Thoughts of Home on Thursday #21

Welcome to Thoughts of Home on Thursday number twenty one.
 

Your hostess this week is Laura of Decor To Adore. She recently shared a happy collection of gypsy caravans and shepherd huts for the garden.

Here are this week’s happy features.

Decorating

One More Time shared her love of French Farmhouse Style.

Recipes

Just in time for summer My Thrift Store Addiction shared her favorite salads.

Gardening

This gorgeous hanging basket was created by To Work With My Hands.

Inspiration

Art and Sand shared some gorgeous images of what makes her smile.

DIY

Pillar Box Blue shared how to create a magnetic board and pins using vintage maps and travel tags.

We ask that you please,

1. Link back to this post or any of the four hosts websites.

Laura at Décor To Adore

Stacey from Poofing the Pillows

Jemma from At Home With Jemma

Laura at White Spray Paint

2. Share up to three of your favorite posts, remembering to not link to advertising or shops.

By linking up you are providing permission that Thoughts of Home on Thursday can feature your post and accompanying photos on future blog posts or other forms of social media such as Facebook and Instagram. A link back to your blog will always be provided.
Thank you so very much for gathering with us and we hope to see you each and every week at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. We can’t wait to see what you share.

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Garden Party: Who I Am As A Gardener

To get a picture of who I am as a gardener,

I live in deep South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley,

about 13 miles from the Mexico border.

I grew up on a ranch about 80 miles from where I live now, and how I garden

is because of my mother and watching her in her yard of about 2 acres.
My mother worked hard in her garden, all with a smile and sense of satisfaction on her face.

When she had the opportunity to have someone help her in the garden,

she taught me that I needed to work with them and not instead of them.

She taught me about the importance of watering and finding just the right balance.

She accepted that there were going to be times in the year living on a ranch when there just wasn’t much

you could do to make things look better.

She also taught me that sometimes, if your schedule permits, it’s a good idea to stay home in your gown all

day working around the house.

That is one of my favorite lessons.

There was another gardener in the family though-

the kind who does things on a larger scale.

I was greatly influenced by my father too and his love of big projects.

He farmed as many as 4000 acres throughout his farming life,

and in his 80’s he

was farming 640 acres of grain on his farm El Perdido.

He also grew zinnias and we had lots of discussions about

the ‘right’ way to do that.

I miss those talks.

He’s telling me how to do it better in this picture.

I have referred to my style of gardening, as a result of these wonderful influences,

as

Rancho Landscaping.

Rancho means ranch of course, but it goes further than that in my thinking and heart.

Rancho landscaping means that there are times when I am working so hard in my yard that

I can barely walk at the end of the day, and I am smiling- just like my mother.

It means that I have made mistakes and planted things in all the wrong places.

It also means that they (my plants) seem to know I care, and they grow anyway bumping and twisting into

whatever I planted too close to them.

Rancho landscaping means things aren’t perfectly manicured, but in the early evening, at the end of a long

day of gardening , there is no better place to sit and have an iced cold drink.

The area where I live is Zone 9 and what that translates to

is heat, inconsistent rain (until this year), and a reliance on native plants.

There are special treasures in my garden that I just can’t do without.

Here are a few:

Talavera

Fountains

Lights

My tomatoes and zinnias are struggling right now, but they are

really trying.

I love that about gardening, and that is who I am as a gardener.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thoughts of Home on Thursday #20

We want to thank each one of you for making Thoughts Of Home On Thursday such an

inspiring and joyful spot to be at 6:00 a.m. on Thursdays!

Last week we announced that you can link up thumbnails from your Instagram account too.

If you have any questions on how to do so here is the link.

Your hostess this week is Jemma from At Home With Jemma.

She has recently returned from the wedding of her daughter in Guthrie Oklahoma.

  Our Features

  DIY

I have been obsessing over bandanas so when Sadie from Sadie Seasongoods shared

these easy and festive bowl covers I was hooked.

