Tuesday, March 31, 2009

first signs of life...

the first of my seedling garden vegetables has sprouted. as promised, sprouting expected between day 4-6 (today is day 5)... my crimson giant radishes poked through the dirt....


so i know i said i was going to start small in my previous post about gardening...but...that didn't happen. i decided i might as well plant as many as possibly, 'just in case' they didn't take. after much deliberation in the garden center of home depot i came out with...

vegetables
beefsteak tomatoes
better boy hybrid tomatoes
super sweet hybrid cherry tomatoes
california sweet peppers
carnival mix sweet peppers
sweet burpless cucumbers
habanero hot peppers
jalapeno hot peppers
detroit supreme round red beets
round golden beets
sweet spanish yellow onions
crimson giant radishes

herbs
chives
broad leaf sage
lavender
mint
flat leave parsley
dill
sweet basil
rosemary
cilantro

quotable...

one of my favorite blogs, Design Crush, always posts the most wonderful quotes...this one made my day...

image courtesy of Design Crush

Monday, March 30, 2009

oh the places you'll go, and fall in love with...

black point, nova scotia, canada...
in 2006 my parents bought a piece of property in st. margarets bay, about 30 minutes south of halifax. after 2 years of renovations and countless trips north through customs with a car packed full of furniture, it's more or less completed. this might possibly be my most favorite place on earth. less than an hour flight from boston, or a minor ferry ride over from maine and you feel like you've entered another world...far less pretentious than new england, much smaller fishing communities dotted along the coast, roadside fish & chip stands galore, fresh air...heaven.

the property, known as black point because of its location in saint margarets bay, has 3 houses on it...the main cottage, the guest cottage and the main house. the main house is the only one yet to be renovated. there is a lovely perennial garden on the path leading to the main cottage, a side porch & rear patio for afternoon reading & cocktails, a tennis court, in ground pool, private dock to fish from & sandy jetty to swim in, an expansive rolling back yard for the dogs to run, and a spectacular greenhouse all on the property...there's no reason to ever leave....



this is the main house which has yet to be renovated...i'm trying to convince mom to turn it into a bed & breakfast and i'll move up there permanently to run it...no such luck, so far...



wild lupins grow all along the shore line at the house...



and the most charming fishing towns are all within an hours drive too...Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay, Chester & Lunenburg are my favorites....



charleston, south carolina...
before i had even visited charleston i knew i wanted to live there. palm trees, warm ocean breezes, verandas as far as the eye can see, southern hospitality & southern cooking...what's not to love? so mom and i took a trip last may which only confirmed it for me...



charleston also happens to have THE best farmers market i have ever been to, i have dreams about it often...



huntington, vermont...
i'd never spent much time in Vermont until the boyfriend took me there to stay with some of his good friends over labor day weekend...and i couldn't have had a better time. i've always wanted a large white farmhouse, vegetable garden and a clear sky to look at all the night time stars, not to mention a large yard where the dogs could run & have adventures of their own and i wouldn't have to worry about them. i learned on this trip that it's about the qaulity of life you live up here...




the boyfriend also took us to a special little swimming hole, the girls were total river rats that day, we couldn't get them out of the water...



...so we went back for new years eve when it was -2 degrees, and i still loved it, if not more...



...especially the part where we got lost coming home (never let a GPS guide your way) and ran into my dream home...


i believe these are all places that will remain in my future...