Socially Distanced Thrifting.

Socially Distanced thrifting during a pandemic has become a thing. For me anyway.

I posted this picture in one of my early posts containing a few thoughts and observations about our Pandemic experience. 

All very non-political or containing any blame. I'm not about that.

But this picture got a lot of feedback - 

While going to Goodwill and other favorite thrift stores is not essential a lot of us missed it! 

We are on Week 17 here and while many things have opened we must continue to be abundantly cautious. So we are at home 99.999999% of the time :)

For that reason we have worked very hard in our backyard on projects and improvements to make spending our Summer at home more enjoyable. 

One thing I wanted was a lounge chair to go beside our stock tank pool

 (which I call The Bucket.)

I wanted something other than a folding metal beach lounger if possible. I really wanted wrought iron and vintage was preferable. That's what I like and the new ones were shockingly expensive and then you need a big, thick cushion. Also a bit pricey. 

But by late April I thought I could make a FB marketplace transaction be safe if I wore a mask and we put the cash in a baggie and left it in the mailbox or somewhere like that for the seller.  I scrolled through FBM constantly. Let's face it, I had time, and then finally in May these popped up!! I didn't even try to bargain. She was 15 minutes from the house and so we jumped in the truck and headed to pick them up. And it was TWO for $50.00!! Yay!

When we arrived her husband came out and chatted from a distance! We were masked and safely apart. I'm so glad he came out. He told us that his wife's father had been a Master Welder and had made these two lounge chairs for her decades ago!! I love them even more. They are not exactly identical because they are handmade

 but they are soooo well made and sturdy.

So the next step was to find new cushions. I had shared on IG that the "color scheme" of the pandemic (for us) had been dark green and white because that's the paint I had on hand when the lock down began. We already had a lot of our outdoor furniture painted a dark green because 

I am from Charleston and it's in my DNA to paint outdoor and porch furniture dark green.

 I can't help it!!

So I, of course, wanted green and white striped outdoor cushions. 

Sounds easy, right? Not so much. 

But after diligent searching online I found an excellent price for Sunbrella chaise cushions through walmart.com. 

I read the descriptions and measurements on other sites where the green and white striped Sunbrella cushions were $249.00 and $198.00. The descriptions matched exactly, were Sunbrella brand like the others and were under $100.00 with free shipping and returns. 

I figured it was worth a try.  

They are so nice, thick cushioned, and perfect green and white striped Sunbrella fabric!

(The dappled light makes funny looking shadows on the cushions - there isn't anything wrong with them! In fact, they are fabulous and I've already spot cleaned one and it looks brand new!)

I have made another masked, socially distanced Facebook Marketplace purchase since this one!

 I'll share soon. 

A Spot of Christmas Green

I have a new little spot in my garden area. 

I started this project a few months ago but it's just now all coming together

 so I gave it a little Christmas touch!

I had a bunch of bricks that I saved from a patio demo 

when we installed The Bucket this Summer.

The hutch is one that had been shuffled into the back of a storage area. 

I thought a coat of SW Lounge Green (which is the same color our porch floors are)

 would liven things up!

 No playing favorites here - we use ALL the plaid ribbons!

The twinkle lights are staying up year round (duh!)

 I look forward to how handy it will be this Spring.

But for now it has a holiday feel. 

The Bucket!

It's a really BIG bucket!!

It's actually a stock tank that should be used to water livestock. 

(I just call it "the bucket")

Some brilliant person decided they would be a fun, easy, dipping pool for us non-farm type people and it has really taken off. 

Country Living mag posted on their IG a couple of weeks ago that they are going to be more popular than ever this Summer. 

 In the cropped photo above things look pretty good but we are still mid-project in reality. 

(See piles of brick below!)

But we have come a long way from where we started last September!

Yes, last Labor Day weekend. 

I started investigating the whole stock tank pool trend last Summer. 

We decide we liked the idea and all systems were go. BUT, we couldn't get a stock tank. 

We are in the Atlanta suburbs so a true feed store is an hour away.

 It took us 3 visits, after calling about availability, to actually get one in perfect condition. 

A couple were dented and they offered a discount but we aren't using it in a field for animals so I wanted it to look good on all sides. We bought ours from Tractor Supply.

We had a little used, needed some lovin' arbor in the back of the yard. 

I thought we could make a few updates and easily plop our big bucket down and get to splashing.

Nope. The old brick patio under the arbor was waaaay more unlevel (is that a word?)

than it appeared to the eye. 

But I hung cute patio lights, filled it with water 

and we splashed around in the end of the Atlanta heat.

This Spring I vowed to bring The Bucket up to its full potential :)

I hung a curtain behind the bucket

 and there are twinkle lights behind it for when we take an evening dip.

I pulled up alllll of those bricks, leveled the ground and put the bucket back down with pea gravel around it. I love pea gravel patio and paths like we see in European gardens. 

I thrifted a larger mirror. It's actually a very hard plastic frame. I gave it a coat of blue spray paint and it should last for ages out there.

I've added some other thrifted treasures like the vintage metal faux bamboo towel rack, lots of plants, and of course a big pineapple float!

I think The Bucket might be at its best in the evening. 

I love the lights.

There are still a few more things to be done (move that ton of bricks for one thing!)

but we are ready (as ready as we can be) for the Southern Summer heat!

If you need us we'll be "in The Bucket!"

Bamboo Friday on the Porch

 I could definitely see myself "hanging around" on this porch. 

