Saturday Meanderings

As I write this, the skies are heavy and gray with a gentle rain falling. We cherish the rain here in the southwest. However, it’s hard to get motivated to do anything since I’d prefer to just curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. Happy Saturday to you and I love writing this post to chat about all good things this week.

Color Attraction

For some reason, every March I am attracted to the color violet/purple. The rest of the year this color doesn’t seem to float my boat, which seems a bit odd to me. In March 2018, I wrote a post about this very topic, realizing that 5 years ago, in March, purple was again the color for me.

This must have something to do with taxes~the needless worrying that goes with that unpleasant event. Anyway, Coco from The Crowned Goat wrote a wonderfully thoughtful post (see it here), which inspires me to look for violet bed linen.

In googling lavender sheets, I find this bargain at Home Depot. Laura Ashley Lillian 4-piece sheets (king) for $42.83! When did Laura Ashley sheets get so inexpensive? The original price is $77.81 with a $35.04 discount! They should arrive in a few days but I am very excited about getting them.

Here’s the link in case you too are having a violet/lavender/purple obsession.

New Faux plants

I cannot take complete credit for this because I saw these faux boxwood topiaries on a recent Miss Mustard Seed blog post. Don’t you love it when someone else does the research, makes the purchase and then shares their review? It is fortuitous since I am in the market for two, low (actually no) maintenance plants on the front porch of the pool house.

At 56″ tall, I think these artificial boxwood topiaries provide a bit of elegance to the front entry of the pool house. It appears they may be out of stock on Amazon (see link here). I am able to order them directly from the Silk Warehouse for $239.00 for two trees. UV rated for out door use, I am hoping they last a long time. No watering required!

The plants are inserted into these high density resin planters I found at Costco (a package of 3 for $31.99). My husband fills the planter with a bag of pea gravel which provides enough weight to hold it steady. Such a sweet addition to the front of the pool house!

Planting the Garden

It appears we are finally passed the frost and just overnight, it is Spring here. The birds are chirping, everything is budding and yes, that yellow pollen is covering everything and anything.

After an extremely productive trip to my favorite nursery, Whitfill Nursery on Glendale Avenue, I am ready to get my hands in the dirt. The beds are filled with freshly composted soil and while I still need a few more amendments (iron and copper), the seedlings are in the ground.

Here is what I have growing in my garden now:

• Artichokes
• Arugula
• Rainbow Swiss Chard
• Bell Peppers-green and yellow
• Tomatillos
• Spaghetti Squash
• Green beans
• Peppers-jalapenos
• Shishito peppers
• Alfresco Lettuce mix
• Romaine lettuce
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes-Sun gold, early girls, black heirloom, San Marzanos
• Kale
• Raddiccio
• Rhubarb
• Sage, basil, thyme, wild bergamot, dill, cilantro, parsley, tarragon
• Eggplant
• Onions
• Flowers-sunflowers, pincushion, zinnias and bee attracting seeds I planted last fall

Two days this week in the garden which is emotionally so satisfying but physically tiring (my poor back). So far no critters have come in to mow down all my hard work, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Dogsitting Hemingway

While my daughter is hiking the Son Doong cave (the largest natural limestone cave on the planet) in Vietnam, we are pet-sitting her German Shepherd, Hemingway. He is balm for the soul after saying goodbye to our sweet beagle Sox recently. Such a well behaved and well mannered dog, we are truly enjoying his companionship.

While she was in the cave for 6 days we had no way to communicate with her. As you can imagine, we are so delighted to get these photos from her yesterday.

Speaking of traveling, our son, Benjamin and his girlfriend, Delaney are traveling through Colombia. I think I want to come back as one of my children! We feel so blessed that they have the love of travel. While the two oldest are traveling to exotic places, our youngest just picked up her cap and gown for graduation. Lots of new adventures for our three rascals.

Dead Animal in the Garage

There is no other smell as awful as an animal or human decaying. We’ve yet to find the dead animal in the garage, but I’m guessing it is underneath our chest freezer. In attempts to pinpoint the location, I took a flash light and looked around. Much to my surprise (and a bit of fear), I find this:

What??!! First of all, I didn’t know we HAD snakes and to find out that we do in the garage? Yuck. Hopefully this weekend we can figure all this out, but I’m not happy about it….not one bit.

A Dangerous, yet yummy recipe

As you know, we are trying to eat a healthier diet. But for me, sometimes I need just a bit of something with my cup of tea or afternoon coffee. Not necessarily a cookie, but you know, something sweet but not fattening.

I often look to Monique from Ambitious Kitchen as her recipes lean toward the healthy side. Well, I found her Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars and oh my, they are so addicting. Using almond flour, coconut sugar and oats, they do seem a bit healthier. I made some adjustments to the recipe such as using sunflower seed butter vs. peanut butter. The problem is that I cannot eat just one.

Even though we cut them up into very small portions, I have to figure out a way to control myself. Not only are they delicious warm out of the oven, but I really prefer them after refrigeration. See Monique’s recipe here.

Fall Styling Workshop

We are so blessed to have Bella Terra, a place we call home. This unique property, however, should be shared with others. As the push for new development continues, properties like ours are being plowed down for denser housing. Quite honestly, I’m really not sure how long this parcel will remain intact.

More now than ever, I am determined to share our property and gather people together who appreciate beautiful places and spaces.

I am teaming up with some very talented bloggers and will be hosting a Fall Styling Workshop here on October 21, 2023. I feel it is so important for us to share time together and learn something new. As we fine tune the agenda, I hope you are able to join us for this special day. Do you want to learn how to transition from fall to holiday decorating? Easy tips for styling a beautiful mantel? Enjoy a delicious al fresco luncheon in the orchard with others?

Let me know what you think. Would you like to attend? Anything in particular you would enjoy learning? Please reach out to me as we would love your input! The goal is to kick off a successful workshop, which hopefully will lead to a few more each year.

Thanks for checking in today. Wishing you a wonderful weekend that is filled with lots of rest and relaxation!