Remodeling House

Every now and then I succumb to a reality show, rarely American Idol. But this one was different.

When I heard on the radio belly laughs about a contestant named Phillips Phillips I chuckled to myself, "there is actually someone else that named their child that?!" Some one else? Yes, my brother in law is a Phillip Phillips.......born in 1966, get it? Phillips 66 gas, remember that?

You know it when you are surrounded by it. What could I be referring to?   B R I L L A N C E....

 From this man, Mr. Bart Swindall. He is the manger of my Chicago shop SG Grand, and the owner of the blog "Simply Grand" about his happenings in the shop, his expertise on antiques and educated flair for design.
Here Bart is posed for a blog entry entitled; "What is Bart wearing?" (here), his brilliant take on color and tongue-in-cheek reference to the blog "What is James wearing". A must read for his insight on color versus "greige" and our ongoing dialogue on what to finish this settee in.

Bart.......watermelon linen
Me........patterned linen, something funky

Finally agreeing, I am faced with a new dilemma, well a few.......a lack of time to find the fabric and now back to thinking patterned linen (sorry Bart) since by the time I do find it we may be peeking at Autumn.

Jump in here.......what would you do? Maybe none of the above, perhaps something entirely different?

Our ADLF was April 15 this year and despite the unseasonably warm weather in March, we had heavy frost through the last week of April.  I don't know how much damage was done to our fruit trees that were in bloom.  The local media have reported severe frost damage to apple trees in the area which is not a good sign at all.  Some farmers have reported frost damage to early emerging crops.  None of

Over at the popular blog Food in Jars, Marisa McClellan has some interesting information about making chive blossom vinegar. I was lucky enough to read her post when a corner of my flowerbed was a riot of delicate chive blossoms, so I gave her recipe a try.

A day in my mixture looks beautiful and smells even better. I didn't follow the directions exactly (I never do). This is my variation

We moved here in September of 2011 so really this will be our first year gardening here.  Last fall we watched our one neighbour pull out oodles of pots.  There had to be at least 20 large planters full of dead plants.  Today, I watched as he unloaded about 20 large planters of plants all in full bloom.  Obviously he is not one of those get your hands dirty gardeners.  However, at the moment his

All comments on this blog are moderated meaning I have to approve them before they are posted.  I'm sorry if you don't like this policy but it greatly reduces comment spam.  Aside of being annoying, comment spam add no actual content.  Over the past few days some spammers have seen fit to leave comment spam.  Here's a clue, leave comment spam here and your comment doesn't get posted, period and

Today you must visit the wildly popular and beloved blog, 'The Enchanted Home'!
Imagine my delight when Tina asked for my participation in a conversation on container planting, with all my professional tips and tricks.

Haven't been? You are in for a treat! So many of us have followed along as Tina and family dreamed, then built a truly enchanted home, an architectural gem in the old meets new French style. I could show hundred's of pictures but let these give you a glimpse into Tina's world


 Recently Tina opened her own online shop featuring timeless accessories for your home that are very reasonably priced. Visit the shop here. No doubt she is swamped with Mothers Day orders! This endearing woman inspires so many with her home, ideas and the ever popular "What would you choose?" posts.......Enjoy!

See what I mean?


Containers being a favorite topic I was indeed thrilled to talk in depth on this subject, a project all of us can participate in. I gave Tina all my secrets........to view the post click here

On topic, let's discuss how to choose the right containers to match your home. If you have been following my gardening series the one repeated mantra is to "look up!" The architecture of your home should reflect and compliment all of your choices in the garden.
Today's topic is four distinct architectural styles and matching container considerations, the possibilities are endless!.

 An Arts and Craft or Bungalow style leans toward a masculine aesthetic so I would not choose a frilly urn but more of a pot. In keeping with our lessons in "looking up", in this example you could choose to take one of the homes colors and replicate that element in your choice.
The terra cotta pulls out the front door and the green and yellow pots the trim.
If a window box were to be added I would choose something non-descript as there is already enough to compete with.



Lastly a French home.....always a favorite. Of course the perfect choice is the 'Versailles' container as shown above, right. The originals have metal hinges and are to be passed down the generations......for a price. But many 'Versailles' styled copies abound. Loved the green one shown, this home could use another color introduction, don't you think?
How about olive jars? Filled or as is?
With this particular home window boxes could work, actually as I look closely there are tiny ones on the ledges, but, what if we take the zinc like trough and pull it under the ground floor windows? That would have presence!

Thank you Tina, for including me! It was such a delight to collaborate with you, and truly an honor!!

Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby Day together in one day is an occasion to celebrate! The employment news may be discouraging (again) and the economy might be showing signs of sagging, but it's the weekend at last! Whether you're making a batch of Pico de Gallo, some peel and eat shrimp, a masterful margarita, cilantro salsa or a mint julep for the occasion, do something special.

I have some

We moved here last September (2011) and while I had no real chance to do much in the way of gardening I have been using sound gardening practices to get this year's gardens up and running.  The first tendency when moving into a new home is to put the vegetable garden in the same place the former owners had it.  However, this is a mistake.  What you really need to do is determine whether or not

And.........one of the attendees will receive free airfare, will it be you?!

Coming shortly, information on a France tour late September, hoping to meet you!
xo
Debra

I wanted to touch base with everyone.  The weather is getting warmer here, and I can see this is going to be a big year for pruning and weeding the garden (peonies, roses, holly, comfrey, lilacs, hedges).  I'm getting behind in my landscape maintenance chores, which is a bear, especially when it means the climbing roses are staking a claim to just about everything they can reach (which is a lot