Monday...a bit of everything really.

Here is the vintage birdcage from my BFF that I recently painted...

on the front porch with an ivy inside.

Atop my country cupboard in the unfinished laundry room.

Here it is again downstairs in my unfinished room.

I had to take Stickley the Bungalow Cat to the vet for her claw clipping and some dematting. Her arthritic joints are making it hard for her to groom herself. She hates the cat kennel carrier and lets me know by meowing at the top of her kitty cat lungs during the 10 minute car ride. When we enter the vets she must smell the other cats and dogs and she stops immediately. She is happy that the trauma is behind her and found a sunny patch on the carpet to curled up and went to sleep!
I met lovely daughter for some grocery shopping and then a sushi lunch. We thrifted for a bit and I got a large wicker basket to put my backyard veggies in when I harvest them. I  also found a vintage black leather clutch and a book on backyard makeovers all for under $10.

We stopped in at a second hand cum antique shop and I found a large black vintage tin tray for $10....to add to the black theme I have been chasing!

Domestics are nearly done, I am taking a tea break and blogging.
I have to get chopping as I am making a vegetable rich dish with beef shanks which will be simmered for several hours...it is bascially onions, celery, carrots sauteed until soft then brown the beef shanks in oil and add stock and simmer for 2 hours...its easy peasy and tastes great!
While the meal simmers I plan to read a bit...have been so busy gardening that I forget to sit and read...besides my muscles are a wee bit sore...so a good excuse...wouldn't you agree?

Weekend colour...not black and white...it's food this time!

I love colourful food!

It tastes good to the eye.

Carrots, beets, garlic cloves, rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil...

ready for roasting.

Mr. HB and I planted the raised beds with veggies yesterday.

Beets, carrots, bok choi, zuccini, basil, swiss chard, corn, and yellow cherry tomatoes.

I love being able to harvest some fresh veggies from the Bungalow garden.

The smell of fresh basil, rosemary and the tomatoes are intoxicating.

My local farmstand has great produce with that just picked smell and freshness.

I go there for seasonal vegetables that I do not grow here at home.

This is my market basket full from the Farmstand visit last June.

I usually spend about $25 and have a weeks worth of assorted veggies for Mr. HB and myself.

If I am entertaining, I buy lots more.

 I go over the top with a variety of dishes that scream of colour!

There's something special that makes the food taste better when you've tended and nurtured the seeds and seedlings, and watched them grow and mature.

If you don't grow your own, try to shop the local farmstand.

The farmers need our support.

My favourite local market has a line up of at least 20 people waiting for them to open up at 11 am...if you don't get there early you may not get what you want...and there is nothing more disappointing than eyeing up the patty pans or the sweet cherry tomatoes from back in the line and when it's your turn they're sold out.

Friendly banter and chatter among the waiting customers is common...

we bring our own baskets, boxes and bags...

it is encouraged to eye up each others baskets and bags...

we are practising the 3 R's

(Reduce Reuse Recycle)

  conversation develops naturally, 

laughter is common,

 children usually run in and out of the line up amusing and entertaining us.

I feel part of something, a connection with the grower and the earth.

It's a good feeling and I embrace it joyfully.

My Mother's Day bouquet is still looking lovely.

My giveaway date of June 17th seems faraway...

I should have chosen a different date, I apologize for making you all wait!

If you haven't yet entered please go here

Bungalow Books...storage angst and solutions.

Mr. HB and I are readers...he keeps most of his and rereads them.

 I take mine to the local bookstore in the village where they give me credit to feed my habit!

I keep a few choice books but as a resident here in the Humble Bungalow (read as space challenged)

I cannot keep much of anything.

I got tired of looking at a shelving unit down in the unfinished portion of the basement that had books stacked haphazardly this way and that.

I set out to find a solution and look what I found.

This is an improvement, neatens up the space and I can walk by without wincing.

Warning look away...

The drywall mud is still scary!

 I want to have the unfinished part of the house finished...

I hope it happens before I retire!

Now I need to tackle this mess...

"The Wave" was painted shortly after we returned from Tofino last May. 

I was inspired by the storm watch and the surfers as they rode the curls...

if I had a beach cottage it might be hung there...it's far too big for the Chris Craft!

Spring weather inspires me to de-clutter and pare down.

The sunshine illuminates the cobwebs that have gathered in the dimly lit days of winter,

hence the cleaner in me is awakened!

It's a renewing of interest in the domestics on the homefront that spur me on and fuel my actions.

The garden needs weeding and the edges need trimming and how fortunate that the sun is shining!

 I am planning to go to the nursery sometime this weekend and choose some vegetables to plant in my new raised beds.

Enjoy your weekend,

Hugs from the Hostess!

Black and white, pure and simple.

I have been loving the colour black lately.
I am in a black phase...I have recently painted all my wicker  porch furniture black...
I love white too...crisp white shirts, pearls, and white tees...

Chanel camellia

I have purchased all white Egyptian cotton sheets to replace the threadbare set I have had for over 5 years...these new ones are super wrinkled when they come out of the dryer...they have a high thread count and soft sateen finish ( I briefly wondered if I should iron them!)...they feel silky, soft and cool....love to lay longer in my bed now!

I found a wicker table free for the taking on the boulevard last week...it was in need to some TLC...I promptly painted it black!

My BFF has been on a cream kick, she's painted all her wicker porch furniture cream.

I am hoping that she will allow me to come over and take some photos of her divine porch and post them here.

She came over the other day and gave me this...

A vintage wire birdcage!

She has a larger one that looks more like a house and she painted hers cream and put an ivy in it.

I will be painting it black, and 

I aready have an ivy!

I have wrapped the giftaway parcel...just waiting until the June 17th draw date to find out who will be receiving it.

This quote is one of many from the book that I borrowed from the Library.
 "CHANEL."
...the book is a glimpse into the life of a famous Coco Chanel...she apparently had the very first tube of lipstick designed for her personal use. She needed it when she was driving in her car... mindful that her red lips might need touching up! It is chock full of interesting facts and beautiful images.

My friend Janet over at the Gardeners' Cottage loves black and white and I have been reading her blog for months now and I think she's onto something very Zen and elegant.

I really do not run a B&B just have friends who like to stay...
I do leave the "Welcome" mat out all the time...that's the kind of Hostess I am.
 I mentioned in a very early post that we had to replace our mat once as the "Welcome" was worn out!
(see sidebar image at right)

Simplicity

Elegance

Purity

After the rain garden walkabout...

It was raining...I had planned to spend the day gardening but alas it is too wet.

Sum and Substance a very grand Hosta

Lady's mantle

The sun is playing hide and seek in the clouds.

Lilac

 I managed to grab my camera and pop out for a few snaps before it hid again.

Flowering thyme on the slate patio

These white tulips bloom quite late.

Wigelia at the entrance to the backyard.

Azalea Rothschild variety...so sweetly scented.

After the rainfall it's scent is released and is divinely intoxicating!

Pavement series hardy rose.

Very heavily perfumed!

Our industious and hard working local Mason bee.

Purple allium

The humble Poppy

There is a lot happening in the Bungalow Garden...and there's a lot more to follow!

Speaking of following, I have a gift away going until June 18th...see my former post if you want to enter!