winter tabletop

Something pretty for a mid winter pick-me-up. David Austen roses from Oakleaf in Highlands and Private Gardens of Georgia. 

the garden this morning and other stuff

Hi everyone! 

I am still absent in the blogging world. 

Moving into a house and making it a home are much more time consuming than I would have thought. Even if it is a cottage! I finally have finished unpacking all the boxes and making many trips to local consignment and thrift stores to purge unneeded items. 

It has been an effort considering I did the same thing before leaving Ohio but on a much larger scale. I am still amazed at how much we all accumulate over the years and I am not even a collector or habitual shopper. I thought I was a minimalist, uh, no, definitely not. I am enjoying the "less is more freedom" philosophy but it does take effort to get rid of things in a thoughtful way.

Spending time in the yard has been a nice break when needed.

Coreopsis in the front yard that we planted a few weeks ago are happy. The dead tree in the background is one of the many sad Hemlocks that died from the Hemlock Blight in the last few years. The trees are vulnerable to aphids once they weaken.  We have several that will need to be removed.

Summer mornings on the porch are lovely.

Hydrangea tree in bloom, planted tightly between the rocks.

We added a few perennials to the yard here and there and transplanted day lilies and irises that were in the shade in need of sunlight. Also a large arborvitae tree that we needed help with.

Also enjoying the local scenery, which there is a whole lot of! 

We hiked to Sunset Rock one evening. It is an easily accessed trail in downtown Highlands.

View from Sunset Rock.

Next to us as we waited for the sunset was an Andy look-a-like. 

Surreal and sad for us. We are suffering from empty nest syndrome for sure. No more adored children and dog in the house. We miss our Ohio gardens and ponds.We miss our kids and we miss Andy. We are trying to not get a puppy right now as we have more freedom to move around and explore but it is getting tough to resist! We have had goldens for years and are used to their mellow adoring personalities. We are worried about little dogs barking but a small dog would be best when we are ready.

Making our adjustment easier is the fact that we live in such a naturally beautiful area. These  sights are all within a few miles of our house...

Dry Falls a few days ago, a few miles from town.

 Lake Sequoyah

Cullasaja River along Rt. 64

Rt 64 Whiteside Mountain looking east

and we see this view  every time we run errands to Cashiers. So we are blessed to have found such a special place. Highlands and Cashiers are charming and easy. And there is much more to see. I have saved lots of places on my Pinterest boards.

Back to the garden, we arrived back into town last week after visiting friends at Lake Chautauqua in western NY with a nice show of wildflowers on our driveway bed to greet us. 

We do not know what they are, does anyone know? They are blooming everywhere right now, a lot on the roadsides.

* figured it out, it is Helianthus divaricatus or woodland sunflowers

The background is the neighborhood park across the street. Our neighborhood features rustic split rail fences. 

Rhododendren are plentiful, always easy for a quick bouquet. 

That's it for now, hope I can blog more often soon. 

We are waiting for several things to be done in the house. Wallpaper installation, carpenter, furniture delivery, carpet installed on our basement steps. The summer is so busy around here and requires patience for service people. Once all that is accomplished, I will share some photos of our cottage.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

around town

Hi everyone! 

Daisies at the Bank of America, Highlands

We are finally feeling somewhat settled in our mountain cottage. 

I  have unpacked most of the second load the movers brought last week. There are still plenty of boxes for me in the basement that I will go through this summer but we are now able to live normally. 

Ferns, lilies, rhododendron, coreopsis and spiderwort in our wooded backyard, no grass cutting!

Gooseneck loosestrife in our front yard.

I am finally getting out and exploring the beautiful towns of Highlands and Cashiers. 

It is fun to do errands on curvy scenic roads and visit all the boutiques and quant shops. No big box stores here! 

Flowers and ferns are everywhere. Crisp mountain air makes colors bright and foliage vibrant. 