Every bit of this bamboo is fabulous

 but you have to admit that a hanging chair always wins

 for best seat in the place!

There's been a lot of articles about trends for 2019 (which really isn't on my radar) and I haven't read anything about this but I'm seeing yellow in a lot of recent images!

This is okay with me because I jumped on the yellow bandwagon with my porch revamp during the last One Room Challenge. Check it out here!

60 Days Until SPRING!!!!

September? Really?

I cannot believe it is September.

I am not about to post about Pumpkin Spice anything so you can relax.

It is still very, very warm in the Deep South

 so I do not bid farewell to Summer on Labor Day.

I go kicking and screaming into cold weather.

But I like September in the South.

A lot.

It's still warm enough to keep me happy but the humidity slacks off a bit

 and everyone in the entire Southeast has better hair days!

Steel Magnolias. There are some really good hair quotes in this movie :)

It is also the month of our birthdays!

All of us. Three in one month. 

(Which means we have to buy our car tags in Georgia. On your birthday. Really?)

It is the title of a fabulous Fall read by British author Rosamunde Pilcher. 

My mom got me hooked on her books and we like to reread September every couple of years.

New cover. I've had mine for years and it doesn't look like that.

September means Mums!!

I absolutely love mums!! 

I could buy zillions and put them everywhere. 

We can't start buying pumpkins this early

 (they won't survive the heat or critters) but mums are a go!!

I love the pink-y coral ones!

And I love, love the purple ones, too!!

Eddie Ross 

And what about the bright yellow ones in these incredible champagne buckets?

 Seriously tho - dead plants would look good in those urns!!

But white flowers are my absolute favorite

(white is my favorite color for anything and everything actually!)

I like everything in this picture and again with the silver champagne bucket.

And our ferns are still going strong around here

 so I like this combo with white mums and asparagus ferns.

Here's a big purple mum on our porch.

I ask Mollie for big mums for my birthday every year!

September means football!! Big deal in the South.

Friday nights are for High School football

(look at that sky last week!)

and Saturday is for college ball. 

We are a house divided and Mollie has friends playing at schools all over the South 

so sometimes we just cheer for the player!!

Years ago we had to cheer for a GT Yellow Jacket (I went to UGA), he graduated and went pro but now we are back to cheering for GT again. Go Josh!

It makes Saturday games a lot of fun!

September is the best kind of month!

Red, White, Blue and Bamboo.

The Fourth of July.

It's all about the Red, White and Blue.

And bamboo.


(Just add blue checked napkins and this combo from February works for July!!)

And it's all about the food and fun.
How fun are these straws?? They would make even a glass of water fun to sip!

(From the Dollar Tree!)

For years we did the Marietta Square Parade, checked out the craft and food booths, went home to cool off in the pool and then to a friends' home in the Marietta Historic District for a cookout and fireworks. The kids were young and ran around and had so much fun. 

As Mollie got older our plans became more flexible. 

We have rented cabins, joined friends at their places, traveled home from Hawaii one year on July 4th and spent one Fourth of July in England.

One of our favorite travel quotes comes from that trip.

We were in a pub in Reading, England waiting for our next train. 

We popped in the pub to have a ploughman's lunch. 

When we went to pay the tab I noticed the date and said, "Oh, it's July 4th!" 

(You lose track of the dates when you travel!)

 The bartender said, "Happy Independence Day!"  

We said thank you 

and then he paused, got  funny look on his face and said, "We lost, you know!!"

We laugh about that all the time.

But, I still miss it when we don't start the  July 4th celebrations with a parade!!

Do you love a parade?

Do you decorate?
This house went all out. 
I'm at the other end of the holiday decorations  spectrum.



And this patriotic little pooch is adorable
( but my two Golden's think July 4th is awful once the fireworks start.)


We do love sparklers though!! 
We always do a few packs of sparklers since they don't make a big, loud noise!


So, however you celebrate - have a safe Fourth of July holiday and maybe have some cake!







#bestuseofsparklers

*all images from google images except the dinner plate and Mollie with sparklers

I Love a Good Garden Center.

I love a good garden center.

To me that means it is charming and has paths, looks landscaped not like plants for sale on a bunch of big box store shelves and they don't care if I wander. 
I like atmosphere and ideas I can use.

You just know it when you come around the corner and spot one of these special places.

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting my parents 
and my mom directed me to the cutest garden center ever, Liberty Landscapes.

If you are anywhere near Bedford VA it is worth the trip. 
(The D-Day Memorial is in Bedford and it's amazing. 
Make the trip and see it, then go buy a plant. Or two.)

 #yourewelcome

(See - not your average garden center!! It's gorgeous! #backyardgoals)

This place is like wandering around a really pretty backyard on a garden tour. 

Except it's big and fabulous.

It is housed in an old coal and ice warehouse and railroad yard 
right along the railroad tracks.

 I could just move in.

(original, real deal sliding doors!)

It's good from the old rusty truck out front that announces they are open 

(don't you want to find an old, rusty truck now?)

all the way through to their social media presence. 
They post a plant of the day every day on IG with an informative blurb.  

Gardening eye candy and you learn something too.

#winwin

They are so nice.(Ask for Ashby - he's awesome!!)
 And obviously talented so be sure to go.

I tried to convince them to serve refreshments to me in the garden.
#umbrelladrink

#betterlucknexttime

I wanted all.the.plants.
I did buy a plant even though I was traveling.
The displays are irresistible!!