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Mother's Day 2009

 

At one time, we had hanging baskets full of beautiful blooming plants; Johnny-Jump-Ups and ferns and other moisture loving plants in the flower bed on the north side of the house, and thriving pots by the front door. This was all before my daughter left home to get married about twenty-five years ago. She took the family green thumb with her.

Dana has a full-time job, a really neat husband, and is raising four terrific children. She scrapbooks, does needlework, is a great photographer, likes to hike and explore the mountains (she and her father hiked all the way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up when she was pregnant), reads mystery novels and gardening books and has the most amazing front and back yards in her neighborhood. She also has plans to put in a rock garden at our place in Cloudcroft one of these days when she has time. I get out of breath just listing her accomplishments.

She doesn't grow vegetables now, although she once did.

Philodendrons and ivies bless her name.

And when spring comes she brings home more pots to set out.

When I call on a weekend, I can always expect that she's outdoors; if not planting, then deadheading and fertilizing, or laying slate pathways, or setting up another cozy area to relax in. She's always working on something.

She loves iced tea (although this looks more like Kool-Aid)!

And, of course, here is my dear son-in-law's beer!

She must be planning a future living Christmas tree!

Although this picture is not her actual rock wall, it's close. She has raised beds running the length of the back wall, where yellow and gold lantana, among other plants, was profuse last time I looked. On Mother's Day 2009 she had cut roses from her back yard and placed them on the kitchen table. Not only were they beautiful, but they SMELLED like roses should.

We used to have a wild vine similar to this morning glory that grew up the fence.

She has a real touch with flowers and takes great close-up pictures of blooms everywhere she goes (better than this one!).

 

I wonder where these will go?

Dana (and the rest of the family, of course) sends me flowers each Mother's Day. The Friday before Mother's Day my flowers arrived -

We were invited over for a Mother's Day spaghetti dinner so I tied wide ribbons around the dome to secure it and slipped it into a gift bag.

The cards above were all handmade - from Dana and Lee and the two oldest boys; the other two are from Joel and Jenna.

Jenna looks on as Dana stops to exclaim about the bench as she unties the wired ribbon. That's my sil Lee and grandson Jeremy in the background.

Here Lee is discovering his beer can on the urn table!

And speaking of discovery, I knew the bell jar was handblown, but hadn't realized how the knob tilts. My grandson Josh said that it looks "very un-machine-made" and they all agreed it gives the setting real character. lol

Dana's garden dome is now displayed atop the bar behind her in the above pictures.

 

And it has been such a pleasure watching the lilies open each day.

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NOTES:

I have been wanting to do a gardening setting for my green thumb daughter for a long time. A couple of years ago she gave me two bell jars, which immediately made me think of gardening and Tuscany and I remember vaguely thinking I might use one of them for her.

When I found that wonderful birdhouse bench in Chicago 2009 I immediately thought of Dana. And then when I also found the hanging basket and the morning glory vine, I remembered the bell jar, and everything crystallized in my mind for the setting.

When I got ready to do it, it went together rather quickly since I knew the major pieces I wanted to use - the bench, the birdhouse, the wheelbarrow, the vine and the hanging basket. I just had to decide on placement, make the base, glue things in place, and do the landscaping.

The wheelbarrow is a Hallmark ornament; the birdhouse was the topper and cover on a ballpoint pen (I removed the pen mechanism). The urn table is resin; its top is a metal disc that was in my scrapbooking stash. The small tote that holds the two flower pots was a swap some years ago. It was too close to the same color as the bench so I put a light green wash over it. The hanging basket was made by a woman whose name I think was Charlotta Teague, and I believe I got the morning glory vine from Carol's Bloomers. Unfortunately, the maker did not sign the bench, so I don't know who to credit.

What fun it was to make it and to give it! Happy Mother's Day 2009 and every year, Dear Daughter!

 

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