Ten Gables Cottage

Ten Gables Cottage
Ten Gables Cottage

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Mother Nature makes a bed......

Hi everyone,

The sweetest thing happened: Mother Nature made a beautiful resting place for my squash! The dried blossoms off the bougainvillea blew over into the garden and formed a beautiful and cozy bed for my squash to rest in, as it grows! Hopefully it will help keep off bugs. So far, the squash looks amazing!














Here is another pinkish looking plant--the coleus and it looks really good. I am having to do a lot of watering as it is so dry here. I can't remember when we have had a decent rain!















Here is my accommodating bougainvillea. It could care less whether it rains or not! Dry, hot weather is her best friend. Since it is pink, I believe it is a "her".




















I adore the beautiful painted daisies. Any daisy just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and HOMEY!




















The crape myrtle is really blooming nicely and lifts it's lovely blossoms to the sky!. My trees need some trimming before next season. I love crape myrtles in the summer, but in the winter they look absolutely desperate....just a bunch a dry, dead looking branches. So Enjoy now!!


Hope Your garden is looking good. Have a great evening, Egretta









Wednesday, May 25, 2011

A Collection of Compacts

Hi everybody,
I have mentioned my collection of compacts once before, but thought I would show you some of the most interesting ones in the collection. Women began to use compacts during WWI when they entered the work force and started using cosmetics. The compact is a portable container with a mirror and powder and powder puff.
This black one was a "flapper" compact. A lady carried it on her wrist and it was nice to take to dances, etc.






This one is bakelite and is engraved. I got it in Kentucky, given to me by a friend. The initials are of a prominent lady there.




A beautiful petite point compact, probably hand embroidered and made in a European country.




One of my favorites is the little army cap sent to my mother in law by her brother during WWII.













My friends, John and Margaret surprised me last week with this beauty. It is in mint condition and is by John Robert Powers. He was born in 1892 and died in 1977, so I believe this compact is from the 50's or early 50's, although this type was very popular in the 40's. Powers started the famous Power's Modeling Agency, made very famous by such models as Betty Ford, Cornell Wilde.






Another view of this lovely John Robert Powers Compact.














Here is the total display in my home.
















Does anyone else out there collect compacts? Let me hear from you! Happy Wednesday, Egretta

Monday, May 23, 2011

Making a new quilt---so much fun!

Hi everyone from Ten Gables Cottage,

I am as busy as a bee doing all kinds of creative things! It is hot here, so it is a good time to be indoors in the air conditioning working on a quilt. This one is called "Jeepers Creepers", perhaps because of the "creeping" vine that goes up it with appliqued flowers on it. I have been working on this for several monthes, but now that it is hot my efforts have been renewed. I hope to have it ready for the backing soon and ready to start quilting it. Right now it is the top, almost finished.








It might be called a scrappy quilt, as I am using different colored scraps, mostly in the light to mid color tones, with quite a bit of pink and light burgundy.




























Here is a close up of one of the flowers. It is just three petals with a little circle center. This is my first time to applique. The side panels of the quilt are made of little 2 inch squares.


























The stems were tricky to do, but the pattern I used had good instructions and they were easier than it appears.


































This view shows the block panels on each side of the vine and flower panel. It will have a scalloped burder, which will mirror the movement of the stems. Quilting is really an art form. One must think about color, shape, negative spaces, overall design, value, etc. Many hours go into a quilt. No wonder the Amish sell their quilts for quite a bit of money!






























When will this quilt be finished? I hope by the end of the summer. I will post the completed project when it is finished! Quilters, let me know what you think so far.















Friday, May 20, 2011

Pink Friday

Hi everyone,
It is a hot and muggy Friday in Florida and it feels more like Summer than Spring! It has been in the mid 90's all day and we need rain badly. I have been painting a mural on the dining room wall of a client, so all week I have been very busy and am not finished yet!
On the way home today, I stopped at the garden center to see the new plants and it was just beautiful there.

I noticed a good bit of pink flowers! So here are some pretty ones I spotted.




This bougainvillea is mixed pink and white and has been trained as a tree, clipped round. It is stunning and is priced at $160. , I believe. My neighbor, Margaret, works in the garden center and this plant is her favorite! I just had to stop and see it, and it is gorgeous.



















I'm not sure of some of the names so here they are. Just look and enjoy! I am trying to decide just what I want to purchase for my flower garden. I have to consider the heat foremost and then the dry weather.


































































I think I definitely want some of the bromeliads. They love Florida weather!






Have a great weekend!









Wednesday, May 18, 2011

yellow day lilies and a Surprise in the garden...

Hi everyone from Ten Gables Cottage,
It is a hot time here....we are having temps in the high 80's. That has made the day lilies decide to bloom. I have yellow ones and orange ones. They are a cheerful sort of flower, I always think. It is too bad the blooms don't last longer.














