Changing place setting and JOY

Place setting called "ART"

Call me Crazy?

Changing my place settings bring me JOY

I adore beautiful dishes and tablescapes! I walked through model homes with the table set beautifully and admired place settings in magazines and on Pinterest. There was a perfect spot at the end of our island in the new house that I staked as my place to set up my staged table settings. No breakfast room where I could continue my tradition at my new home.

I occasionally buy a couple of plates or new bowls, maybe napkin rings or jazzy napkins in a new color. I scout thrift stores for finds, I watch sale tables and flea markets. It might be a new placemat too, but mostly I mix and match things I already have and I set two place settings as seasons change or holidays arrive. It's true, I mostly have two's of things, but the way I use them and trade them out, I don't need more than two, I don't have to store more than two and besides it's just the two of us if we decide to eat fancy. :) Friends have commented that they love coming in to see the new setting when they visit. 

I change them on a whim. It makes me smile, and keeps the clutter away. I do this for me because I love to.

Then one day, my husband stood at the end of the bar and said, "This is ART!" I love that he appreciates my little vignettes. 

Tomato Super Cage

Critters! Tomatoes! Off-Limits!

We love heirloom tomatoes! The taste is divine! I passed by that beautiful Cherokee Purple just about ripe. One more day I said. My husband anxiously awaited a BLT with the first one of the season. Out I go for a morning stroll and to pluck up that beauty...

NOT COOL CRITTER :(

Darling hubby is DONE! Reclaimed wood and hardware cloth and a weekend later.

Tomato Super Cage Anti-Critter

This photo was taken before the doors were installed, but you get the idea. I figure when the heat gets bad we will add shade cloth to the top and in winter try adding some plastic wrap to prolong the growing! The pallet herb garden on the right was a housewarming gift from a dear friend! However I grow herbs everywhere!

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes, one of our favorites!

Yesterdays harvest. The bright reds came off a volunteer bush last fall that produced all winter in the greenhouse and is still going! The Cherokee Purples are the first keepers we protected with our Super Cage! First bell of the season. Have you noticed how long produce lasts just out of your garden compared to store bought?

The Garden and Greenhouse Progress

The Garden & Greenhouse Progress

Garden and Greenhouse Layout

The fall garden has been a huge success. I have been able to grow greens for my morning smoothies and have enough to share with neighbors. I love the 10 x 15 greenhouse. We assembled it last fall, (of course you always wish you'd gone bigger!) The auto opening roof vents are great. We zoned the greenhouse with auto drip irrigation. Working perfectly.

View from the west. The boxes are made of cedar. It is perfect! They are 18" raised, 3' wide with 3' walkways. We recently laid crushed granite. This has really helped with harvest. No more mud! :)

We set up drip waterers for each raised bed. They operate on their own zone. 

My hubby and I assembled the perfect potting bench out of treasures I have collected for a couple of years. I love having the old door on the back. I can see out and it gives me space to hang things especially with the solid panel on one end. The original doorknob is perfect for hat hanging. The old copper sink was picked up at a garage sale for $25! Turns out it came out of an old railcar. The brass floor vents were purchased in Lake Charles. They came out of an old mansion. Old funnels hold garden string and I love how the little clipboard hold seed packets I've planted. The cabinet was made from all recycled wood. The door was picked up on my travels and the cabinet holds special supplies or soil additives and homemade sprays for pests. The bins hold garden hand implements and extra pieces for micro waterers. The bin on the right end is my favorite part. It's modeled after a garbage tilt out bin seen in some kitchens. This hold my potting soil and the vents on tops allow me to brush the dirt back into the bin after potting. The rope is a handle pull and my husband put a small metal rod to push into the side of the cabinet to hold the bin open when in use.