Garden Obsessions of Tuteurs and Peacock Chairs

 This may be the longest break I have taken in blogging since I had my shops.

Just hard to get motivated to put a post together during this Coronavirus thing.

Hope you and yours are safe and well, but the numbers are so alarming its impossible

to feel very safe these days. And it kind of seems silly to blog about decorating...

I haven't been in the decorating mood since this virus hit. 

Its not important.

But one thing I did feel like doing was to get a garden started to have fresh produce,

and so I tried building a greenhouse from a kit, which

failed miserably. Thankfully they refunded my money after the thing blew to bits

in a windstorm. Never the less, I had started seeds for a vegetable garden.

  I am  excited to get my garden going as the weather has 

just started turning for the better here in the Boston area.  

 Mothers day is this Sunday and with that, I took my first  trip for "frivolous" matters to a

garden nursery and picked up some outdoor flowering plants, including a pink geranium for

my 90 yr old mother in law, who lives next door to us.  I also sold my Peacock wire set and it 

was picked up yesterday by some movers to bring to a woman in Virginia who is obsessed with Peacock furniture!  She is lining a path to a reservoir bordering her woodland property with these chairs and has collected about a dozen so far!! I loved hearing that story, as I love imagining her fulfilling her vision as she walks to the water past these fanciful chairs set up in little seating groups. 

 Tutuers are what I have been obsessed by for years....I love them!

And I always figured I would make one or two or three for my own garden.  

These obelisk garden structures can be anything from traditional to fanciful. 

At the nursery getting flowers with my son Colin, I spotted a nice tuteur.  

I realized this thing wasn't going to get made by me this year, so onto the cart it went.

At home, I lugged it up near the garden shed, next to one of the garden boxes that 

has yet to be filled with material.   I can imagine it all painted up and standing over the herbs and vegetables this summer! White paint to go with the fencing and the shed.

 Everything outside needs to be spruced up and sorted out. 

 That is the fun of surviving our long winters as is buying some flowers and a new garden ornament. 

 With the stay at home advisory in play, having an outdoor space or garden to focus on has been good for me. I know lots of people who have started vegetable gardens this year.

My lettuce and tomatoes and other things are doing well and many will be getting into the 

garden bed in a week or two.

 The dogs love accompanying me outdoor for garden chores. 

This winter was kind to the roses on our property, 

with no winter kill and lots of new growth.

 My parents usually come back to the Boston area after wintering over in Florida.

However this year they are staying put until later on, due to the virus.

So I sent my mom a linen cocktail napkin that will be a souvenir of this strange and scary time,

making the most of what we can do during quarantine and not being together.

 My son Brandon and wife Mimi dropped off three dozen pink roses on my doorstep today

to wish me a happy mothers day. I was thrilled, as  I haven't had any cut flowers for three months!

I have been busy working on the lake house floor plan and have a scale version set up on the table so I can add cutouts of furniture to try to visualize how we will use the space.  Its been really helpful to do this, and I can see what will come and what needs to be sold or donated.

Last but not least, is my little farmer girl Reeve. 

I miss her terribly and wish I could spend overnights at the farm in Maine.

But we will have to wait until the threat of the virus passes.

In the meantime Justin sends me lots of snapchats to see her, 

and she is a pro at carrying the chickens around!

She's almost three, and we have our visits via FaceTime these days,

where I can see her personality and sense of humor developing. 

All of this time of separation will pass, and brighter times are ahead.

For now I am planning my garden and lake house.

Hope you are doing some future dreaming and planning too....

even if it means just going out to eat! 

Wouldn't that be nice?

Read more »

A Garden tour at a French Country Estate in Newport Rhode Island

Matthew Mead took me to a book launch party last month. 

It was held  at the French Country estate of retired food editor of 

Bon Appetit magazine, Bettie Bearden Pardee. 

Bettie is the author of the blog Private Newport, 

and gives her readers the insider view of wonderful Newport Rhode Island.

Bettie is featured in the new book, Entertaining at Home, by Ronda Carmen. 

 Matthew was the principal photographer and I shared many fascinating chats with him 

as he traveled the country shooting the homes of designers 

as they showed him how they entertain at home.  

Ronda's book is just wonderful~ you will be inspired with all the entertaining ideas

and recipes and ways you can invite others to your home to party in so many ways!

Join us as we step behind the gated entrance of this truly magical French Country home

and poke around her gardens and outbuildings soaking it all in.

