my little sweet pea

Sweet Peas possess such delicious and delicate looking blooms... displaying vibrant bursts of colour along the countryside. How could anyone resist them? They practically beg with all their glory to be plucked from the roadside.

Today Mr. vG and I took a little detour after dropping my vehicle off for servicing. We decided to take the quiet back roads home, and to my delight, the wild sweet peas were in their prime. We couldn't not pull over for a small bouquet.


This is my Little Sweet Pea, Ava. I've called her "sweet pea" {not in front of her friends of course} since I can remember.... and now I can see the resemblance. She is delicate yet hardy, beautifully bright and irresistable. A treasure.

Happy Monday!

hydrangea's are blooming & a tomato story

I just can't decide.... I always say Hydrangeas are my favourite flower, then the next minute it's Delphiniums, then Lilacs, Foxgloves, Peonies, Lavendar, Wisteria, Climbing Roses, really I could go on and on and on.

Mother Nature's beauty is simply too stunning to choose just one favourite.

Today the Hydrangea's are beginning to make their appearance. Even though they are still quite small, I just couldn't help myself. With scissors in hand, I spared three blooms to quench their thirst in my new {old} milk jugs. It's love.

So much love, that I couldn't even figure out where to put them...I want them everywhere. But they found their home in my typical spot, on the dining room table.

Sadly, the rain yesterday toppled some of my Delphiniums. So I rescued the blooms on the ground and brought them in to enjoy. This is actually the first year I've brought anything other than my Peonies inside. I'm not really sure why. But I do know, that I've recently started clearing away needless clutter and have let the flowers take over. Fresh flowers in the house make me smile.

In my gardens...

I absolutely love the smell of fresh Lavendar. Usually, I rome the garden every morning with my coffee in tote, weeding. And every morning I stop at my Lavendar. If my Lavendar bush could talk...it'd probably say, "Oh nooooo, here comes that crazy lady and her coffee to feel us up again."

Mr. vG's tomatoes

Mr. vG and I recently took a mini holiday together. We toured Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake. It was absolutely wonderful! We visited the Botanical Gardens and spotted these stainless steel spiral tomato stakes. We both instantly thought they were genius. So I made a mental note in my head..."Father's Day".

Every year Mr. vG plants roughly around 30 different types of tomatoes. It's really only a strip of garden, but it gets full sun along the fence there and produces the most amazing tomatoes. However, he spends way too much time staking and tying the plants up all summer, that's why these spiral stakes are so amazing! They go in the ground so easily, and it's not hard at all to get them straight. And NO tying...simply turn the plant along the spiral and it holds up!! I think they are quite pretty too.

As soon as we got home, I started secretly looking online to find where I could get my hands on them. As luck would have it, Lee Valley, a store only 45 minutes away carried them, and not overly expensive either!

Happy Gardening!

our garden in June...

About 5 years ago, Mr. vG and his weight belt went out into every forest, nook and cranny to find us these stones for our front walk. We have two types of greenery growing between the rocks...your typical iris moss and some type of succulent that I haven't the slighest what it's called. I heart my walkway.

More dedication on behalf of Mr. vG and his endless talents...he built this charming gate for the side of the house... and more back breaking stones lead us to the backyard.

Mr. vG also poured his blood, sweat and tears into this fence 2 summers ago. We have rocks upon rocks underground here...so alot of fencing companies won't even dig the post holes because it completely wrecks their equipment. So he dug it all out by hand...4 feet deep per hole, and let me tell you...we could have a tornado pass through, our house would be flattened but this fence isn't going anywhere! Last summer he tackled the other side and will complete the lattice this year. I'm so very proud of all his hard work!! {ILYMTYK}

Hmmmm, I'm starting to wonder what I do around here??? Well below is a picture of our canopy. We've always had it out in the lawn much to my dismay. Our lawn is sloped ever so slighly but enough to make you feel sea sick on the chairs. Our neighbour was putting in a pool last year and ripped up their deck. So we used the wood from their old deck {thanks B&D} to make a little platform to straighten out our canopy.

