a spot in the shade

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manylman surprised me with a fabulously shabby pair of old chairs the other day! i had long craved a cozy chair, in a shady spot, just for me, & these chairs fit the bill to perfection.

for privacy from the neighbors, & because it is delightfully pretty, i hung an old lace curtain on the unused gate in our fence. now i can keep elfling company whilst he cooks in his kitchen, as he does me in mine!

the wind chimes were a gift from my mother-in-law. she knew how sad i was that manlyman could not be convinced of our need of a flock of hens, so thought the chimes would tide me over. they don't, but i love them just the same.

yes, i am still swoony over my be-ribboned tree. thank you for visiting with me in my shady spot :)

~peace.

gardening with found objects

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it's no secret that i love to surround myself with old things. i don't know what it is that draws me to them, but draw me they do. in thebelfry i try to keep my love of the shabbier things to a minimum. i do decorate with mostly old, thrifted, found, rescued, etc objects inside, but i save the more rustic treasures for outside. poor manlyman can only be pushed so far. he's a dainty thing ;)

thehobbit, aka my partner in treasure hunting, spotted the chair a few weeks ago. someone was actually throwing it away! it has no broken bits, & is as sturdy as can be. because it has lots of rusty metal fancies on it though, i opted to not use it in any of the seating areas. i'd hate for someones clothing to snag, or for elfling to scratch himself. it makes a fabulous plant stand, don't you think?

another recent curbside treasure was a pair of 8ft tall wooden shutters. we toyed with turning them into a headboard, but that would require actual time in which to get things done. instead i leaned them against the garage wall, & planted a tomato at the bases. this variety is indeterminate, so my hope is it will grow up the shutters, then onto the garage roof.

this area is thehobbit's pride & joy. please ignore the tall grasses growing through the nasturtium, & up behind the chairs. he wanted a shelf on which to display his succulents, but we didn't have anything that suited. i remembered that we'd used 2 kiddie chairs pushed together, as a plant stand, elsewhere, so thought i'd give it a try here.

luckily it worked! i had a pair of wobbly chairs that were perfect, except for their rush seats. well, to be  honest there was so little rush left that they pretty much had no seats. the top from a wonky table fixed that problem, et voila! a hobbity shelf.

what you cannot see through the tall grasses in need of pulling is on what that fern is sitting. it's an old metal stool that i rescued from a curb long before i had a partner in treasure hunting. wow. i almost wrote a tiny partner. sometimes i forget that at 13 thehobbit is now my height. not so tiny.

there are, to the bewilderment of my sweet husband, many more found treasures in the garden & on the farm, but those will have to wait for another day. have a lovely one, do!

~peace.
because i know some will ask :: the pretty glass things on thehobbit's shelf are his telephone pole insulators. my mother-in-law has a vast collection, & has lovingly shared a few with him.