Okay, now it really is Fall!
I know many have jumped on the Autumn bandwagon weeks before it actually began but…
I am a hold out.
I don’t want to feel time is being rushed,
just enjoy each season as it arrives…
at my leisure.
To see more of this post click here..
Would you like a rustic sunflower hand painted by yourself to display this fall?
Chicken Coop Rooster sign
August was a rather slow month for special orders,
which was not a bad thing as I ended up with a busy cleaning schedule,
Nana’s Garden Three Roses sign
and I had little time to paint.
Much to my disappointment
Customized Rules for a Happy Marriage sign
Though what time I did get in the studio was soothing to the soul.
A large sign in progress, that is supposed to be a sunset and mountains.
Cleaning work is slowing down and will be very slow until ski season begins….
so that means “MORE PAINTING”!! '
Woo hoo!
Custom Love For You sign in Lime
I really think that Love For You sign would look even better with a border to frame it.
I need to do one for the site to show what it would look like with a border.
This one is pure summer or maybe I should say Florida..Hawaii??
Anywhere the suns shines thru the winter is paradise to me. 
Paradise with starfish sign
And I did a sign for the front of the studio…
It may seem a bit juvenile but I thought the little bluebird was so whimsical and happy..
he just makes me smile each time I see him singing his little lungs out..
maybe I should add some musical notes coming from his beak
I need to get it hung…
right now it is just setting on my potting bench for its photo shoot.
I downloaded the cute birdie graphic from Free Pretty Things for You,
Keren has plenty of freebie fun things for you to download and use.
Now back to the studio I go…I have been under the weather a bit today but I have too much to do to just lay in bed (which is what I really feel like doing).
Happy Day!
Pamela
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August is officially over…
‘sniff’
September to me says “FALL”
even if 3/4’s of it is really technically still Summer.
But the world around me is already tucking away the green of summer and donning their Autumn colors,
The mums have arrived at the Garden Center…
and my garden is fading fast.
I see a truck load of mum’s in my future,
maybe, just maybe that will keep my flower addiction assuaged.
I can tuck them in some pots and decorate the porch of my Studio (aka Art Cottage)
I can plant a few in my Buckets for an Autumn touch,
maybe snuggle a few pumpkins up against them.
I can get a brazier or raised fire pit to add to my new Garden room, to enjoy sitting by
and maybe roasting a marshmallow or two.
That should warm me on chilly Autumn nights.
And I always have my homemade, oh so delicious Pesto to bring back sweet memories of summer,
each and every time I eat it.
(actually had some tonight, and it is to DIE for!)
I need to make another batch, I don’t think the 3 gallons I have in the freezer will be enough to last all winter. 
So that being said I guess if I throw myself into some Fall decorating I will talk myself into letting go of Summer.
Around these parts there is a hint that Winter may be a dilly.
Sigh!
Next time I will share all the signs I did for August.
Hmm, I think I should be working on some Fall themed signs…
any suggestions??
Good bye August…
Hello September…
Pamela
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Are you DIY garden gurus ready for another version of my easy to build wooden Obelisk??
The purple clashed in my garden and I did not have enough to finish it off
~if you look real close you can see bare wood in spots~
So I transformed it with more cans of left over paint in my stash
then plopped it in the garden..
Where the self seeded morning glories promptly found it and wound their way to the top..
(in there somewhere is the cucumbers I had planted to twine up and I have even picked my very first cuke)
Now for a new version…
TA DA!
Don’t ya just love that apple green.
I spotted an obelisk on a Better Homes and Gardens site and voila’ our second obelisk idea was born.
Since the basics are the same as our original obelisk I am not going to bore you with all the details but I will show you some photos of how he did the X pieces.
Note to make the X you put one half of the X on the outside of the frame…
and the other goes on the inside.
And that is it….for a rough sketch of the original obelisk with measurements go here.
And once you are done you have this..
You can see the beginning of my Garden Room in the background, stop on over at that post to see the finished walls.
Do you think I should paint the first one green too?
They will be in the same garden.
