Everyday Living

The Sunshine Cottage

~ Everyday Living, Faith, Gardening, Outdoors

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54:10‬ ‭

Hello sweet friends and Happy September, the month that we welcome autumn, my favorite season.

Five years ago I mentioned it would be nice to have a potting shed next to the garden. Renaissance Man agreed, but life was busy and we didn’t make any plans. The following year (2016), we became grandparents and it was pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Fast forward to spring of this year when I mentioned to my sweet hubby that a potting shed would be a great place for me to play and make memories with EM and EK. A few days passed when one evening he asked me if I had settled on the design. Let’s say I got busy finalizing my ideas.

We officially broke ground June 15th and it was completed July 24th…seven weeks from start to finish in the middle of a pandemic! I blogged on the progress and so many of you suggested names and were anxious to see what colors I would use on the exterior. You all were genuinely excited along with me, that is why I love our “everyday living” community. So why have I taken so long to share? This year has had its challenges.  It has been difficult to locate the few things I needed for the interior. Who knows when I will find what I have in mind?! I decided it was time to share, anyway.

I am so excited for you to see the exterior of the Sunshine Cottage!

 

It has been somewhat of a task to take photos of the Sunshine Cottage without sunshine and between showers and thunderstorms.

Late yesterday the clouds parted and we finally had sun on the Sunshine Cottage…so we plugged in a pic after we were set to publish!

 

The porch is 6 feet by 12 feet. It hasn’t been decorated, but hopefully in a few weeks it will be dressed in autumn’s glory with pumpkins! The glider came from my Daddy’s screened porch. I spent many hours sitting on that glider next to my beloved Mother drinking coffee and talking. When Seth first saw it on the porch of the cottage, he immediately said how much he had loved sitting on the glider next to his Nanny. I hope to make lasting memories with my girls on the rusty glider!

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Chasing Swallowtail Butterflies

~ Everyday Living, Faith, Gardening, Outdoors, Summer

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15:13‬ ‭‬‬

Happy Thursday sweet friends. I hope you are well and having a wonderful week. Tuesday morning I went out to our small cutting garden to cut back the spent zinnias and tidy up everything. Much to my surprise, there were butterflies all over the zinnias, lantana, and sunflowers. I ran back inside to grab my camera, thinking they would all disappear in the meantime. I couldn’t believe more butterflies had joined the party. The next thirty minutes were pure bliss as I stalked them. I discovered that if I stood still and was patient they would come really close.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
-Maya Angelou

Last year my Renaissance Man added a raised bed on the other side of our driveway near a wooded area. We planted zinnias and a couple of rows of sunflowers for a late summer harvest. The butterflies were also enjoying our garden, but they much preferred this area.

Butterflies are always flitting about in the garden and the raised bed, but never like they were on Tuesday morning.

I made a couple of observations while photographing the butterflies. They never landed on any color of zinnia but pink. I have purple, yellow, red, salmon, orange, lime green, and white zinnias that the butterflies never once landed to drink their nectar. Note in all the photos, they are on pink zinnias (perhaps Ella Mae told them that pink and preferably hot pink was her favorite color). Second observation, they preferred the zinnias that were losing petals. I am guessing they prefer those because it is easier to reach the nectar!READ MORE

Farm Fresh Flowers

~ Everyday Living, Faith, Gardening, Monday Morning Blooms, Summer

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:23‬ ‭

Hello dear friends. Welcome to Monday Morning Blooms where I join my friends Lidy, Mary, and Shirley to offer flower inspiration. We continue our ongoing theme of “anything goes” during these unprecedented times. I am in the garden once again, so grab your straw hat and I will provide a tall glass of iced tea. In the Deep South, we prefer our tea sweet! 

I am so grateful to have farm fresh flowers. Since March all flowers in my arrangements have either come from my garden, wildflowers that have been foraged from our surrounding 250 acre woods, or from two flower farms that are about twenty five miles away. You have met my dear friend Martha that owns the hydrangea farm, where I shared a visit last year. She grows many varieties, but she is probably most famous for snowflake hydrangeas.

I have not officially introduced you to Leah who owns Deep Roots Flower Farm. She offers a wide variety of flowers…ranunculus, poppies, dahlias, cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, etc!

My colorful arrangement is composed of farm fresh flowers from Deep Roots Flower Farm and my garden.

You will find gorgeous flower inspiration from my friends at the bottom of this post.READ MORE