Summer on the front porch

I am a little late with the annual front porch pics, but 2021 has been a HOT summer and shook up the growing season for my potted plants. We had 3 unusual days of SW desert heat here in Oregon-108f, 112f, 117f at the end of June.

 My hydrangea were burned so badly that they will not recover until next season. Camelia shrubs were badly burnt too. As for the potted flowers and plants, they went into dormancy for about 10 days, but with some water, fertilizer, and love they have rebounded quite nicely. 

A few pics from the back Patio

Americana Flag pillows

Every June I stitch up a few fun novelty flag pillows that are great porch sittin' decor!

These are all available for purchase in my etsy shop

Marionberry Farm Store

Holidays at Arboroak

Finally a dry day to photograph! I have been wanting to share my porch and home holiday decor for over 2 weeks. We have had so many dark rainy days here in western Oregon it downright depressing! But today, the sun popped out for the afternoon, so I busily tidied up the porch and grabbed my camera.

 I used our red wagon again, along with an old shutter, and built a festive display around those elements.

 Old cookie tins wrapped with ribbons are great for "weatherproof" gifts!

I strung lights through the wagon greenery. Below is a night time pic

 

On the other side of the porch is my teak bench draped in pinecones and greens with a vintage watering cans and an old enamel coffee pot filled with fir cones and branches.

  Walking inside the front door you see our large craftman's style mantel and fireplace. Pretty by day and even more stunning by night, but almost impossible to photograph at low light due to the golden colors of the walls.

Sharing some of my favorite timeless pieces I have collected thru the years.

 

May your heart be lifted in praise this Christmas
for the wonderful gift of Jesus
and the joy He brings to our lives.
Have a wonderful Christmas

and a Blessed 2015. 

 

Fall on the porch

As most have figured out, I like to decorate my large porch! Fall decorating comes a bit later for me. It is really hard to let go of my summer flower pots as they tend to linger well into October since we usually do not have the killing frosts until late November here in western Oregon.
With a big change in the weather coming this week, I decided it was time to make the transition even tho it was 75f and nice warm breeze!

 I have to admit, the wagon was not my idea, it was inspiration from Pinterest and I just happened to have a red wagon to pull it off.

 I picked up the black enamel camp pot at an estate sale this summer. Usually you don't see many this color or the wider stockier shape. Kinda cool to add to a fall display too!

 And of course, my trusty wood carrier, always transitions to any seasons display!

 Normally not a big fan of mums, but I couldn't resist these yellow ones, they were like big fluffy cushions!

 Love this metal sunflower sculpture I picked up several years ago.

  A couple of "go to" pieces that seem to always fit. Vintage metal watering can and the wood picket fence wall hanger. Some of the pumpkins are "real" and some are not! Quite a conversation piece for our visitors to try figure out!

I hope you enjoyed the mini tour!

From my porch

It can be said that summer is having it's last gasp. Here in western Oregon we have had a fabulous summer. No brutal heat waves, not too much rain (in fact not enough). The weather service just announced that this was the warmest average temperatures on record. Ever. Wow, that was hard to believe. But they factor in the night time temps and we did have a lot of warm nights and many 90f+ days.

With all that being said, my garden looks a lot more tired for the first part of September than it usually does. I took these front porch pics 2 weeks ago. I have to truthfully say that sadly the hanging baskets are toast now.

Note to self for next year. I had too many petunias. They need to be sprayed for budworm at least every two weeks. I missed a dose and they were gone within a week. Million bells will be the alternative next season. 

Next on the porch agenda. Something pretty for fall. But not quite ready to stop enjoying the summer weather.....

Patriotic Porch

Having a little fun this week decorating my porch space for the holiday weekend. This the first time I decorated for the 4th of July, usually I just use one them and leave it up all summer, but I decided changing things up a little would be fun.

 I grabbed this old king size quilt from my linen closet, perfect fit for the teak bench I must say! I had this wonderful vintage tablecloth pillow sham that had all the right colors.

I gathered up a few coordinating treasures. I forgot I had these colorful Burpee seed mugs tucked in the back of a cupboard. I need to use these this summer, they are perfect for the season. Picked a handful of bachelor buttons (or cornflowers as the farmers here call them)

One of my favorite display pieces is this old wood flat. Fun to just tuck in what I can find. Goes well with the wispy pink baby's breath, alyssum and brachycome daisies.

I went to the back shed and found this old window that I have used in a number of places mainly the back patio or on my back fence, and thought-why not? So here it is above the bench. I had some vintage looking flag fabric in my stash and simply gathered it up to dress the window a bit.

just throwing in a close up on my up-cycled chair I did a couple years ago. The brachycome flowers are planted in a hard hat that I punched holes into for drainage.

all set to kick off my shoes and watch the fireworks from the porch!

Happy 4th of July to all my bloggie friends!