Friday, May 23, 2008



Thanks to my cyber-nephew, Tom in Vegas, I am sitting here listening to Eva Cassidy's CD, Songbird. Thanks Tom.

Today we purchased all our tomato and bedding plants. We also found a wonderful old fashioned wooden screen door for our laundry room door. Shopping of that magnitude made us pretty hungry so we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Tomato Street compliments of Harold's music class at Holy Names Music Academy.

They lavish him with wonderful gifts at the end of each year after calling me to inquire about his favorite places to eat and shop. I thought about suggesting a BIG gift certificate to T.J Maxx but figured they would know something was a bit hinkey about that.


Meet William



William used to be "Bill the Cat", a really poor excuse of a tree. With only three long branches he was not at all what I imagined for the corner of my back deck. Two years ago I decided to do some very hard pruning with the help of my husband. Bill was delighted with his haircut and now is known by the more fitting name of William. (And no, we don't name all our plants.)





Jeffrey over at Roving Medievalist loves lilacs. I finally have lilacs for you Jeffrey. Enjoy! I haven't included all the lilacs because that would get really boring.





Bordering the cutting garden.




Bordering the veggie garden.




More lilacs on the back acreage.




The tool shed. Please notice the shingles that are now falling off the ramp. When Harold first built the ramp I kept bringing up how slippery it was when wet. "Ah hon, could you put some shingles or something on the ramp??" He did - the afternoon after I broke my leg. I forgave him and painted the door red just as he wanted.

Lilacs in the "back yard." All our white lilacs (about 10 bushes) were from starts that I found at a rental property owned by my friend and boss in the car business. This was close to 20 years ago and when we bought this house 10 years ago, I brought along starts. My friend, Larry, died of cancer about 5 years ago. I think of him always, but most of all when the white lilacs bloom. More lilacs and flowering trees. Uncle Jim, please note - these are next to my driveway, not the road.



Even more lilacs in the the front.



One of my five weeping willows. Soon my bench, named Sarah Jane, after Sarah Bernhardt and Jane Austen, will go under the tree for afternoon reading, (and no, I don't name all our furniture, either.)


Looking toward the front deck. The little red chairs and table in the corner next to the tree is my "morning place" for coffee.



13 comments:

Tom in Vegas said...

Auntie A-

BEAUTIFUL pics!! I love William, the lilacs, and the red door. You guys put an awful lot of elbow grease in making your property look so beautiful and natural.

Eva's voice is breathtaking. And, as I wrote previously, her pensive interpretations make her story of passing away so quickly even more tragic. What a shame.

I think I'll go look at some of your pics again to liven up my spirits:0)

BTW, I love your deck. Those chairs under William found their perfect place.

Adrienne said...

I'll post more when the trees are completely leafed out and my flowers are blooming.

William is right outside our slider and we tell him how proud we are to be his parents.

Jeffrey Smith said...

It all looks English, and those hills make me a bit homesick.
The lilacs here are just about finished, except the French ones that smell like any old leaf.

Kit said...

Beautiful! Mine are nearly done, but they sure did smell wonderful!

Kirk said...

Wow Adrienne what a beautiful garden you have! And without wanting to sound like Little Red Riding Hood, what a BIG garden you have too!
We have a balcony but we try and make it nice with flowers. I like marigolds - do you grow them too?
The lilac here has been beautiful too and as our balcony looks out over various back gardens we were able to catch the scent. Now they have faded and it is the elder flowers that perfume the air.

Adrienne said...

Kirk - be still my beating heart - I LOVE marigolds and plant hundreds of seeds every year. I think they smell wonderful although most folks would not agree.

There is a HUGE almost white one called French Vanilla. It grows about two feet tall. I see also there is a new white one called Snowball that I want to try this year.

Adrienne said...

Kirk - the garden area is about 3 acres although some of it is grass and wild flowers. Mary's meditation garden alone(I will post some pre-reconstruction photos) is about 40 X 30 feet.

Anonymous said...

You live in such beautiful surroundings. Breathtaking!

the mother of this lot said...

What a beautiful garden Adrienne. I would be jealous - but if I had it, this lot would wreck it in no time!

uncle jim said...

so noted - drive way ... not road

anyone can post pictures and say whatever they please about them

i'll bring my friend thomas the doubter with me and we will inspect it someday and verify the veracity of your statements [he keeps saying he wants to get out of vegas]

Mulier Fortis said...

Ordinarily I'm not a garden person... I'm more of a curl-up-on-the-sofa person, but those pictures are GORGEOUS !

Paula Bellman said...

Stunning! I am so envious of your yard!

There ya go, now I gotta get to Confession, thanks a lot! :)

Kasia said...

Lilacs are my absolute favorite - I'm so in love with these pictures! And Eva Cassidy is one of my favorites too - I especially love "Penny To My Name".