    Inspiration

Who could resist this sweet and angelic tea time inspiration that Betty shared with us

last week over at her blog My Cozy Corner.

                                                                   

 Decor

The Charm of Home shares with us her gentle and lacy Tidepool runner and Summer 

vignette.

Recipes

Summer time and parties just seem to go together so when Kathy, from Kathy's Cottage

shared her recipes, tips and tricks on how to host a Tapa party, it seemed like a good fit

for us all.

  Garden

Poppy from a Dash of Color shares her Spring apple blossom blooming orchard 

with us and how she decorated the branches of the trees with these most precious lanterns.

We ask that you please:

 1. Link back to this post or any of the four hosts websites. 

Laura of White Spray Paint

Laura at Decor to Adore 

Jemma from At Home with Jemma

Stacey from Poofing the Pillows 

 2. Share up to three of your favorite posts, remembering to not link to advertising or shops.

 By linking up you are providing permission that Thoughts of Home on Thursday can feature your post and accompanying photos on future blog posts or other forms of social media such as Facebook and Instagram. A link back to your blog will always be provided. Thank you so very much for gathering with us and we hope to see you each and every week at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. We can’t wait to see what you share.

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Sunny and Bright Summer Home Tour

Welcome to the 2016 Sunny and Bright Summer Homes Tour hosted by Terri of Our Good Life.

Terri is such a gracious and very talented blogger.

We are so glad you are here.

Our tour schedule this week is

Monday:  Laura at White Spray Paint

Tuesday : Stacey at Poofing the Pillows

Wednesday:  Joyce at At Home with Jemma

Thursday:  Terri at Our Good Life

Friday: Laura at Decor to Adore

Let’s get started!

**********

Today’s tour is of two areas in our home that are places of comfort

to get out of the fierce South Texas summer heat:

the living room and our kitchen sitting area.

It is no surprise that I love blue and white and flea market finds.

In our living room,

I didn’t need another dining table , but when I saw the one above at a church rummage sale

several years ago, I couldn’t resist.

It has often served as an extra dining table when needed, but recently, I have used

it as a library table.

I added some of my favorite design and garden books and of course more blue and white,

and I now have a ‘library’ in our living room.

The living room has always been a challenge to arrange because it is

long and narrow. My philosophy about design challenges in our home is

fairly simple: 

After talking the problem to death with our three daughters,

I just ignore the problem and do what I like.

This spring and summer

that has been the addition of hot pink to match my favorite bougainvillea

color.

Earlier this summer, I also added apple green in our

kitchen sitting area, and I love how the green looks with blue and white.

This is the perfect place to read books from my ‘library’,

and it also the perfect place to call Daughters #1,2,and 3 on the phone and go a bridge too far with

my decorating questions.

I always know when that has happened because they begin by saying,

“Mother, we talked about that…”

And then I get off the phone and do what I want.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and home and thank you to Terri for including me in the

Sunny and Bright Summer Homes Tour.

Don’t forget to visit everyone!

Laura:  White Spray Paint, Instagram, Facebook,  Pinterest , Twitter

Stacey:  Poofing the Pillows, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest

Joyce : At Home With Jemma, Google + , Twitter,  Facebook , Instagram, Pinterest

Terri:  Our Good Life , Instagram,  Twitter , Pinterest

Laura :  Decor to Adore, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google +

*****

Linking to Celebrate Your Story

Thoughts of Home on Thursday #19

Welcome to Thoughts of Home on Thursday #19.

Our hostess this week is Laura of White Spray Paint.

Before we get to this week's features, we have an important

party announcement.

In addition to linking your DIY, Gardening, Recipe,

Decor, and Inspirational posts, we would like to invite you to also link your instagram account.
 

You can do so by linking your instagram URL, which appears when you open your instagram account profile page.

Now to this week's features.

Garden 

 Terri of Our Good Life shares important gardening information about why water is important to bees and how a bee bath solves that problem.

