Summer is ...

Trips down a dirt road for farm-visiting ...


Blueberry-eating ...


Front-porch sitting ...


Peach cobbler making ...


New-swing swinging. What are you up to, these early summer days?

Around Here ...

We have a 2-month-old who has discovered her hands.


My days are filled with morning-naptime coffee-drinking and blog checking ...


... followed closely by frantic naptime house-cleaning.


There is lots of smiley play time.


For me, playtime is late in the day in the kitchen.


Or outside, watching Spring's welcome approach.

Fall Color Inspiration

Fall color in our neck of the woods has been a bit lacking, probably thanks to our end-of-summer drought. But I still love the muted grays, greens, and browns of the leaf litter constantly falling onto our deck (and everywhere else in our yard).




There are plenty of ways to use the colors when decorating for fall, which is great for our house, where an orange pumpkin stands out like a sore thumb.




Photos: top three are mine, Colin Cooke, bottom three from Saipua.

Day 1031's Week in Pictures: Noticing Color

Lovely colors on this dry-stacked stone wall. The rusty orange with the blue-gray particularly caught my eye.


Pretty black door and brass handle on a local storefront. Still dying to paint something black ...


It is super-green at our house. The dogwood blossoms have faded, the azaleas are on their way out, and the green of summer is taking over. Not that I'm complaining. My hydrangeas are starting to think about blooming -- I'm so glad I didn't kill them!

Day 1024: Week in Pictures

This isn't so much the week in pictures as it's five-minutes-on-Tuesday-evening in pictures. I got home in time to see the setting sun looking so, so lovely on the azalea in the peak of their bloom. By the time I changed out of my work heels and grabbed the step ladder (one of them has got to be six-feet tall!), the light (above) was all but gone. I still managed a few nice shots, I think.

Day 1013

It's raining today, but I don't mind at bit if it will wash this dreadful pollen away for a minute.


And if it gives my pansies a respite from the heat and perks them back up.


And if it coaxes the irises, the azalea, and the lilac into bloom.


Lord, thank you for the rain! It's just what we needed.

Photos: Country Living, Simon Upton for Elle Decor, Eddie Ross, Anne Coyle in Cottage Living.

Inspiration for Spring

I really enjoyed my fall and Christmas inspiration boards, so I made a new one last night for spring. It serves absolutely no purpose except to make me happy sitting on my desktop, but I kind of love it! Even though I waffle about it, simple is beautiful, yes?

The Week in Pictures (So Far)

I kind of fell off the week-in-pictures wagon this month. Now that the weather is clearing up, I'm feeling inspired to pick up my camera again, and just in time for the blooming of the cherry trees! I look forward to this all year, they are just so beautiful.


This forsythia is completely covered in blooms. It must like the full sun it gets, because there are flowers on top of flowers on it. I walked past it the other day on an evening walk and with the sinking sun behind it, it looked like the burning bush! So naturally, I came back with my camera the next evening. Our neighbors probably think I'm a loon.


There is a faint dusting of light green over the trees as they begin to leaf. I'm sure a pollen burst is soon to follow, but, for now, it's exciting. The spring fever in the air is palpable.


Wes made some great progress on our deck over the weekend. It needs stairs on one side and a railing, but we've already been using it. I actually kind of like it sans a railing, as it is easier to toss Maddie's ball into the yard for her to chase.


Which she really likes, as you can see.


Oh, and that cherry tree? What can I say? This little branch wanted to come home with me! Whoops!

Day 947: week in pictures

Four weeks below 35 degrees (rare for central Alabama) followed by one week above 60 and a few days of rain and the early spring flowers are already starting to come out. This Forsythia is just getting started in the parking deck at work. I really enjoy checking its progress each morning.


The weekend started out cold and dreary, so what's a girl to do but stay inside and bake something? I've been craving bread pudding (I don't know what's with my obsession with lowcountry fare these days) and had a stack of recipes to try. I went with this one because I thought I could improvise it a tad and use the Challah bread with raisins that I already had. Totally hit the spot. At Wes' request I'll try a chocolate version next.


Based on my pictures you probably think that Maddie is calm and serene. While she can be, she definitely has a wild streak, too. Like this morning when she nipped at my ankles all the way to the back door to let her out. It's just that she's so much easier to photograph when she's calm and serene! Or sleeping.


The purple tulips opened up nicely. And of course grew about two inches in the process. Tulips are crazy like that.


I was just messing around one morning and rather liked the way this bowl looked on top of our entertainment center. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy a simple still life?

Day 941: a question and a recipe

My mini daffodils have really grown and bloomed nicely. But we came home from a weekend away and they were all over the place. My paperwhites did the same thing in December, but they were easier to contain with a wood skewer and some raffia.


I wanted to try something I saw a florist do with paperwhites, so I stuck some sticks from the yard around the edge of the pot to hold them in. It's better, but still pretty wild. Any bulb-forcing experts out there? What am I doing wrong that's making them droop?


And now to completely switch gears, I want to share a super-easy and delicious recipe that my mom used to make. We had some crescent rolls with dinner last night (they're on sale this week) and I saved a couple for breakfast (they'll be fine refrigerated overnight wrapped in plastic wrap). Just brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans, if you like.


Roll them up, brush the tops with a little more butter and bake at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes. Drizzle with milk-and-powdered-sugar icing and enjoy! Healthy? No. Easy and delicious? Definitely, yes!

Day 940's week in pictures

I have even fewer pictures to show this week than last! I don't know what I did with myself last week since I obviously didn't use my camera. I did make pancakes on Monday morning. Poor Wes had work, so I went a little crazy doctoring my Bisquick mix with things he won't eat. Like lots of cinnamon and pecans. YUM!


Wes' sister got married over the weekend. I'm still sorting through all of the pictures I took, but this one turned out nicely. We (the bridesmaids) got to ring the church bell (this is the rope) before the ceremony started -- it was so fun!


I did buy that portrait I mentioned on Friday. It was 40% off -- sweet! I don't think it's too creepy, but maybe it is. For now I kind of like it hanging between the silk curtains in the living room. I'm pretty sure it's a reproduction of one of the masters, but I really don't know that much about art (nor have I spent the time to figure it out.) Off the top of my head I'm thinking Rembrandt. Laura, thoughts?