Patina Moon

Hydrangeas... I can never get enough of them, and this is the time of year they  show off their moody blooms!  I love referring to them as "moody blooms" because of their ever changing  colors depending on the soil's composition. This hydrangea at our house used to be completely blue and now the past couple of years, it's given me a variety of color from deep blue to lavender and pink!  Below is something I found online that describes the meaning & symbolism of the hydrangea.  The name hydrangea comes from the Greek "hydor," meaning  water, and "angos," meaning jar or vessel.  Roughly translating the word to  "water barrel," referring to the hydrangea's need for plenty of water.  hydrangea View our bouquets containing hydrangea  THE MEANING & SYMBOLISM OF HYDRANGEA First discovered in Japan, the name hydrangea comes from the Greek “hydor,” meaning water, and ...

Hello friends, how is springtime in your part of the world?  Today is my friend, Priscilla's Birthday, so I thought  it would be a good time to show you this  beautiful rhododendron she has in her front garden. Beautiful buds burst into soft, pale color.  "Rhodies" come in so many pretty colors. I love this soft peachy pink one that Priscilla has.  Yesterday, it was 70 degrees here in Seattle!  I took Priscilla to  one of our favorite nurseries to have lunch in their Garden Cafe (outdoor table of course)  and to shop for plants.  Oh, and there was a couple of mimosas involved too.  :-)  Happy Birthday Priscilla!  I'm so happy to have you as my neighbor and dear friend.  Becca 

Two days ago, I woke up to this beautiful surprise.  Pink Magnolia blossoms!   It was quite a surprise because we've been living in this house now  just under 3 years and I have NEVER seen this bloom.  I didn't even know it was a magnolia tree!  It's always been more like a wimpy looking "stick-tree" growing out of the  middle of some thick and unruly bamboo. So, one gray and rainy morning, something pretty and pink caught my eye! I've been so fascinated with it, because it wasn't until we moved to  Washington that I ever really saw a Magnolia tree.  Don't you just love the brown felt-like buds that open?  A happy surprise indeed!  Found this vintage botanical postcard print on Pinterest. (original source unknown) I'm feeling inspired to draw or paint.  Wishing you all a happy surprise and burst of inspiration!  Becca  ...

Hi Friends!   You might remember my POST  about the beautiful Dogwood Tree in  our garden.  Well, to my delight September has decorated this Dogwood with  lovely cherry like berries!  After doing a bit of research I discovered the name of the Dogwood is  Kousa Dogwood   or sometimes referred to as "Japanese Dogwood." It seems the berries are edible, however I haven't tried one yet... I might just leave it up to the birds and squirrels to enjoy.  This year, I decided to decorate with some of the  beautiful grasses that are at the nurseries.  Just a couple of plants in containers on the deck that can be seen  from inside, and when the sun shines on them they  give off that breezy, autumn feeling.  So, the dogwood berries were new this year, and so was this  sunflower in the garden!  Ok, I know it's a big...

Hi friends!   Can you believe April is upon us already?  We've had an abundant amount of rain.  The trees and flowers love the rain as much as I do, and everything is so green.  I love this early blooming Rhododendron in our garden that we get to  see from our little kitchen.   This is a new doily I've been working on with some thread I already had in my stash.  With only a couple more rows to go,  I realized I needed a little more thread.  So, when I went online to order it, I discovered this color is no longer available.    Surprisingly enough, I couldn't even find it on Etsy or Ebay. Oh well…I really didn't have any plans for it, but here's the thing... I was kind of digging how this color looks with denim so I think I'll pull it all out and just use the thread for smaller projects or even crochet appliqué on  a denim skirt.   Wha...

Happy spring everyone!  How are you my friends?  Don't you just love seeing flowers appear and have you noticed how pretty and happy the birds sound now?  This month has been very, very rainy and I have enjoyed every minute of it!  I've been doing lots of crocheting, reading and drinking tea on the rainy days.  I know lots of people hate the rain, but it's why things are so green here!  I love to walk in the garden just after the rain. (or sometimes even "in" the rain)  The bottles I have out there now are so colorful. This year I'm working on putting together a bottle tree for our  garden, have you seen them before?  So many daffodils popping up and next  will be the tulips.  Can you see them below the daffodils starting to  come up?  I know now that moss is really not a good thing to have, but I do so love ...