Pottering around in July

 How is it July already?

This is the first year my husband hung our Tommy Bahama bunting on the front porch. It has certainly turned some heads!

This has to be one of the fastest years I have experienced in a while. Maybe because it's been a busy (but also laid back) year for us so far. We have worked so hard to finish up some home projects that desperately needed to be done before Miss Thelma Lou joined our family (thankfully we succeeded!), that to be honest, a lot of our "usuals" got put on the back burner.

For once, we actually DID NOT garden this year! The only harvest we have for this year is our annual garlic we put out every Autumn. We were able to harvest that this past week and it is hanging on our covered porch to cure. It's one of our saddest garlic harvests yet! But, we are thankful for what we were able to salvage. After it cures, we will dehydrate it and grind it up for granulated garlic to cook with. We do have some volunteer tomato plants, as well as some zinnias, and our berry patches of course, but vegetable wise, nothing! We will see how those tomato plants do! Because of our lack of a garden, this will also be the first summer I won't be canning anything, which feels weird. 

Our usual garlic harvest is about 6-7 times this amount!

We definitely planned to take the summer off from gardening, of course, to get the main part of our deck finished (will stain it this fall!), and get the house ready for a puppy. We also knew we were going on our anniversary trip, so gardening just really wasn't a priority for us.

This fall, however, we do plan on relocating our garden. We will be having a massive (dying) tree cut down, which will open up the sun to a back part of our property. We will be purchasing new galvanized raised beds, and re-designing everything. I’m really looking forward to it, and I will keep y'all updated. My artist husband will be drawing up plans for bed layouts soon!

July so far has been slow for us. Lots of puppy kisses, and pool time, after a glorious 9-ish days of beautiful summer weather. It was a heatwave, and I will admit the word glorious would not be coming out of my mouth if I didn't have a pool! It was really nice after working so hard on our deck, to be able to enjoy grilling, eating outside, and lounging in the pool. It made all those late evenings so very worth it. Next up, we will tackle some small repairs on our connecting gazebo, then we will be skirting everything hopefully by the end of summer, and like I said, staining it all in the fall. 

This morning my husband and I went to the back of the property and picked some blackberries and mulberries. I'm thinking....blackberry ice cream? 

These are our first pickings - so many blackberries on our bushes this year, and the mulberry tree was well!

Also, over the holiday weekend, we dove head first into a very small project on the east side of our house. We have 3 hydrangea bushes over there, enjoying the morning sun. For years we have been fighting the weeds, and of course it was a losing battle. I decided I wanted to do something simple, with some small cottage stepping stones and pea gravel in a checkerboard pattern. I was very unsure how this would look, but decided to just go for it. We aren’t done with it yet, but I am so happy with it! 

Luckily the pea gravel is a good match to our concrete/gravel walkway.

My hydrangeas are doing much better this year, after some much needed TLC.

That's all that's going on around here these days, hope to have some fall gardening updates and a finished hydrangea area to share soon - and some sewing! Fingers crossed!

Thanks for reading!

-Bunny

A few hours in Springfield, Tennessee

 Last month my husband and I found ourselves in Springfield, TN on our way back from Nashville. We spent about two hours there, exploring their historic downtown, a quick stop at an antique store, and lunch at Whataburger. We had not eaten at a Whataburger since a 2010 visit to Altus AFB! Hard to believe that was 15 years ago.

The downtown area was in great shape! It’s so nice to see such a historic town still being used. So many of the stores were actually occupied, which is always good! 

Very surprisingly this small town had a health food store. The roof on this was just perfect!

My husband and I love artwork and signs on the side of old buildings. And of course, would it even be a small town without some vintage Coca-Cola art?

This store front was my favorite in the entire town! 

If you blink you’ll miss Jail Alley! 

After we walked the downtown area, we headed over to Springfield Antique Barn. What a surprise this place was! The booths were all so beautiful, and I found at least 20 things I immediately wanted. 

This booth with the rooster and blue and white vases caught my eye for sure! 

So many barn quilts throughout the store. I probably missed a lot, because you had to look up high for them! 

I loved this patriotic booth, and definitely wanted to bring those pillows home with me. 

Sometimes I find myself in an antique store and the booths are so empty/filled with junk I wonder how the booth owners are even making any money. This place was different, everything was so beautiful, and thoughtfully styled. My husband and I found a piece of art we both loved, and I dare say we may even drive back and purchase it. Since we were heading home from our 20th Anniversary trip to Nashville, I wasn’t really wanting to drop $350 on a piece of art, but I can’t stop thinking about it all these weeks later. Maybe I should find a place for it FIRST, then call and see if it’s still available! 

The hutch in this booth was beautiful! 

Next up we drove by Cedar Hill Apothecary. What a darling building with so many lovely touches! I so wish I could have gone in, but alas, I sure do have a habit of being in these cute little towns on a late Sunday afternoon! 

It was just a few hours of our day, but what a nice time we had!

If you are ever in the area, definitely check out the following:

McClellan & Co. - 108 Sixth Avenue W

Southern Threads Boutique - 700 S Main Street

Cedar Hill Apothecary - 1108 S Main Street

Springfield Antique Barn - 700 Willow Street

Thanks for reading!

-Bunny

A Fat Quarter Shop Haul

I had a browser window open on Fat Quarter Shop for a few weeks, with quite a few items sitting in my buggy. I was having such a hard time deciding, plus a few things I had my eye on were being released soon. I decided not to wait, and will place another order next month! Here’s what I purchased, with links:

Shown: Autumn Quilt Seeds Pumpkin 8 Block KIT by Lori Holt $25.98

Bluegrass Charm 5" Stacker - Melissa Mortenson for Riley Blake Designs $11.98

Grand Haven Charm Pack - Minick & Simpson for Moda Fabrics $11.98

Sunnyside MINI Charm Pack Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics $4.98  - Sold Out?

 

6' Woven Star Quilt Block Foundation Paper | It's Sew Emma $10.98

6" Economy Quilt Block Foundation Paper | Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet for It's Sew Emma $10.98

6" Log Cabin Quilt Block Foundation Paper | It's Sew Emma $10.98

Sewline Blue Fabric Water Soluble Glue Pen $7.48

Kimberly's Color Alphabitties Specialty Marking Tools $7.48

Schmetz 5 Count Universal Size 90/14 Machine Needles $3.98

Black Frixion Ball Erasable Gel Pen $2.98

Add a Quarter 6" Plus Ruler | CM Designs $9.48

I have a reservation in for:

Blueprint Charm Pack | Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics

Nantucket Summer Charm Pack | Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics

Wishlist:

Morning Mist Quilt Kit | Featuring Nantucket Summer by Camille Roskelley

Backing Set for Morning Mist Quilt Kit

I love all the blues and greens of Camille Roskelley's fabrics. I have a lot of blue and white china displayed in my dining room, and recently was gifted some Borallo Pinheiro cabbage ware from my Mama that I will be decorating with as well. If weather permits towards the end of the summer, I will be hauling my Grandma's hutch down to my house to give it a makeover and a new life! It's not 100%, but I'm thinking it will be painted 'Kudzu' by Dixie Belle Paints. Here's to big plans, and praying they happen!

Thanks for reading!

-Bunny