Little Mountain Volunteer Firefighters

Bromeliads and butter yellow

Bromeliads are my favorite indoor plants offering a profusion of color, texture and requiring very little care. They are very happy with indirect lighting and a tiny drink of water every day.

The white planter seen holding the yellow Bromeliad was found on a recent trip to The Sleepy Poet in Charlotte, NC. I could spend hours browsing in that antique mall!

The old mantle which I purchased for $85 at a local antique mall, started out as tiger oak (or so I thought). As the furniture stripper was applied, the stamped pattern disappeared leaving ordinary poplar wood behind. Rather than fret, I painted it butter yellow, applied a burnt umber wash and a good coat of polyurethane. It turned out to be the focal point of my old kitchen and a great conversation piece!

By the way, there is no fireplace behind the mantle. The brick you see is another art project using some stencils I purchased from a craft store and painted on the concrete pad where an old fireplace had been covered. Can you imagine anyone doing that? Friends gave us the fireplace grate as a housewarming gift. With such a beautiful design in the old iron, I just knew it had to be put to good use!

My age old tradition - buying summer ferns for the front porch. These are staples for southern homes. This fern is a MACHO fern. The fronds are similar to a palm branch and are pretty mammoth. I LOVE them. To make them a bit special, my husband had them hung and waiting for me as a nice surprise today. What a guy!

Boston ferns have always done nicely for me but seem to lose their steam by the end of the growing season. Let's see how the "fellas" do - you macho guys.

Preparing for my new garden

I can't believe that spring is almost here. It is my very favorite time of year when I come alive! After hibernating all winter, I am ready to pick up the pace a little bit. I find myself daydreaming a lot about beautiful flowers and lush green grass, budding trees, warm, sunny days with gentle breezes and lots of trips to the local garden centers! Okay, so what if I have endless lists of seeds and plants that will be a part of my gardens this year. And so what if I have my checkoff list of spring cleaning to be done. These are traditions! There are so many projects I want to get started on.