Morning Glory in the Garden

08 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Gardening

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I live in Southern California and during the summer months we are lucky enough to enjoy morning glory (‘ipomoea’) in all of its blue, pink, white or violet finery. I have grown the flowering vine every year that we have lived in our current home—28 summers of morning glory!

My morning glories are more violet than blue---I really prefer the blue ones so I'll need to make sure I plant new "blue" seeds.

I was first introduced to the ease of growing these flowers years ago (before marriage) while visiting my dear friend, Linda. She was living with her parents at the time and her father grew morning glory in their back yard in Corona Del Mar. When I admired his vine filled with vibrant blue flowers, he explained that they were easy to grow and promptly gave me a 1 gallon container with seeds already planted.

Mine is just getting going and as you can see, I have an insect already nibbling on the leaves. I don't mind sharing but I wish they would eat the less noticeable leaves.

My husband and I bought our first home in Tustin and I was able to grow the morning glories from a pot, the vine grew around the patio post. In this Irvine house I grow them in the only sunny spot in my yard and they twine their way around the fence posts. They are listed in a popular book by retired L.A. Times Garden Editor, Robert Smaus, as a “pest plant” in his popular book, “52 Weeks in the California Garden”—but I still love them! When the little ‘starts’ pop up in the wrong spot in the yard they are very easy to pull up by the roots and eventually they stop coming around.

I've asked this angel to keep the bugs dining to a minimum!

There comes a time in the year when they start looking kind of sad and I simply pull them out, roots and all, when that happens (usually in late September).

Here is a sample of colors that I've seen---I believe they come in a variety of colors, including white.

Isn't this a beautiful shade of blue?

To plant: Buy seed from your local nursery or big box home improvement store. Soak the seed overnight. Sow the seed in a sunny location after danger of frost (spring). Sow them 2-3″ apart and cover with 1/2″ of fine soil. Once the seedlings pop their little heads out of the ground, thin to space them 1′ apart. Don’t over fertilize—this encourages growth of the vine and fewer flowers. I believe you will have fun with this easy to grow plant.

Rehersal dinners & other wedding tales

07 Saturday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Flowers, Party Planning

≈ 5 Comments

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bridesmaid dress, centerpieces, wedding

Hubby and I are attending the wedding of Jeff, the son of a couple we have known since we were first married. Jeff and his lovely fiance, are getting married over Labor Day weekend in St. Helena, California. The wine country in Northern California is amazing.

This is the winery where the wedding will be held. Are we in Italy?

Anyway, since my friend is the “mother of the groom” she and her husband will be hosting the rehearsal dinner. They have a venue and are in the process of selecting invitations and determining centerpieces for the tables.

I love the simplicity of a single hydrangea blossom in a jelly jar.

There are so many beautiful ideas only a ‘Google search’ away. Have you noticed how many amazingly creative people there are out there?!

With the wedding being held in September I believe sunflowers would be beautiful.

I attended a wedding where the bride used jelly jars with wild flowers on the tables and it was amazing.

Speaking of weddings, a friend of mine recently began posting at paper{whites}, (visit her site, you’ll love it). She posted a piece on the wonderful bridesmaid dresses on the market today…and more importantly, you don’t have to break the bank to find them…visit her site for details.

I believe this was in Traditional Home or Veranda some years ago---it's designer Nancy Braithwaite's daughter's wedding.

More recipes please!

04 Wednesday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Dessert, Drink, Entertaining, Food, Simple Meals for the Avid Cook

≈ 6 Comments

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cooking, recipes

For those of you who have read my site, thank you Carla, Linda, Cayley, Darlene and Helen, you may know that my inspiration for starting Garden, Home and Party was the compliment and prompting by Son #1 and the ongoing encouragement of Son #2 and hubby.

I posted this recipe for my 'favorite recipe for English Scones', but my photo doesn't do these sweet, buttery scones justice.

Best Scones recipe HERE

That said, it’s been so much fun writing about the decor of various rooms in the house (any house), the maintenance and planting of my garden and the entertaining aspect—preparing recipes and setting tables, that I guess I’ve not posted as much about cooking/recipes as I thought I would.

Rooms draw my attention, sometimes more than food!

So it was with some interest when Son #2 commented on a recent post that he thought I should blog more recipes. It could be a ‘guy’ thing. Food is infinitely more interesting to the men in my life than the decor of our home, or any home for that matter. Since I take terrible food pictures he suggested that: a) I work on my food photography and b) link to recipes that I’ve found and tried from other sites.

