flower painted shutters

Here they are folks, my folk art flower painted shutters- in all their colorful glory, with their corresponding front and garage door. I got all crazy today and got my planters chocked full of annuals and the front flower bed planted with my favorite perennials and a few herbs too.  Let's not forget what I think is now my favorite part- the window boxes.

I picked up these metal baskets years ago in an antique shop's back lot. I used them for displaying goods when participating at art and craft shows over the years. It's nothing short of a miracle that they made the move and I still have them kicking around- not to mention- I have two of them, they happened to be about the right size, I figured out a way of mounting them to the wall (anchored with 3/8"C hooks that screwed deep into the wall to the sub-layer of wood) without having to order some crazy expensive window-box-hanging contraption off the internet. Then, without even really searching, I found the coconut husk liners you use with this kind of window box at a local nursery, got the boxes planted and hung up- all in a day or two. Ahhh, I have always wanted something to water twice a day all summer long...  Seriously, they are so cute, I don't even care how many times a day they need water.

high mountain greenery

I spent most of last week at Heber Valley Camp, with the girl's camp ladies. Summer is late coming this year, especially in the mountains, so- snow still lay in piles here and there. The green undergrowth is just starting to peek through, way too early for flowers. I don't know what these plants are called, watching them and all the other varieties of plant life work their way through the forest floor, little by little everyday was pretty amazing.

tiny house week: friday

The grand finale of tiny house week- what our family calls "the troll house". For years we've driven the scenic route through Midway and not Heber on our way to Park City so we could pass by this house- ooh and ahh and speculate on it's history and charm. I still don't know much about it. No trolls or hobbits currently reside within, but they've hired a caretaker who keeps the place looking ship shape. One day my friends, perhaps when Bilbo returns from his journey, I can take over some hot rolls (or whatever hobbits love, I can't remember...) and get a peek inside.

tiny house week: wednesday

No, this isn't a house on the Mississippi river, this little pond was meant to be. I wonder if they have a pedal boat parked in a shed somewhere. This house isn't the smallest but makes the awesome list because of the quaintness of outbuildings, pond, bridge, house- even the woodpile looks perfect. They're even sporting American pride- 3x2 with the reflection, no accident I think.

I hear angels singing when I see outdoor spaces like this one.  And someday when my house grows up... my yard will look like this. My yard's guru and mentor- straight up.

tiny house week: monday

Tiny spaces are so intriguing to me.
 I think I can pinpoint when it all started.
When I was in elementary school there was a fabulous, intricate, brightly painted two story playhouse on a trailer parked on the side of a major road we used to drive everyday. The dollhouse/playhouse has a sign posted near it that said- 'Enter a drawing to win this playhouse.'  I begged my mom to stop and enter the drawing. Once entered, I was certain I would win. How could I not when I wanted it more than anything or anyone else?  I dreamt night and day about what the playhouse looked like inside, how I would carpet, paint and decorate it. I was obsessed, like only a naive 10 year old can be. But as entries in all drawings and giveaways go (in my world), I didn't win. I was devastated- perhaps still am.
Something in me still longs for that pint-sized playhouse of my childhood. Now as an adult, when I see a tiny house/shed/outbuilding, I have this overwhelming sense of longing and, let's be honest here, covetousness. (Also, that thing- like when you see a cute baby or a fluffy cat- I clench my teeth, raise my voice an octave or two, say 'cute' a lot, and want to squeeze the guts out of the cute thing.)
As the weather warms up,  I've been running and biking around my tiny, quaint new-to-me hometown. It's a pleasure to get out of the car and see details, all the wee buildings- like the garden shed above. I mean are you kidding me?? It's like 10 sq.ft. tops and couldn't be more perfect.

So I'm dedicating the week to tiny buildings. If you've got a favorite in your town, link it up here and share the love.

kind of like The Secret Garden

I got out into the yard yesterday and mowed, put kid stuff away, swept, raked, put more kid stuff away, trimmed, had a few "so that's where my hammer/cordless phone/whisk walked off to" moments, scooped dog poop, picked up a few more forgotten toys (mostly matchbox cars and assorted balls) and finally fertilized.
It felt a little Secret Gardenish, discovering early perennials and bulbs starting to brightening up the world. Not much around here really resembles Francis Hodgson Burnett's magical garden (except some wailing coming from the house at piano practice time) but I was so pleased to notice this Lungwort (I think that's what it is) early bloomin' under my still bare beech tree, I think I just planted it last year.
Hooray, my yard (and me) are finally mature enough for shade loving plants!

yard envy

Q and I stopped by the Checkered Umbrella Boutique in Springville today. We ran into a bunch of crafty lady friends and yucked it up a bit, did some shopping, and coveted this yard.
Here is the scoop on the Boutique:
Friday, Sept. 25th 10am-8pm
Saturday, Sept. 26th 10am-5pm
411 E 400 N
Springville, UT

If you know Springville, you have driven by this house on 400 E.- we know it by the tiny house in the backyard. Today we found out the tiny house used to be a shed, but is now 3 bedrooms (no plumbing).
Someday, I will build a tiny house in my backyard, with or without plumbing- mark my words.
This is a tiny chair too, by the tiny pond. You just can't tell from the picture. Gorgeous, very creative yard. I loved the upside down umbrella's handing in the trees for the boutique. Lovely.


