Flowers

I brought all of this home with me on Sunday afternoon from Ojai. 

It was starting to rain and I knew if I didn't pick the tulips and a few of the other gentle flowers they wouldn't last through the storm.

I have so many lemons and oranges right now, I wish my dog Millie could eat them!

I am not very good at arranging flowers but I enjoy doing it.  

Maybe I should take a class or something....?  

My preference is always to use the same flower type and color in a single vase because  I like the simplicity of the single color.  

But the garden gave me so many beautiful things today.

I planted quite a few sweet peas and mixed in some edible peas too. 

 The edible peas look fun hanging over the side of the little vase.  

I threw a few in a salad this weekend and they were sugary sweet.

The blue stalks are a perennial called Pride of Madeira,  

very drought tolerant and great in an arrangement.

  

The bees love these guys.

The little pink guy below is called Cistus or Rock rose, again very little water required.

This bright flower is from another wonderful succulent

I planted quite a few ranunculus in orange, which in addition to purple is my favorite color in this garden.

Iceland poppies were my first really pretty annual grown in my garden when I was newly married. 

I remember being so proud of these when they ended up in a bouquet.  

How time flies!

My favorite bulb, by far, this spring in the Ojai garden is  Tulip Perestroika.  It's a reddish orange and came up early and just gorgeous.  

The yellow tulip is called Mrs Sheepers

 

This is how the Perestroika Tulip shines in the garden...amazing!

 

Hope you had a restful weekend

&

Thank you to every one who left comments on the last post.  

I had a crazy week and wasn't able to respond to everyone but I laughed at the fact that we all love to stalk furniture...too funny!

~*~

Kelley

Stalking Furniture

Have you ever stalked a piece of furniture?  

I have. 

Not just one piece, but many. 

I saw it one day... tucked away in a dark little corner of a great antique shop.  

I leave and pretend I'm not all that interested. 

 I go home and think "that was such a great piece" 

I hope nobody buys it.  

Two weeks later I return ...it's still here.... Oh my.... it's even cuter that I thought it was!

I go home and think "maybe it's overpriced" 

I hope nobody buys it.

Three weeks later I return....it's BLUE....and it has rust!!!! I take a picture with my phone so I can secretly look at it later.  

I go home and look at the picture...and think "I love it, it's perfect".

I hope nobody buys it.

One month late I return...it's still there.  I look at the price tag...$450...Is it worth $450?

No turning back....

I buy it...it's mine...YES!!!!

wow that was alot of work

Rusty Blue Garden Table 

one month of stalking

~*~

kelley

Ojai Farmhouse Interiors: Simple & Bright

The whole point of having a little getaway is to relax.  

Life is full of so much stress sometimes, I'm surprised that we all haven't completely lost our marbles.

We are trying hard to keep this place pretty simple.

 The yard is actually the "work" part of our weekends but I'm not sure planting vegetables and raking leaves is work.

 My husband can fill an entire pickup full of oak leaves in about 3 hours.  We take them to the local compost company, about a mile up the road and pay him $15 dollars to dump it.

That's not work is it?

  I picked this great bouquet from the garden on Easter:  tulips, ranunculus, Iceland poppies, lilac, sweet peas and freesia.

  I love the bight colors in that bouquet and think this house needs a bright interior with plain white walls as the backdrop. 

The pillows on the couch (pottery barn) are from old rag rugs and I just started collecting little aqua McCoy pots for fun. 

The lamps are vintage ice cream maker buckets and the wicker table is from Williams Sonoma Home

I really haven't ever used colors quite this bold but I think it will be great in this little house.  

My inspiration came from a wonderful historic house up the road from us, known as the Libby Stables. Designer Kathryn Ireland owned and completely renovated it.  She chronicled the process in wonderful book called Creating a Home and her interiors throughout the house were bright and fun and comfy.

 

While the style of the two homes are completely different, what they have in common are the surrounding country side, filled with old majestic Oaks and wonderful groves of citrus.  The Ojai stone we used in all of our walls is a cornerstone to the look of our little farmhouse, as it is with the Libby Stables.

So here are some of my new ideas, different from Kathryn's  yet somehow similar:

The 3 swatches across the top will be for drapery for the living room and adjacent dining area and a few pillows.

  

I purchased a vintage Suzanni shown in the center and will be using it to cover cushions on the little wicker ottomans (2 side by side) for some extra seating, from Mainly Baskets

The final item is a small Moroccan inspired side table to use near the couch or perhaps between the striped chairs.  The table is by Wunderley and I got it for $119 dollars on One Kings Lane {thanks Brooke : ) }

I will have this all pulled together in a couple of weeks and will share the finished product with you then...so stay tuned 

In the meantime:   here's to keeping it simple!

~*~

kelley

Lemons and Lavender: Springtime scents in Ojai

The first lavenders to bloom in my Ojai garden are the Spanish Lavender,

 Lavendula Stoechas. 

Sometimes it's called Rabbit Ears,

 Which seems timely since Easter was just yesterday!

This particular variety makes wonderful little arrangements and is extremely fragrant, with a piney scent mixed with lime. 

Used primarily for lavender oil, it's great as a garden element  both for its profuse blooms and amazing scent.

We used lavender extensively in our landscape;  about 4 varieties in all.  They will each bloom at different times throughout the spring and summer. 

Once the first bloom is over they get a good "hair cut"  and may bloom a bit more but this is the best (this variety) will look this year.  

And they were so pretty yesterday.

The citrus is also coming into bloom.  In about a months time the air is so full of bees that you hear this constant hum, almost like electricity.  

These are the Meyers.  Wonderful, round and sweet.  

The blossoms are beautiful and I like to bring a few cuttings in and set them around the house.  

It's a bit like lighting a candle...thats how strong the smell is.

The Meyers grow in large clusters of 5 or more and are disease resistant and need very little in the way of water or pesticides.

I picked a grocery bag full in about 5 minutes to bring home. 

 That how hearty they are!

  Did I mention that Meyers make the best lemonade?  

Meyer lemons are readily available in most Nursery's and also do well in pots on the patio.

More garden posts upcoming

All the rain this winter has made for an amazing spring in Ojai and a bumper citrus crop for our local farmers as well.  That's some good news!

~*~

kelley

Happy Easter