Palm Sunday

A few palm fronds in a thrifted champagne bucket.

 I had polished the large one but the smaller one was still tarnished.

 It seemed like a metaphor for Palm Sunday. 

 

A Little Frosty in the South.

 It's November 1 and we have our first frost warning in the Atlanta area. 

It always creeps up on me. We have glorious warm weather all Fall and I'm lazy about planning for my tropical plants on the porch. I have to scurry around, drag things inside, kill random bugs I've brought in with my plants and try to keep the dog out of the dirt. 

It is not fun.

But this year I'm sharing a different story. I planned ahead. I have (what I hope) is a great solution to my "plant problem." 

We purchased a very basic, not charming looking, utilitarian "greenhouse" type thing from Tractor Supply for about $100.00. We are not 100% sure it will be completely successful but the investment isn't large and far less than replacing the plants I have no place to overwinter each year. For the past couple of years I have had what I called a 'redneck greenhouse' on my porch. It was a ladder draped in sheets and plastic dropcloth with my plants shoved against the house wall of my screened porch. I used a lamp to keep the plants under it from freezing. It was not the best solution but my ferns survived. This year when we couldn't go shopping for plants in the Spring we were so happy to have the plants that survived to use on our porch. 

So this structure from Tractor Supply is a small step up from the 'redneck greenhouse' of years past :) Yes, I would love a charming, 'real" greenhouse. I had one at our previous home and loved having it so much. But if this gets my plants through our Winter (which can be fairly mild) I will be ecstatic. 

It is 6 x 6 feet* (more on that later) and it is tucked behind our garden shed in a utility area of the backyard. It is slightly visible from the back porch. We put it together in a few hours. This is a progress picture - we still had a couple of steps to go. 

I chose to put down landscape fabric and cover it with pea gravel. I love pea gravel and will use it any time I can. A brick floor is very charming in a greenhouse and retains heat but this was a quick fix. (The lower back flap will be secured for those of you curious about that. I was waiting on a piece of pipe at this point. Once you slide it in the rod pocket the back is secured.)

And then I put 2 of my many ferns in there. 

And realized that 6 x 6 feet* was not as large as it looked. My ferns are huge. My palms are huge. It's going to be very cozy in there. My advice, go bigger than you think you need to. I had 6'6" between our shed and the fence so I chose what would fit and mostly be hidden by the shed. I honestly need another one to fit everything in!

This isn't everything! I'm excited to see if i can keep my plants warm, pest free and happy in here!

I'll keep you posted since this is completely experimental. This structure will work if we have a mild winter and I can keep the temp regulated and the cold winds out. 

Fingers crossed. 

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

It is sooooo cold everywhere. 

#polarvortex

I think a dose of tropical green is what we all need.

I've purchased this indoor/outdoor palm fabric to use in my home

 in case you want to do a quick DIY pillow or lampshade 

while you are waiting for the "Spring Thaw" :)

It's currently a fantastic price here.

In fact, I might order some so I can get started on freshening up my porch.

#hurryupsummer

*all images from my Pinterest board Bamboo is Best.

Follow original links there.

ORC Lucky No 7 - The Reveal.

This reveal is all smoke and mirrors.
And creative editing.

Repairs were not quite finished 
by the time this ORC started six weeks ago (and they still aren't!)
 but I didn't let that stop me!

And we only had one way to go on this project. Really.
It couldn't have gotten any worse!

There are still a few things that will have to be finished construction/repair wise
 and I didn't complete all of my plans -
  so maybe you'll check back and see.

But here is what did happen in the 5 quick weeks of this One Room Challenge...

Thank you to Linda of the One Room Challenge because, finished or not, this is the greatest motivator and we always end up with a space that I'm glad I took on the challenge!

Please be sure to see what everyone else accomplished. So many great rooms.
And check back on the blog because I'll be sharing in future posts where I found some of my items and what I still need to finish and more!

Christmas Tour-ish Part Two

If you are just getting here and are wondering what a "tour-ish" is then catch up here!

Today's tour-ish is of the Family Room and Kitchen. 

We got our decorating completed early for a little gathering that Mollie and I co-host each year. We have a "Get Merry with Mimosas" brunch on the first Saturday of December. It kicks off the season in a good way - with family and friends, motivates us to clean and decorate early, lets us spend time with people who get busier and busier as the month goes on and results in us being less hurried later on. Our decorating is completed - and let's face it, if the party was later in the month I'd be decorating up to the last minute!


A little bonus to this "tour-ish" is that we had
 a very unusual, unexpected 8 inches of snow in the South. 
So, probably for the first time ever, I have snow pictures at Christmas!!

This is a LOT of snow for Georgia. And rare in December!

(The huge Sycamore in the backyard after dark on Friday night!)

So it was very pretty outside. And quiet. Not a creature was stirring.

Now back inside:

Here is the Family Room full of friends at our Get Merry with Mimosas Party!
(and that weekend it was 68 degrees!! Then snow the next!)

(Cute girls but please notice I painted my ugly fireplace brick white and it looks so good!)

This room is not easy to photograph. 

The morning light is very bright as you can see and then it's dark by noon :(

We brought our trees back from our Thanksgiving trip to VA.

They look smaller in the "wild." :)

This one is pretty big - we had to trim. A lot.

Last year we only got lights on the tree before our Mimosa Brunch

 and never went back and added anything else!

This year we got glass ball ornaments on it!

Notice how fabulous they look with animal print.

#animalprintisaneutral

Maybe next year we will get to the "family" ornaments we have collected through the years. #goals

The tree is really the main decoration in our family room each year. 

We do have fresh greenery and palmetto fans on the mantle
 and a few things tucked here and there.
 But not much.
 So much daily living goes on in there that there isn't room for much more!

(FYI  I talk about drapes for the family room all. the. time.  So far - nothing)

(Early Christmas present - blue and white garden stool from my hubby.

Opened early so I could have it at our Mimosa Party!)

The kitchen is fairly minimal as well.
 I use wreaths to give the kitchen it's Christmas cheer.

And we have a second tree on the back porch 
with lots and lots of colored lights in all shapes and sizes. 

Anything goes back here :)

A jingle bell wreath on the back door get a lot of movement so lots of angels get their wings...

"Every time a bell rings an angel gets her wings."  ZuZu Bailey  It's A Wonderful Life

Please excuse the tarped-for-Winter furniture outside on the porch.

 I should have uncovered it for photos but you know, life.)

(I recovered my chairs before the Mimosa party! I love this fabric, Ming Dragon I believe. It was supposed to be used in the last One Room Challenge but got scratched at the last minute. Perfect on these chairs!!)

 I love wreaths and bows and they do not usurp counter space
 so that works in our busy kitchen.

Bowls and bowls of Christmas candy are a must. 

Speaking of busy- my stove top is never, ever as clean as I would like during the holidays 
so I have a quick fix! 
I have a cookie sheet with really cute "faux" gingerbread men on it! 
I actually made this for a Junior League Christmas Showhouse 
that I was part of a few years ago. 
It comes in handy though!

That's about it for our Christmas "Tour-ish." So, we wish you a merry Christmas from our house to yours :)

#hohohomerrychristmas