Marvelous Monday!

It's Marvelous Monday again and today I am thankful for this teeny tiny bougainvillea of mine.

It's such a wee little plant, and since I brought it home from the plant nursery, it has dropped flower after flower!  I don't think it quite likes the environment I've given it so I'm trying to decide where to relocate it in the hopes of getting more of those lovely bright pink blooms back.

But in spite of its insignificant size and somewhat miserable appearance, I still love my little bougainvillea because it reminds me of one of my favourite vacations to a lovely little island in Greece where the bougainvillea grows riotously and with picturesque abandon against blue and white doors...

And lovely stone buildings ....

And just around the corner of a twisting cobblestone passageway ....

And breathtaking in its beauty with the bright Aegean sun against the pristine white-washed walls....

And where my mother is right now, sitting on a sun-drenched terrace, hopefully enjoying a well-deserved break under the glorious bougainvillea for which my little plant will only ever be a sentimental reminder.

Follow Friday

It's "Follow Friday 40 and Over!" once again.

I always look forward to meeting new bloggers this way.  If you're new to my blog, welcome! I hope you stay a while and enjoy your visit.  It's a warm day here in Southern Ontario. So here's a nice glass of lemonade for you to enjoy while you visit.

And what's that in the background? My new planter! I just put it together today and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out.

In this eye-level shot, you can see that I've used my tiered dessert server. I used an old glass lampshade in the bottom, that conveniently had holes already in it for screwing the light fixture up. They will work perfectly for drainage now that it's been reincarnated as a planter!  Then I buried an oversized "teacup" in the centre, with it's matching plate standing behind. Into the teacup went a ceramic pot.

Here's an overhead shot where you can it see more clearly.

I've planted a little sweet-smelling lantana in the centre pot and some trailing lobelia in the glass lampshade. I can't wait to see how it looks in a few weeks when it fills out a little more.

Thanks for dropping in!  Hope to see you again real soon.  

Bird Cage Makeover

When I bought our male budgie "Humble" a number of years ago, I answered an ad in our local paper that said the owner had a baby budgie for sale, with cage and accessories for $15. I went to pick up my new little pet and was both excited and unhappy when I saw his cage. On the one hand, the cage was clearly not big enough for him to remain in very long. But, on the other hand, the cage was absolutely delightful to look at - a real vintage metal cage with a lovely shape and loads of potential. I bought a new cage for Humble very soon afterwards and relegated the old cage to the barn, thinking that I would have a creative moment some time soon and transform it into something else. Well, eight years have gone by and finally I've transformed it!

Yesterday, Donna over at An Enchanted Cottage revealed a charming makeover of her "swingset garden" and included in her pictures was a sweet one of a birdcage planter she has made. She linked to a previous blog where she explained how she made the planter (Donna's instructions for a birdcage planter). I loved what she had done and have to give her full credit for the inspiration for my own birdcage makeover.

So yesterday afternoon, inspired by Donna's blog and finally ready to tackle this job, I headed out to the barn to dig out that old birdcage. The last 8 years have taken their toll, I was actually rather delighted to see that the "fake brass" paint has chipped away leaving a lovely rusty cage to begin the project.

Here's how it looked before I started:

My first step was to brush on a "shabby" coat of cream-coloured paint, using loads of paint thinner so the rust would show through in lots of spots.

Next, I rooted around in my kitchen for a "dollar-store" plastic container that would work as a planting insert, puncturing a few holes in the bottom to allow for drainage. I chose several different colours of alyssum and an asparagus fern because I wanted something delicate and tiny to match the scale of the birdcage, and also because I love the sweet fragrance of alyssum.

Once I had assembled the planter, I needed a stand as I didn't think it would be safe to hang it. I finally decided on this old iron cafe chair, another "found" item that I discovered in the scrap pile at our shop (see Objet Trouve). I used an old board to give it extra stability underneath since the chair has no seat in it.  When I painted the cage, I had removed the glass inserts on the sides. In returning them, I deliberately did not clean them because I really liked the way the "rust" stains on the glass hid the plastic container from view and added to the "shabby chic" look.

But I felt something was missing. Donna had used a lovely little garden sculpture in her birdcage. I wracked my brain to think of what I had on hand that would be small enough. And then inspiration struck - this pretty  coloured-glass butterfly suncatcher would look beautiful hanging above the alyssum!

So here's what the final product looks like:

I haven't yet decided if the chair needs repainting. It might be a little more "shabby" than is strictly necessary in its current state!

Marvelous Monday - Expect the Unexpected!

It's Marvelous Monday once again -






and today I am thankful for unexpected treasures...

For wild roses, planted by the birds and tended by nature...