Happy end of Summer gardening.
There is still a few weeks left of fine weather to be enjoyed before real chilly weather descends.
(I hope)
Until next time…
Pamela
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In the Summer my back deck is HOT.
When you would like to sit out there on a lovely summer evening, the sun is beating down making it unbearable.
So we put up a canopy, I had used this long ago when I did shows and events
so it was just lounging lazily in the garage…
It sort of worked but you see how the sun comes in at an angle?
That made it uncomfortable, still.
So we need to so something about that.
Here is where these come in…
Cedar Fence boards are so versatile…
we built my ‘oh so handy’ potting bench out of them..
And now they become a shabbilicious garden room wall
I had guesstimated it would take twenty 7.5 inch wide cedar fence boards to cover the space….
I was wrong, that was not near enough…
(see my studio peeking out down there…go here to see it all)
So what to do…what to do…
I did not want to spend anymore $$$ so we had to be creative…
and when I spotted some rusty, crusty metal roof panels in the alleyway behind my mom’s house I knew I had hit pay dirt!
So instead of all fence boards we added sections of rusty old tin roof panels…
(I use the term ‘we’ rather loosely since I really only supervised and explained by vision to my ever helpful builder hubby”
He had to cut the panels down to 6 feet as they were originally 8 feet, he used what he called a ‘nibbler’.
Gotta love a man with ear muffs on,
safety first.
That nibbler worked like a charm, it cut thru that tin like a hot knife through butter but it sure was noisy!
Now to move all the plants and furniture back into place...
The furniture is all still ‘works in progress’…
I have to finish painting the bench, you can see some white still on the one side…my paint ran out and I have been too buried in work to finish..
and the paint for the table is on order..it is going to look “maaaaah-ve-lous”
I absolutely love how my garden room turned out…
half the time my bright ideas don’t turn out as I had envisioned but this one surpassed my expectations.
Now to build a sturdier shed roof over it so it can be used in winter….
I expected an eye roll when I mentioned that to my handsome builder
but I was pleasantly surprised when he thought it a great idea..
Stayed tuned, it may be a good year before it happens but now that I planted that bug in his ear we will get a roof.
Enjoy your day…still smoky here but I have yet to check the progress of the fires today. I wonder if they are getting a handle on it?
Pamela
Good Morning. Everyone up?
We woke to acrid, throat burning, eye stinging forest fire smoke this morning.
Anne Boleyn Rose
Actually, we have gotten up to thick smoke most mornings this week.
The Rim Fire is wreaking havoc in Tuolumne county.
So sad, the little historic town of Groveland is now under evacuation.
Candy Cane Rose
And the fire is only 8 miles from Tuolumne, a quaint historic logging town.
Demitasse
So, being that a bit of smoke is no comparison to an entire town full of family homes, lovely historic places and farm animals being obliterated….
I won’t complain of it.
I will just just share some of my garden photos I have been snapping every morning this week before rushing off to work.
Graham Thomas
Though I have been neglectful of my garden this summer through no fault of my own…
it has still flourished and is rewarding me with the most delicious roses.
Happy Chappy rose
And tons of them…
spilling over rock walls,
Petal Pusher rose
Arching up and over arbors…
Tess D'Urbervilles
And soon to climb our easy to build Obelisks…
We have a new version of this Obelisk I will share soon,
very soon…
Funny thing is, I put that obelisk out there for my cucumbers to climb, and the Morning Glories took over.
There are cucumbers in there though and I saw a tiny little cucumber on one plant last night.
That reminds me, I need to go put the soaker hose out there today. They need some water.
I will leave you with one last rose, always a favorite of mine..
Queen Elizabeth rose
Now off to work I go.
It has been crazy busy on the mountain, even with the choking smoke and sooty afternoon thundershowers.
All of us that have been up there during the storms have vehicles covered in grey crusty mud from the raindrops collecting the ash in the air and depositing it on us in thick gloppy drops.
On that cheery note…
Ta Ta…and have a clear air day, wherever you may be!
~Pamela~
