Time lost....

I am missing my garden......today, and everyday I have been going back to water the beds and a few pots which hold some of the more mature plants near the foundation of the house, some newly planted lace cap hydrangeas and a new Iceberg rose. I dug them out temporarily to save them from the construction battle zone !

I can feel its neglect....

You know when something loved and cared for is not quite right.... Although we have had very little rain the entire month of July, my thorough soaks with the garden hose can never replicate the rain showers from above..

or my constant hovering, like a mother...

I have felt like this is a lost summer in the garden. I hope and dream of next season and what the new changes will bring to both me and it....always grateful for the beauty it gives....

N.xo

The above image is from my coveted, archived Victoria magazines.

Revisiting the potting bench and a year has come and gone!

Coming up for air, after not blogging since the end of May, has been a relief as well as frustrating to say the least...my blog anniversary would have been celebrated July 6, one year of pure pleasure and self discovery mostly....about the rewards and insights gained by connecting to a vast world of brilliant and talented, and extremely kind people, unknown to me prior to that date...the move from our home to commence renovations after many years of living in the same house has been over whelming...I have been packing, editing and sorting and distributing since January! We are now situated about fifteen minutes away, and darting back home to Jordan every day to water the gardens...the heat wave has hit here as well, to check up on the demolition which began last week....the entire first floor is gutted to the studs, kitchen, dining, living room, two baths and three bedrooms..the roof, windows, doors, interior and exterior, trim, and design layout reconfigured..a garden room is being added to one end of the house...new trim and doors are also being replaced through out and the entire house painted inside and out...a bit of a quick update! 

Making the right decisions is quite amazing and causing both my husband and I a great deal of angst!!

.....the real reason for this belated post, is in celebration of my blogging anniversary which I missed due to the move....we actually moved out July 6th!!

I don't check my stats often, but when I have over the past while, it seems that my Potting Benches post is the most viewed by visitors...so I have decided to repost it for those of you who are not familiar with it....

I made this potting bench, about twelve years ago as a work table for our wedding flowers in my shop, Acorn Lane....it became a well used and loved
piece, made of recycled windows, doors and anything else I felt would add to its function as well as beauty.
When I closed the store in 2008, I used it for potting plants outdoors in the garden, as well as arranging flowers for our wedding designs.  It has been invaluable to me.
You can see it is starting to acquire a lovely, mossy patina from being outdoors in the shade....

The zinc tub serves as a sink for conditioning flowers....the peonies are from this year's harvest from my garden, peony Sarah Bernhardt...

The window boxes which I have perched on the top shelf are vintage, and often filled
with maiden hair ferns....the wire forms of the geese, I use to grow creeping fig...
stuffed with moss, they are really interesting topiary forms when full grown....



The dimensions are really adequate, it is approximately eight feet long, and thirty inches deep, just like a counter top....

I prefer old garden tools, and rusted wire ware, it looks great with green and white....

 

 

This rather large zinc tub, which has been painted, is great for conditioning dozens of roses pior to arranging...



I added the two white wire window cages, to the back of the bench for holding ferns or other flowers to add a bit of green and colour.....

...you can still see the soft rose transfer on the front of the tub, faded after so many years of use.....

....it is interesting to me that this post, about an idea I brought to fruition several years ago, is still causing some interest out there....
I love to upcycle wonderful, old worn treasures, loved from another time and place...

'' I have a vision for living. It is about elements of style. It is about all the things that I love, that I believe in....I'm about things that you keep, that you own and cherish..."

....from the master designer himself, Ralph Lauren....

I have missed all my blogging friends, and hope to be able to visit all of you soon during this time of transition and change....

N.xo