Scaveola and ferns outside Vivace in Highlands

There are several garden stores and a few florists I will blog more about later but here are some random sighting from the last few days. I am kicking myself for not getting more shots of a favorite fern, the Australian Tree Fern. Many shops have at least one potted at their entrance. Some big, some small. 

This one

is placed outside of Rusticks, a wonderful shop I discovered a few days ago. I found a set of faux bamboo side tables for our guest room there. It sits on pretty Cashiers Lake in a great rustic lake house.

view from Rusticks porch

view of Rusticks in the distance across Cashiers Lake

Also in Cashiers is Fiddlehead Designs, a lovely florist and event planning co. I forgot to photograph the beautiful begonias and ferns on their front porch. I want to go back and purchase a few for our porch.

An orchid planter at Fiddlehead waiting to be delivered.

Summer Place Antiques has beautiful red hanging begonias  and late blooming hydrangea adorning their entrance...

They also have a pretty log railing with phlox next to the parking area. I will have to post about railings later because there are so many beautiful natural railings made by local craftsmen.

That's all for now. Oh one more thing, this is a view on the way home from Cashiers. 

We live almost halfway between Cashiers and Highlands, about 5 miles from each. This is the view from the road that most likely causes accidents every so often! It is fun to see it change with the weather. Our new favorite activity is mountain watching. Still have not seen a black bear but everyone else around here has!

Thanks for visiting !

Cindy

things I like this week

1.  Ballard Designs has striped sheets that are perfect for summer. I like the ties on the duvet.

2. The grey wallpaper stripes in this foyer paired with a white painted staircase and sharp black banister has a Hamptons feel.

greige

3. What a pretty spring rustic table with apple blossoms.

Kinfolk magazine

4. I would love to catch a glimpse of this curious looking shore bird with an upturned beak along the coast, it is an American Avocet. We have been enjoying bird watching in the Low Country.

Post & Courier

5.  We brought this sweet bouquet home from the farmer's market last weekend....scabiosa, coreopsis and sweet peas.

6.  A delicious twist on a margarita, add St Germain liqueur, recipe here. 

freutcake

7.  Stripes are always perfect on the floor of a coastal house, these are from Ballard Designs.

8. We want to add casual hooks in our foyer. The white walls, cute totes and vintage horse painting make this peg rack special.

Country Living

9. West Elm makes these striped sheets, add a monogram for a preppy touch.

Are you a fan of stripes like I am. Isn't everyone? They are perfect for warm weather living.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

white azaleas

The beautiful cemetery next to the parish church of St Helena in downtown Beaufort is worth a visit, especially in April when the white azaleas planted at all four gated entrances are in bloom. We came upon them the other day on a bike ride. 

Enjoy.....

I want to thank

 those who have expressed condolences

to me about losing our dog Andy. It is so nice to know that there are other dog lovers  who understand. I centered my days around long walks with him as our kids grew older and more independent and am feeling lost without him. My husband feels the same way. After several extremely sad days last week,  I decided I needed to force a change and that is why I am blogging more and making some other changes in our new life here as well. I am thankful that it is spring, we are enjoying the rebirth of nature.

Don't forget to enter the Les Toiles du Soleil bag giveaway,  just go here and comment, drawing will be Friday,  April 18.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

dogwoods in the house & garden

The pair of dogwoods we have planted in the narrow bed on the back of our garage are in  bloom right now. They were pink but this year they are white. This is probably due to the alkaline clay soil we have.

You cannot tell from the photo above (foliage is blending with trees in background) but the left one is similar size to the right. We planted them there to cover the large expanse of siding on either side of the single window. They are filling the space beautifully. We are so happy with them.

Aren't they so pretty?

Brought a few branches into the house to enjoy....

Our AC is on today, too muggy and hot. We are needing rain badly and hoping for some this afternoon. Weekend looks to be cooling down, which we will enjoy. Unusual to have our air conditioning on this early in the summer.

How is it in your neck of the woods? Are your dogwoods in bloom? Is it getting too warm too early?  Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone!

Thank you for visiting!

Cindy