A Lunch in Concord and an Owl

Had lunch with my girl friend S in Concord (MA), yesterday.

We went to Main Street Market and Café.

I like this place, very casual and the food is good. But you gotta hit it at the right time, it can get very crowded at lunch time.

I like their beef chili with butternut squash. It's a tad spicy and very filling, and it comes with a side of cornbread.

Their muffins are good too if you're going for coffee. My favorite is the pistachio muffin. Moist, nutty, light green and yummy.

But I have any of that yesterday. I like to try new things, so I went for the Avocado BLT Panini.

The panini was pretty good. One complaint though, they had reversed the crust on the sandwich, so that the glossy bread crust was facing the filling, and the inside of the bread was on the outside. Kind of a fun idea, but with slippery avocado and tomato and no cheese to glue it to the crust, not so fun when it all falls out on the plate.

I meant to take a picture of my panini, to show you, but when I remembered, my plate looked like a big mess. You probably appreciate me not sharing.

Instead, I'll show you something pretty from our shopping.

One of my all time favorite shops, Nesting, is right around the corner and upstairs from the café. I had to drag my girlfriend with me. (I've written about Nesting here and here.)

Yesterday's shopping splurge ($12) was on a Scrabble tile pendant.

The motif is an owl.

LOVE IT!

On the front is the owl...

Turn it over,

And it's a scrabble tile piece.

G!

Worth 2 points.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever need a G.

Soooo, you want one too like the cool kid?

Well, if you're too far away from Concord, I know 2 options.

You can either make one yourself. Look here.

Or, If you're like me (can do things very well in your mind, but when you try, things never come out the way you planned), you buy them. I've seen a few sellers on Etsy.

My friend S and I also had time to visit The Famous Concord Shop ("a hardware shop for the kitchen") and The Cottage, with fun but pricey interior decorations.

Those store visits were fruitless in terms of shopping, but not in terms of inspiration.

All in all, it was a very nice afternoon.

Kicks in Bloom

Hey, look at my new kicks!

I bought them in a grocery store (Yes, a grocery store!) while vacationing in Sweden.

I am so childishly in love with these. I put them on and just feel happy.

I walk out on the porch and feel a nice late summer breeze.

I lie down on the couch and put my feet up.

Man, I dig these shoes.

I don't even care if I will use them a lot.

Just looking at them makes me feel all warm inside.

So cute with the pink roses on the black canvas.

So perfect for a garden girl like me.

So perfect for a lazy summer afternoon.

It is nice to be back.

Brimfield Antique Show

Okay, so I am not on top of posting lately, but if you are reading this, you're still with me. And for that, I appreciate you and Thank You!

After dreaming of attending Brimfield Antique Show (Massachusetts) for several years, I finally went.

Brimfield is one of the largest outdoor antique fairs in the country. It is held three times a year and pulls a big crowd. Even Martha Stewart is a fan, I've heard she marks it on her calendar. This May's fair is covered on her website under the Home & Garden tab for those of you who are curious and are looking for more information.

The whole experience is a bit overwhelming. The show draws thousands of vendors from all over the country. There is more ground to cover than you could possibly do in one day. I think??? Perhaps that's why the show runs for almost a whole week.

Well, I went early on a Saturday morning and I am sharing my experience and a few of the hundreds of pictures that I took.

I saw plenty of things that I was interested in buying, like the beautiful prints above, but I just kept holding off in case I should find something better. Suddenly I didn't know what I liked or what I wanted. I was too overwhelmed.

I did like these painted well buckets when I first saw them, cute to have plants in, I thought. But then I saw that they were made in China and they kind of lost their appeal.

Now, these perforated tin buckets above, I absolutely love, especially now that I am sitting in front of my computer and looking at them again. At the time that I took the picture, I didn't really see them. I just thought "nice buckets"and took a picture.

A bit morbid perhaps, but I find this animal skull attractive. Can't quite put my finger on why.

On the right, really cool, lobster traps made into lamps. I like rusty old, wiry stuff, and clever repurposing.

Repurposing again, old license plates made into bird houses. Not my taste, too whimsical for me, but fun and different.

I bet the wooden stakes with herb names didn't sell all that well. Don't you look at those and think "wouldn't those be really easy to make yourself"?

Yeah, I thought so too.

Ooh, la la, nice shapes! Especially on the right. I like.

Hey you gardeners with great imaginations, can you see the female wire mannequin dressed in moss or succulents? You know, make it in to a garden sculpture. I'm sure it could be done, I'm just not one of those handy crafty people who could do it.

On the left, professional Brimfield shoppers.

On the right, a former professional locked up (by husband I assume).

Perhaps if I had bought one of these totally hot bikes...

...my feet wouldn't have gotten so tired.

Perhaps a change of shoes would have helped?

Anyhow, five hours later, the crowds were thickening,

and it was time to head back home.

Hands up if you totally dig Brimfield and will come back.

Really?!?!?!

