Walking and Working...

Walking has taken a back seat to working...in the garden.

The Piano that sits at Turkey Head on the walkway by The Marina in Oak Bay.

On a recent walk, 

Mother and my Sister sat down to play a duet!

I think this is a native plant.

Pretty in Pink.

Here's the wee lending library box on Clare Street.

I walked around the area and loved the friendly greetings that I got from the people in their gardens.

The houses are a mix of old and new and there are lots of patios and porches and beautiful cottage style gardens lining the streets.

It's an old fashioned neighbourhood...like the kind I grew up in when I was young.

There are only so many hours in the day and I have been consumed...
(probably more accurately "obsessed" with a few of our problem beds.)
The ones in particular where the dog violets have gone from pretty flowering plants with dainty purple blooms to non flowering seed bearing maniacs!
It must be the hot summer that has them thinking reproduce or die!

The first bed has been weeded, dug and covered with the help of a young woman who lives across the street from Our Humble Bungalow...
I am taking a short break from the blog and will be posting on Instagram.

THe Humble Bungalow Garden desperately needs a makeover!

Our Humble Bungalow Garden has been foremost on my mind of late...
it's been giving me some unwelcome moments of total frustration...
don't like feeling this way.
I'm overwhelmed and feel rather helpless...
need some expert advice.

I'm considering (and Mr. HB is listening to my concerns) a complete redesign of the yard.
The garden has become far too "high maintenance" and I have been spending many many hours in the hot sun trying to get on top of it to no avail.

I LOVE my roses and plan to keep them. I want and need to find other plants that will look good and not demand too much of my energy and yet still look stylish.
(Mr. HB wants for us to be happy and content in the garden)

We had some friends over for lunch today to discuss this very topic and I am enthusiastic that we might have some help in the future.

The garden needs a plan...
I've pottered about for years with no grand scheme and the beds have evolved in a willy nilly fashion...and while they look pretty, there is a slapdash feel to the whole space.
Too many curves, plants that have "taken over" and a lawn that is filled with buttercups, dog violets and clover.

We invited a couple of friends who have glorious and beautiful gardens 

 a professional gardener 

to walk with us through our garden

and give us some ideas...

Lunch needed to be quick as our guests had a tight timeline.

We drank tea and ate assorted "tea type" sandwiches.

(triangle sandwiches with the crusts cut off)

We served cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks and olives on the side...

Dessert was home made lemon loaf and clusters of red grapes.

We bantered about some ideas and my friend will plot out some plans

his gardener will give us the names of a few professionals that might be able to assist us in our quest.

David Austen Jude the Obscure Rose

The Humble Bungalow bathroom

Mr. HB designed the remodel of this wee space years ago.

This room is so well planned and it makes me very happy too.

Good design is SO important, in the house AND in the garden.

You can see how small the room dimensions are here as the claw foot tub nearly hits the two walls!

Mr. HB had some great tile patterns in mind...

he showed me several options and we agreed on this one.

We opted for a modern pedestal sink

and a pair of new period style lights from Water Glass Studios.

A lovely original painting on vintage linen of French country side 

a gift from our dear friend and talented artist, Cheryl Fortier.

(In the reflection you might notice all my silver bangles)

There is no storage other than a medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

 We re-purposed an oak arts and crafts bookcase to use for the towels.

Hope you have enjoyed this peek 

"Inside the Humble Bungalow."

Hooray Hooray!

we got a smattering of rain this afternoon.

 A welcome gift as we are experiencing a very dry summer here.

I hope it will help with the forest fire situation.

Our garden certainly needs the extra moisture...

the roses and hydrangeas are "needy and greedy"when it comes to water.

In other exciting news...

a group of neighbours have agreed to join me in building a small neighbourhood library box.

We plan to donate books to share 

We have a glass fronted cabinet which we will paint and build a roof overtop.

We will attach some posts and erect it.

It's one of a number of neighbourhood libraries in our city.

This video is very inspiring...

Take care,

Hostess

Branching out...

In our neighbourhood people are always putting stuff out on the boulevard.
Stuff that they no longer want and it's free for the taking.
Sometimes it is a ragged couch, old computer or a TV...and I think this is a rather unfortunate habit of dumping things people are too lazy to recycle at the appropriate depots and it makes our neighbourhood look a bit scruffy.

On occasion one finds a true gem.
I have been very lucky scooping up the odd wicker chair, table, vase or canning jars.

I was chatting with my neighbour as she walked by our Humble Bungalow and she had a few large branches in her hands. I thought they were pussy willows at first but upon closer inspection I could see that they were magnolia buds, much larger than pussy willows so naturally I asked her where she had found them. She told me that someone had pruned their magnolia tree and put the trimmings on the boulevard in front of their house a few blocks away...with no time to waste I dashed off to procure my own branches!

I arranged them in the arts and crafts copper vase.

I wonder if they will bloom.

I cut down the pussy willows that were in the copper vessel and rearranged them in a white pitcher.

The bluest skies energize me no end.

I feel that I can breathe deeper and there is an extra bounce in my step.

One of the bounties of Mother Nature's gifts.

Have you found a gem free for the taking?

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."

~ Coco Chanel ~

Make some time this week to do something nice for someone who needs a little TLC.

It can be a simple gesture, something from the heart.

Plant some seeds of kindness and watch them grow and blossom.

Hostess

XO

A practical ~ casual OOTD...August attire.