So here goes:

One of my favorite sites for delicious and sometimes easy recipes is Pioneer Woman. The other day she had a recipe called Grilled Chicken with Lemon-Basil Pasta. We had a dear friend over last evening for dinner and I prepared this recipe. It was a hit and very easy. I prepared warm baguette with butter and a spinach salad for the sides. Hubby grilled the chicken and the pasta came together easy-peasy. Please click on the link below to view the incredible pictures of each and every step of the recipe. You will love this site and I’m sure you will enjoy this recipe.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/

Blue and White Rooms & More

02 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Decorating

≈ 10 Comments

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interiors, rooms

When my husband and I purchased our first house I pondered the colors I thought I would like to decorate with. Keep in mind when I tell you what colors I decided on that we were in the midst of the seventies…earth tones were very popular. The sofa we purchased was a block print that included chocolate brown, rust and navy blue. That sofa was very comfortable and I’m sorry I don’t have a picture to show you.

Sometimes its the little things that thrill. Image via Bridget Peirson Photography, via Brabourne Farm

Time flew by and because I’ve always had a love of interior design (that sounds fancier than I am but I hope you know what I mean), we decided when we moved into our current house to go a different direction (color palate wise). I could have chosen blue and white and it did cross my mind, but I had seen a room in a ‘to the trade’ furniture showroom that featured hunter green carpet with hunter green walls. I know, it sounds oppressive, but with white French doors, white over mantle/fireplace and a custom-built white entertainment unit it was actually very cozy. Was being the operative word here. We lived with it for nearly 20 years!

Another view of Miss Mustard Seed's dining room, don't you love it?

I have loved the English country style of decorating for some time (Mario Buatta was someone I followed in design publications). My accessories are pretty much the same as they were in my hunter green days—barley twist candle holders, antique mantle clock, Staffordshire figures, antlers and hunt prints or paintings.

I love this shade of blue but my dining room is pretty dark to handle this dark blue.

When we changed out the hunter green carpet for wood floors in all but the bedrooms I switched to red, khaki and black as the colors I used for upholstered pieces and accents.

This looks so fresh and inviting.

I'm not sure hubby would go for this but I love it.

The thing is, through it all I have longed for a blue and white house. I have pulled nearly every blue and white room featured in any and all magazines. One of my favorite design books to study is “A Passion for Blue and White” by Carolyne Roehm.

Passion for Blue and White says it all.

This is one of the pictures in Carolyne Roehm's book. I hope to duplicate the look for an upcoming dinner in September.

I also love this dining room by the incredibly talented Miss Mustard Seed (of Mustard Seed Creations) Visit her site and be amazed.

This is Miss Mustard Seed's dining room.

I would love to collect blue and white transfer ware dishes. This picture is of Carol Glasser's (a Houston designer) former home.

There is a wonderful tool on Better Homes and Gardens site called Color-a-Room. Check it out, you can see what a room will look like with a variety of paint colors to choose from using this tool.

Imagine navy blue and white...what a clean look! {sigh}

So, “why” you ask, “don’t you have a blue and white room?”…I don’t know but a girl can dream, right?

Wall Sconces…DIY, the finished project

01 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by Karen B. in DIY (do it yourself)

≈ 4 Comments

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do-it-yourself, wall sconces

For Part 1 of DIY click HERE. I started my wall sconce project by cleaning all of the spider webs, dust and dirt off my bargain eBay find with a clean rag and steel wool. I then cut the wires that were attached since I knew I wanted to use candles instead of having them electrified. I wasn’t sure I wanted the permanence of having to decorate around them in the library (which is where I wanted them to hang).

This is the before picture. If the sconces hadn't been paint splattered by the previous owner, I may have kept the brass look, it was old and well worn and I like that look.

I purchased some plastic sleeves that go around the bulb outlet sleeve, which is cardboard. I cute the sleeves to fit but not extend much past the outlet opening. I then began by painting a very light coat of satin finish black paint. I kept the black coat very light, you could still see the brass through the first layer of spray paint. After that dried thoroughly I spray painted a second coat, this time using the oil rubbed bronze spray paint. I continued to alternate the 2 spray paints until I had the finish I wanted. Once the sconces were thoroughly dry I applied (with a soft rag) some Behr water base stain in Norwegian teak. This was recommended by someone who had refinished a chandelier for me years ago. (I really wish I had tackled this project myself but as you will read in part 1, I was hiring someone to do a lot of projects that I realize I could have easily done on my own.

Here are the paints I used. The bronze was a little lighter than I would have liked so I used satin black as well as the ORB.

In any event, here is the finished project. What do you think? I really am happy with the way they turned out and it has given me confidence to try some more DIY projects. Any suggestions?