Summer In House Flowers

I needed to feel happy and free again. There have been some concerning issues around here and fun went to the wayside. I cannot stand it when I am rudely yanked into an ugly patriarchal world not of my own. Or when I have to think of locks, gates, security, weapons, police and reports or anything from their world. I don't do well.
I had to stop myself, full stop.........gather........ breathe......... and make a deliberate move to do something that results in beauty....to superimpose over the patrix (patriarchal matrix) world, something of my own beautiful world. Freshening up the little flower spots was it. I don't purchase flowers like I used to but I do have some growing at times and I make full use of them. There is never a shortage when you look.
I did one arrangement, then the other, then all of them, and soon the house was feeling and looking vibrant, alive and my space graced with the presence of Her Royal Highness, Beauty, The Face of God.
And this BEAUTY is food for my soul. Without it I am empty, asleep, even dead while breathing. HRH BEAUTY moved me to take a picture of it, for it captures not just the physical beauty but my own sensations upon the view, and records these sensations in seeing the image again. I walked around, snapped a few, then a few more, and before I knew it the morning was gone, but I had a glorious one! And thus this post was born.......
Just some pictures of the flowers in my house.....some not flowers, but have the effect of being a flower.
First I'll put the vinca under the fountain picture, but you can see the newly planted circle in the back.....

My Circle Fairy Cabbage Patch is no more, and is now full of flowers....I pray they do better.






























some closeups of them.....happy yellow zinnias which didn't do well at first, but are doing well now.

and the lovely purple Princess Tibouchina Glory Bush..

happy peachy yellow Ixora....

Lavender Princess Floribunda Rose  .....

Variegated Red Hibiscus Bush....I love this one, I think I'll have to get more, the leaves alone are gorgeous.

From the profuse lavender vinca under the fountain which are doing so well, paired with some blue plumbago....I love this combination! You can see my Art Deco Fairy clapping her hands on the sidelines with her very lacy and sparkly wings! :D

 On the sink...I love white in there all the time as the colors are all white, ecru and pale green.

hanging on the towel rack is a French bottle with the same white plumbago....I love this lacy flower.

I use orange hibiscus under the cloche on the kitchen table....they look so pretty and cheerful.

My new cloche!....with a fine tiny waistline.....and lovely little birdy on top for the handle......she gets the white starfish for now on a blue and white English plate.

My beloved Vanda Orchids.....which are blooming for me finally......this is a speckled magenta.

Don't panic...like I did.....doesn't this look like a bird?? It is.....it is..... from the large Bird of Paradise plant....the white part of the flower fell off and when I looked down, my heart froze for a moment.....its a flower!

 

One of my very special loves are the fiddle heads from ferns. I have tiny ones and giant ones. This is a baby one from the huge Australian Fern....a baby, the size of my hand.. When full grown the leaf can be 5 feet long.

One of the fiddle heads of the many hundreds on just one stem unfurling......

The baby from the base of the plant.....this one will open to reveal many hundreds like the ones above.

An inspiration from the new Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Travel edition of this summer.

I saw this picture  passing the magazines in a store and it caught my eye as a florist......its all greens! but beautiful! I loved it and looked carefully and said.....I have all of these growing! or at least those that are similar in color, size, and texture and I can do this.....today! :D:D:D

Here is mine............

I have a giant pothos leaf, some fern, areca palm, coleus, sweet potato vine, begonia, asparagus fern, bird of paradise leaf, ....I love how it came out.....I love it every day.

A detail from the lovely asparagus fern's berries, such a beautiful light green, that open with a tiny white flower.

thank you for visiting. I hope I brought some smiles to your day as these have for me!


Am sharing this post with Rose Vignettes: Fresh Cut Friday a new linky party for JUST FLOWERS! I was going to do this but she's already done it.....if you post about your flowers go on over!

and with Fishtail Cottage: Cottage Garden Party  

and with No Minimalist Here

Cloche Party : 'Fairy Tea in Moss Garden'

Hello Everyone.....

boy did I need a fun project today! LOL

Thankfully I looked into the latest posts from blogs I'm following and Marty of A Stroll Thru Life is having her Summer Cloche Party. 

and I couldn't miss it, and I feel so privileged from this simple thing and able to participate in what seemed to be so magically special when I first read about it months ago.

