It's the Little Things that Matter #5

 Hello everyone,

Yesterday I showed you my big garden...

Today "It's the Little Things that Matter" and

I have been contemplating about what is really 

important in life. Since my birthday a few weeks ago I

think about how long will I be able to do such physical work?

 I love to garden. Planting, weeding and always changing the 

garden decor from one spot to another. Someday, will I have a little garden?

Maybe so...Today I'm so grateful  to have my Fern Grotto.

It brings me great pleasure.

I love the assortment of plants I can grow in this 

small place. I have a Lemon tree; Jade plant; a variety of Ferns; 

different kinds of Ivy and my Angel begonia.

 If you want to live more, you must master the

art of appreciating the little, everyday blessings 

of life. This is not altogether a golden world, 

but there are countless gleams of gold to be

discovered in it if we give our minds to them.

-Henry Alford Porter

 A single gardenia bloom with the scent of 

paradise~

Thank you for visiting today and have a great week.

Joyously,

Betty

Linking to

Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It

Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday

 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups

Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party

Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 

No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 

The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 

Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 

Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows

The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else 
 The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes

Fall Patio Before and After

Hello everyone,

We are having a 20 degree above normal temperature in Northern California. It's been in the 90's this week. Hopefully by this weekend it will be cooler. Sweetheart and I are busy this month. I am so blessed to have a group of friends and we are gathering together this weekend for a retreat...Then sweetheart and I rre off to his 55th high school reunion. October is always so much fun with the baseball playoffs and the World Series. We have friends coming over to watch one game on our BIG television on the patio. And now I have the patio decorated with a warm blanket covering the swing and another warm blanket covering the chaise. I have comfy pillows and a throw to cover up if anyone gets a chill. I found a plaid throw to cover the top of the swing. I bought the gray blankets and plaid throw at Wal Mart for under $5.00 dollars each.

This summer I dressed the swing in white with soft pink pillows and pink flowers. BEFORE

If the weather cools off in the patio, we have a large heater to warm us up.

Our family has  decided to all come to visit during the Thanksgiving holiday and we have plenty of space for the guys to watch the Thanksgiving day football games. I will be blessed to have all my children and my six granddaughters together at the same time.  I have a photo opportunity and I will be taking a loot of photos. 

Looking forward to the weeks ahead entertaining friends and family.

My fern grotto is looking healthy. And when I trimmed all the flowers before my vacation they are having a beautiful new blooming cycle. I just love to see the roses bloom.

Secret, Autumn Joy and Delphinium

A mosaic to pin

Thank you so much for visiting My Cozy Corner.

Please come back soon. 

Joyously,

Betty 

Linking to:

How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes 

The Tray of Bliss for Five Star Frugal

Rustic and Refined for Table It Link Party - Sunday 

Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home

Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 

The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday

A Delightsome Life for Home and Garden Thursday

Katherine's Corner for Thursday Favorite Thing 

No Minimalist Here for Show Your Style Thursday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else 
 The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

June Garden Journal 2015

Hello everyone,

This is the last of June and I wanted to share with you the progress of my summer garden. The heat is one hot mess, but I have a wonderful watering system and my plants are doing fairly well in this scorching heat. (113 degrees Wednesday) and cooling to 104 on the 4th of July.   The day lilies are blooming every day and I love when their blooms are surround the cupids in the birdbath.

T

My fern grotto is growing nicely. My lemon tree and jade plant are in the shade and that is a good thing. 

The yellow cannas are blooming nicely too. In a week or so they will be finished and the Black Eyed Susans will be blooming in the month of July.

I have a boston fern and a tree fern in the big pot. The boston fern loves the patio and so do I.

The shade in the pergola area is doing wonderful I forgot to take a photo of my beautiful hostas blooming in the shade of the big old tree. I will try to remember next month. Hopefully my granddaughters will help me put some lights on the pergola for some evening dinners in August. 

My wax begonia was in the house this winter and all she did was pout. I don't water my plants in the house everyday, but outside I have an automatic timer and the water goes on everyday for ten minutes and waters all the plants you see.

When the weather cools down, Sweetheart and I are going to have a painting party and repaint the blue bench and a few other things.

The wax begonia, ferns and angels.

Pin a mosaic and visit often.

