The Rose Shack

            When one is newly excited by gardening, driving south on Route 1 in Rhode Island is a dangerous activity. Of the myriad of  choices of nurseries, I chose the Rose Shack. I was looking for inspiration in hanging baskets (actually I was looking for a hanging basket with the coconut stuff but was unsuccessful on that front). I found the most wonderful orange-y red flower that has long creeping arms, Calibrachoa, or “Superbells” as they were called at the Rose Shack.

Job Lot Round 2

Okay, I may have gotten a little crazy at Job Lot this time. Instead of buying one more planter, I got two, as well as a stand with two hooks for a hanging basket and the humming bird feeder I bought last spring. Then I found seed packets for half off! I stocked up on a ton more sunflowers in all sorts of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, aster, cosmos, dahlias, and I’m going to try again on poppies, even though they’re out of season.

My Birthday Comes Early at Target and Lowe's

          Target: I have been pining over OXO’s pop-top boxes. After lots of Ebay and Amazon research, I have found that the handy bins for kitchen organization cannot be found at a discount. This is tragic news given that they run $16-$18 each and I want a bin each for white flour (for baking), wheat flour (for banana pancakes), semolina flour (for pasta), white sugar and brown sugar. I would also like bins for rice and dry pasta, but let’s not get too carried away here. Good news: Target carries OXO! Mom treated me to two big, two medium, and one small box. Hooray birthday! (It’s almost September, right?) Also at Target I found cup hooks and bistro lights (bigger bulbs than Christmas lights).

            Lowes: After a week spent between Duxbury, Marblehead, Nantucket, and Duxbury again, I think all of my plants at home in Matunuck are going to be dead. Mom is very convinced, especially since we had some blazing hot days this week and my deck gets full sun. Thus, after Target, we headed to the Lowe’s Garden Center to get some replacements. Man, did we hit the jackpot! I found some new very hearty basil (I’m sure mine is toast), potting soil to be supplemented by some of Dad’s compost, and flowers. Oh, the flowers. The hibiscus plants were only $10 so naturally Mom and I each had to get one (yellow for Mom, peach for me). Then mom picked out pink petunias for us to split under our hibiscus plants (hibiscii?), and a hanging basket of purple scaevola? also to split. I grabbed some yellow coreopis because the color looks so cheerful (and also because nothing else is blooming yet out there on the deck). Mom advised me sternly to stay away from the lilys because they are already blooming and will go by quickly. It has been a good birthday – as much as the Mini can hold! 

Great Finds at Job Lot

I have been on the lookout for a window box stand to make my flowers look a little cleaner, or at least more deliberate. Mom has some really cute ones on the porch in Duxbury that she found at some antique place. Sadly they were about $100 each and she is not willing to part with them. I have looked online but it turns out long skinny stands are hard to come by and very expensive when they can be found. I was beginning to lose hope. THEN, on a trip to Job Lot, I found a perfect solution. For only $18 was a cheap-o but cute enough wrought iron basket type of frame lined with that brown fibrous stuff – Google tells me it’s usually made of coconut but this could be a synthetic substitute. I brought it straight to Matunuck, assembled it in about 5 minutes by popping the legs onto the basket, and transplanted my various herbs into it. I like the result so much, I think I may buy another one the next time I’m in Duxbury. 

Home Made Ravioli

Sushi Night

The Calf Pasture

We have moved into the most amazing little house on a farm! The homeowners are wonderful and the house is beautifully finished inside (they built it themselves and he is a woodworker). It's tiny but perfect!