A sign outside a bookstore Bob frequents. I had to laugh because I'm always calling him a hoarder. Years ago I did a post of his "library" on FB and said hoarding or collecting? All the girls said hoarding, my friend Rich was the only one that said collecting, proves men and women don't think alike! This is just a small sampling of what he has. He has two storage units full. His plan is to be a fulltime bookseller when he retires, whenever that may be. Every day I say "Are you retiring today?" The reply is always, "Not today." Then I say, "You better not stick me with all these books!" LOL The point of this post is the farmhouse fireplace. There actually is a mantle on the far wall behind all these books. I tried, I painted, had the mantle installed, wanted this to be a really pretty room . . . The thought started with the foundation. It's lattice and ugly cinderblock. We were going to put up some gutters for some water drainage, but now thinking a French drain, but our contractor said best thing to do would be to build a solid foundation. The columns are brick, but I like rock. Don't even understand what was going on here, thought initially this was a door into the crawl space, but it's not. The cinderblock doesn't even provide support. First thing I need to do is get the gas company out to remove that pipe that is attached to the old oil tank just to be safe, but this wall would be beautiful as a rock wall. There is a local rock guy named Terry Hudson, convenient name "Rock" Hudson! Took some maneuvering to get a few photos of this mantle. Bob bought it at a house sale in Georgia. Primitive old paint, the perfect colors of chocolate brown and hints of green coming through. Lots of crackle! It's small, which is good because at the farmhouse I would use a window where the fireplace would go. The painting above was found in the chicken coop when we moved here, done by the owner of the house who was a well known paper mache artist, but also did some paintings and drawing. Up close you can see the layers of paint and crackle. I really love this mantle, it's plain and simple, perfect for a farmhouse.Right now with this warm weather I have moved outside doing what I can to prepare for spring, which is right around the corner. I need to get the gravel for the driveway, lay rock paths, patch woodpecker holes and paint, oil the front porch floor. I have a feeling the farmhouse is going to be a never-ending project, just like our 1946 bungalow, but it keeps me busy!!
As a gardener, it's wonderful to have weeks of warm weather in winter to get ahead of spring and ready to plant. When spring comes, it's fast and you have to be ready to go! It's also nice to have things bloom with fragrance in the air giving a lift from cold and dreary days. No need to force branches inside when they are in bloom outside. The bees come from out of nowhere and get right to work.
With days of rain in between, it makes it easy to dig up plants to transplant elsewhere. Some baby azaleas from my vintage bushes.Camellias and mahonias, all to be planted down at the farmhouse. I haven't gotten to digging up the hundreds of seedlings of Rose of Sharon. I will pot them all and give away as gifts. The large ones in the foreground will be planted up at the main house as the farmhouse has so many older bushes.All these seedlings!! Going to need bags of potting soil. I've been clearing out more down the path to the parking area and burning in the fireplace as I go. This is the area where the azaleas, camellias and mahonias will go come spring. I had planted a few in the fall, but it will take a few years before they come into bloom.Walking down the path to the right are the bushes that are in bloom, I'm clearing out underbrush and finding a lot of birds' nests.These bushes are so old they look like driftwood. I also found a rock wall that I will eventually unearth. Love rock walls.The hellebores (lenten rose) is also starting to bloom.There are thousands of hellebore seedlings that I will also have to pot, but I will take as many as I can get. They grow fast and bloom the next year and will cover a large area down at the farmhouse. A full grown hellebore costs $20, so I'm happy to do the work.
The nandinas at the farmhouse are loaded with red berries and look so festive at the holidays. Driving around town I started to notice all the Yuletide Camelias in bloom. I had forgotten how much I liked these. I needed one at the farmhouse! They bloom right in time for Christmas. Don't know if I like them shaped, but they still had lots of blooms. So I headed to the local nursery to buy one for next year! If the weather holds out this week, I will get it in the ground. While at the nursery I took lots of photos of all the beautiful Christmas greenery to be posted on Instagram, TinyFoothillsFarmhouse. Merry Christmas!
Tablescape complete! Handmade doilies used as a table runner resembling snowflakes. The snowman is from Rucus Studio, one that I've had for years.
The holly figurine is another Rucus Studio. The snow bunny is Bethany Lowe.
Hoping I can fit plates for my brunch around the decorations!
I started off decorating the porch with a group of cedar trees cut from the property, all lit with tiny white lights, then the winds from the gap came in one night and took them all down. Thought it easier to just light the boxwoods and add to the porch as I go along. Inside I worked on the free bottle brush tree, just white lights and vintage red ball ornaments and a vintage tree topper. Pieces of tinsel were still on the tree when I brought it home, so I left them. White, bright and cheerful! This week I will be working on decorating and cleaning up the farmhouse for a holiday brunch I will be hosting for some friends. I've decided to post on www.campbluewall.blogspot.com. It's been a year since my mother's passing, and I feel I'm ready to do a Christmas post because I always liked to refer back to what I did with the tree and wrappings and gifts I sent to family and friends.
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