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white anemones at whites

October 6, 2020

white anenome

Botanical gardens or flower farms are a great resource to help decide on plant or flower choices for your own garden.

Seeing a plant in a pot is so different than seeing how it grows as part of an actual landscape!

anenome with birdhouse

A favorite spot for me to view planted gardens is White Flower Farm.  You can probably guess why.  There are always some great varieties of white flowers to admire!  By virtue of the name, I guess it is pretty much a requirement to offer some great white flowers for sale!

benches on a rainy day

On my last visit, I identified a new white flower variety I want for my own space.  If I had seen it offered for sale in a pot, I doubt I would have paid much attention to it.  But, ‘in the wild’ I fell completely in love!

My new current white favorite is a white anemone!

close up anenome

Pictured here are some photos of my current passion from my last visit to Whites.  Aren’t they beautiful!  Some great whiteness for the fall!

And now, Honorine Jobert Anemone is on my list of ‘must haves!’  What is on your list?

with close up bird house

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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fall chair planting diy

October 2, 2020

chair plantings

Today I am hoping to inspire you to plant a chair.  Yes, you read that correctly!  An old chair is the perfect vehicle to create a beautiful fall planting.

empty chair

First, find an old chair.  I mean old!  The older, the better – more character.  It should be a chair that has (or once had) a caned seat or an upholstered seat.  The reason for this is because you will remove that part to add plants.

empty chair

The perfect candidate for a chair planting!

Once the cane or upholstery is removed, screening is stapled in its place using a staple gun.  After the screening is in place, planting can happen!  Just like any other outdoor container would be used, the screening serves as your container, providing drainage.  So easy!

chair with screen

screen closeup

Before planting, decide if the chair you plan to use will be left vintage looking or if you will paint it in advance.  A bright color, a color to match the flowers used, or a color to match your house or garden are all great choices.

purple chair planting

I was inspired to start this project based on the photos here.  I have plenty of colors of Annie Sloan paint and plan use that to paint a chair in advance of planting.  I am keeping my fingers crossed I can find an appropriate discarded chair in the next week!

blue chair planting

I hope I have inspired you to start a chair planting of your own!

yellow chair planting

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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fall 2020 at terrain

September 25, 2020

monochromatic pumpkin display

Today I am embracing the season.  I am providing a few of my favorite views from a fall visit to Terrain in Westport, Connecticut.  These photos are sure to help inspire your fall creations!  So, grab yourself a pumpkin latte and enjoy the show!

terrain pumpkin topiary

mini boo orange pumpkin tower

pumpkins and orange flowers

bumpy pumpkinss

mini boos with dried flowers

pumpkin tower

fall lights

fall urn display

greens with white pumpkin

white mini boos with succulents

 

pink mums

fall display

topiary of pumpkins

mini orange pumpkin topiaries

Happy fall from New England!  I hope you are inspired to work on your own projects this weekend!  Have a great one!

Terrain interior display in orange

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S.  If that’s not enough – you can see some more of Terrain on my Instagram feed.

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can’t stop fall

September 18, 2020

white velvet pumpkins

We had a couple of cool days here in Connecticut and I couldn’t resist taking out some fall décor.  Not that I have very much!  Because I always resist acknowledging fall, I have never accumulated that much in décor to celebrate it!  But I do have a box filled with velvet pumpkins I’ve made and I also own a few pumpkin pillows in neutral colors.

white heather to fall decor

So, on one of the recent cool weather days, I took out my box of pumpkins on my lunch break and used them to update the fern centerpiece on my dining room table…basically, I just added some pumpkins and replaced one of the existing ferns with a white heather.  Then I placed a few of the pumpkins in other rooms of the house.

ferns and pumpkins

Enough of a change to have something new to enjoy.

gray pumpkin in bathroom

A little gray pumpkin in the bathroom.

pumpkin in the kitchen

A little white velvet pumpkin on display in the kitchen.

Have you done anything with your home décor to celebrate the upcoming change in season?

Thanks for stopping by.

neutral pumpkin pillow

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S.  As I hesitate to acknowledge fall, HomeGoods already has Christmas merchandise on display!

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diy tank top pumpkins

September 4, 2020

gray teeshirt pumpkin

Every year it is sad for me to sew my first pumpkin because I love summer so much and pumpkins, of course, are a sign of a coming season that is not summer!

Each year, in addition to the velvet ones I make, I like to create some pumpkins from a unique material.  This year, I decided to use some repurposed clothing.

round gray topIsolation provided for some time to organize everything in my home, and I went through my collection of clothing many times since the pandemic started – fine-tuning all my closets.  Because I tried my best to hold on to only those items I truly love, I ended up with a large donation pile of unwanted clothes.

pumpkin made from gray teeshirt

When I started to think of this year’s pumpkins, I immediately thought of the unwanted clothes pile – the perfect place to find some new material!  To start, I chose two J. Crew tank tops.  Both in colors I love and both with embellishments that could be added to the finished pumpkins.

pumpkins from pink tees

round pink topThe pink one has the added appeal of being perfect to make pumpkins to display for breast cancer awareness month!

So…the pumpkins begin!

pink tank top pumpkin

pumpkin sewn from pink tee

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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living with stress

July 31, 2020

weeds

I recently read an article about stress and realized I had experienced the entire list of top 5 most stressful life events in the last 2 years – a couple more than once!  I was glad to happen upon the list since it was satisfying to know I had successfully navigated through such a tough time in my life.

