Spring: A Time For Gardening

Have been gardening all weekend.  Am so anxious to see what will come up this year!  The front yard gets afternoon sun, and the back yard gets morning sun.  My gardens are quite shaded in most areas, with only a few short hours of dappled sun.  I've been trying to plant appropriate perennials, but seem to need to move them the following year (nothing ever seems to stay where I plant it!).  Hostas work well in the shaed areas and are very low maintenance.  I have a few of the lighter colors and multi colored (green/white) hosta varieties as well.  The blue hostas take a bit longer to come up each spring.  I like to plant annuals every year for a burst of color (pansies, coleus), so I always leave room around the borders of the gardens.  I have also found that ferns do well in zone 6, and have planted 9 dark green ferns; which are now coming up, as well as 4 burgudy ferns.

The walkway to the front door, is surrounded by large shade gardens.  Very hard to fill with long lasting shrubs.  Seven window boxes are an anual thing, and I have them filled with those "long lasting" blooms!

Iris in purples and yellows do well in almost any type of soil.  They prefer to have a shallow planting; but need at least 6 hours of sunlight in order to get good blooms.

Bleeding hearts and grasses prefer dappled shade.  I have them planted under a pink flowering dogwood tree.

Our Grape hyacinth is almost gone now... here's a photo of a small cluster in the back yard.

Along the side of the house, we have rhododendrons, peonies, more bleeding hearts and iris; along with a few un-named shrubs that bloom each spring.

Here's one of the projects that I have started in the backyard.

My Daughter gave me this birdhouse years ago. Birds still nest in it every spring.

Our cherry tree was in full bloom last week.

This is my back patio project.  Last year, we painted the patio trim and hung these windows all along the top half of the patio.  Screening keeps out the bugs; and we placed heavy clear-plastic on the lower portion (on the outside of the screen), to keep out the rain. Next is the fun decorating part... More to come...


It will be the perfect spot for a cup of coffee in the mornings, while looking at the colorful stained glass windows...

The Rose Room ~ At Thistle Cottage

Recently, I finished the re-do on one of my guest rooms.  I decided to paint the walls a mauve/pink shade, as my Grandmother, Rose Marie Townsend Pratt,  had always "named" the rooms in her house...hence, this is my  "Rose Room"...

I have always loved the wrap-around windows in this room.  The room is always bright, but because the windows face south-west, the daylight dapples through the curtains and the sunset paints the walls in pink rainbow hues  ...

I chose white curtains for this room.  The cotton eyelet toppers were purchased at a thrift shop.  The lace curtains were purchased by-the-yard at a local fabric shop in Brickerville.  I just threaded the curtain rod through the existing loops in the lace.  The dematasse' tea cups belonged to my paternal Grandmother, Geraldine Oliver Dickinson.  The cups are tied to each window pull with pink ribbon...

The vintage dressers came from my Grandmother's farmhouse in upstate NY.  The paint has been touched up slightly, but the hardware is all original, as well as the mirrors.  I use them to hold my  knitting projects and various yarns.  The spare drawers are for the Grandchildren or house-guests.

I really like the vintage style of this dressing table.  The side mirrors are hinged and fold inward.  The stool is actually a piano bench, which I covered with a crisp cotton pillowcase...

The vintage bench cover (aka. pillowcase) has colorful floral embroidery that go well with the colors in the room ...

Two antique glass lamps rest atop cotton crocheted doilies.  The lamps were purchased at Renningers Flea Market, in Adamstown.  The vintage style flickering light-bulbs were purchased in Peddlers Alley, in downtown Lititz...

This colorful set of children's books were another flea market find.  While sitting on the rope-bed, my cousin Lorna and I would read books from our Grandmother's collection as children; at our camp on Otter Lake in upstate NY.  When I saw these, I just HAD to have them... brought back so many good memories... I now read these bedtime stories to my grandchildren...