I remember when I first discovered what blogging really was just last October, due in point of fact to my search and query into what ''cloche's" were! And Marty's site was the very first blog that I had begun to ''follow''. So Marty you were an inspiration to me and still are!


About Cloches:


http://www.englishcreekgardens.com/Cloche1.htm
 Garden Under Glass. The French developed the glass cloche, or bell jar, formed of a solid piece of glass shaped like a dome. The purpose was to protect an early garden plant from bleak cold and frost. This would hasten their crops to maturity. The Dutch and English expanded the idea with handlights, lantern style, faceted pyramidal covers made from glass panes and frames of cast iron. Today French cloches', Dutch and English handlights styles are much on the garden scene. As well as functional, they make a wonderful garden accent. Accent your garden table, or use as a food cover for your next gathering.


All 4 pics below from here
 

source

I remember listening to beautiful music as I browsed in fascination as I discovered that picture after picture of cloche's in google images were from this thing called ''blogger'' or ''blogspot''.....and how so many women were doing phenomenally beautiful things with decorating and re-decorating.....a pastime I had never really given much time to. I was the kind of person who did it once and it was done. But as a gardener these ''exotic'' cloches were gorgeous to me and something I didn't understand, and when I had searched on google and looked in images to see what was being done with them, I learned both about cloche's and the world of blogging....what gifts!


I found this blogsite about cloches and I'm posting it here because her pics are stunning and comments funny!

“A LITTLE GLASS HOUSE”

I am definitely Hooked on Cloches of all shapes and sizes!!! A CLOCHE IS LIKE A TINY GREENHOUSE that sits on a garden bed . They are perfect for growing  seeds and starting warm-weather plants early. The first bell-shaped glass cloches were invented in 1623 in Italy and were generally about 17 inches (43.2 cm) in diameter and 15 inches (38.1 cm) tall.


I’m sure you’re wondering where  I’m going with this?? I’m getting there guys, stay with me . .

Fast forward a few hundred years . . . .Those clever Europeans have brought cloches indoors to be used as decor!!!

Seen below this cloche is used with an aged pottery base.

I like to try different bases for fun. You can even use old Terra Cotta saucers beneath.

They come in all different sizes-Want one ? go here for more.


Now that’s some reeeally big cloche!!!


I like to group cloches with apothecary jars for an indoor garden. OMG


Start a grouping of your own favorite jars and plants.
Ferns thrive in a moist environment.



This is the Mac Daddy of all Cloches!!!!!


It is actually a conservatory and gathering place in a neighborhood of French style homes.  It creates the perfect focal point perched on a hill surrounded by urns, overflowing with colorful flowers.
~end of copy of post.


When I saw that ''mac daddy'' of all cloches' I thought I'd fall off my chair laughing....but instead, I fell in love.


Back to our Cloche Party......
 
Since then, the hunt for cloches of my own began in earnest and I adored them when I found them in Home Goods, and then Marshalls and other stores like that. I love each one, and wish I had more space to store them, but each is loved and used.

So for this party, my first, I scrambled to make something and I wanted something unique, but that is hard to do lately with all the brilliance out there, but I did come up with a little one and since this is a Fairy Blogger, it has a Fairy Theme.

I hope you enjoy it.



Once Upon A Time,
A Fairy who loved Humans lived in a Garden that was tropical and lush. She adored humans, at least some of them, and loved even more to make tea from her herb gardens for them. They always loved tea more than they ever thought possible when she made it, for she made tea with the love of Fairies!
One day she met a special man and invited him for tea in her Summer Moss Garden. As she prepared the area, she pondered on what would be fitting for her guest. She outfitted a special chair for him. She herself sat on a huge quartz crystal rock, close to the cool mossy ground. She made sure there were live flowers of buttercream Oleander and pink begonias. In her fretting about she knew she was forgetting something and so she asked her elvish friend for advice and he suggested a fresh mushroom he had seen today. He went out and found it and brought it in and it made the perfect table for her perfect little intimate tea setting! 
All is in order and everything looks fine for her guest, and she sings until he arrives!

Fairy Tea Party in the Moss Garden Cloche............

