. If you notice I have plaid wallpaper in my kitchen and dining area. I hate this wallpaper and I am going to paint the walls this summer a pale yellow. I am also getting new counter top and refinishing the cabinets and getting new hardware. This week I also found a great "treasure" on Craigslist for my daughter Linsi. She needed a King size headboard and someone had a beautiful mahogany headboard for $20.00. She and Haley my youngest daughter picked it up and they both said it is in mint condition and looked really nice. I have to work a half a day tomorrow and then I am off to Canton Texas for Trade Days....so excited! It is extremely warm and humid today here in Texas. I think we are going to have a very hot summer. I worked on the headboard this week but I'm still not finished with that project. I am watching the college softball world series and when it cools later I may work on it again. Stay tuned for what I find in Canton this weekend.....hopefully many "treasures"!!! Have a great weekend!

Party

I have been busy working on the greenhouse, house, and yard for our yearly softball party. Each year at the end of the softball season I host a little swim party for the girls on the team and some of my coaching friends and family. I will post of few pictures of my yard and the greenhouse later on. My husband cooked hamburgers, sausage and boudain on the grill. (I ate way too much!) We also made homemade vanilla ice-cream and homemade banana nut ice-cream. YUMMY! I will post the recipe for the Banana Nut Ice Cream it was DIVINE! My friend gave it to me this week and it was the best I've eaten. You have to try it if you like homemade ice-cream. The girls had a blast in the pool and the weather was perfect. I am traveling to Canton Texas this weekend for the Trade Days! I am excited about this trip because I haven't been in almost a year and they always have neat places to shop. The recipe for the ice-cream is below....let me know if you like it when you try it!

Banana Nut Ice Cream
1 8 oz. Cool Whip
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons of Vanilla (we use Pure Vanilla)
2 Cups of Sugar
1 Cup of Pecans
3 eggs (beaten)
4 ripe bananas (mashed)
Milk

Combine all ingredients and put in the electric ice cream freezer and fill to the line with milk. I always mix my ingredients with the blender. I accidentally put the pecans in yesterday and it shredded them so if you like it smooth put everything in the blender, if not add the pecans at the end after you have blended the other ingredients.

Long Day

Well today was a long day. I've been working on several projects for the past two days. I attended the Memorial for one of the sweetest ladies today and the service was very special. The pastor did an excellent job commemorating her life. It made me realize it's the "little things" in life that are important. Sometimes we get caught up in the everyday life and forget to be thankful for those "little things". She had made a list of things that she said made her smile. The smell of coffee in the mornings, sitting on the back porch watching and listening to the birds, her children, the warm sunshine, her grandchildren, and her savior. That struck a chord with me because I too enjoy some of those same things myself and so many times take them for granted. I thank God for those special people in our lives that cross our paths. She will be greatly missed here on earth but Heaven is a brighter place with Wanda there.

After the service I came home and fertilized all my plants with Lady Bug Fertilizer. It has a lot of fish emulsion in it so it's not a pleasant smell but the plants love it! We are dog sitting my sons lab "Fisher" and I played with him some and then I painted a mirror and a magazine holder. I'll post pictures of the finished products when I complete them. I cooked fresh squash from the garden and Hamburger steaks with smothered onions. Yum. I watched "American Idol" while I did a little ironing and then I decided to cut out the cushions for my back porch swing and chairs. I want to sew a ruffle around the cushion for the swing but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that so I will do that later. I think I am going to cut it on the bias because it's a stripe fabric and I think that would look best. What do you think?

Our high school baseball team is in the playoffs and I will be going to that playoff game tomorrow night so no blogging because it will be a very late night since the game is 2 hours away.

Cushions for the back porch swing and chairs.

I was hoping to start on my cushions today for my back porch project but I did more work in my greenhouse and around the yard. I did however take a few pictures of my porch project so that I can have "before" and "after" pictures! The fabric that I chose for the cushions and pillows is a Waverly print. They had a floral and a stripe that I liked. The swing was hand made by one of my cousins and the two vintage chairs I found at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I was going to repaint them but for right now I am going to leave them "shabby". My husband doesn't understand the whole shabby thing!The table in the middle I bought at Roundtop last month and I added the round glass on top. I also took a few pictures today of one of my orchids that is blooming and one of my favorite roses "Fairy". It is blooming it's little heart out this year. I am planning a trip to Canton Trade Days for this month and I booked our room today. I was lucky and got a room in Canton this time which will make it more convenient. When I got to work this morning and I checked my email I had sad news from school. Our librarian passed away this weekend. She has been battling ovarian cancer for about 3 years. She was a wonderful person and I will miss her greatly.

2008 ABS Begonia Convention

We had a great time at the convention. I won a 2nd place ribbon for my begonia plant. We saw some beautiful plants at the show and of course we bought way too many plants at the plant sale. After church, I spent the afternoon potting all my new plants that I bought! My husband and I had lunch with some of our friends today and I confiscated some of their horse manure. This is wonderful fertilize for my begonias and roses. We scoop up the rotted manure and I mix it in with my potting soil. My favorite potting soil is Sunshine Potting mix. We also shopped at a few of my favorite stores while we were in Houston. We found some good bargains at Marshall's. My sister bought the cutest teapot with the plates and cups to match. We went by some of our favorite plants stores in Houston . Another Place in Time and Buchanan's are at the top of our list! I've included some pics from the convention. Me and Mom outside by the car and my sister, Lisa standing beside one of the plants. I am hoping to have time this week to work on some of those projects that I mentioned earlier. My goal is to make the cushions for my back porch swing and vintage metal chairs....so stay tuned.

Upcoming Projects

School is almost out for the summer and I have several projects that I am excited about! I will post "before" and "after" pictures as I get started. I recently rented a booth space at an antique coop and I am making things to go in my booth. When I get it all set up I will post a picture of that also. I am attending the begonia convention this weekend. I have entered one plant in the plant show and I plan to buy a few while I am there. I'll let you know how that goes when we get back. My mother and I will be staying with my sister since she lives close to the convention.