Home again during summer for the first time in years. I want to go back to those days when every room in my house had touches of the season in it – such as the golden yellow of the black-eyed Susans that blossom everywhere in summer.
I no longer have all those things that I created with my own hands. Katrina *yawn* stole so many things, and I don’t have the energy to recreate a lifetime of heirlooms. But it’s easy to change the colors around the house to reflect the season. It lifts a wilted mood, too, as we enter the dog days of summer.
Above the back door lintel, I’ve draped a garland of sunflowers, the flora which most closely resembles our black-eyed Susans. That yellow place mat in the center of the bistro table is an end-of-the-season clearance find at the local hobby shop, and the wooden tulip in the flower pot is a thrift-store find.
This porcelain plate was a gift from my sweet Jillian. She knows how much I love the summer flowers of Louisiana, including gardenias. She also knows what her mother misses and steps in to fill the holes in my heart with joy. She is my joy.
Norm brought this hand-painted pottery back from a business trip to Poland. It was in one of my “hurricane boxes” – packed and taken with us when we evacuated. We took everything that was in our curio cabinet – so many memories attached to the things in there.
I rotated the place mats, too – another end-of-season clearance find – and added yellow flowers to a vase I found at the thrift store.
I dusted off this wooden tray – another gift from Jillian – and placed it on the living room chair-side table to hold the zinnias from my flower box and the little tins filled with Flavigny anise and lemon drops that I picked up in France. (I don’t indulge in them very often – I want to savor them for as long as possible.)
And my favorite place in the house – the fireplace – could not be ignored. More zinnias grace a little vase I bought at Silver Dollar City in Missouri the year that we went to see Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home. I could not resist yet another painting of the Southern Magnolia; it’s the Louisiana state flower, and the colors in this one look as though the artist painted it especially for our stone fireplace.
Next to it on the right is my Royal Albert that I bought in London. I thought it was a Royal Doulton (something I had always wanted, but that’s another story), but when I got it home, I noticed that it wasn’t. No worries – she was the one I wanted, and she comes out in summer to dance next to the magnolias. The gold candles replace the navy ones of Independence Day.
See the photograph on the left? I change out that picture as the seasons do, too.
I write the occasion and the year on the glass with an Expo marker (which can be erased). This picture was way back when our Jillian was a tot. She liked to use the watermelon as a chair when having her morning cup of milk.
So that’s it, Dear Friends. Not much, but something, and we all know that something is more than enough.
For more ideas, visit my friends Karen at Beatrice Euphemie and Mariette at Back to Basics. Both of them are very creative and have impeccable taste.
Hope you are finding summer color wherever you are. ~Stacy
I don’t think I have ever seen a black-eyed Susan, Stacy, but how I love to see there happy faces in photos! They make you want to smile, just as sunflowers do. I enjoyed the tour around you happy summer decorated home today, thank you. 🙂
Glad you could stop by, Joanne. ❤
Dear Stacy, I am playing catch up with visiting and thank you so much for the mention of my blog! You are sweet and thank you for the kind compliment. But it is you who are the creative one – creating a brand new life after all that was taken from you. Now that is creative! I find joy in watching you enjoying those simple pleasures of home once more after living abroad for so long. Now you are back in your beloved Louisiana and putting out those special little treasures you hold dear. Gifts from loved ones mean so much and putting your own personal touch on everything is a happy pastime that only takes a thoughtful and loving heart, of which you are blessed. I love black eyed susans – they do remind me of wonderful summer days and seem so happy to me! .I love all your finds and treasures and the garland over the door! I am writing this after finding out about your sad news. I wish I could give you a big hug. Take some time, but don’t stay away too long. I’ll miss you. Big Hug. xoxo
Dearest Stacy,
Thank you dear friend for the shout out; what a surprise to read that at the end of your lovely, homey story. So sad that Katrina did snatch so many memories and heirlooms away and there is only so much one can take with you. The very same after Pieter did return home after their evacuation; they had NOTHING left; the house almost in shambles after the heavy bombardment and looted by the Germans. But we always can find new little treasures to enjoy. We indeed do have plenty and we ought to feel grateful. We just had a heavy thunderstorm with more rain but I feel blessed for having been able to clean the tiled edging of our balcony with professional strength Goof Off. Working with grout, you always do go over board and it needs to get cleaned. For days the balcony stayed too wet for even thinking about doing this; my second attempt today. Now the floor and that is a lot less work. One day we get it done; patience is the recipe!
Hugs to you and you might enjoy my gardenia blossoms.
Mariette
You are right, of course, Mariette – we have so much for which to be thankful. Times are not always easy, but I am still here, and there is something to be said for just that.
I’ll be stopping by to visit your gardenias. ❤
This is sweet, Stacy. I enjoyed stopping by your doorstep this morning. We haven’t seen any black-eyed susans yet, but they shall be coming soon, hopefully. They are so beautiful.
I love them – they always start to bloom about the time the cicadas start their chirping. I find the combination very comforting. ❤
Nice easy steps!
Do you have fans on the porch to make summer evening tea a bit more bearable?
Yes, I do, Guap. Can’t live without them. ❤