One Man's Weed...

is another man's flower.

Wow.  Am I right?
Look at those tiny little heart seed pods.  At least I'm pretty sure they are the immature seed pods or fruits as they are specifically called.

I've noticed this particular weed for years, but this year I really noticed it.  As in, what in the world is this gorgeous little volunteer and can I grow it where I want it? 

Will it last in a vase? I wondered.  Yes, it will! 

A big question: What IS it?  I thought I knew.  Pennycress.  But, when I checked, I was wrong.  It is Shepherd's Purse. Cool name, huh?  I do have Field Pennycress growing as a weed around here too and am going to investigate cultivating it for dried flowers.  

Now, if I can "harness" them and get them to grow where I want them I'll be thrilled. 

Little hearts showing up right now in the world was pretty wonderful.

♥ A very surprising gift for sure.  ♥

From One of My Favorite Places

at the farm where i grew up

my grandpa's old house turned shop for my dad

now in full decay

and falling in

i'll keep visiting it

until it's gone

♥

♥ Silhouettes

This past week has included the 4H presentation contest and dance recital, both of which are time intensive!  Each year in both events I can see how far they've developed from the previous year and you know the effort is worth it.  

This year I got to have some fun behind the camera too. :)

They were in the same ballet class this year so had matching dance costumes for one dance.

I hope you are having a nice week!

~::~

White Cosmos: Graceful and Simple

The cosmos in the garden began to bloom a couple of weeks ago and these white ones are just so so pretty!  I decided to catch them in the early morning light.  This is the first our dining room table has been cleared off for WEEKS! 4h projects, apartment hunting for two of our kids, moving our daughter, and family events have been keeping us away from house chores.

We have purple and pink ones blooming too and I put them in another arrangement.

It's the white ones though that really grab my attention.  The cosmos have such a gracefulness to them.

I think they are wonderful in the vintage white milk glass vase.  I picked that up at an estate sale a couple of years ago.

The seed packet we had was a combination of colors, so I think I'll order a packet of all white next year.  While I was looking I found these double click snow puff white cosmos seeds too!  I've pinned them so I don't forget them. 

Hopefully, the next blog post won't be so long in coming...Be sure to check the sidebar for the Instagram feed to see what else has been going on here.

~Hope you're having a good day~

Ash Wednesday

These photos were taken during the morning blue hour last week.  I was moved by the peaceful feeling in the room so found my camera after waking up the kids. The photos are unedited except for adding the words.  The wind chime was a gift from a friend a number of years ago and I love it hanging above our window seat.

I went looking for Lenten words and found this post of 40 words.

But, I only had nine pictures. :)

So, I chose 9 words that stood out to me.  Surprisingly, it was really easy to choose the nine and I think they may lead me well through Lent.

~a blessed Lent to you~

Early Morning Light on A Happy Little Spot

Things have changed and have grown a lot from this post I wrote in July!  

The plants are growing and many have found new homes with others.  A few are thriving in our den also!

I brought in this sewing machine base from my Dad's old shop to use as a plant stand.

I put an old board from a broken up dresser I bought at an auction on top for the table.

Where there are plants, there is water, so an old board isn't going to get damaged, just better looking. :)

I also am using an old tray that was already rusty as the drainage tray for this snail turned planter. The snail was one of those fuel burners that you burn like a candle outside.  Well, the inside pot that held the fuel broke.  When I looked down in the snail, there was a hole, so it works great as a planter!  By the way, I would not recommend the fuel burners.  The flame is HUGE and the fuel is burned up quickly.  

This plant is a Swedish Begonia.  My sister in law gave it to me.  It was grown from a cutting off of her plant which she got from a cutting from my aunt, who got hers from a cutting from my grandparents who brought a cutting from a relative in Sweden when they visited there 40some years ago.  Cool, huh?!

The little yellow pot on the right is a sweet vintage tea pot that had no lid.  I didn't drill a hole in the bottom, so I water sparsely.

I bought some plants at our church's bazaar and right away took some cuttings.

I am pretty much out of room for plants now.  My daughter's room (who loves plants) is pretty full too.  But, once you start taking cuttings and propagating them, it's hard to stop!

The early morning light makes such graceful silhouettes of the leaves and really brings out the beauty of the singer base.