Read more »

The Lake Cottage, Garden and the 4th of July

The middle of the year is upon us! How fast winter turns to summer it seems.

Winter drags on and somehow summer seems to be in a rush, for us in New England.

The fourth of July is always a favorite holiday, centered around relaxing and cookouts

and easy celebrations. Decorating for the 4th is all about the flag, and I was excited to 

find this nostalgic and festive looking fabric that had both flags and roses.  The fabric is called Americana Summer Roses and can be found here at LilyOak's Spoonflower account.

I bought three yards to use as a tablecloth and can see this piece of fabric becoming a family

heirloom in the way that it will grace our tables on the 4th, Labor Day and Memorial Day for

years to come!  

Its so pretty with the rose wreaths and swirling flags, dotted by unexpected yellow roses.

I can even throw it over my wicker daybed in front of the cottage windows

to add holiday flair instead of using it as a tablecloth at the lake cottage.

Last weekend we all went up and did some cleaning and site work at the cottage

that suffered a lot of damage from last year's microburst storm.

Over the winter the critters find their way inside and its deflating to come back

and see the damage and filth that awaits....but I got a lot of work done inside while hubs

and son worked on the outside with the excavator clearing the trees and stumps and 

making the lot more pedestrian friendly.  The big logs are all gone now!

It will be at least one more year before we can build here, so we are preparing

to enjoy it as much as we can for these two short summer months.

Our son got his boat license and its going to be really fun having

 two boat operators at the ready for lake cruises and waterski adventures.

We even hung a flag down by the dock, anchoring it on a tree.

 Back at home our gardens are coming to full bloom, and that is 

another pleasure of our short summer season that I savor.

 Three years ago we installed this white picket fence with both privacy panels

and open pickets and its one of my favorite upgrades we have done to the house.

The inner area contains the dogs when they need to go in and out, and I've always felt

that a gate is an enchanting way to enter a property.

Along the outer fence there are some roses that are 

in their second year, and the star of the show is 

this abundant Fairy Rose.  I also have a few David Austin rose bushes,

but they are high maintenance compared to the hearty Fairy.

The clematis is in its third year and putting on quite a show right now!

Summer has Reeve enjoying the outdoor activities with me, and that includes

teaching her how to pull weeds (haha) and take little breaks in her kiddy pool.

She turned two last month and with that comes a lot more fun with her

being able to be a big girl helping her grammy.

Piper and Sylvia are ever present at our heels as we walk about the yard

doing our watering and weeding and planting. 

Life is the way it should be,

with the simple pleasures of family connections and 

always being mindful of our abundance.

Wishing you all a safe and happy 4th!

Read more »

Shocking Secret to Climbing roses, Shabby French and Martha

Spring has truly arrived and Piper is enjoying it as much as I have been.  This will be the third year for my climbing rose on the old arbor.  Its the New Dawn climber and it should be doing much better than it is.....so I did some research and discovered a shocking well kept secret that may explain why my climber is not acting like a climber.  

 Its barely a third of the way up the arbor.  So what I learned was that number one, 

plant your climber practically underneath the structure you want it to climb.  

I had mine about two feet away from the arbor.  

 I had tied the branches to the arbor with garden twine almost straight up to get it going up towards the top of the arbor.  Big mistake!  Understand that there are two types of branches, the main cane and then the lateral canes.  The main cane(s) are the big branches that come from the root area and then the lateral canes are the branches that grow off the main canes and they are the only branches that the flowers grow on.  The secret is to train the main canes in a horizontal fashion with a slight angle upwards, because that is what makes the lateral canes sprout and grow and then produce flowers.

 This image from Rachel Ashwell's new book, My Floral Affair, shows an espaliered David Austin Ballerina climbing rose growing on the side of an enchanted cottage.  Look at the angle of the thick main canes.  They are more trained to an angle instead of straight up. And then you can see the multitudes of lateral canes with the blooms on them, and the lateral canes grow straight up in a vertical fashion creating a bushy full climbing rose!! 

