Happy summer!

Dearest newly Mrs. K,

Love your recent posts... and our new burst of springtime energy.

I've had a weekend of smiles, sun and various productivity. I wanted to share with you the garden made by many hands (mostly me + Kelly, but also Elise, Tina and of course, the hubs). As you can see, we put herbs and butterfly-flocking flowers in the planters, then totally revamped the area along the fence with plants, mulch in a fav color and a cutie little white picket fence (which we found in the garage from the previous owner - score!)

Mom gave me these sweet lil birds with herb indicators.. love them

These wispy purple flowers, "society garlic" are my favorite.. delicate and soft and I can watch them move in the wind while washing dishes.

After a "bookshelf explosion" and months of trying to figure out a solution for my studio getting baked by the summertime sun - we put up a new shelf and I made these wallpaper panels to block out the sun out of old wallpaper that I had hanging around. (so now when you and C come to visit, you won't get blinded by the morning sun!)

Went to an art fair and actually bought something! This amazing print by local artist Ashlee Walters. Its mixed media, drawing and silkscreen and I totally love it. Gonna frame it for our "saloon" as S says. (He meant "salon"-style dining room - but now we just call it "The Saloon" ;) It was a great weekend of art.. even went to an amazing opening at a new gallery, Rabbit 18.

Your succulents look amazing (I need your secrets!), sea babies intriguing and thanks for sharing new love gifts. Talk soon, you!

xoxo, K

home goodies

K,
As a carryover from my last post, I wanted to share some details from my post-wedding gift nesting. Here are a few adorable new items for our home. Flower measuring spoon set from Natalie---so pretty! Gorgeous blue colander from C&B. And sweet footed dessert bowls from my parents' friends.I reorganized our growing collection of finger puppets, displaying some new ones we got in Florida. Armadillo is cutest!Yesterday, we walked next door to our neighbor's back yard sale, that really happened in the basement. We learned a little gossip on the street and history of the house--ghosts and biases and all. I'm really looking forward to getting outside and meeting the neighborhood now that it's almost summer. We bought 2 things: this little birdhouse and a funny ceramic toilet that Robin's (neighbor) sister had made. My mom gave Chris this backbone (I think from a cow or other large animal) for his drawing class. In the meantime, it's a favorite knick-knack of mine.Trying to display more things that remind me of Florida, I put out some tiny shells on our bookshelf. And the cutie heart dish you gave us, now holds all the shells we collected in the 2 days after the wedding--yay!That's all for now from the homestead. We're trekking to the Home Depot today for tomatoes + herbs to plant outside. Chat soon!
k

green stories

K,
I almost forgot our password...

Here's my post for our new plan.

Before the outdoor gardening begins, I've been giving some special care to all of my indoor babies, (and learning a little too).

Here are the highlights:I got the little Jade from Chinatown last time we ate Dim Sum---now that she's in terra cotta, she's lookin' mighty fine! The light green one in the middle was a gift from Kim (she and Matt got it as a clipping from the Garfield Park Conservatory). He's an Aeonium, and now that I know how to water properly, Aeo's growing tall!I finally learned that this lovely droopy lady is an Ornithogalum Caudatum (sometimes called Sea Onion), and she has multiple pregnancies!--something I have never seen before. Her baby bulbs grow right on her bulb under a few layers of skin. Once they have matured, the skin peels away and they fall off and plant themselves right next to her. So cool! I gathered a few of her pups and put them in a new pot. So...I'm breeding sea onions!My African Violet has been blooming consistently since we moved to the new house. She must really like it here. Chris's friend Kim gave her to us a year ago when we had that "Keep the C in Country" Event. The leaves are like velvet earlobes.Jefferson gave us this mini Orchid in Florida at the beach house. I brought her on the flight home, protected her by my feet on the plane. Surprisingly, she made it!My other succulents are goin' strong as well!Share your succulents, too!
Love,
k