My OOTD ~ walking attire...
rather unremarkable.

I have recently been on a de-cluttering binge and have donated several bags of too large and baggy clothes to the Hospice Thrift Shop.

My loss is someone else's gain...
please pardon the pun!

Walking gear:

grey Cool Max capri's

(Costco)

white tank 

 (H and M)

Mondetta light weight jacket

(Costco)

sunscreen ~ Alba 45 SPF

Perrier bottle

 IPhone

keys

 Roots leather cross body bag for walking

I am amazed what I can fit into this wee bag

IPhone

prescription glasses

debit and credit cards

cash and coin

a tissue

lipstick

keys

prepared for a garage sale or a stop at the shops

I walk past this stone garage regularly

this must have taken someone hours of meticulous work ~ just imagine the dedication to this vision

the street numbers are visible just under the peak of the roof

I love the red door and the geraniums spilling forth from the planter

not to forget the grassy rooftop

the fence is built out of the same rock

the vegetable patch is large and impressive

there is even a lighthouse!

the "green roof" looks a wee bit dry

I suppose our watering restrictions prohibit roof top watering...

many people let their lawns go brown

our back lawn is dry in patches

but our wee tuft of grass out front of The Humble Bungalow is healthy and lush

Regular sprinklering helps keep this grass green.

Many homeowners opt for xeriscaped gardens

lawns are a thing of the past and they are replaced by rocks or gravel with drought tolerant plants.

This home has always captured my fancy

it feels a little out of place in our neighbourhood

and it might be more "at home" in the southern states.

This arts and crafts bungalow has just had a makeover...

new paint in a flattering shade of taupe.

It was dark brown and rather dull until the past few weeks when it has been reborn anew

like a butterfly emerging from it's chrysalis. 

WOW!

Daisies are so cheerful.

This home has great bones...and a beautiful garden.

Speaking of beautiful...

I ate every tasty morsel of this WW Points friendly dinner.

We shared a lovely evening with our besties as we sat on the deck at the marina in Sidney.

We were celebrating their recent purchase of a new boat...

which has us thinking that our boating days may not be over.

Meet Sam

he's 5 years old and rather handsome,

my sister will be training and riding him in the local equestrian events.

Mother and I went out to feed him some fresh carrots and apples

before taking tea on the deck in the Highlands this week.

The wind is brisk this evening and the wind chimes sound like a riotous drumming band.

I'm sipping a glass of chardonnay after clearing up the dishes

after a walk with Mr. HB to drop off a Santa Montefiore book to Mother.

I am looking forward to spending a quiet day in the garden tomorrow...

I bought some late summer veggie starter packs and will be getting dirty in my garden.

Hope that your week is chock full of good things.

Chester gives us a scare!

Our indoor kitten Chester jumped out the window Sunday morning around 9:00 am and we frantically combed the neighbourhood, put up signs...registered on lost pets websites.

After about 6 hours of searching, and calling his name a neighbour mentioned that she saw a cat stalking something in the area of her covered storage area...
She and I went into the shed and looked around and huddled under a pile of wood I saw a mound of familiar looking fur.
He was not meowing or acknowledging our presence in any way so we had to grab him and remove enough wood to pull him out.
He was shaking and cold, obviously terrified.
I was shaking and cold with relief!

We are so grateful for the safe return of Chester.

I raced out and bought the largest bouquet I could find, a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates.

Delivered with a heartfelt Thank You card...

A Happy Ending to a stressful day.

I am still somewhat shaken...

though relieved

and now we need to figure out how to cat proof the window so Chester stays safe.

How was your weekend?

What is old is new again...

The house on the corner has been empty for awhile.

The woman, a recent widow, has moved into an extended care facility.
We thought the family might be putting the home on the market for sale but they have decided to rent it to the granddaughter and her boyfriend. The young couple has been outside in the garden tidying things up, pruning and weeding ever since they moved in.

They have had the windows open wide and inside we have seen step ladders and pots of paint.
The old house is getting a much needed make over.

The tiny home was constructed in the early 1920's.
Mr. and Mrs. Prescott raised 3 sons here and by todays standards it's hard to imagine where would these 3 strapping boys sleep, let alone play.
Perhaps they all shared one room and had bunk beds or a make shift room in the basement or the wee attic room.

I imagine that they would have played outdoors like I did when I was younger. All kids played outside back in the 1950's, our Mothers knew that fresh air and exercise was what young children needed to grow up healthy.

Mr. and Mrs. Prescott were avid and energetic gardeners who spent many hours outside.
They had a thriving vegetable patch, raspberry bushes and fruit trees.
Mrs. P spent many hours tending her garden and making jams and preserving fruit.
We spoke over the fence often, shared snippets of plants, and often a basket of raspberries would come our way.
I learned a lot by watching them in the garden.

Mrs. Prescott spent Mondays washing clothes in her wringer washer
and she hung the clothes out to dry, rain or shine.

                             I am delighted to see that her grand daughter has followed in her footsteps...

The house would probably be a tear down if it was to make it to the market as the current price of lots in our area are $500,000 and up. So naturally we are rather happy that it is currently occupied and being well looked after and appreciated by the family.
I think Mrs. Prescott would be happy knowing that someone is tending her garden and using her clothes line.

I love that they are using the old wooden wheel barrow and all the vintage garden tools too.
I think it's all lovely and quite romantic...
what is old is new again.

Monday is still laundry day on our street...
Hope that your week is off to a fabulous start.