So did I build this? Uhhh no, Mr. vG did. He even hooked up speakers, you can see the black squares in the top corners of the canopy. Now I can groove in the garden. But I did make the pleated skirt around the base of the platform. I used burlap and a staple gun and topped it off by nailing in a piece of trim. I love how it really softened up the look and it's almost as if it's free floating. I love the way this project turned out.

Eventually, we have plans to put in wooden structure, perhaps a pergola like the pictures below:

This project is put on hold for now as it requires a huge budget. I've been told... "I always make things difficult." So we can't just build the darn structure...first I NEED to blow out my dining room window for french doors because I NEED to be able to see the stone fireplace from inside too. Oh yes, my list is soooo long and my dreaming has to stop or else I'll never get anything done around here!!

So for now, I'll count my lucky stars that I have a husband who slaves around here and enjoy what I have, because really when it comes down to it... good friends and a glass of red wine are all I need!

Finally this year I planted a few herb pots! I love basil, cilantro..well any herb really. This year we are trying out some pineapple basil too...very interesting!

And our peonies are blooming! What a wonderful sight! Now if I could just order Mr. Sun back....

Here's wishing you all a Fantastic Weekend ~CHEERS

on franklin pond

I feel so fortunate to have this view from my backyard while still living in a subdivision. Franklin Pond is home to a pair of mating swans who have at least 4-6 cygnets each year. I love to sit out back with my glass of wine and listen to all the peaceful sounds of nature.

The duo have the most lovely call that echoes beautifully across the water...however, it's not so calming when they have their lovers quarrel in the early hours!! He's probably telling her she's got too much grass in the nest or something hehehhe.

This is the first May 2~4 long weekend I can remember where we all haven't been rained out!! I hope this is the beginning to an amazing week. Hope it's shining where you are!

camera shy

I've always enjoyed picture taking. I've always wanted to be a good picture taker. I'm wondering, if I've always had the interest..why the heck have I never done anything about it?

I've recently been inspired to break out the camera, which I've named Pedro by the way...an extremely talented and sweet new friend Kimberly over at Mimi Charmante named her camera and I figure if Mr. vG names his vehicles than maybe there is something to it??? Well Pedro and I went out into my garden this morning to play.

How wonderful to meet my new flowered friends. The dishes can wait.... I think Nohl & I must have a picnic lunch today!

A little camera shy,

It'll be a slow process I know...

Happy Monday Ladies!

april treasures

Good Day Ladies!

Well the sun is shining and all is right with the world today. I wanted to share some of my April treasures with you, from the outside in. Southern Ontario, Canada, has had an unusal spring this year. Usually I can count on my tulips arriving in time for my youngest son's birthday, May 3. But this year, my garden is about two weeks early.

The fresh green grass and birth of the new tulips instantly bring a smile to my face. This garden goes through many changes throughout spring and summer. Right now it's bare with the exception of the tulips and by the end of summer it's jam packed with wonderful life!

Here's a close up...can you spot Mr. Chippy?

I'm always sad to clip my tulips from the garden...I love them inside but always feel like I'm robbing the garden of it's beauty. However, over the past two years, my tulips have mulitplied so much...there's no guilt!

So I clipped some tulip bouquets to display my indoor April treasures. Fleamarketing is something very new to me. I've always been, well almost embarrased to go to one??? That's all past me now! Just look at the good stuff I found...

I instantly fell in love with this chippy old window frame. The sea foam colour couldn't have been more perfect...and all for $5. My only problem with it was, I wanted to put it everywhere! I'm still unsure of it's final resting spot, but for now it's on my dressr in my bedroom framing the flowers.

I found this glass vase at Value Village for $1. I just love the fluting detail on it.

I also found this wooden old 7Up crate with reminants of their logo and paint. I've moved it around the house a bit too because it could have so many uses as well. It's found it's home on my kitchen table to house some everyday plates and a pitcher full of tulips.

The pitcher was another bargain found this month. I wasn't sure if it would leak or not, so I placed the tulips in a drinking glass of water and set it inside.

Well out to enjoy this glorious day in the backyard with a cup of joe. I've been completely spoiled this week...Ava had her first communion and we have loads of whip cream left over from her party....mmm mid-day coffee with whip cream. Have a great day, hope the sun is shining where ever you are! : )