A nice exception ~

It has been a very hot summer and with our drought problems and trying to cut back as much as possible on watering, the garden hasn't looked it's best, but a nice exception to this has been Gomphrena, Fireworks. This is a new plant for me, I planted three of them early in the spring from 4 inch pots, and they have been blooming almost continuously. They send out airy stems 24 to 30 inches tall with pretty little puffs of pink flowers. I read online that they make good cut flowers so I thought I would give them a try...

...and here is the result.

 If you want to see a really talented floral designer go to Frolic she makes the most beautiful, bountiful, inspiring, flower arrangements using just what is on hand. You can also view her bouquets on Pinterest.

I left the bouquet right where I made it, on the kitchen island. Flowers make just about any room special.

If they do make good cut flowers I certainly know where I can get more, but no matter what next spring I will definitely be planting more gomphrenas.

Thank you for visiting I hope you have a beautiful day.

Summer fun ~

One of the best things about summer are all of the fun, free concerts in our area.

I went to one last week at the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum. Concerts are held here every Friday night during the months of July and August. Admission free if you are a member, and standard admission price if you aren't.

The gates open at 5:00pm for picnickers and the music starts at 6:00pm. Its nice to get there early and find just the right spot to have a glass of wine and eat before the music starts.

 It is so beautiful here and to add to the enjoyment the

The resident Peacocks are out in full...one came up to me while I was eating and daintily pecked at a piece of bread in my lap. 

The music is fun and casual, varying from week to week.   

The sunsets are glorious.

 A typical Southern California event, complete with palm trees.

This weekend I am trying another type of outdoor entertainment, Shakespeare in the Park at Griffith Park, I have never been before so it will be a bit of an adventure. They will be performing one of my favorite plays, Taming of the Screw. Shakespeare outside on a summer evening doesn't that sound great.

Thank you for visiting, I hope you are having a wonderful summer.

Un petit quelque chose ~

I wanted a new summer dress, something soft, comfortable and maybe a little elegant. Lately most of the dresses I have made have been out of cotton knits with little sewing required...this time I wanted a real dress, with fitted darts and even a zipper.  I pulled out this vintage Vogue pattern...

...then I shopped my stash of fabric and I found this lovely piece of rayon, very soft with a fluid hand ~ perfect.

 I had the pattern, the fabric, and even this necklace.

  

Time to get to work...

 Voila! 

Now I have my new dress, and I love it. It is just what I wanted.

I just might change the pattern a bit so it has a scoop neck, maybe add short sleeves, and make another one...you just can't have too many dresses.

Thank you for visiting, I hope you have a lovely day.

Details ~

 My house has rather nice original glass doorknobs, most of them are in excellent shape but I can't say the same for these, the glass knobs were fine but the escutcheons were in terrible condition. At one time the brass  must have been as bright and shiny as the little screw laying next to them. I took them off when I painted the doors and there was no way they were going back up like this.

 Alas, I wish that I could tell you that I miraculously cleaned and polished them up but I took the easy way out and purchased replacements from a nearby store, Crown City Hardware that specializes in antique hardware.

Amazingly they had exact duplicates and now the doorknobs  look like this...

with bright, shiny, and absolutely gorgeous brass escutcheons!

Details can  make such a difference.

Thank you for visiting,

I hope you have a happy day.

A very nice day ~

It was a very nice day... 

my rose cuttings have formed new leaves which I believe indicates root growth. The cloches seem to be working.

Hooray!

I had a very successful trip to the library and brought home lots of great books to read.

I finally, finally, finally, figured out the crochet pattern for some lace I am making; crochet patterns can be notoriously tricky.

I made a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. The cookies are yummy and I love this photo, I think this is the best picture I have ever taken.

 In the evening, a concert at the Hollywood Bowl!
Magical

All in all a very nice day.

I think I am very fortunate.

 I hope you had a nice day too.

New curtains ~

The lace lace curtains on my bedroom windows were looking very grim, a combination of sun damage and a playful Miss Twiggley. Once she discovered a little frayed edge to play with...well, that was the end. 

These windows are a challenge, I need a bit of privacy at night but during the day I like the light and the view of the rear garden. The solution, Austrian curtains. They require a bit more work to make and hanging them by myself was a challenge but after a bit of frustration and lots of mistakes they are up.

Here you see them partially open in the morning to let in lots of light and the garden view...

And here, in another window you see them down.

Up, or down 

I like them...and I think Miss Twiggley does too.

Cuttings and Cloches ~

 With the exception of succulents, in all the years I have been gardening I haven't done much plant propagation, I have sowed lots of flower seeds but made few attempts to start plants from cuttings. This all changed when I wanted some roses to plant around the base of the fountain in the new rondel garden. I knew just the roses I wanted, I already had some in the rear garden, but it is impossible to find more as I can not remember the name of this rose or where I got them. So, I decided to take some cuttings.

To help provide the  cuttings with a good start I needed more cloches and last week I found just the right ones at World Market. 

 I am also trying to propagate some other plants along with the roses, I decided to put them all together on the shelf outside of the kitchen window where I can keep a good eye on how they are doing.

Seeing them all lined up like this reminded me of  a work-yard I visited at a chateau in France. Isn't this  wonderful. There is some serious gardening going on here and of course the gardens were fabulous.

I will never have a use for that many cloches and I certainly don't have such a sumptuous garden but I rather like the way they look and the rose cuttings I that I took earlier seem to have taken. Hooray!

I think I have discovered a new hobby.

Thank you for visiting.

Happy birthday America ~

Wishing you all a wonderful, joyous,

 Fourth of July 2014

Happy Birthday America!