Courtyard Garden w/ Raised Beds

I love this kitchen and herb garden close to the house, don't you? via SPECIAL NOTE: Please keep your pets inside during the total eclipse tomorrow. They don't know not to look at the sun.

Endeavour, Season 4 on Sunday night August 20th

I usually wait until the last minute to notify you of something new coming on PBS.  Endeavour, Season 4 is on tomorrow night. So happy.

The 4th series begins in the summer of 1967, with barely a fortnight having passed since the events of the Series 3 finale. We find Oxford’s finest picking up the pieces of their lives, both personal and professional. As Thursday and wife, Win, struggle to process the departure of both their daughter Joan and son, Sam, who has joined the army, Endeavour waits nervously to hear the result of his Sergeant’s exam. Throwing himself into his work to mask the heartache of Joan leaving, Endeavour is quickly consumed by his duties with an array of new, perplexing cases landing on his desk. 

read more

Another Great Covered Doorway

This arched canopy over the door would certainly do a great job of protecting you from the rain while you look for your keys. I also like the understated light fixture and the small ledges that were built for the beautiful zinc planters. via

Beautiful Vintage Bathroom: A Classic

These black and white bathrooms never go out of style. Everything old is new again. The stately mansion sold right away to some very lucky buyers with great taste. 

via GSMLS

This is the epitome of an English Country Garden.

Gertrude Jekyll and the Country House Garden, from the archives of Country Life, by Judith B. Tankard (May 2011). photo source

Life's Reset Button

I found this on my phone and I don't know where it came from but I absolutely love it.

New "old" Farmhouse w/ Extraordinary Gardens

Want to see more?

How about the interior of the house?

More photos of the outside too?

If the answer is YES, click HERE.

Chicken Shaming Pics -- So Funny

To see many more photos of chickens wearing signs, click here. After the link opens, if you have trouble reading the last two, click on the individual photo to enlarge.

Wonderful Garden Design Ideas

Glimpsed through an archway or an open doorway, a well-placed sculpture draws the eye to distant reaches, making a garden feel larger and more mysterious. Above: Photograph by Tony Hisgett via Wikimedia.

As long as you are building a wall, why not add a window? I love this idea! Above: Clematis overhanging a metal grille work window between the tower lawn and the rose garden. Photograph by Jonathan Buckley courtesy of Virago. For more, see Required Reading: Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst.

These were my two favorite photos from the article with many more photos. Have a great weekend and enjoy the last full month of summer. Happy gardening. xo

Delightful English Kitchen

A dog and an AGA cooker, perfect together. Read and see more about this kitchen in a cottage with a thatched roof here. Fawn Interiors’ Design Statement: “Our kitchen project for this thatched cottage (approximate age: 250 years old) had to solve the mix of old, rustic elements with modern appliances and materials. To tie the two together, we commissioned handmade kitchen cabinets in modern colors and mixed these with industrial lighting and fittings.”

Delightful Decorated Chest of Drawers + Another Monarch Caterpillar Video

I love this vintage dresser the owners bought online from a Swedish auction. It has been cleverly covered with Antique botanical prints to increase its charm factor.

O Canada: Mjölk’s Renovated Scandi-Style Cabin on a Lake Click for a delightful tour of this home.

Click HERE to see the video of a sleeping Monarch Caterpillar, a hungry one eating a flower, and a wasp fight.

1829 Mount Fair Farm restoration Charlottesville, VA

I found the article that accompanies yesterday's guest cottage post. The History: The original residence at Mount Fair Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia, was constructed in 1829 as a two and half story Greek Revival home set on 200 acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The house stayed in the Brown family until 1930, when the first head of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, Edmund S. Campbell, moved in. The property remained relatively untouched in the decades that followed, other than the addition of a kitchen in the 1950s. Interested? Read more and see additional photos (before and after) HERE.

