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Showing posts with label the yard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the yard. Show all posts

fall around the farmhouse



Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald -


It's that magical time of year in New England.... fall
As I wrote in my last post, fall is a three-month ceremony of change and beauty.  It's more than a season, it is a spiritual ritual.
I've been taking photographs to share with you for a while and have compiled them together for this post.
This is the magic that is fall around the farmhouse.....







The sun setting as seen from the front porch.





The stone beehives at the entrance.




The antique stonewall along the road.




The kitchen dining table with its jarrahdale pumpkin and miniature white pumpkins on the mantel.
  There is so much color and beauty outside I like the interiors to be very simple this time of year.




Menu board from last Sunday's lunch with friends!




The front porch.




The front porch with fall pillow covers.
(a "favorite detail" of mine is to use down-filled pillow forms in all pillows on the three covered porches- it always feels so luxurious to sit in an exterior chair with a down pillow!  (and yes, they hold up/weather beautifully.... well, maybe not if you're in Houston or Baton Rouge :):)

















View down the drive.




The front meadow.




Sweet Ella with her always-wagging tail!




This is our largest and oldest antique maple tree on the property.  It is at the entrance from the road and it will sometimes "weep" from the hole in the tree seen in this photo.  It always reminds me of the spigot in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" (remember that scene?!) as it never did this before we started tending and gardening the beds and grass around it!




The drive up to the front door.




"Little Red" that was Dan's birthday present last year wasn't pleasing the groundskeeper (aka Dan) and was traded in for the much bigger Ferris that has a larger cutting width (61" instead of 48") and has a triple bag grass (and leaf;) catcher on the back.  The groundskeeper is very happy with new "Big Red!"




The lighting and colors were spectacular on this day!

























Inside looking out....




You walk into the rooms of the farmhouse and they just glow!





View from the upstairs guest room.




View from the master bedroom.




In this photo you see a ladybug on the window sill.  Fall is also "ladybug season." ;)  They make their way into the house in droves and hide in the cracks and mouldings through the winter. Try as you might, there is not a thing you can do to prevent this so one just welcomes them as "good luck!"








View from the upstairs master bedroom porch.




View from the upstairs porch to the terrace.  The Nantucket Blue hydrangeas have turned pink, as they do in fall, but are still blooming away!  They've been amazing all summer.




You can see all the large (7-1/2' to 9' tall) evergreens that we planted in late summer in this photo towards the front meadow. 




Distant view to the hillside beyond.




The setting sun....



Hope you're still here (?), and hope your fall has been magical too!

























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the summer terrace




If you've been wondering where I've been, I've been here..
literally!




We've have been having an amazing summer (think wonderful temps with windows and doors open and not many bugs and only a few days that the central a.c. has had to be on) and I can't get enough of being outside.  I sometimes think I am trying to make up for all those years living indoors during the long, hot summers in Texas ;)
We have a long list, big and small, of outdoor projects, plantings, gardening, basic maintenance, etc. that we have been working on,  (we're "project people," what can I say?!) but for the most part everything is under control and I think we are feeling on top of it all, and we have been really enjoying the summer!  
So, my apologies for my absence, but I just couldn't bring myself to come in and sit in front of a computer working on a post instead of being outside!  I hope you'll understand and indulge me ;)


I wanted to show you how the terrace looks this summer.  There are a couple of changes from previous years and I'm really happy with the space!









I love to plant large herb specimens in decorative pots.  Last year I planted a huge rosemary in this jardiniere and this year lavender.  It's beautiful, the smell is heady and you can't help but run your hand over the stems when you walk by or are sitting in the chairs.





  Have you ever seen so many blooms on one hydrangea?!
This new variety is a repeat bloomer called Nantucket Blue.



Antique zinc dovecote on the wall that is the kitchen mud room.




The adirondacks that we used to have on the terrace were showing their age.  When I found these outdoor wicker club chairs at Target I thought they would be perfect here!  I've seen a lot of outdoor wicker chairs at all price points, but the scale and the color of the "wicker" on these chairs are really well done.  We joke that they have changed our lives!!  We sit out here for hours now, not something easily done in a wooden adirondack!  I made the cabana striped pillows using outdoor fabric from fabric.com






 Our view to the east.
This is a favorite spot for happy hour!




The antique olive pots were purchased from Bobo Intriguing Objects years ago at the Scott Antique Market in Atlanta.  Up until recently they sat between the garage doors.  I have loved having them on the terrace this year.









 Dan made the tabletop from old timbers removed from the barn during its renovation.  The iron base was a vintage trash can holder we procured "curb side" back in Dallas!  Antique weather vane and directional sits on the table with an antique Chinese green baluster used as a candlestick and an antique concrete finial and shutter.
If you missed the tutorial on how to make an orb out of old iron whiskey barrel rings, you can find it HERE.



 








Bronze bird used to be a faucet knob but now holds court on top of the umbrella!




The lavender up close.




 Early spring I realized I needed a large pot to go on the table.  I stumbled on this large beauty at an antique store in Vermont for $18, I couldn't get it into the car fast enough!




Antique white finial and antique green urn (a matching pair sits at the other french door) with Japanese fishing float and marble balls.









I won't mention any names ;), but lets just say a certain someone is enjoying the chairs too!
#sweetella



The sound of summer... a rainbird sprinkler!



If you're looking for me and don't find me on the blog, you can always find me on Instagram (which I love!) where I post a photo of life around the farmhouse several times a week.  If you aren't on Instagram (and you should be :) you can view my photos by clicking on the Instagram photos on my sidebar.

I have a couple of upcoming posts I want to share with you and then I want to show you
the barn room dressed for summer, so stay tuned!

To read more details about the objects d'art on the terrace HERE
To see the terrace in previous years HERE
To see the making of the terrace HERE.

Hope you're having a great summer!
xxojoan


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