Ode To Orange

Last night's moon is my inspiration of the day.  It was a lovely sunset, but as I pulled the covers back and was set to hop into bed the moon caught my eye. A bright orange crescent.  It was so pretty I had to go back outside to snap a shot.





Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011

Pretty cool, huh? Worth going back outside in my Pj's.

 
I've always liked orange, maybe it was growing up in the 70s when pops of orange were common place. Regardless of the reason, I still like a pop of orange here and there. It's a happy color and there are so many hues, it doesn't have to remind you of Halloween.

When we were decorating our addition, and specifically our lounge, we needed a chair that would fit in one of the corners. We wanted it to be comfortable and the right size. Gar and I hadn't even discussed color. We walked into a local furniture store and lo and behold, a chair we were both drawn to immediately. You gotta love a guy who can, not only handle a chair this color, but who actually loves it. Made in the USA-- right on Cape Cod! It was ours. Now, I'll admit, this chair flirts both on the orange side and the pink side. Is it watermelon? Or is it persimmon? Call it what you want, we call it comfortable, well made, and perfect.





Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011

Orangey crushed velvet. An unexpected pop of color. Sweet. Plus it went perfect with our Dollar Tree dishtowels that were the color inspiration for the lounge.

  
My friend Sylvie gave me a felt purse in a wonderful burnt orange color. It's bead work was so pretty, I decided to put it where I could appreciate it everyday. I've never carried it on an evening out. It hangs on the side of our game cabinet in the lounge, and it seems very happy there, so that is where it stays. 





Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011

A gift from a friend, this bag hangs on a cabinet instead
of in my closet waiting for the right occasion.

 
Our Tiger Lilies have popped!  Just like I knew they would, just in time for 4th of July.  These were transplanted from my sister Dianne's yard, and each year I have to conquer and divide. They are prolific spreaders and their bright orange color really add to any garden. Easy to maintain and care for as well. A gardener's dream.





Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011

This morning's sun really shows off the beauty of this Tiger Lily. Gorgeous.

   
I realized I had even more pops of orange in the house beyond the lounge.  We came across this beautiful print on one of many trips to Ireland, in a little restaurant in Cork. It was hanging on the wall and for sale. It came home with us. The artist is Val Byrne of Wicklow, but this painting is somewhere in the West of Cork.   It used to hang above the mantle, but right now I'm still trying to figure out where to put things on the wall after painting the front rooms. So, for now, it sits on the mantle.  Alongside Bates Mercantile Co.'s 'Be Happy' Pennants printable wall art available in our etsy store.





Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011

A wonderful color explosion in this signed Val Byrne print.
Love the little orange house vying for attention amongst the bigger buildings. 

 
Orange makes a regular appearance in our sunsets. This is one of it's more brilliant nods at dusk this past May. Glorious.




Copyright Pamela J. Bates, 2011

How absolutely beautiful.

 
Isn't it time you added at least a little orange to your life?

Happy Wednesday. Make it a good one.

We Knew Yew When

Yup, they’re gone! The yews that surrounded our entrance are history. Hasta la vista. Toast.

Neither G-man nor I liked them very much. The sparrows did, but the yews didn’t really float our boat. They’d been here since we bought the house, and they did give it some green and were pretty enough on the outside, but they were cut like hedges. Problem being, when you cut yews with hedge trimmers, once you cut back the top couple of inches, there’s really nothing but branch.  So each year, even though we were trimming, they were getting taller, causing wetness in the box that houses the phone lines, creating mildew on house, and looking sort of –bleckh. Gar took the hedge trimmers to them one last time while my pal Tina was here visiting from Ireland last week. Well, you should have seen the sight of them. We had to have a morning viewing and a damn good laugh. Just kept shaking my head saying, ‘Honestly, do you think he's finished? Does he think this looks good? It looks like Edward Scissorhands was a little angry when he trimmed these bushes.” 

Lo and behold the master plan that I was not privy to at the time. Hack ‘em down. Be rid of the beasts. That’s exactly what he did. Of course, there were roots left and neighbor Tom and his tractor took care of what he could, the others will have to be cut further and any remains, buried. We have electrical and plumbing to consider.
Now the fun part, well first clean up and then the fun part.  As you can see, the overnight rain added to the mess, splashing the fresh dug dirt right up the front of the house, but I digress. 




Copyright Roger Roley for Southern Accent magazine

Beautiful, just a little too froo froo for us.  I do like it as 'inspiration'.


Garden room dreams……..Along the front of the house (the side without the door, it faces the driveway) poor rose bush currently has nothing to climb on. The yews were at least for providing a lovely strong backdrop for our beautiful creeping rose (who knew when I planted it?).  I’m thinking some type of rustic pergola is the ticket.  It can’t be real deep or it may get in Tom’s way when he plows us with his tractor in winter.  Below the pergola and rose, a vintage or rustic bistro table of sorts, so the neighbor ladies and I have a place to sit and enjoy a cocktail while the neighbor hoodlums have a beer in the drive while discussing their latest duct tape project. 




Ston Easton Park in the book English Hideaways

Love this! But ours would just have the ends of pergola and not the sides.

 The other side by the door couldn’t be anything other than a Sunset Meadows viewing area, complete with a couple of Adirondacks, preferably wood because I won’t be lugging these ones around the yard. Due to the cost of wood Adis (ad-ees as we affectionately call them in my family), I may have to make-do with plastic ones until I can find some yard sale steals like my neighbor Lauren did.

Copyright Laura Halett Taylor

So nice! But we don't have as much room, just enough for
chairs and little table in between. At least I hope.

We’ll be lucky if we simply get it cleaned up for the big 4th of July lobster bake, but of course, that would be an improvement from what it looks like this morning.

That’s the plan Stan.  What do you think?