Virginia Historic Garden Week

Garden Tour was awesome this year. Sometimes we aren’t so lucky. I remember one year being pregnant, and walking around in 90 degree weather. There was nowhere to relieve my bladder (every 5 minutes) and some of the garden ladies were, shall I say a little “stuffy”. I can’t forget that year, nope. And I wasn’t impressed with any of the gardens either. But this year….oh this year. Farmington Country Club. One word, wow. The thing I enjoyed most about the homes we toured was that the majority of them were all painted or white washed brick. I love painted brick homes.... 

I was very impressed with this room. This home actually consisted of an Architect who was married to a Landscape Architect. Her theme was white, blue, and pink plants. And I must say, she executed it very well! When they bought  the place, it had a 5 car garage attached to an indoor swimming pool. But they ripped that up to install her dream garden….which turned into this.

And this…

And this.

Beautiful right? I know, if I had my way, out of all the gardens I had seen up to this point, mine would look the exact same way. Supreme taste. And great color palette. Well done!

Here are just a few more highlights from the tour….

You can’t tell in the picture, but we were wearing matching shoes:)

Unique floral arrangements…

Amazing architecture….

More fabulous containers….

Taking a break…we did a lot of walking on the first day.

Four generations of women on their sixth year on garden tour together. We are gonna keep this tradition going for as long as we can!

This property was pretty amazing too, belonged to Carl Smith. And if you’re familiar with Charlottesville at all, you probably know who he is. This happens to be one of my husband’s properties too. They sure do a great job….

More of the containers there…my my, so very very nice...

Somebody may have had her fill of me taking her photo all day….

But it was all in good fun…

because I know we had a blast and that’s all that counts!

Looking forward to next year :0)

April

How does your garden grow?

Since it's raining today, and tomorrow kicks of Virginia's Historic Garden Week, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to blog about gardening. I am excited to go on garden tour, I've been going for over 6 years now with my grandmother and well....the horticulturist in me is over joyed! I have been documenting my garden pretty well this year. And instead of letting the weeds take over, I am being proactive and keeping it under control so I can marvel at all our handiwork....I don't just grow the garden for food, I do it because I love to garden!

Everything seems to be growing nicely. The rain is awesome right now, because I know this summer we won't be so lucky....

Is that broccoli  I see??

The radishes I started from seed are doing very well. I love plucking a fresh radish from the soil and popping it in my mouth. SO good.

Potatoes are sprouting pretty quickly too....

Butterleaf leattuce.....very sweet and good.

More lettuce...

Garlic....then Onions...

That's a LOT of cabbage, they need to be thinned out still but I'm waiting for the crop to get bigger. Makes it easier to divide :)

Couldn't resist the muscari. Love a blue flower :)

There are many other things in the garden, but at this point they still all look the same: brussel sprouts, cauliflower, more cabbage, and so on and so on.

I'm really excited about Garden Week. It's one of my favorite times of year. This year it's taking place in Farmington Country Club. A few of my husbands clients are on tour, so I'm looking forward to seeing those ones in particular. :)

Happy Gardening!

Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt

Well, I did it. I finished my skirt. 

 And sewing it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be....

I've already worn it a few times....

To church, shopping, a birthday party....around the house. It's the most comfortable skirt I've ever worn and I absolutely L-O-V-E it. Yay for new clothes, especially the ones you make yourself :)

Revatore Farm

Holy cow. It has been an entire week since I blogged! I'm not sure if I became extremely busy or what but, my my time sure flies around here in the springtime. 

Tuesday we took a trip over to Revatore Farm to visit family. We just love that place. The kids had a blast (as always), feeding the horses, chickens, and cows.

Sweet sweet Febriescia. One of Eleanor's favorites. She can remember all the horses names with out missing a beat. Some memory that girl has.

Holden wasn't afraid, he jumped right in there....

Time to feed!

She's such a good helper.

It was time to feed the horses hay, and I promise you we didn't ask her to pull the wagon. She'll do anything for these horses. I think we have an equestrian in training....

It was daddy's turn to feed the cows......Moooooo

The best part was Eleanor finally caught a chicken. She had been talking about catching one all evening. And well, she did it!

We couldn't leave without a little trampoline fun.....

We are excited to come back. Eleanor and I will be taking riding lessons real soon. It's something she's been very excited about for awhile. And me, well, I haven't been on a horse or taken lessons since I was little, so this should be loads of fun. 

The End. :)

A Quick Fix

If you live in an old house like me, you are always thinking up creative ways to hide the hideous things in your home. For me, it's the breaker box in the downstairs bathroom. It's always been somewhat of an eye sore to me. Yesterday I was rummaging through a pile of antique doors and junk that my husband brought home last year. I found a narrow one that was perfect. So I sanded it down to get rid of the dirt and paint chips...it still left a nice patina.

Centered it in the corner of the bathroom, covering the box as well as I could...

Re-located a few of my indoor Ivy plants....

And that's it, I'm done!

It was so simple and an easy fix to spruce up the bathroom. 

Hope ya'll enjoy this wonderful day. I'm off to finish mulching the garden. :)

new corners of my world....

We picked up some new antique furniture yesterday. Whenever I re-arrange an area in my house, it becomes my new favorite  "spot" to hang out. Anyone else feel the same way? I love to redecorate so getting new pieces is always a plus.

I just love this little corner now. It sits right beside the wood stove. Such a cozy place.

Dried lavender from my garden is within reach. Even after years of being inside, if you brush up against it, there is still a lovely aroma.

A great new spot to showcase a few of my vintage books...

The vintage aprons above go nicely I thought...

And the goldfish have a new home.

This is Eleanor's room.

She finally has a place of her own to do her homework....

Artwork....

Or whatever her hearts desire.

Love the new "corners" of my world.