....for daisies that spread with wild abandon by the side of the road...

...and for dragonflies with fairy wings.

For unusual garden sculptures deliberately placed to catch your eye...

...and incidental farm sculpture oblivious to its own beauty.

For Sunday drives with stunning views...

...that lead to unexpected roadside stands...

and spontaneous strawberry socials!

And when we return home, for cold wet noses...

and waggly tails...

and cedar wax wings whistling in the Saskatoon Berry trees.

A delicious piece of pie...

Yesterday, due to a series of unfortunate events,

that had nothing to do with Lemony Snicket and everything to do with my pesky younger brother

I was forced to arise at 4:30 in the morning. I am not a morning person. It was painful.

But at 4:30, I got up, walked my dogs, and then had to take them for a drive since they could not go back in their kennel. I found myself driving along the lake watching the Sunrise but then I still had time to kill before I could take my dogs home, so I meandered over to my parents' home expecting to mooch breakfast from my Mum. As it turns out, she was already up and at 'em and not there! And my Dad was still sleeping. So I took my camera and my dogs and I wandered around for a while.

Here are some of the things we spotted:

My Mum's little pansy bed with all their faces turned towards the sun.

Is there anything more inviting than the sight of your own parents' back door?  I think not. 

This climbing hydrangea I bought for my Mum years ago for her birthday.

My Dad's swing, tucked in under the trellis, where you can find him snoozing in the shade every Sunday afternoon.

A bull frog croaking deeply as it sits on the edge of my Dad's pond.

Purple Martins waking up before another day of vigorous bug eating.

And finally, my Mum's cat "Button" who was lying peacefully in the shade,

watching the birds and hoping for a nice "feathered" snack.

"One's home is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening - the best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life - and can never find again."

Lemony Snicket

Roses & Rodents & Humans, Oh my!

What a glorious Sunday!  We've been enjoying our ROSES which are just coming into bloom.

I'm particularly happy with this rose that is finally big enough to start climbing over our pool fence and trellis.  I planted it 2 years ago and it is coming along beautifully.

I just love this shade of pink especially against the "aged grey" look of the fence boards and trellis.

I planted this Betty Boop rose two years ago as well.  I love that at different stages of the bloom, some of them have yellow and others are more white.  Really makes a stunning display.

Can't remember the name of this one but I LOVE it!

And now for the RODENT portion of today's post ....

I have to confess that I don't like many rodents, but I am extremely fond of CHIPMUNKS!   When we lost our outdoor cat two years ago, I was heartbroken, but I have been happy to see that our chipmunk population is gradually being restored since the cat's demise.  I have been attempting to tame the cute little creatures so I've been putting peanuts out every so often and I do see one chipmunk quite regularly collecting them.

This morning was a lazy Sunday morning when we got to sleep in and then have breakfast out on the deck.  While we were sitting there with our coffee, we heard a rustling and suddenly not one, not two, not three, but SIX chipmunks appeared!  Actually there were two adults and four babies.  So adorable!    

Here the four little ones are playing around with each other. 

They played very much like kittens, hiding and then pouncing on each other.  Very cute!

Looks like the mother is trying to keep the youngsters in line.  :)

In this picture it looks like she's giving one of them a scolding, or maybe washing his ears!  

I got out the bag of peanuts and convinced one of the adults to come quite close.  I wasn't expecting that he was going to touch my toe though and I was a wee bit nervous he might mistake it for a peanut. 

And finally here's a shot of our home where roses, rodents, and humans all coexist with great happiness.

I hope everyone in blogland is having a wonderful, restful Sunday like we are!

Marvelous Monday!

So, it's Marvelous Monday take two --- a tradition recently started which you can read about here if you are so inclined. Oh, I've had a WONDERFUL weekend so it's very easy to find lots of things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful for amazing Greek food...

eaten at one of our favourite beach side restaurants...

followed by a peaceful  lakeside walk with my husband.

I'm thankful for white sailboats against a blue sky...

that I can admire from afar while my feet are firmly planted on the shore, so there's no risk of me getting horribly seasick!

I'm thankful for my beautiful purple bearded iris that popped open this weekend...

and for our newly-planted garden and it's promise of delicious things to come.

I'm thankful for our first campfire...

and wiener roast of the season...

and for this male oriole who sang such a beautiful love song to his mate, providing us with the most incredible dinner music that no money can ever buy.

But mostly this long weekend, I'm thankful for this lady...

because even though I'm a complete anti-monarchist, I love having a long weekend in May. So Happy Birthday Queen Victoria! God save the queen. And God save the peasants from the queen. Because peasants rock and queens don't. The end.  :)