Holiday decorating ~

First I needed to spend some time mulling over what to do this year...

Then face the daunting task of going down into the basement and bringing up all of the storage bins.

This is a California basement, not really very big, but a great storage place for out of season holiday decorations. The trouble is they have to be hauled up!

Finally, opening everything up and organizing how I will begin.

I like to mix it up and do some new things every year but there are some old standbys such a Santa theme in the kitchen that I will repeat, for me the holiday wouldn't be as enjoyable with out some of these old friends. 

 I have decided to use burgundy as my inspiration color in the formal rooms and have taken out of long term storage all of the antique glass ornaments for the living room tree. I want a traditional old fashion Victorian Christmas tree with lots of tinsel. 

Now I just need to put on some Christmas music and get busy.

Happy Thanksgiving ~

Wishing you all a very happy and joyous Thanksgiving.

Pumpkins 2018 ~

Last year I decided to paint a picture of a pumpkin. I hadn't painted for a while, so long in fact that some of my paints had dried up in the tubes. The picture below is the result. I put it on the kitchen counter and enjoyed it through Halloween and Thanksgiving as part of my fall decorations.

I had so much pleasure with the activity last year that I decided to try it again. This is my version of pumpkins for 2018. Maybe next year, if I do this again, I should mix it up a bit and add some other type of gourds...we will see.

 Like before, I slipped this into a temporary frame and put it in the kitchen. It adds seasonal cheer for the holidays. After Thanksgiving to make way for my Christmas decorations I will put it away until next autumn.

I love fall, the weather is cooler, there is much to plant in the garden and the light makes everything look better. I have enjoyed my attempts to capture a bit of it on canvas.

I hope you have a glorious day.

Thank you for visiting.

Adrienne

Indulgance, winter annuals ~

 With the change in seasons I am cutting back lots of things in the garden, including some big grasses, which gives me room to plant annuals.

In the picture below you can see some of the things I bought this week to add some winter color to the garden for my enjoyment: calendulas, allyssum, snapdragons, foxgloves. pansies and a few bulbs, which I never can resist. I call this my table of beautiful bounty.

 Last weekend, I dug up the two areas where most of these are going to go and added lots of planting mix to get the plants off to a good start. 

I will put the yellow calendulas and allysum in the area below, it is near my backdoor, I love the way allysum smells and this way I hope to get a nice whiff of fragrance every time I step out into the garden.

The other space is larger, the tall Rocket snapdragons will go here along with a couple dozen foxgloves and more allysum, leaving space for a new rose bush I will plant later during the bareroot season. If I have extra room I will add some delphinium, I haven't planted delphiniums  for a long time and never very successfully, but it might be fun to try again.

The pansies will go into three pots sitting in the bed along the driveway in the front. I love pansies but have always felt they were a bit fragile to be planted in the ground, planted in pots they should be easier to take care of and make more of a statement. 

 This is such a great time to plant  in Southern California and with the cooler weather watering in not as much an issue. I have decided to indulge myself with some of my favorite annual flowers fleeting though they might be.

Thank you for visiting.
Have a lovely day.

Adrienne