Some of the sunflowers survived the terrible storm incident earlier in the summer.
They are hardy plants, and although our plan to disguise the neighbor’s house didn’t turn out as well as we thought it would, we have been able to enjoy the flowers very much.
Inside the house you’ll find reminders of the outdoors. A vase of flowers, fresh picked vegetables on the kitchen counter, and a bowl of rocks in the living room. I don’t know why we seem to collect rocks. After a walk in the forest, a stroll on a beach or almost any outdoors excursion we’ll find small souvenirs in our pockets — rocks or shells or sometime pinecones.
Each one has a memory.
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” Gautuma Buddah.
“Look beyond every single thing you see. There’s always something behind.” – Wilson Kanadi
This week’s challenge asked us to pick up our cameras, look around, and shoot a photo TODAY. What a good challenge — to observe our surroundings, to find beauty in the everyday. Very zen.
These smooth stones are stacked in a window where they catch the afternoon light. Zen Buddhists say that the art form of stacked stones brings us back to mindfulness. I think that was the point of this week’s photo challenge as well.
What in your home brings you back to mindfulness?
Most of the houses in our neighborhood were built in the era when front porches were essential outdoor rooms. Our porch gets full shade all afternoon and evening.
On our porch we added comfortable seating, tables for cool drinks and put some candles inside a couple of old railroad lanterns for soft lighting. We think we’ve got the best gathering spot ever on a warm summer evening. Pull up a chair and join us sometime.
We’ve planted our garden, not as a traditional flower cutting garden, but as one that will flower for at least three seasons. When we’re gathering cut flowers for an arrangement anything that’s blooming is fair game, even things from the herb garden!
We built the bouquet for this week’s family dinner out of a motley collection of this-and-that. Here are the ingredients:
1. purple salvia
2. purple blooms from sage
3. red coral cells
4. purple chive blossoms
5. green parsley
The contrasting colors and textures make this simple but happy bouquet a treat for the senses.
There’s no reason NOT to use herbs for bouquets, especially if you planted more than enough. Besides, they thrive after being cut a few times, producing even more for your next arrangement.
By now you’ve probably realized that our decorating style is far from traditional. You’ll find bold paint colors and unconventional choices wherever you look.
This mural was painted by Christe and our friend Mary (who also painted the kitchen ceiling) and we love the sense it gives of soaring high and free. 
With a little paint (okay, a lot of paint) and some talent (okay, our friend Mary is a professional) and inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright we were able to transform our plain white ceiling into something much more interesting.
Our design starts on the ceiling and then continues down the wall. Christe drew the original “pattern” (and also designed the curvy lighting fixture). We used all of the colors from our house, both interior and exterior to achieve the wild boldness. The purples are from our bedroom and sitting room, the yellows and golds from the living/dining room and hallway, the green from the exterior and the dark blue from the office/library/music room.
Having a stained glass artist in the house is a delight. This piece hangs in our front window.
Lydia Street