The Humble Bungalow Below the stairs...

Greetings from The Humble Bungalow.
I took a very short blog break and I'm back...

In a recent post on wall treatments I showed pictures of the original dark wood interior of our arts and crafts home.
Stephen Andrew mentioned that he'd be tempted to paint the interior of our Humble Bungalow white and I have to admit that if it were up to just me I'd be wielding a white paintbrush.

Architect, Milo S Farwell designed our small home over 100 years ago...
it is a modest, small and very humble abode.
There is a historic value in these wee arts and crafts bungalows and many are being demolished in favour of larger homes. So restoration and preservation, with a nod to the integrity of the period seems appropriate...we updated the kitchen and bathrooms in the style but with new fixtures and appliances.
Our home is on the Heritage Registry which means that it can never be demolished.

We must take care to maintain the home and can apply for grants to help with big projects...
we did this with our roof and plan to apply for a grant to help pay for the painting that it so badly needs.

The interior of the living, and dining rooms of our home have also been designated heritage...
so I would not be permitted to paint them white!
In our basement it's a different matter, we went with white white and more white!!!

The quartz counter top in the laundry area.

Vintage enamel bread tin and colander.

The tools are black and white too...

this duo sports a touch of lime.

The bench by the door with an oar...

The LG washer and dryer are pewter grey and the floor tile is a mottled black.

(my goodness! I spy tan lines from my flip flops)

A basic black bamboo dress hangs to dry.

This hall would be very dark if it was not for the white walls.

You can see the guest room at the end of the hall.

The bathroom has a white tiled floor with black accents.

The bathroom shelf which I purchased at HomeSense.

Vintage mirror that I found on the boulevard...

Someones trash is someones treasure!

I threw in this picture of a black and white pillow that we have on our linen slip covered sofa in the family room.

I bought a new Cut Loose white top at Roche Harbour Resort .

We recently cruised to San Juan Island in Washington State, for a few days aboard our Sea Ray.

(Isla, our darling grand daughter is the artist behind the picture)

BTW grand baby number 3 is due any day now...

I am excited to meet the new little girl.

I'll be putting together a pictorial post of Roche Harbour sometime soon...

it's such a pretty spot and I'd like to share it with you.

In case you didn't know it's a destination for weddings.

Apparently there are over 120 weddings held in the garden every year.

While we were there for 5 days we noted 3 weddings were held in the gardens.

Loved the dreamy white gowns that the brides wore...

one wedding had 4 brides maids and they all wore white gowns and carried bouquets of white roses they looked so elegant...

It's time to relax and brew a pot of tea.

Until next time...

thank you for stopping by.

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 arts and crafts interior...a requested post.

It's taken me a long time to get around to doing a post of the various papers and wall treatments in our arts and crafts bungalow. I humbly apologize, and hope that the reader, whose name escapes me at this moment, has not disappeared because she got too tired of waiting and stopped reading my blog!

Stencils in the dining room.

I made drapes for the Humble Bungalow dining room using this fabric by Sanderson.

There is a lot of dark wood featured in our tiny bungalow...

it's old growth Douglas Fir.

We use this china cabinet to hold our crystal glasses.

Bradbury and Bradbury period arts and crafts paper in the living room.

Repeated in the wee hall with the border

between the den, the bathroom, our bedroom and the dining room.

In the entry hall space that opens up to the living and dining rooms.

We opted for the border in the den.

The kitchen has the same border treatment as the den because they open up to each other.

There are wood cabinets in the kitchen in the same style that mimic the built ins in the dining and living rooms.

The living room of The Humble Bungalow.

Hope you've enjoyed this wee tour...

I needed to sit for a bit, and writing this post helped me rest up after a busy day of gardening.

I think I'll brew a pot of Mariage Freres tea that I purchased in Paris and sit on the couch and watch an episode of the Real Housewives of Melbourne.

My future Son In Law showed us how to record them and this show has become my latest "guilty pleasure!"

OOTD ~ Boots!

Today I wore boots and the weather is sunny and hot...
boots were required footwear as I spent the better part of the day mucking about in the dirt.

I just finished rinsing them off as they were caked with mud.

Did I mention that I am a really messy gardener?

There is no way I can stay clean...dirt smears on my face and arms.

I wear gloves but I somehow still get dirt under my nails...

I clean up fine afterwards when I come inside.

I often wonder what the neighbours who walk by and stop to chat must think.

They must be amused by my state of dress.

I garden in Yoga Capri's and a Tee shirt.

Socks and Boots!

I worked out front of our Humble Bungalow today...

I was focusing on a bed that has had a massive cull of weeds...

well they are not weeds exactly they are just behaving like weeds.

Invasive euphorbia and dog violets.

Both are on my "naughty list."

This bed is a bit of a mixed bag...

once the weeds were removed and a few random pieces of slate there was a lot of bare spaces.

Original plants are:

Japanese Red Maple planted in a pot

Eryngium (Sea Holly)

Lavender

Giant Rudbeckia

Boxwood Hedge on one side

Rose (placed on the boulevard for free)

 Libertia

Anchusa

Lady's Mantle

Ground cover the name escapes me

pot filled with spurge and a hosta

New plants:

Blue Fescue grasses

 Bugbane

 Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker) with lime green flowers

a variegated spurge

Blue Salvias 

Russian Sage 

Yellow Rudbeckia

Limelight Hydrangea

All of these are reported to be deer resistant plants.

Eryngium

slightly prickly 

The bees love it!

Black Mondo Grass with a lime green rock plant.

Sum and Substance Hosta Boxwood in urn

Hydrangea and Gertrude Jekyll Rose in background.

Coreopsis 

Lily of the Valley (used as a ground cover)

McCartney Rose (on the left)

Jude the Obscure David Austin Rose (on the right)

Hydrangeas

Nerine Bowdenii

Limelight hydrangea

on pergola Constance Spry David Austin Rose

Area at head of the gravel driveway

Assorted Grasses

Hostas

Hellebore

Variegated Iris

Variegated Sedum

Potted Hens and Chicks

Crocosmia

Mr. HB printed off a garden plan and we have been discussing some of the options to reduce the time spent toiling in the garden in order to leave some time to actually sit and enjoy the space!

On his list is a green house which we plan to have installed so that we can grow tomatoes and a few veggies.

The overhaul of the lawn is probably the biggest job and will make a huge difference.

We plan to grass in most of the north side yard behind the gate in the back and fill in many of the beds and redo the entire back lawn and remove a few other beds.

Anyways those plans are a bit off in the future.

So I must content myself with small improvements that I can do by myself until I can find a strong garden helper.

I must close for now and prepare dinner...

I've worked up quite an appetite with all the digging and planting today.

We are indulging in a seldom served treat...

BBQ Beef Burgers with coleslaw.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog...

I appreciate you stopping by The Humble Bungalow.

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