July's Garden..........

 

st. francis watching over the blackeyed susans & herbs. given to me by a favorite uncle.

                           oregano just plopped in an urn (ran out of room in the herb garden)

waves

The  swing where I put my little grandaughter to sleep.

an old elevator floor indicator (my hubby is in the elevator field)

back of the garage. I love this little spot.

pink roses peeking thru perennials.

I adore hollyhocks.

whho doesn't love echinacea/coneflower?

 this old washer holds the hoses

Bee Balm so beautiful in the garden

buddehlia aka butterfly bush

rose of sharon given with love from an old friend

a favorite reading spot

herbs & annuals planted in a brimfield purchase

I love my little greenhouse built by my daughters boyfriend

                                                           

this isthe 2nd set of birds to hatch in a favorite topiary

gorgeous wave petunias are always on my to plant list. they are sooooo easy to take care of & I love the way they cascade as they grow.

heart shaped bed planted with purple impatiens near the playhouse. too bad the bunnies are slowly filling their tummies with these tasty blooms. (sorry about the glare)

i love container planting. oops forgot to put the potting soil away!

tj maxx zinc pots planted with herbs (what a great find!)

my darling little grandaughter giana digging for worms in grandmas gardens (loves the worms!)

one of my favorite planters....delphinium with gypsophilia (babys breath) underplanted. this stands in front of the kids playhouse that I just recently changed from pinks & greens to all white with a gorgeous sky blue door.

As the summer moves on, the gardens usually get a little tired looking towards august. I pull out or cut down tired looking plants & supplement with fresher looking annuals, more perennials that will bloom late summer & miracle grow the gardens to death lol! If you do it right the summer gardens will transition right into fall with very little bumps in the road. Hope your summer is going beautifully....xo

Bathroom Inspiration........

Getting ready to re-do one of our baths & these gorgeous pinterest pics are so inspiring! Enjoy....

Enough inspiration to get your juices flowing yes? Have a wonderful week....xoxo

My Slice Of Heaven........

It's kind of small, has no cellar for storage & can be lots of work(when everyone & their grandmother comes down!:) ) but it's my little slice of heaven near the beach! It's the destination that hubby & I look forward to at the end of a busy work week & the place we never want to come home from. I snapped a few photos of our sweet cottage in Rhode Island & thought I'd share. Hubby wants to tear it down & build a new home. I want to keep the basic cottage & add on. His thoughts are more practical since we don't have a lot of room to store things & he hates the idea of no cellar & the fact that it can get a little damp in humid weather. It's something we are going back & forth on right now. We both agree however, that it's getting way to small & our family will only grow when our other kids get married & more grandkids come. Right now I'm just enjoying the summer & doodling  of the addition I envision off the back next year! I think my husband knows I will probably win this one LOL! Have a wonderful week~ TGIF xoxo

Love to do the window boxes up lush & pretty

front gardens~



Rusty old lantern from antique shop down the street

Could it be the salt air that makes flowers grow so much better down here?

Our hydrangeas are so much purpley/blue down here than at home!

Lola watches over the front garden beds~We love it .............

by........

It's That Time Of Year Again........

SO happy the warm weather is here & gardens are in bloom! I'll be taking a week or two off from blogging to tend to garden clients & getting their gardens & containers ready for summer blooms. I've been hard at work on my own the past few weeks & am enjoying watching everything come to life! Wish we didn't have to sleep...like most of you, it's so hard to fit everything in. Have a wonderful week & see you soon. xoxo

Score Of The Week.........

Okay....I was panicking on Wednesday when I  knew I hadn't scored a great deal yet this week. It was raining hard outside & I didn't feel like leaving the house. However, I hadn't been to the Restoration Hardware Outlet in a few weeks so I thought I'd check it out. You know how outlet stores go...you need to check back often for the really good deals. WELL......so glad I did because I scored BIGTIME! The most gorgeous belgian linen lumbar pillows,standard sized & euro box that ranged from 59.00-149.00 I got for a mere 4.99-14.99. My favorites were the lumbar pillow cases that were just 4.99 each! I loaded up, dragged them home in the rain & as you will see by the pics didin't even iron them I was so excited to post my finds! I will take them off the pillow forms I bought a jo-annes for a song, iron & place them in all their ironed glory(I do like a wrinkled look but these not ironed just look messy). I was just so excited to show you all!SO.....if you have a factory store near you run don't walk to the nearest store to score like I did. I'm going back for more tomorrow...what great gifts they make & sooooo frugally done. The restoration peeps told me the dye lots were all off...I didn't see any eveidence of this at all. Three words...gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Have a wonderful rest of the week & an even more wonderful mothers day~I will be very busy with family & friends to celebrate, so see you next week! xoxo

These standard sized cases were 9.99-can you believe it? They are gorgeous in a lavender shade with ticking....

Here's the messy looking one (euro box) that so needs to be ironed. This is gray & beigey color. It'll look great once ironed on the white slipcovered couch (that's covered in an old sheet because of grandaughter Giana's visit-remember..she is the one woman wrecking crew & likes to take crayon to the couches lol)

Please forgive the really bad lighting. No matter how much I "fixed" the pics the lighting was funky here due to rain for 3 straight days. The sun is so trying to peek thru.

Romatic Prairie Style........

I have, as you all have been, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Fifi O'neill's Romantic Prairie Style magazine. Well while in CVS I spotted it & almost ran over a poor woman trying to get to the magazine shelves. I grabbed it, paid for it & sat in my car reading & devouring every beautiful photograph & story behind those beautiful photos. I was so happy to see Fifi's magazine come to life, as she had mentioned her plans for a book & magazine a few years back. I met Fifi when she came to my tiny little massachusetts town to shoot my gardens & my home approx. 3 years ago. Fifi showed up with the talented photographer Dan Mayers & they completely transformed my home into magazine worthy shots. I was so nervous as I answered my door but fifi completely put me at ease as this tiny little woman embraced me in a bear hug. I'm Italian so I appreciate those hugs as I am a big hugger too! She was completely beautiful & charming & had the most delightful french accent. She wore a completely cool cabbages & roses blouse,with a big bow in her hair-completely lovely. It was such a treat to see Dan & Fifi work together. Lots of hard work, but work they both truly loved-you could just tell. Fifi took me shopping for florals, food & little odds & ends we would need for the shoot. She completely kept me in the loop & made me feel a part of the whole day. We even took Fifi & Dan out to have lobster rolls that night & had a complete blast with them. We became fast friends & we chatted about everything, even the hard things we had gone through in our lives.She is the type of person that when you drop by to say hi, will always email you back no matter how busy she is & we all know how very busy she is. I always tell her she doesn't sleep! This is why I am so delighted for her that her dream of 3 years ago is now a reality along with her amazing books Romantic Prairie Style & The Romantic Prairie Cookbook. Congrats dear fifi on a beautiful new magazine-we are so lucky! xoxo

I always love maria's home from the blog dreamy whites

Don't want to post to many photos. You'll want to devour each story & photo as I did.

We are in full swing for our Spring barn sale at mangiacotti this week. it will be 12-13 hour days & really sore feet so I will tell you all to have a great rest of the week now & an even better weekend! xoxo

A sneak peek of what's in store at our spring barn sale. If you live a driveable distance please stop by~you'll be happy you did!  We are located at 117 Pleasant St. Attleboro, Ma :)