See you in July for some 4th of July fun.  I have a couple of posts for the celebration.
Thank you so much for your lovely comments.
Joyously,
Betty
Linking to:

Katherine's Corner for Thursday Favorite Thing 

No Minimalist Here for Show Your Style Thursday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else 
 The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday 
My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday 

Patio Swing Redo!

Hello all, 

Life is good in Northern California this week. The weather is still cool for the middle of June. I did a little redo to my patio swing before my Garden Tour. Last week I took some photos of My Fern Grotto and my Patio Swing Redo. I have a little bird cage with some little birds and I don't need to buy bird seed. lol 

Last year in my Flower Shop post you can see the original swing cover and a green bed coverlet to cover the seats. 

This spring I found a white bed sheet and two white lace window valances and made a new cover. The white sheet is a wonderful background for photos. The new seat cover is a 9'x12' drop cloth I bought at Walmart for under $10.00 dollars.

Pink print pillow sham  and pastel print pillows give the drop cloth cover a comfortable look. My granddaughters gather in the patio on hot summer evenings and love to cuddle up on the swing. They love how comfy it is to swing and visit each other after a busy day playing at the lake. The evenings usually stay in the low 90's all night. We enjoy ice cream and cookies and talk girl until time for bed. I love being a grandma so much... 

This sweet pillow is the eyelet end of a pillow case. I sewed it up and flipped the eyelet edge over the top of the pillow.

The pink polka dot pillows were on clearance at Tuesday Morning last summer.  

My ferns love their spot for the summer. Shade and water everyday is my secret to have large ferns in a pot. This year I bought a Meyer Lemon tree and planted it in a pot too. 

Ferns are so ethereal, elegant and graceful. I collect different types of ferns. This year I plan to add some new varieties of ferns to my collection.

This fern has been in this pot for a few years. I also have a young tree fern planted in the back of the large fern.

I love sitting in the patio in the cool of  the morning with a cup of coffee watching the breeze blow the fronds to and fro.

This patio spot is another Cozy Corner... 

Thanks for visiting and please come back soon.

I'm linking to some wonderful parties and hope you visit them too.
Katherine's Corner for Thursday Favorite Thing 
  French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday 
 The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday 
My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday 
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday

Under The Table and Dreaming for Sunday Showcase Party  

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home

A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop!
A Delightsome Life for A Return to Loveliness
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

Ferns and May Garden

Hello everyone, 

Gardening is a journey.
 This year my Fern Grotto has a different look than it had last year.
This spot in my patio is the only place for my cool loving plants to thrive from the extreme heat we have during the summer.
I've added some house plants and more ferns this year.  

The bird cage with my little birds (Frick and Frack) are enjoying their new home outdoors. They are in the house during the winter sharing company with my indoor plants, that are also enjoying a hiatus outdoors too.

 

The big Boston Fern was purchased last year and in the same pot is a young Tree Fern.
The two other  small ferns I bought at the grocery store last month.
The Angel Wing Begonia I started from a leaf over ten years ago. 

The strawberry pot has matured during the past three year and I added white Calibrachoa 

The angels and the pink geranium survived the cold winter. 

My trusty asparagus fern just keeps looking great with minimal attention. The trailing plants add so much texture to the Fern Grotto.

Ivy and a spider plant with another trailing plant.

The peace plant is usually in the dining room, but all the plants were moved out here while we work on a project in the kitchen and dining room. The way we are working on the project now I hope we will have it done before the first frost. LOL

I wanted to share the new look of the patio garden. I removed the confetti Lantana which was hit with  frost this winter. I moved the amaryllis plants and planted a yellow rose. The sunflowers were planted last week and they are already an inch tall.

The pergola area is developing nicely. This is a view looking South. I was happy when Sweetheart mowed the lawn just before I took this photo. I see the garden plot way out there and it looks like its ready to plant.

I will be doing a tablescape later this week under the pergola. 

Wishing you a wonderful week.

I hope you've been inspired today. I'm always amazed at the beauty of nature.
 LINKING TO:
Monday
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty
Dwelling-The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday
Tuesday
An Oregon Cottage for Tuesday Garden Tuesday
Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Wednesday 
DIY By Design for Spring into Spring
A Southern Day Dreamer for Outdoor Wednesday
Thursday
Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Garden Party
Friday
Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday
Thank you for your wonderful comments.
xo
Betty