1829 Restored Farm in Virginia

‘Revival’ of an 1829 Virginia farm. Mark Finlay Architects. Mark Finlay photo in Garden and Gun Magazine. I cannot tell you how much I love this! via

The Perfect Beach House

An early house in a seaside setting: what could be better? Did you see the movie "Summer of '42"? This reminds me of that beach cottage. Enjoy August as the last days of summer whiz by. via

Milkweed Plant, Monarch Caterpillar, Limelight Hydrangea

This Limelight hydrangea is three years old and 7 feet tall. WOW. I love it so and it's wonderful to have something showy blooming in August through the fall. The pink flowering plant is a Milkweed that planted itself. The pink flowers are lovely and the leaves are food for the Monarch butterfly caterpillars. I saw my first ones today and took a video. I don't know how to do it on Blogger but it's easy as pie on Instagram. Click here to see my monarch caterpillar video. Click on the arrow in the center of the photo to start the movement. I am so happy I am helping save the Monarchs. Milkweed is their primary food source and it is being eradicated by farmers who consider it a nuisance. Did you know each Monarch lays 500 eggs in one season and only 20 survive? I hope my little plant, in a very protected location, has a better ratio of eggs to butterflies. See you later. xo

The Best Medicine

MADISONSAFERILLUSTRATION: A little warmup sketch.

My Wish for You

I love this calligraphy and its message. via

Nicest Canopy Over Doorway, Ever

This is the best design I have seen for adding some protection from the weather over a doorway without building an addition. Found here on Instagram from the firm in England that made it and the zinc planter also.

Hello, August

August 1939

Good Housekeeping Magazine

I photographed this in a used book shop.

My photo.

HELLO, AUGUST!

Turn Your Life Into A Story

via

I like this quote very much.

Don't forget, tonight is the finale of Grantchester on PBS, Sniff. Sniff. Here is a preview. 

Masterpiece. Grantchester. Season 3, Episode 7, the finale. Tonight on PBS.

A True Rocking Chair Porch

This could possibly be the front porch at an Inn or a Bed and Breakfast and it's lovely. via

Small House Big Gardens

I love the brick paths leading to the porch and gardens. The yard, surrounded by hedges, divides the lawn from the cutting garden. How very nice. Love! via The house looks nice too and very manageable.

Ivy Covered Estate with Pool

Swim anyone? This looks very refreshing on a hot, humid day. If it were mine, I would prefer the pool farther away from the house so it wouldn't be an eyesore in the winter.

Most towns require a fence anyway.

The mature landscaping is perfect.

This luxury estate is very lovely, isn't it?
via

Home Office Entrance

This must be an extraordinary home office. I wonder if these plaid chairs are in the conference room or the home dining room? via

A Fabulous Potting Shed

I absolutely love this room.

Don't You?

I wouldn't change a thing.

via

Nasturtiums in my Garden

I sowed nasturtium seeds in a large outdoor planter this year and I am really enjoying them. The edible flowers are often described as "peppery" but mine are easily as strong as horseradish.  Wow, talk about clearing your sinuses. I love the lilypad leaves too. I am going to save the seeds for planting next year. They are such cheerful flowers! Enjoy your Sunday. xo

My Baby Robin and A Pot of Corriander

I had a robin's nest with 5 baby robins under my balcony on top of one of the brick pillars.

This is the only fledgling who is keeping in touch. Don't you love those eyebrows?

I planted organic coriander seeds in this pot and am enjoying my harvest.

A larger view of the baby bird visit yesterday.

You can see more of him on my Instagram.

Dahlias in Asheville

Originally cultivated by the Aztecs, dahlias are perennial mountain flowers that survive until frost.

The Technicolor whorls of a Café au Lait dahlia.

Read the article about this Asheville NC Dahlia Farm: FOR THE LOVE OF DAHLIAS

“Cosy Corner”. Carl Larsson, 1894

“Cosy Corner”. Carl Larsson, 1894. This rendering still looks very timely except for the pipe. via

Cottage Near Me with Hollyhocks

I've been meaning to stop and photograph this sweet cottage I pass when going to the Post Office to pick up my mail and today I pulled over. There were a few cars behind me and I waved for them to go around me so I could get a decent photo. The cottage is close to the road so I cropped out the asphalt. I love the old-fashioned flower garden with beautiful hollyhocks, don't you? Click on photo to enlarge.

Nice Formal Living Room

Formal but cozy. I like the conversation area around the fireplace. Found here.

Cutest Farm Cottage

Very nice, indeed.

It's awfully close to another dwelling though.

But I like it.

via