Armed with this knowledge I went out and retrained and persuaded my main canes to go at a criss cross fashion and tied them to the arbor.  Since the bush is further away than it should be ideally, you have to allow for the canes to go vertically until you can train them horizontally.  After I trained it, I fed it with Rose Tone food and then planted another David Austin shrub rose, Queen of Sweden, next to the arbor.  That area will hopefully be filled with roses this summer.  Many people commented on my Instagram post about this secret of climbing roses, saying that they too had never heard of this, and it explained why they only had roses growing at the very top of their climbers.  See, if I had just trained the canes to get up to the top, it would only be then that the main cane would lay flat and then lateral canes would sprout and then bear flowers.  Mystery solved!

 Another one of the glories of spring is when the first flowers arrive from the lilac trees.  Lucky enough to have both purple and white, I cut a big bunch of white lilacs for mothers day and I displayed them inside of this colossal silver punch bowl I scored at the Brimfield Antique Fair.  

 Brimfield is the oldest antique fair in the country and there are thousands of vendors who set up their wares in tents along Main Street in the tiny town of Brimfield.  My favorite dealer lives in Texas and I think she has the best stuff at very good prices.  The best stuff, if you like French, Italian, Shabby Chic, Cottage, Garden etc.... Her name is Donna Corr and her booth and business is Corrabelle Rose.

I spotted my punch bowl, all tarnished, sitting on a display table in her tent.  It came with 8 punch glasses in silver plate as well.  The other treasure I took home is that huge and heavy gilded iron candelabra, which I thought would be perfect for leaving outdoors in my summer courtyard.

 Donna has lots of yummy things like tole sconces and lamps and 

wastebaskets (oh yeah I got one of those too).  And Florentine trays and tables and

 boxes (oh and um yes I got some of those as well).  She will be back in July when Brimfield

 has its summer session, so you can bet I will return as well for some

 power shopping at her delicious booth.

 There really are some spectacular vendors, and you will see the 

MOST amazing things....things from palaces and castles and chateaus!  

 This huge planter was likely the base of a pier mirror (one of those floor to ceiling type mirrors).  

I bought a few things from this vendor as well. Pamela, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, was near Donna's booth in the New England Motel lot.  

 And the entrance to a most enchanting booth, The Two Cherubs, 

featured sky high skinny shutters in turquoise that the dealer, Jenny Lunney, 

lugged home from a shopping trip to France. 

 She is also on Instagram as @jennylunney and you can see my moniker at 

the top of this photo @amymaisondecor if you want to follow us.

 Bring a folding shopping cart like this one that I use. 

 I cannot recommend it enough!  I start off with a bunch of bubble wrap

 and then a stack of kitchen hand towels for wrapping items.  

An old Vera Bradley tote bag with lots of pockets is where I stash some wet wipes, 

sunscreen, water bottles, and snacks. 

 There is my big candelabra, all tucked in safe and sound!! 

 Another shot from Corrabelle Rose.

 Parked outside of the Two Cherubs...

 If you love old things, you will certainly find something to bring home that will inspire you to redecorate or freshen up your living space, be it inside or out.

I just adored polishing up the punch bowl and adding flowers to it.

Its going to hold my mail on a daily basis so I can enjoy seeing it all the time.

Gorgeous!!

 The other fun thing I did this month was to attend the Martha Stewart Prop Sale, 

with my friend Matthew Mead.  I picked up this old french bakers rack

 that you see holding my copper collection.

 It was great fun to go and see all the stuff Martha was selling from the days of her 

tv show and things she used in books.  I recognized several of the items as did Matthew. 

Watch us walk through the auction house on our YouTube video here. 

One of the marvelous things she had up for auction was a collection of opaline glasses in various forms in colors pink and yellow.  See them on the lower shelf...the upper shelf had big goblets in pink bristol glass, and hobnail goblets in white.

 As you can see, I prevailed at auction and brought home this enchanting and rare set of french glassware. 

 Some vintage lighting was scooped up for the cottage, 

at least the one on the right.  I can imagine it in the kitchen...

 Look at the Martha stickers!  So fun!!

The bottom of each glass had a label indicating what it was and catalogued

in the Martha Prop Collection with her stamp on it as well.

 Martha's sale also had a ton of outdoor furniture that was an addition from various estates, added to sell the same day her things were auctioned off.  I came home with this cast iron coffee table base to use in the courtyard and I imagined I could add wooden planks to the top, instead of glass.

 There were so many old sets of outdoor furniture! It was really a blast looking through it all.

And on that note I will leave you and prepare another blog post on the vintage patio furniture I did just find, and the outcome of a set I had lusted after since my visit to Grey Gardens.

But before I go, how about this candelabra?

Read more »