Southern Porches

Pink houses always remind me of wedding cakes and this Madison, Georgia

 pink house with it's gingerbread trim is no exception.

The black porch rockers are a good color selection against the pink paint.

Even garages in Madison are noteworthy.

Look at the bench full of skulls.

You can never go wrong with classic white with black shutters. 

This porch has delicate trim details.

The window to the left of that porch. 

The side entrance of the house. 

Notice the landscaping is quite understated. 

This allows the majestic white house to take the spotlight.

I hope you are enjoying Madison, Georgia as much as we do. 

I have one more post coming later.

To see the Madison "Porch House" click here.

For the Madison Christmas tour click here.

joy and peace 

Olive

Porch House

The "Porch House" in Madison, Georgia.

It has one of the prettiest southern porches. 

 The residents can usually be spotted on the porch. 

And why not?

That is certainly where I would be.

The porch wraps and hugs the Craftsman style house. 

It is furnished in brown outdoor furniture that compliments

 the yellow exterior of the house.

I cannot have a house in Madison but I could 

duplicate this arbor and climbing rose in my garden.

 All the Madison historic houses have gorgeous yards. 

The spring home and garden tour is May1-3. 

I am not advertising for them. 

They do not know me.

Behind the splendid iris bed you can see a picket fence and

 three car garage for the "Porch House"

More posts on Madison coming soon.

 Madison Christmas home tour post here.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesdays

joy and peace

Olive

Iris

Iris

Last year I had two blooms from this bed of irises. 

This year more blooms than I can count and more on the hill in the back yard.

These irises are out by the gravel road where no water source is located. 

Flowers and grass (or weeds) must survive on their own.

happy gardening

Olive

Happy Weekend

Gremmie says Happy Weekend.

Stay out of trouble cause she won't.

XO

Olive

Old Doors

So I bought old doors. 

Heavy old doors. 

The blue one has six intact window panes in it.

They are heading to our booths. 

One day. 

When my shoulder recovers from lifting pine trees:}

By the time you read this Joe and I will be on the road. 

I will tell you our destination later.

joy and peace

Olive

Foxglove

Foxglove (digitalis) 

My first foxglove is blooming beautifully. 

Why don't I have a dozen more?

Digitalis is poisonous.

 I have given scads of the medical form of it at the hospital.

 It is given for various heart conditions.

 It is in a planter to keep it away from our cat.

I see three or five foxgloves along a white picket fence (a friend has given me a piece of picket fence) or at the base of our stone front stoop. 

In Olive Out news Joe and I installed a new gas hot water heater over the weekend. It was a lot of work but think of the plumbers charges we saved. That installation snow balled into forcing me to clean the laundry room whether I wanted to or not. My laundry room is clean but will never be seen here. It is not photo material. Real life is not always pretty.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesdays

Tell me do you dream about flowers?

Olive

Easter Blessings

"How little people know who think holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” ~~C.S. Lewis

Happy Easter from Olive, Joe, and CC

Deck and Patio

It has been a quest of sorts to find a table top for 

the curvy metal table base you see here.

 I was about to give up when I found a piece of sealed granite in a

 junk shop for a ridiculously low price.

 It weighs almost 80 pounds.

 Joe told me never to find a larger piece.

If an item is big and heavy I want it.

We routinely eat on the deck and bird watch. 

The hummingbirds arrived early this year. 

The hummers ignore us while flying from feeder to feeder.

The patio area will have flowers blooming around it shortly. 

The roses and amaryllis are budding.

I basically rely on perennials but do use a good many petunias in planters. 

They are not terribly thirsty and take this awful Deep South heat.

I have sweet mint (above), chocolate mint, rosemary, thyme, and basil 

growing on or near the deck. 

The rosemary and thyme are winter hardy here.

My first foxglove is blooming but I will share that beauty later.

linking@Wow Us Wednesday

joy and peace

Olive

Must Love Junk

Hello y'all I'm over at Must Love Junk today with Susan for Saturday Spotlight.

I talk about myself, my career before blogging, my family and more. 

Do come pay us a visit.

Joy and Peace

Olive

Flower Garden Emerging

I am awfully excited about my first foxglove.        

Vinca and a vintage garden spreader.

Phlox-often seen at old home places here in the south. 

It is very slow growing.

Nasturtium I grew from seed. 

It is one of the easier flowers to grow from seed.

 I am trying to buy only petunias (annuals) this year at the nursery.

 They can take our heat. 

The geraniums in the earlier post were an unexpected bargain.

However I am easily swayed when it comes to flowers my peeps.

The perennials are emerging in the flower garden. 

Some have winter burn but will survive.

My rusty wheelbarrow is always nearby.

 That pod of grass was filled with felled pine trees from the February ice storm. 

In a few weeks the flower garden will be filled with

 blooming roses, day lilies, and other beauties.

We are thankful for rain yesterday. 

We took  items to the booths and got incredibly wet but had a good time.

If you are in the Deep South plants labeled full sun (not roses) really need

 some partial shade because our full sun is brutal.

linking@Wow Us Wednesdays

happy gardening

Olive

Poppytrail Daisy

eBay

We are looking for this Metlox Poppytrail Daisy pattern.

 A happy dinnerware pattern my friend Beth is enthralled with.

 I am usually the china/transferware freak.

 For her to fall heavily for this pattern I thought I might put out a call for assistance.

Poppytrail Daisy was released in 1964.

 If any of you have a few pieces you may want to sell for a reasonable please let us know.  

She has 6 salad plates and the gravy bowl.

Thanks bunches

Olive

Yellow House: Spring Front Yard

Hello my lovelies.

 It was 85 yesterday. I have broken out my shorts for the season.

 The maple outside our window has leafed out.

 I placed a geranium by the door as it can take the heat.

Look here-a grim little Gremmie in the dogwood tree. 

She weighs ten pounds now y'all.

I'm chubby, my mama's chubby, and my cats chubby.

Our wide expanse of monkey grass (lilirope) is sprouting. We had a million pine cones before the storm. Now we have about five million. I ignore them pretty much.

Easy care sedum on the front stoop that survived the winter unscathed.

Finally, our sweet boy Sheldon. 

Shelley is one hundred pounds and suffers gladly the mischievous cat.

In Olive Out news today is mine and Joe's anniversary.

 Ten wonderful years. To find love again, we think, is a most splendid gift. 

I am going to physical therapy twice a week for shoulder therapy. 

We continue to clear debris from the storm (I basically rake). 

I am carrying on with spring gardening in spite of the extra chores.

 I must have flowers.

Linking@Be Inspired

happy gardening

Olive