Help Wanted

Well, the brown paisley tablecloth and the fall silk flowers have come out. It must be autumn at Little Red House. :)

Yes, I know silk flowers are tacky. And I really wish I had fresh flowers every day. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

And one of those living wreaths made with succulents would be lovely, too. But unfortunately, all I have is this silk one which is beginning to show it's age.

I'm going to have to see what I can do about celebrating the season more naturally. Any suggestions? You are all my design gurus. I'm counting on you! :)

Mosaic Monday: Evening at Natirar

I know I've shown you this before, but my life is so exciting that I just had to show you again. lol

My husband and I like to take long walks on the weekends, and this is one of our favorite places to walk. It's a park called Natirar, which is about ten minutes from our house. The name Natirar is Raritan spelled backwards. Raritan is the name of the river that runs through the park. Originally part of a great estate, Natirar is over 400 acres of beautifully landscaped parkland, with majestic trees and a nature trail that winds through an open valley.

The images shown here were taken on Saturday night. The light was golden as we made our way along the nature trail. By the time we were walking back through the trees, the sun was beginning to set. The shadows were long and the air was cool.

Evening at Natirar.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.

September 11

Please remember them in your prayers today.

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Please join me for Mosaic Monday this week. Mr. Linky will be up by 8:30pm Sunday. I look forward to seeing you all after a week off. :)

A Sweet Lunch

Well, the days are getting just the tiniest bit cooler, and I'm already in autumn mode when it comes to lunch. I've been on a spinach salad kick lately. :)

My current recipe includes baby spinach leaves, half of a thinly sliced Fuji apple, and honey baked pecans. I dress it with a honey mustard creamy yogurt dressing and some drizzled honey.

Are you sensing a honey theme here? lol All that sweetness might be better balanced with some crumbled goat cheese... I'll have to try that next time. ;)

Anyway, it is seriously yummy. Try it!

So tell me, what is your favorite lunch these days?

Willowwood Arboretum, Late Summer in the Cottage Garden

Isn't there something just so happy about yellow flowers? I used to be a real English garden snob -- nothing but blues, pinks and whites for me. But that meant that there were not many choices for late summer blooms in my oh-so-genteel pastel garden.

No room for exuberant heliopsis, or the smiling faces of black-eyed Susans. No beautiful bronze chrysanthemums. Nothing to relate to the fast-approaching autumn colors.

But I have learned my lesson thanks, in part, to the many local gardens where I take my camera out for a spin. ;)

These images are from Willowwood Arboretum, which I have visited several times this year.

The cottage garden in front of the house is laid out on an axis from the front door, with a crazy paving stone walkway bisected by a grassy path.

The plantings crowd the stone path with a wonderful exuberance, softening the hard edges. The view (above) shows the house at the end of the garden.

I just love this beautiful iron gate, which leads into the garden from the lawn in front of the house. There is a wonderful combination of stone, evergreen shrubs and plantings which together make this garden a very inviting place.

Willowwood Arboretum

300 Longview Road
Far Hills, NJ 07931-2625

Happy

Just a little update for those of you who are interested: my daughter is settling in nicely at college. Hearing her excited and happy voice when she calls home is the best! So although I still miss her, I'm doing just fine. :)

Taking lots of pictures and playing with Photoshop helps, too. The photo above is Coreopsis Moonbeam and purple Angelonia against the red of Little Red House. I'm really loving the colors. Isn't it amazing how bright colors can affect your mood? :)

This is a three-day weekend in the United States, where we will be celebrating Labor Day on Monday. Let the grilling begin! Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend, dear bloggers.

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There will be no Mosaic Monday this week because of the holiday weekend in the United States. Mosaic Monday will return on Sunday, September 12th.

A Gentle Reminder

Just a gentle reminder to all gardeners who have spent the summer battling oppressive heat, and parched earth, followed by biblical deluge...

For all of us who have fought the good fight against rabbits and ground hogs and deer... Many, many deer...

For all of the gardeners who have been disappointed by seeds that didn't germinate, or colors that clashed, or plants that just plain disappeared...

Yup, gardening grows the spirit. And there is always next year. ;)