I almost ended up leaving without anything in my hands. What a shame that would have been. Towards the end I found this old wooden beer box, originally $65 but haggled it down to $20. Perfect for my Swedish magazines and a couple of books. Ooooh, and I also found the antler in the picture, and that I paid $10 for, without haggling. I thought the price was reasonable as it was.

All the best,

Annelie

Pots and Containers

Saturday was all about pots and containers.

At 7:30 AM, I went to Lowe's to get some material. I knew it was gonna be a busy gardening weekend because of the nice weather, so I thought I'd get an early start. I was up and about anyways.

The hanging pot above, I had spray painted black. It was previously zinc and copper colored and I just didn't think it looked right on the pale yellow wall. I filled it with lavender, a dahlia and a trailing flower I can't remember the name of.

The pot can be used to write messages on, no chalk board paint needed. And the pot is hanging under a roof, so the message won't wash out during spring showers.

The little pot next to it has cute little mini tulips that I purchased at Stonegate Gardens the other day. They are fantastic when they open, revealing a light purple-blue:ish center.

Sooo cute!

In the big white pot by the front door, I had a mugo pine over the winter with lights in it.

Ugh! It was SO time for that one to be planted in the garden. S, my better half, offered so nicely to do that for me. Thank you, honey!

I usually put one majestic big-impact kind of plant in this one for the summer. Think mandevilla or hibiscus. But I decided to do something different this year. I put a clematis, a small boxwood, sedge grass, dianthus, some salvia and pansies in there. My thought is to replace plants as they are over flowered and past it's prime with new fresh color, and plant the old ones in the garden.


I just couldn't stand the thought of looking at the same plant in that pot from now to October. (Although, mandevillas are my absolute summer favorite) This seems like a much more fun thing to do. When you sit on the bistro set next to it, it gives you more of a garden feel.

I like!

Just wanted to show you a cute container that my friend made. It's of grape hyacinths in a mossy basket. Really cute. I'm thinking I might copy that for next spring. Those little flowers are best enjoyed where you can appreciate them, at table height.

A few more containers are in progress, I found a couple of cobalt blue glazed terra cotta pots at a steel prize yesterday at Marshall's. The pink daises will go in one of them. And the other...

I think I have to go to a garden center and look for some plants to fill it with. :)

Have a great Sunday!

Annelie

Turn ons at the Garden Center

The frequent visits to garden centers has begun.

I was able to hit two, that are fairly close to each other, the other afternoon.

Each garden center has it's own strength, no one has it all.

Some I favor for price or proximity, other for variety and quality, and there is one that I like that has cheap and unusual pots. Some garden centers have great perennial selections whereas others may have better annual selections. You know what I'm talking about. You can't get all of your shopping done at one garden center.

Stonegate Garden is a place you go to for quality and eye candy, not for bargains.

It was here that I found this stunning Pasque flower.

Heart Throb

I was completely taken by its beauty. Floored. Couldn't stop looking at it.

The contrast between the sweet, soft, so innocent fuzzy, and the powerful, conniving, pink-maroon petals that seductively pulls you in, is something that just grabbed me.

Transition Beauty

Although this Daisy didn't evoke quite the same heart throbbing sensation, it still hit the spot for me. I am a big fan of flowers that transition in color from young to mature. Above picture shows all the phases. The flower starts out in a beautiful yellowish-green, then pale pink grows in with the petals and it finishes off in a darker pink.

Mmmmmm.....

And, lastly, another Daisy that rocks my boat, slightly different than the one above. The delicate yellow and green center, surrounded by the pale pink petals with a hint of white at the tips, is delicious.

The weather is supposed to be warm and sunny this weekend.

Gardening is on my list along with a few more visits to the local garden centers.

Happy Weekend!

Annelie

It is the season...

... to be inspired by nature - and to bring it indoors.

We went Christmas tree shopping yesterday and came home with an 11-footer. Yikes! What happened? Why did I agree to that? Did I agree to that? Not sure I did, anyhow, right now it stands tall and proud in our living room (with cathedral ceilings), partially dressed.

Partially dressed because we ran out of ornaments. Definitely need some more.

Today while walking around in Concord with my parents, we stopped in at Nesting on Main, my all time favorite "nature-decorating" store to get some inspiration.

I found that the traditional Christmas tree idea can be interpreted in many different ways.


It doesn't even have to be a tree. It could be a few branches from your yard put into a vase.


It could be a decorated wreath, or...


...drift wood glued together in the shape of a christmas tree.


In whatever shape or form (or size) the tree may be, I very much like the nature inspired ornaments.


And I like it simple, simple like a little bird peeking out of a miniature tree.


And I like it simple as in lots of wooly hearts or simple but beautiful as in a tree made of birch bark (very Scandinavian, I like).

How adorable is this little guy with the scarf? I'm guessing he is a penguin, but I'm not sure.

He wanted to come home with me, I know it, but I left without him. And now I regret it.

Come to think of it, there were a few more things I wanted... we'll see.

Maybe there will be some time in the next few days to go back.

I know for sure that there is plenty of room for quite a few ornaments in the top third of our 11 foot tree.