Beautiful Day!

 It is an absolutely gorgeous day out-dare I say it was even a bit chilly when I first took my grand dog out early this morning? A day like this just calls for some work outside and, even though I really didn't want to tackle any large projects today-like the much needed pressure cleaning-I knew I had to be out there for a bit.

We actually headed out to tie back the sky vine that is once again growing like Jack's bean stalk! It is always  bit of a challenge because it has off shoots going every which way and I have to get pretty high up on that ladder to corral them all in, but it has already started to bloom and I wanted it to cover the pergola once again for the beautiful flowers to hang and look gorgeous.

And, of course, as usual, once I'm out there one thing leads to another-if you give a mouse a cookie....Lol We got lots of weeding done, jasmine cut back on the trellises, border grass cleaned out a bit and some of the bushes that just had growth spurts cut back. I'm thinking we might head back out a bit later with a book and a glass of wine but, for now, we're back inside and getting a few more little things caught up.

I thought before I got busy, I would start this year's 4th of July/Memorial Day tour. I planted the spring flowers that were on the porch out in the terraced garden by the pool and replaced them with some blue daze, white periwinkles, red pentas and pots of red, white and "blueish" purple periwinkles that I found at Lowes. It's hard to see the "blue" flowers in these pictures, but they're there.

Welcome to the living room.

I still chuckle every time I feed the Declaration of Independence into the typewriter for this vignette remembering that grandson #1 once told me that this isn't correct since that document was hand written-and this happened when he was just a little boy. I quickly explained "decorating license" where themed vignettes were concerned. Lol

 I saw this flag holder in a Martha Stewart Magazine many years ago. I almost didn't make them because the new ball feet at Lowes were SO expensive. But, I kept it in the back of my mind and one day daughter #3 took us to "The Fancy Flea" festival in Madison, Florida and I happened upon a box of antique ball feet for a reasonable price and grabbed them up. I made these as family gifts and I still love mine so much.

I love the spindle Uncle Sams-there is a different one in the family room. It is really hard to find new 4th of July ideas. Even the bloggers I follow seem to be doing the same crafts that have been done for years so inspiration is hard to come by these days.

 I'm still loving my Bethany Lowe inspired banner that I saw in a catalog and made. The funny part of this story is that I was soon after in my favorite shop in Micanopy that carries a lot of Bethany Lowe items and realized that the banner was actually scaled to drape on a tabletop tree. I guess I never looked at the dimensions listed but, I wanted mine large so I'm happier with mine than the original...and, it cost a WHOLE lot LESS!

So this is where the vintage image wreath ended up. I really wanted it with the vintage figures but, I didn't like the way that the back of the images reflect in the mirror. I have since taken it down and painted the back red. It isn't perfect but it is better so it is staying right there. It's also kind of hard to get a good picture because if you do straight on in front of any of my many mirrors you not only get a flash back but you see me. Lol

So that is the porch and living room for this year unless I see something new I want to try. I'm off to get a few things done before I give myself the rest of the day. Stay safe and stay tuned.