COVID-19, of course, presents its own unique kind of challenges and I doubt there is anyone not experiencing a whole new level of stress as a result of the pandemic!   It needs its own life experience stress list!

walking bridge

I am sure I am not alone in losing all my employment as a result of COVID-19 – it’s scary!

You may have noticed I haven’t been posting at my regular frequency and that is because all my time online is now spent job searching.  It is hard to find something to post when the main activity of the day is looking for job postings!

queens annes lace and needles
In the same way I was able to get through the last 2 years, I am determined to get through these COVID-19 times successfully and not suffer setbacks in all the progress I have made in my life.

berries on a walk

Spending every second behind the screen searching for open positions may not be the best for my stress level, so I am making a promise to myself to try and continue to post regularly – even if only one time each week.  Don’t worry – I won’t be posting job search details!  I am making a commitment to myself to change up my environment – even if only for a short time – at least once each week.

queens anne lace

I am hoping a different environment will change up my perspective and give me some new motivation each week.  This week I changed it up with a new walk!

How are you dealing with the stresses caused by COVID-19?

feet on bridge

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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easy garden diy

June 5, 2020

pretty bird and diy

Some years back, I blogged about some easy DIY garden stakes based on some I had seen.  On a recent visit to my friend Wendy’s garden, I noticed she had added a bird to one of these stakes in an arrangement she created for her side door.  It is SO adorable, I need to share!

bucket of white flowers

You can read the original post/tutorial by clicking here if you’d like to create your own.  Just add a cute bird like Wendy did!

pretty bird and diy

Thanks for stopping by!

white clematis

Note:  The other photos in this post are also from Wendy’s gardens.  (Of course, I had to find a way to add some white flowers to the post!)

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

 

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table fern display

June 2, 2020

pretty fern arrangement

Without hosting any company for such a long stretch, my dining room table décor from Easter never got updated…what for?   A lot of home updates did get attended to during isolation – caulking, cleaning, filing, etc., but some of the seasonal décor definitely got neglected!

In an attempt to cheer myself up, I decided to get rid of the decorated Easter eggs and add something a little more appropriate to the season to my dining room table.  What better way to brighten spirits than  a trip to Terrain?!  I figured if I just bought a couple little indoor ferns, I could create something nice and low cost for my dining room table.

dining room ferns

Walking around Terrain’s nursery definitely helped pick up my mood – as it always does!  And, because I only needed some small ferns, I was able to leave without much of an investment.

My plan was to use some of my Ben Wolff white clay pots to make a simple fern display.  Ben Wolff is a potter that does some amazing work.  I was never a fan of the traditional color clay pot, (click here and/or here to see two ways I have painted them!)  and since I am about all things white, his white clay pots are perfect for my aesthetic!  (His gray pots are also beautiful!  I am lucky that Ben’s studio is right here in Connecticut – close enough to visit and purchase my pots directly from the studio!

ferns on table

I simply planted the ferns in the white pots and arranged them down the middle of the table with some moss.  Easy and so beautifully satisfying!  The components are anchored in a 3-foot-long trough I purchased at Terrain many years ago.  I use it all the time and it is perfect to protect the table from seasonal arrangements.  (I don’t think the exact one I have is still available for purchase, but if you search ‘trough’ on the Terrain website, you should find some great alternatives!)

ferns with watering can

(To make my arrangement complete – I just need to find the pretty little terrarium rocks I have to cover the top of the dirt in the pots.  If I can’t find where I put them, I will use some little shells or sea glass.)

fern arrangement

I hope I have inspired you to add some new seasonal décor to your home – company or no company!

Thanks for stopping by!

starfish with fern

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. The white watering can is Smith and Hawken from Target.

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study in pinks

May 22, 2020

treetops against the clouds

The weather in Connecticut has been really fabulous!  It is so refreshing to go for a walk when heavy coats or sweaters aren’t required!

pink dogwood tree

pink dogwood

When I do my workouts in the gym, I use music as a distraction – it almost feels like a type of meditation to focus solely on the music while pushing myself to perform.  Now that gyms are closed, I have had to find new and inventive ways to work out.  In addition to music, I find myself using nature to help meditate.  This past weekend, for one of my walks, I concentrated solely on pink flowers!  I tried to notice all the intricacies of every pink bloom I encountered!

pink trees against the clouds

pink petals

I find this is a great way to savor the beauty surrounding me and keeps my focus during a walk.

trees against the sun

single dogwood flower

Do you have anything special you do to help focus while exercising?

pink blooms

Thanks for stopping by!

tree blooms in pink

Have a fabulous holiday weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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a purple pop of flowers

May 15, 2020

purple pansies

We just had some snow here in Connecticut – not typical weather for May.  The cold snaps have made all the flower gardeners hesitant to get started with putting out annuals this year.

I usually use Mother’s Day as my ‘safe to plant’ indicator, but I know some of the experts say not to plant until after the new moon.

entrance purple flowers

With all the hesitation to get plants in the ground, it was so refreshing to see my friend Phyllis has started working on her garden décor.  The plantings she had put around her side entrance really look fabulous.  She changes things up each season and for spring she has incorporated a splash of purple into her creations.

porch topiary

purple with pussywillows

I hope seeing these flowers make you smile as much as I did when I saw them!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend!

 

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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