 Thank you for joining me in my Cloche Tea Party and thank you Marty !



***


Sharing this post with A Delightsome Life: Home and Garden Thursday

and with No Minimalist Here 

and with The Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home 

Natural & Fragrant! Mosquito Repellent

Hello Everyone.
You may have heard me say I make all my own body products for my self and for others, for health, beauty and hygiene and care. One of the most fragrant things is my natural mosquito repellent. I make it mostly for the housemate John because he sits outside for hours and hours.
If I do have to work out there or I just must sit outside, doing so as comfortably as possible is the only way for me, and that includes no scratching and itching from crazy mosquitoes....I swear I haven't figured out their purpose in life yet!!

So in my quest to repel them but to smell good and to not hurt my skin or my blood by the skins ingesting of topical things, I make my own spray, not totally from scratch, but why if the basics are already readily available?
Again, I do not really measure anything and I use what I have and it can change. The point is, that it does the job. So roughly here is the general recipe for the spray:

1/4 cup Florida water
1/4 cup Witch Hazel in any of its scented varieties from the health food stores, I use Thayers.
 Into this I add the following pure essential oil, NO synthetics EVER.
10 drops citronella essential oil
10 drops lemon or eucalyptus essential oil or both if you have them (I add whatever I have on hand)
10 drops patchouli ~  makes this smell crazy gorgeous!!
10 drops lavender to help in case you do get bit, you don't feel it as much
 I shake well.......:
 I mix these essential oils in the Florida Water and Witch Hazel because these both contain a small amount of alchohol and this blends the essential oils well and disperses them and keeps them mixed. Essential oils normally do not mix with water, they separate, but in alcohol they mix well and stay that way.


The ingredients are on the wooden board, do not mind the background, I don't have time for ''styling'' :D

 Then I add some distilled water to top off the amount in the spray bottle I use.
I also add from my herb garden fresh cut tulsi/holy basil and fresh lemon grass and fresh rosemary into the bottle because these herbs also are natural repellents and because the alcohol extracts their properties and scents and make this blend a divine perfumed repellent.

That's it.
Spray freely for prevention and you won't get bit.
Housemate says it works about 85%, but when I ask then how many times has he got bit, he says not at all.....so you figure the percentages .  : roll

Enjoy! You will smell divine and not be bit by mosquitoes.

Have an itch free summer!

Sharing with Beyond The Picket Fence: Under $100.00 Linky Party 

and with No Minimalist Here  

and with 2805 Potpourri Friday 

and with Chic on a Shoestring 

and Rooted in Thyme


 

French White Linen Skirt

                                                

I blog as a journal, as a reminder, as a keepsake and as a form of communication with a far away friend and for those other kindred spirits with whom I am not yet acquainted. I speak from my heart and soul, authentically always, sometimes in detail as I need to, or short and simple as I need to. I appreciate all of those who read and enjoy what I'm sharing from my hearth to yours. And I welcome any and all comments, thoughts, sentiments, questions, queries or smiles.

                                               
Hello Everyone,

I've been working on many things, keeping busy helps my mood. Sewing is something I'm just now teaching myself, and it is a challenge when you have to figure everything out as you go along and detail is every step of the way. But I'm doing it.
I started a linen skirt but because I could not figure out how to do the waist part, I got discouraged for a month and left it. I had a dream last night where I saw the skirt completed and when I woke up I thought I'd try to finish the skirt and I did.

I"M IN LOVE
                  LOVE
                          LOVE

 :D       :D       :D        :D        

It is in a natural white linen and the tie is white but you cannot tell in this light. But I have more pics coming when my friend sends me the ones she took of me wearing it....she loved it!


I cannot wait to go to market wearing this beautiful flowing feminine linen skirt. It has layers and I thought it may be too heavy for south Florida but I wore it tonight and its completely lightweight and it moves like a song when I walk.
I thank God for the people in the south of France who have inspired me and influenced me.....I just love their peasant country styles!

It came out just the way I wanted it.

 

 

Feeling beautiful is such a high frequency.......it radiates out and makes everyone in your radiance happy too!


Sharing this with 2805: Potpourri Friday 

and with Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 

and No Minimalist Here  

and Faded Charm White Wednesday