Monthly Archives: July 2024

………………………………………….”I CAN………I WILL”…………………………….Simple words to live by.

………………ZINNIAS are one of my summertime FAVORITE flowers!!!!…..I learned to appreciate and love Zinnias from my Mom, who had them growing in every flower bed around our house…..There were hundreds of them! She used to have the large flower variety, and would have vases of them in the house…..I have sort of taken it on as a tradition……I have two varieties of Zinnias…….”CUT & COME AGAIN”…..and….. “STATE FAIR”………The Cut & Come Again are smaller flowers [at the left], and when you cut them more and more grow…providing flowers all season long…….The State Fair Zinnia flowers [on the right], are four times the size, and are the variety my Mom used to grow…When you cut them they grow back too ….My mom , after cutting and displaying them, would let them dry in paper bags….then she would pull the dried petals from the center of the flower, and out would come black seeds at the end of each petal….She saved them for next spring’s planting…….I remember helping her plant them….first making many rows in the beds, and then planting the seeds, one by one!….This took a few days, and I know my Mom loved me helping her with this huge task!….Then you just water and wait!…That’s when I grew to love ZINNIAS!!!!

…………………If I could I would cut my Zinnias, and display Zinnias ALL OVER THE HOUSE!…..I just don’t have enough of them in the garden to do that!….These Zinnias are in my kitchen…….They are on my window sill above my sink [photo at upper left]. I have them in a variety of bud vases above my French antique cabinet where I keep all of Jac and her Mom’s receipt books, and they are also in bud vases on the glass window shelves on both sides of the cabinet……I have then in my office, my bedroom and my bathroom. Sometimes I even have them on my dining table in the family room depending on the table setting…..I enjoy going into the garden, and looking at the flowers, and deciding which ones I will cut to bring into the house for me to enjoy!…..All of the COLORS make me happy, and they bring back…..warm…..sweet memories.

…………………Gone is the yellow and white and all of the LEMONS………..In its’ place I was in the mood for something more serene and sophisticate to bring August in…….BLACK & WHITE with SILVER…….The table is set with a long black table cloth, and on top a smaller white and black marble print table cloth with a small scalloped edge. The table is set with black plates on silver chargers and black and silver flat wear……Black and white linen napkins are held with silver wire rings….The candles are a combination of black and white long tappers and black pillar candles…..The green and pink hydrangeas are in black and white bud vases with a center Murano Zebra glass large vase…..I always like to add decorative items to the table…..a black and white marble box I bought in Florence, Italy more that 35 years ago, and a metal African ball covered in flat studs, [photo at upper right, also bought over 30 years ago], are conversation pieces…..There are two black etched American Indian antique vases/jars Jac and I bought in a wonderful store in Santa Fe that sold American Indian antiquities, [it looks grey in the picture at the lower left, but it’s pure black!], also decorate the table………The table and the mood is set…..now I just have to wait for my guests to arrive at sunset!

………….”Saturday evening with friends”…………Just before my guests arrive I light the candles and put on the music……..The stage is set for a lovely evening.