The small composition doll with cloth body is unmarked and in fair condition.  She was made around 1920 and I believe she belonged to my Grandmother... She has sleep eyes (missing a few lashes) and her body still contains the working crier.  She is wearing an antique christening gown that was purchased at Shupps Grove Flea Market, in Reinholds.  She holds a vintage 1940's baby rattle, made from bakelite ...

The victorian chamberpot and wash basin were another find in my grandmother's attic... The pitcher was made years ago by my Mother, Mary Lou Courter; in ceramics class.  The gilded pink and white teacup is filled with grape hyacinths from the garden, here at Thistle Cottage...

The Vintage Cotton Tea-towell was purchased at the ReUsit Shop, in Ephrata.  They sometimes have wonderful vintage linnens...

The embroidered cotton dresser scarf was a gift from my sister (who knows I just love vintage linnens)... It was purchased at Grandmother's Attic in Clay.

The Little Lady sitting in the corner, belonged to my Aunt Betsy, in the 1940's.  The doll wears a vintage batiste dress, embroidered collar and a sterling silver baby ring on the chain around her neck.  She has two front teeth and a felt tongue.  Her original "rubber skin" had to be replaced, as well as her wig...

The sparkling chandellier in this room is actually a hanging tea-light.  It was a gift from my husband; purchased at Bombergers store in Lititz...

The reversable cotton throw, at the foot of the bed was also purchased at Bomberger's store in Lititz.  They have a beautiful housewares section in the front of the store... I could shop there for hours...

The oriental rug matches the "victorian" style theme in the room.  It was the last one of its kind and size... I am fortunate...

The white cotton Bates Coverlet and matching pillow case was purchased on ebay yeas ago.  The coverlet has a quilteed / embroidered design ...

The 1909 Reproduction Billiken was made by the Horseman Company.  Although he does look somewhat evil, he is actually called a Good Luck Doll, and has a very interesting historical background... He only makes appearances when the guest room is not in use... When the children or grandchildren visit, poor Billiken sleeps in the closet... LOL...

Old family photos of my Great, Great Grandparents, in the early 1900's: Volney Peter Townsend and his wife Florilla Jones Townsend  (born 1851).  They lived in Cayuga County, in the Fingerlakes region of upstate New York ... At left, is a pink bakelite mirror which belonged to my Mother, as a teenager...

Victorian photo of the Bos Family: My husband's Great-Grandfather, William, is the baby boy in the long white gown ...

Two more vintage dresses from my collection, donn the walls of the Rose Room... The above layered dresses are made of cotton batiste, and have tiny pintucks and embroidery.  They button up the back with ivory baby buttons ...  The sheer dress (below) is from the late 1940's and has pretty satin ribbons and layers of scalloped embroidery at the hem ...

I could not resist taking extra photos of the vintage dresses Easter weekend...

.... As the beautiful Cherry Tree, at Thistle Cottage, was in full bloom ... Happy Spring!

Vintage Dresses

I have always loved vintage clothing; but am especially fond of vintage dresses and childrens items.  This weekend my old cherry tree is in full bloom, and I had the opportunity to take photos of a few vintage dresses under the white tree...

Above:  2 year old Alyssa, picks grape hyacinth for her teddy bear.  She is wearing a 2 pc. vintage outfit.  The under-slip is sleeveless and made of white cotton and eyelet lace.  The sheer batiste dress has layers of  embroidered lace and ribbons. 

 

Mommy dons a 2 piece outfit, from the early 1900's.  There are 2 layers of skirts, which are made of cotton.  The skirt shown above, has numerous layers of cotton, lace and embroidery.

The sheer batiste blouse above, is filled with embroidery and small pin-tucks.  It buttons up the back.

The 2 piece set may have been worn in a wedding.  It was found in my grandmothers attic, along with 2 more skirts, and is in excellent condition.  Old family photos show the women wearing outfits similar to these around 1915.

I can just picture someone long ago, wearing this outfit while swinging from a favorite tree on a warm spring day...