Hey angel baby... get back to work.

a little upsetting

I know, I know... I should have seen it coming, but- it caught me off guard this year and I could do nothing about it because I was on vacation.
My garden froze.
My huge patch of basil I planned to make into pesto and freeze for the winter is a crispy- then wilty when it thawed out- brown pile of crap. I didn't even get a chance to dig up a plant or two to take inside for the winter.
Luckily all of the tomatoes that were ready to eat were picked in time, I'll be sad when they have been gobbled up in the next few days. sigh... I'm really going to miss summer garden fresh eating.
The geraniums are still good, I think I'll go out and dig some of those up to bring inside and brighten things up during the winter months- make myself feel a bit better.

real estate in Springville Utah

After 10 years in our fabulous home and couldn't-ask-for-a-better neighborhood, we are looking to find something just a bit roomier. So, if you are looking for a house in south Utah County that is chocked full of funky upgrades and is so dang cute in Springville Utah -look no further. mls #826072


Just one of the many bonus features... a Cassandra Barney painted metal fence in the backyard by the garden. The garden in full to the brim this year. All of our hard work weeding, watering and waiting has finally paid off. I love having to only go as far as the backyard for a snack-a-licious handful of grape tomatoes or to harvest up some green beans or spaghetti squash for dinner.

in the jardin

Here is how the garden is looking just over a month after planting. We've been mandating weeding time from the kids each morning and so this is probably the most successfully tended/weeded garden we've ever had. It's in a tucked away corner of the yard, easy to forget about if you want to- but we're on top of it this year. We didn't plant a garden last summer (2 months in Europe) so I think we're all extra excited to get our hands dirty and have some fresh veggies in time.
Morning weeding after working out is one of my favorite times of the day (thanks in part to the umbrella), it's a good time to get a little personal chit-chat time with the kids too- they usually wander out after a bowl of cereal, generally willing to help out and get their hands dirty.
I have vivid memories weeding as a child- mostly positive. Except the one time I came face to face with a big fat tomato worm at very close range... I think that might be one of the reasons I despised tomatoes for so long.

Ahhh... the basil, (and dill and cilantro behind that, then the onions, peppers and bush beans in the back...). I've been babying these plants because there is nothing in the world better than fresh basil when it comes to summer cooking. Pesto is perhaps my kids favorite food flavor. They get very upset when I try to pass off store bought pesto in the winter. Every fall- forced by the impending frost, I spend a day in the kitchen using every last sprig of basil I can find from my garden and madly make batch after batch of pesto. I freeze it in ice cube trays, so handy to pop out 3 or 4 cubes at a time, for delicious fresh summer flavor all winter. As well as a pasta sauce, pesto is so delicious as a rub for salmon or mahi mahi (any fish or chicken really) on the BBQ.

Pesto Sauce:
1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
2 cloves garlic
Coarse or rock salt
2 tablespoons pine nuts (get a giant bag at Costco)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese, or 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Place basil, garlic, salt and pine nuts in a blender or food processor. Whirl until finely chopped.
With motor running, add oil in a thin stream. Scrape down sides to make sure all solids are well mixed. Continue to blend until you attain a smooth sauce.
Add cheeses and give the machine one short burst to blend ingredients well.
Makes about 2 cups.



We were so happy to find this tiny praying mantis wandering about the garden this morning, it was about an inch long and doing all the funny little praying mantis moves- the head tilt, boxing hands, and praying, of course. I wish I could have gotten a perfectly focused shot but I was too impatient and the subject wasn't really very cooperative.


Flowers in one of the pots on my front porch, I couldn't help but snap off a bunch of close up flower shots this morning. This is one of my favorite pics. I love the dark pink flowers, I can't remember what the are called, some kind of verbena perhaps?

nothing short of a miracle

This isn't the real opening shot- before the weeding picture, when the weeds were covering this entire space- wall to wall, two feet tall, but you can imagine I'm sure. (I wasn't on the ball enough to get that shot) My lovely spouse and children worked their fingers to the bone all morning weeding (while I went on a mountain bike ride with my ladies) to clear out our garden space.


Here we have the usual garden fare- better boy, grape, cherry and roma tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green peppers and spaghetti squash plants. I was so bummed when I couldn't find yellow pear tomatoes this year- the nursery that usually has the plants forgot to plant them this year.


A few essentials from seed- basil (enough for a giant patch, of course), dill, cilantro, beans, peas, pumpkins, zinnias and cosmos for cutting, sunflowers and nasturtiums.


I cannot believe that we accomplished the entire garden start to finish this weekend. It was all the peeps pitching in to help that made it happen. I am so proud of my kids for being such hard workers. Now I will have some vegetables to trade with all of the folks who are hoarding wheat and rice from Costco.