Happenings at Rustic Star Antiques

Hi everyone, 

It is Memorial Day weekend and my youngest Grandson, Austin is visiting. Today he wanted to set up a table outside Rustic Star Antiques, where I have a booth, and sell his rubber band jewelry and  ice cold lemonade. So being a softie, I said that of course I would help him and got permission from Melinda, the owner of Rustic Star Antiques. Above is a photo of Austin with his wares! He had a fun day and sold some of his beautiful bracelets, as well as some cold lemonade.  While he was selling, I worked in my booth and did a bit of cleaning and organizing and took some photos of things in the shop.

Above is his jewelry display. They really are very cute!

Melinda is making a lot of up-cycled  (new word!) things. Check out the tier of objects in the center made  into a bird feeder or server. It is so pretty that I would definitely use it as a server for fruit or other tidbits. It would be great for tea time!

Here is Sally, one of the store's stuffed mascots. She is dressed for a Spring tea, no doubt. I love the lamp shade covered with lace and check out the hanging candle holder made with clear glass teacups and saucers. That Periwinkle color is gorgeous, too.

In my booth, I have some blue Granite ware on a tea card. Even blue gloves!!

More of my booth, where I have some of my own paintings and other art work on display.

The live mascot, Shamus.

Another of Melinda's creations. It was made to be a bird bath, but honestly I would use it on a buffet, I think. Hope you enjoyed the little antique tour and have a good weekend!

Favorite Garden Colors...Blue and Purple

Hi Everyone, what a glorious day we had today! It was only in the 70's with no humidity and just a perfect day to wander around the garden! I saw some of my favorite flowers blooming, in shades of blue and purple. So here is a little bit of my garden for you to enjoy!

Purples and Blues. My Favorite in the garden. What colors are your favorites?

A Cardinal's Song in the Garden

Hello everyone, I wish you could hear the above cardinal singing today in and around the garden. She, and it is a female, is flitting everywhere and singing constantly. She goes from the bougainvillea bush to the car and admires herself in the mirror, then to the top of the car, then to the bush. Which brings me to the question; where is the male? Do you suppose he is sitting on the nest? Is this normal? The nest is in the bougainvillea, so he must be there. She hasn't the time! She is too busy admiring herself in the car mirror and chirping. Well, on to the blooms in the garden!

The Zinnias are really pretty, especially these tiny ones above.

I love the sweet potato vine planted with petunias. You can see some Caladium bulbs sprouting in the background. I planted a few more this year.

Love all the colors of Spring!

The front pot contains Basil and Oregano, so I run out and pick some frequently for Italian dishes.

Here are Caladiums from bulbs I planted last year and they have been up quite some time.

The roses are full of bloom. However I do need to treat them for black spot and you can see yellow leaves that need picking off. Lots of work to do in the garden, but it is so rewarding to have beautiful blooms all around!

What to do with a Studio full of flowers?!

Hi Everyone, It is a nice rainy day in Florida and do we ever need some rain! I am cleaning in my studio after having to take out all the flowers from last week that have wilted. Friends brought beautiful blooms to me to use in paintings. The blooms don't last as long as I would like, but I enjoyed them every minute I could!

There were beautiful Hydrangea blooms that I am going to try to root. Keep your fingers crossed for success! There were unique Gloriosa Lilies which have such a pretty orange red color.

The Fringed Hibiscus above was so charming. The bloom only lasts one day, but on this branch there were several buds, so every day I had a new bloom! That gave me more time to paint it.

  

The Passion Vine blooms are the most complex things you can imagine and difficult to paint, especially since they only last one day. The first day I drew them and painted on the background. After that, I had to paint them from memory.

The first day's work. I was working on the background and masking out some of the leaves, stems and the Fringed Hibiscus.

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A little further along. Next comes the vases, the cloth at the bottom and the flowers and leaves.

Finished painting. Love the shadows on the striped cloth. O.K. friends, I'm ready for more blooms. Keep them coming!

Thursday Quiet Garden Walk

Hi Everyone, We are just going to walk through the garden today, quietly. In other words, I have no comments, since I am in a hurry today! But I did see so many gorgeous blooms and plants to share with you, so just enjoy the photos.

So long for now. Join us again on this blog soon and have a great day!!

Container Gardening with Flowers

Hi Everyone, I have heard that a lot of you are finally getting Springlike weather. Well, today in South Florida, it is more like mid Summer. It was 90 degrees and, although not too humid, it felt pretty warm! I did manage to get outside a plant up the cutest flower container you have ever seen! It looks like a vintage tub with a water spigot, but it actually has a solar light in it. So I let it sit in the sun eight hours and then planted it up with some gorgeous annuals. I thought the tall blue delphinium even resembles water pouring from the spigot! How cute is that! Margaret, my good neighbor brought the container to me, and she got herself one, too. I will show you later how she plants hers. I can say that she has a greener thumb than me!!

But I love mine and wasn't that so thoughtful of her! Can't wait to turn on the light at night and illuminate it!

I am into galvanized containers! They are so "country" yet sort of sophisticated in some ways. I used a tall one for this peace lily.

Just a low plastic pot becomes a nice container for a mixed garden of blooms and plants. I love the apple green sweet potato plant.

An old crockery planter that is long and narrow makes a pretty container for running plants mixed with a bit of color on each side.

Do you remember my grandsons' little pond they built me from a plastic tote box?

I still am enjoying it as the plants grow around it and now it sports a beautiful water lily. I could not find a real water lily, but never mind, I found an artificial one that really looks real and my little painted rock turtle likes it just fine!

Happy container gardening to you!

My own Saturday Garden Show at Ten Gables

Hello Everyone and I hope you enjoy the following "garden show" here at Ten Gables. Things are blooming and I have been out taking photos. Enjoy the show! Happy Week end.