Now for the garden surprise! Do any of you know the plant (or I should say weed) called Poke Sallad. alias Poke, Poke Sallet, Poke weed, etc. Well, I spotted a plant about a foot tall in the garden! Do you know that it is edible, although toxic! One must use young leaves and boil them three times, pouring off the water and getting fresh water after each boiling to help rid the plant of toxins. Then you cook them like you would any greens such as Kale. The Native Americans (Indians) used the root to treat inflamation. Others have used it for acne, tonsilitis and even weight loss. I am originally from Harlan, Kentucky and there they have a Poke Sallad Festival, one of only four in the U.S. I have eaten a bite or two of it and didn't find it appealing. And that was BEFORE I learned it is toxic! So..........out goes this weed; don't you think that is the best idea! One more thing.......I have heard "old timers" say to a child, "Well, you have gotten as tall as a Poke Stalk"!



Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Plug in the Bread Maker......



Hi everyone from Ten Gables,



Do you ever just get a craving for some homemade bread? That is what happened to me yesterday and I just got out the bread machine and in two and 1/2 hours, I had a delicious loaf of yummy bread.








I used a recipe for Golden Egg Bread that I had used before and found to be very delicious. One of the best parts about baking bread is the delicious aroma filling the house! Maybe someone should capture that aroma in a candle...call it "fresh baked bread". Maybe they already have done so..... I've bought a candle called "caramel candy" that I really like.


Back to the bread....Last night I made a chicken salad with apples and raisins and a dash of curry in the dressing, served up on a bed of lettuce, deviled eggs (in parts of Kentucky they are called "dressed" eggs) and cantaloupe with fresh baked Golden Egg Bread smothered in butter! A simple meal but delicious! Look hard at this loaf of bread and you can almost smell it!! Have a great day, Egretta

Thursday, May 5, 2011

How does your garden grow?



Greetings from Ten Gables Cottage,


It is a lovely day here is South Florida, but oh! we need rain! I hear it is raining on the coast, so hopefully it will move this way later today. I took a little walk around the garden and here is what is growing.


Margaret has planted a lovely window box and I don't know the name of the flowers. I will have to ask her later---they are so pretty and sunny.



The crape myrtle is starting to bloom. When in bloom, crape myrtle is so lovely, but other times of the year, this deciduous tree is just not attractive at all. Often, I think I will just get rid of the brown stemmy looking thing and then , just in time, it blooms showy panicles with such lovely color that I end up keeping it. In fact, there are several on the property and they do make nice specimen trees in Summer. For all practical purposes, it is summer now and Spring is over! We usually have 2 or 3 weeks of nice Spring weather, then it turns hot!



















Margaret has planted this lovely flowering vine on her fence and I think it is called mandavilla , not too sure, but it is really pretty there.














The roses here are putting on a big show right now and will continue to do so all summer. Roses bloom all year in Florida.















Even Kitty admires them!















And now to the vegetables! My purple cabbage looks o.k, not great! It needs more water, I am sure and also I have noticed a few bites are being eaten on the outer leaves by something, maybe grasshoppers. I think I will mix up some flour and pepper and sprinkle around the plants. Will that work? I don't know....I just got it off the top of my head!















Here is a tomato plant inside it's little cage. I will use some twist ties to secure it as it gets bigger.
It is getting tomatoes on it and this one is called a Big Boy.



















I have some green onions here and there (I don't plant in rows because my veggies are mixed in a flower garden). It is kind of cute to see veggies growing among herbs and flowers! Never one to follow normal ways of doing things, I try to get a creative, artistic look to my garden. Later I will show you a photo of the whole thing. At the moment, it needs a little tidying up.



















Green peppers are doing well. I have a banana pepper plant and a red one, as well.

















The Chives are growing so well and are yummy a number of ways. I love them chopped on baked potatoes with sour cream.














Rosemary! My favorite. I love it in soups, on roasted chicken, in almost anything!
















And here is an update on the pineapple. It is growing well and in a couple of months, should be quite large. It will be ready to eat in July probably.




That is my garden today! I hope you enjoyed the little tour. Happy gardening to you! Egretta






















Sunday, May 1, 2011

Lilies and Squash

Hi Everyone,

It is a lazy day at Ten Gables! After church, I took a quick walk in the garden. It is fairly hot today and I am anxious to get in my studio and work on my latest painting.


I was surprised to see that the tiger lily is blooming and it usually doesn't until last of May or first of June. Seems everything is a bit early this year.


The Peace lily is just full of bloom. It is in a shaded area, but still the tips of most of the flowers are suffering from the heat and lack of water, and are turning brown.




















The Easter Lily is in its glory and smells so good. I wish the blooms would last longer.



















Speaking of blooms, I have been seeing blooms on the butternut squash and upon a closer look, I see squash is forming. Here is a photo of a little one. That is so exciting for me, as I have never planted it before and it is getting so hot I was afraid the veggies wouldn't develop. I must keep them watered! Hope you have a nice afternoon and evening.