Summertime!!

 So, just when you think you are in the middle of a never ending drought, Mother Nature does a 180 and you are now in the middle of never ending rains. I think I like the rains a little better as everything does look green and lush again but that means the weeds do as well! And, of course, with the rains falling, there isn't a huge opportunity to get out there and control said weeds...until today which shows a bit of a dryer promise...except that I have a much needed, postponed hair appointment in the middle of the day so not really enough time to tackle everything I want beforehand nor enough time after the fact. And so, after getting the potted plants watered, I find myself here...and so, why don't we head into the kitchen?

There are a few things added this year but mostly I'm using what I had last year. The kitchen is one of the rooms where I have the most chance to use my Mediterranean and citrus colored decor. I seem to have a bit of an obsession with large urns and olive jars and this is when I can bring a lot of them out for display.

I decided I like the basket hanging on that bar so, instead of the usual 2 towels, I hung one newer one and left the basket with a single flower added.

 

In this picture you can see where the painted Mason jar found a home. I like it there because it hides the unsightly electric outlet.

And this is where the smaller brown bottle ended up. My plan had been to use the 2 bottles together but you know what they say about best laid plans! Lol

These are the painted Kraft paper sunflowers that I made last year. I'm not the biggest fan of just making things from paper because if I am going to invest my time-and these cuties did take some time-into a project, I want something that is going to last. But, I trusted the blogger who showed this craft and she was right. With the painting, crumbling and waxing of the Kraft paper, it truly does take on a different texture than just the rough paper you begin with-it's hard to describe but maybe a bit more "fabric-y" or "plastic-y"? In any case, they didn't get any special treatment in the year they have been packed away-they actually may have gotten a bit rougher treatment then most because they were in one of the faux flower Rubbermaids that gets lots of flowers pulled out and pushed in through the year-and they are fine. The few petals that were bent were easily straightened out and they look like I just made them. In this picture it looks like I might have missed a few bent petals- I'll get right on that. lol

I'm actually surprised that I don't have a set of sunflowers dishes but, at this stage of my life, I'm good with the dishes that I have that read a bit Mediterranean to me...and the colors are perfect.

Since I hang so many seasonal/holiday things on the wall in this area, I had so many nails holes and used to just keep moving the nails where needed. Then one day my "new eyes" looked at it-probably in a picture just like this-and saw how awful it looked. And so, I promptly filled in the holes and repainted and am now pretty much "stuck" with 2 nails-one over the other a few inches apart. Those nails hold probably 90% of what I hang here so when they don't, I need to get creative. This is what I came up with for my Tuscan mountain pictures. Not ideal but you get the idea. Lol And, this offers me one more spot to use my citrus fruits to emphasis the color scheme.

So that is the kitchen for this year. Time to grab a shower and get ready to head out but I will be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.