Mosaic Monday: Summer Bouquet

I am late visiting all of your mosaics, late posting my own mosaic, and just... late. It's almost summer here, and as the days lengthen, I feel as though I must savor each precious moment of light... each soft color... each sweet perfume...

So forgive me, dear bloggers -- but the soft evenings call me home. :)

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.net.

Just Noodling

Good morning, everyone! How are you today? It's quiet here this morning -- the kids are still abed and my husband ran into the office for awhile... so I'm noodling around in Photoshop and "wasting" time.

It's only partly sunny here this morning, and very humid. I'm thinking we will be getting some thunderstorms later this afternoon. The photo above was taken earlier in the month, and I just played with it a little bit to add the sun flares. This is what I do with my free time. Some of you knit, some of you quilt, some of you paint... I play with my camera and Photoshop. :)

Have a wonderful weekend, dear bloggers! I hope you all have some time to just noodle around. ;)

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Won't you please join me for Mosaic Monday this week? I always love to see what you've been up to, and what beautiful images you have to share! The new linky thingy will be up by 8:30 pm Eastern Time USA, Sunday night. Hope to see you then! :)

An Architect's Garden: Interiors

As promised, here are some interior shots from "An Architect's Garden," which we visited last weekend. We were surprised to learn that the house was open, and a little hesitant to walk into someone else's home. At first I felt strange about taking pictures, but I soon got over that. :)

I wish I could describe for you the feeling of walking into this home... the soaring ceilings, the faded leather chairs, the pieces of architectural salvage, the mirrors and prints leaning casually against a wall, the huge dried flowers arrangements... it was almost like stumbling upon a barn filled with a cache of antiques and faded flowers. Strange and wonderful and totally unique.

There were two fireplaces at either end of this great room, which had a dining table at one end (shown in the first photo) and a living area at the other end (shown above). As you can see the entire room was a treasure trove of architectural salvage and faded antiques. We later learned that the owners have a design business, and many of the pieces in the house are for sale.

Another view of the living room (above) shows the owner's wonderful collection of architectural salvage, including columns, statues, and light fixtures (bottom left of the photo above).

The garden is ever present and easily viewed from within the home because of the many windows and french doors.

The room above is a hallway that runs the width of the house, separating the great room from the kitchen. Sadly, I did not get any photos of the kitchen, but I think you can see some on the owner's design website. I'll give you a link at the end of this post.

Here is another view of the great room. I think it gives you a better idea of all the diverse treasures so casually displayed.

OK, I know some of you are going to say "hay in a garden urn as a side table?!" Perhaps not the most practical of design ideas, but somehow it just seemed perfect here... Now do you see what I meant when I said "strange and wonderful?"

I've still got some more of the garden and conservatory to show you next week. In the meantime, here is the owner's design website, Tendenze Design.

I'm linking this post to Cindy's Show & Tell Friday. Thanks so much, Cindy, for being such a gracious hostess. :)

An Architect's Garden

Welcome to An Architect's Garden, in Pottersville, NJ. This is the second of two gardens we visited over the weekend, as part of The Garden Conservancy's Open Days program.

This stunning house and garden are part of an ongoing project begun in 1992. The owners bought an eighteenth-century dairy farm on 35 acres and turned it's four barns into a uniquely beautiful home filled with architectural salvage and antiques, and surrounded by several wonderful courtyard gardens in the European style.

Don't you love the glimpse of the interior given here (above)? I was surprised to learn that the tour included the interior of the home. I'll be showing you that later in the week. Suffice it to say that it is stunning. :)

The west side of the house overlooks this fountain and water feature. The owners belong to the American Boxwood Society, and the garden features many different types of boxwood which give it a beautiful architectural quality.

Through the two open french doors of the house (above) is a great room that runs almost the entire length of the ground floor, with two gorgeous fireplaces at either end.

Yes, that is just a tease to get you to visit later in the week. lol

The steps up to the thyme garden (above) are beautiful with big clumps of hellebore on either side.

Salvaged architectural pieces are scattered throughout the house and garden, punctuating the ends of allees and leaning casually against the walls.

This is a view of the thyme garden looking toward the gravel courtyard outside the kitchen. Don't you love this beautiful olive jar (above)?

I love the mixture of formal French boxwood garden and exuberant English plantings. Just look at those huge decorative leaves in the thyme garden (above).

I'll share more of the garden and the house later in the week. In the meantime here is a link to the owner's website, Tendenze Design.

Mosaic Monday: Pondside

On Saturday, my husband and I visited two gardens that were open to the public as a part of the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program. This beautiful garden, called Pondside, was set on the banks of a small river. As the name suggests, there was a small pond on the property, as well as a beautiful terrace garden, a potager, and a lovely poolside pergola.

There were some wonderfully whimsical garden ornaments, in addition to the more classic garden statuary. The potager included roses, catmint and sweet peas, along with lettuces, tomatoes and asparagus. All surrounded, of course, by a very high deer fence. :)

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.net.

A Work in Progress

Our master bedroom has been a work in progress (and that's a polite way of putting it) for over a year now. I wanted to show you my new headboard -- handmade by my friend Toni Anne and I yesterday.

We made a plywood and 2X4 base, covered it with foam, batting and a white quilt and voila -- an upholstered headboard. Of course, that makes it sound like it was a breeze to create but let me tell you -- it was a big job! But we are thrilled with the way it turned out. We may be making one for her next. :)

So, that's the master bedroom so far. I still have some ideas -- I'd like to decoupage some prints on the folding screen, and paint the dresser, and get a rug... But it's definitely coming along. :)

Oh, and please excuse the messy bedside tables. I didn't have time to style the photos. lol

I'm linking this post to Cindy's Show & Tell Friday. Thanks, dear Cindy, for hosting such a fun event!

The Ghost of Breakfasts Past

What's for breakfast at your house this morning? I've been in a rut for the past few weeks -- a fiber bar and a glass of water. Looking back over these photos of breakfasts past has gotten me in the mood for something different -- something fresh and real and not processed and wrapped in foil... maybe a fresh fruit salad, or homemade banana bread, or blueberry pancakes...

Mmmm, blueberry pancakes. :)