Hot Sticky Days and Ruined Plans

Oh, Vanessa, whyever is the party in the heat of June??

I love A Fanciful Twist's Mad Tea Party, but it is so HOT that my plans are getting ruined. It's too hot to think, much less go outside and do party things. I just went out to take a few pictures for my party post and my shoes were actually melting onto my feet in the sun. And tomorrow is only worse!! Maybe this party would be better in May??

But even in the heat you can find beautiful things growing. My peach tree is brimming full of fruit. I cannot wait for them to get a little bigger so I can eat them!

As you can see, my tree is under full lock down with netting, it also is encased in a metal clasp at the base of the tree as the plastic ties were constantly being chewed through. Last year I got only a handful of peaches and then the next morning I rose to pick more and the whole tree was bare. Completely empty of peaches. Aaugh! We still aren't sure who was the culprit - man or animal? The pits that we found were completely stripped bare, not nibbled on like a squirrel would. One farmer suggested a raccoon or possom, and I know we've had possoms in the yard so we've protected our tree as best we can and crossed our fingers. Now if only I can get my blackberries covered, too, and fast.

And a tiny glimpse at my studio so far. It is white. It is very very white. Mostly out of neccessity of supplies and partly as a blank canvas for artwork on the walls and to keep things light and airy. We are slowly moving furniture in and I can finally put my supplies in the big closet and out of the dining and living rooms, yay!

White door, white woodwork, white ceiling and white walls. Blinding! Still, it looks so nice and fresh and clean in that room. This was a basement den room that was totally and utterly neglected since at least the sixties or seventies. Fake wood paneling buckling off the walls with insulations peaking out and falling down ceiling and filthy carpeting. It was so gross!!
My father completely gutted this room and started all over. The walls are prepainted beadboard. Not the first choice, but drywall would have been more of a pain and these walls are more resistant to dampness which is always a good thing for basement walls.


Aren't the windows gorgeous? Our house is over a hundred years old and has HUGE windows throughout. The ones in the living room are about 7 feet tall - a man can stand in it easy and lift his arms up. Finding curtains that fit any of our windows are a pain and we'll just have to give in and find time to make some. This room actually had a door to the outside, too, but we walled it off to have more wall space for shelves (which we still need to do). The connecting room is a second kitchen and it has a door outside so there's no need for two. I just love this room!





Here's Fox looking a little confused as I snap pictures:

Aren't we going outside??

You promised me we'd go outside and chase squirrels!!