Font Yard Declutter

Over the summer I decided to take some action with the rose bed in front of our house. I got all the dead and gangely rose bushes out of there and brought in some loropetalum, japanese boxwood, and knock-out roses. Then all was well in the bed.

But as the summer wore on and the plants grew, the bed started to look like this.

I didn't really factor in how fast the loropetalum would grow—it began to completely cover the japanese boxwood and the roses. At first I thought I might just keep trimming back the loropetalum but, honestly, I try to stay low maintenance on the yard work and constant trimming just didn't sound like fun. So I decided to move the loropetalum to other parts of the yard and move the row of japanese boxwood up a bit.

So things are definitely looking less cluttery in the bed. Although the loropetalum that I transplanted elsewhere aren't doing as well as they were in their original home—like the ones I put in the planter in front of the carport.

 Maybe more love—and water—will bring them back up to snuff...

Renningers Extravaganza!

If you're a Floridian and you love anything in the way of vintage or antique, you probably know about Renningers. It's a huge indoor/outdoor antique mall where you can find anything from antique lab equipment to Heywood-Wakefield furniture.

 I've found some great pottery and art there over the years. Their triannual antiques extravaganza was this past weekend, so me and some friends drove up to check it out. I was in the market for some syroco-like ornate mirrors to hang above my dining room buffet and some vintage planters.

We saw some interesting stuff but nothing that was on my list (well, nothing that was quite at the right price). I'm pretty selective when it comes to purchasing accessories, actually--I either have to know exactly where it's going to go in the house or love it so much that I have to make a place for it. And I try not to deviate from my lists, which keeps down impulsive buys and the pile up of not-so-loved-items that end up in the garage sale pile. Actually, we all walked away without buying anything (except for Patty, who bought a small charm). But it was fun to look.

*Patty, Gregg, and Nick lookin' at some jewelery.