Recipe

Jean of Delightful Repast shares a wonderful tutorial on making crepes in her post How To Make Crepes- Crepes With Peaches and Cream.

Decor

Andrea of Life Love Larson shares her beautiful home in her Summer Home Tour 2016.

DIY 

Claire of Pillar Box Blue creates the perfect patriotic bunting in her Patriotic Upcycled Bunting.

Inspiration 

And Amy of A Day of Small Things inspires us in sharing how this porch called to her in The Call of a Front Porch.

We ask that you please:

 1. Link back to this post or any of the four hosts websites. 

Laura of White Spray Paint

Laura at Decor to Adore 

Jemma from At Home with Jemma

Stacey from Poofing the Pillows 

 2. Share up to three of your favorite posts, remembering to not link to advertising or shops.

 By linking up you are providing permission that Thoughts of Home on Thursday can feature your post and accompanying photos on future blog posts or other forms of social media such as Facebook and Instagram. A link back to your blog will always be provided. Thank you so very much for gathering with us and we hope to see you each and every week at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. We can’t wait to see what you share.

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Just enter your e-mail address.

Enter your email address:


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Workhorse Plants in My Garden

In order for a plant to thrive in my garden it can not be

high maintenance or faint of heart.

When the temperature reaches 100 and

above here in South Texas, these workhorses hang in there and

are very forgiving.

Kimberly Queen Fern (above)

I buy my Kimberly fern at WalMart each spring, and a healthy, large plant costs about $12.00.

Boston fern don’t like me ,

and although I like Asparagus fern, I made the mistake of

using them in flower beds where they are a prickly mess.

Bougainvillea

Are you tired of hearing me talk about my love of bougainvillea?

When they bloom, they are simply glorious,

and the hotter the sun the better.

Airplane Plant

Airplane plants don’t mind a good drenching with a water hose,

which makes them especially easy to keep. 

We also get to celebrate together when they start having

babies that can be re-planted. 

Portulaca

My fondness for Portulaca has grown over the years because of where I usually buy it-

at the flea market.

There is usually a grandmotherly aged vendor who is selling small cuttings planted in coffee cans.

I get to ask her simple questions about her plants in Spanish, and I leave there smiling.

Begonias

Begonias are deceiving. They look fragile- and to a certain degree they are-

but they will bloom with the rest of my workhorses as long as I do my part.

They thrive in partial shade, and they like to be groomed periodically.

White Plumbago

I first wrote about white Plumbago here,

where I referred to it as my form of a perennial border gardening girdle.

I enjoy it for its uniqueness (because white is hard to find in my area) and because it

thrives on neglect.

 

Do you have workhorses in your garden that you can not live without?

Life Can Imitate Art

(Flea Market Finds: brass shell, brass tray, pink book, coffee table book, mirrored place mat,
mirror, small buffet)
  

Walking through my living room today, after I placed a small

bouquet of zinnias from my garden on top of a favorite book, I made a simple connection.

Life at times does seem to imitate art.

Here is what I mean.

I noticed one of my suzani covered dining table chairs next to where I placed the zinnias, and I

realized the fabric reminded me of zinnias.

And so it goes.

It was not intentional.

I never have a grand plan.

The fabric remnant was purchased at a fabric outlet on Harry Hines

in Dallas several years ago.

My daughter and I were exploring, and we enjoy looking at fabric.

So this ‘connection’ today combined my beloved zinnias, a favorite fabric

purchased on a trip to see a beloved daughter,

and a flea market ‘found’ chair.

There is nothing better in my world .

Now to the practical:

*Explore whenever you can and wherever you are.

*Ignore the well meaning question of family members or friends who ask,

“Where are you going to use that or put that?”

If it calls to you, and you can afford it, buy it.

*There are far more lasting mementos from a fun trip than the typical

choices. How about a remnant of fabric instead?

*Go to a local thrift store or flea market.

The real treasures are there.

*****
Joining

at My Thrift Store Addiction