Monday, March 27, 2017

Orchid Show at Shaw's Gardens

My dear mother-in-law's birthday is this week and she loves orchids.  She has several and is always so excited when when they bloom.  Instead of buying her another beautiful plant this year, we decided she might enjoy going to see the Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden (Shaw's Gardens) in St. Louis.  

I had no idea there was such a wide variety of orchids!  Some were tiny, some were huge, some looked like delicate spiders, some looked like bearded irises. Some even looked like dancing ladies! They were simply stunning!

(Warning: This post is LONG on photos.)

I know this was a long post but what a feast for the eyes!  These were all vanilla producing orchids and the exhibit included plackards that shared information about how the beans are collected and the vanilla is produced.  There was also information about how these plants were propagated.  It was all very enjoyable.  

I hope this post made you smile!  Have a wonderful week!


Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday
Dishing It and Digging It 
Tuesdays At Our Home
Make It Pretty Monday
Tuesdays With a Twist
The Scoop
Share Your Cup Thursday





Monday, March 20, 2017

Our New Laundry Room

Slowly, I've been showing you bits and spaces of our new home.  We finished building and moved in last Fall.  With Precious Daughter's wedding, preparing for our Favorite Son's move to Montana, our own move and the holidays taking most of our time, I've just now found time to breathe and share a few photos.  Today, we'll take a peak at our small, hard working laundry room.  It isn't easy to get good photos but here goes!
When designing our house, it was important to me to have our washer and dryer close to our bedroom.  In our last home, the laundry room was on the main floor just off the kitchen.  This worked okay for awhile as our family spent a lot of time outdoors.  The laundry area doubled as a full bath, complete with toilet, utility sink and shower.  All of the bedrooms were upstairs and as the children have grown and moved out and J has retired, I was finding myself continuing to haul all of our bedding and clothing up and down those stairs several times each week.  I thought how much easier it would be to have the laundry near our master bedroom.  And, it has worked just as I'd envisioned!


This is a small space and I really had to think what I wanted to do in this room as well as what I wanted stored here.  As you can see, we have a Maytag Bravos XL washer and dryer.  I love them!  The new technology is a big improvement on our old Maytag.  Our clothes are clean and the process is much quieter!  You can see they take up a lot space and that surprised me.  J had to cut the dryer vent hose just right so the dryer would clear the plantation shutters.  I also store a folding clothes rack and my clothes steamer here.
I had our cabinet maker build only base cabinets and I had him add a Formica counter top for folding.  I didn't add wall cabinets as I was afraid it would make the room look smaller than it already was.  We added one shelf I already had and another one J made to liven up the wall a bit.  I added some of my photo and plants.  This is a hardworking room and  I didn't want much decor to clean.
The outside wall has a clock and I hung my mother's old wash board on the opposite wall.
My laundry and cleaning supplies are stored in the cabinets.   When we moved, I really pared down my cleaning supplies to what I used on a weekly basis.  The rest were donated or pitched.  What I kept HAD to fit comfortably in this cabinet. 
I've been following Mary Organizes 91 Decluttering Challenge and it has helped me decide what to keep and what to let go of.
Ironing supplies and mops are stored behind the door as is a hanging rack for clothes ready to be ironed.  I'm hoping to find just the right hooks to hang my ironing board some day soon.
That's our little hard working laundry room.  The master bedroom is just a few steps away.
Thanks for stopping by!  I'm interested in your comments and how you utilize your laundry areas.  Wishing you all a happy week!

                                                                                Zenda


Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday
Amaze Me Monday
Tuesdays at our Home
Dishing It and Digging It
The Scoop
Make It Pretty Monday
Home Matters
Share Your Cup
Home Sweet Home
Sweet Inspirations

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Craft Room Updates

I'm really enjoying spending time in my new craft room.  I've been working on several projects lately and it's so nice to have all of my supplies in one place, a dedicated space where I can leave my projects out AND be able to close the door and 'hide' the mess!

I've been making a display board for our Retired Teachers' group, finishing up a quilt top and making a set of cork boards.  I'll share the quilt top next time but I have the cork boards done and am pleased with their look and functionality.

I chose fabric, ribbon and stud tacks.
I haven't made one of these since I was in college...several years ago!  The concept is the same but cork boards aren't.  Years ago, they were about 1/2 -3/4 of an inch thick.  These days they are only about a quarter of an inch thick.  I had to use 2 of them to staple the fabric to the back.
So easy!  I did the same to the back of the framed cork board.  I followed directions from HERE.

Decorative stud tacks were added to the ribbons.  
Here is the final product.  Now I have a place to hang my calendar, book club list and lots of other "important information."

I'm wishing you a wonderful week!  Let me know what you've been working on lately.


Linking to:
    Dishing It and Digging It
    Amaze Me Monday
    Metamorphosis Monday
    Tuesdays At Our Home
    The Scoop
    Home Matters
    Share Your Cup Thursday
    Home Sweet Home
    Sweet Inspirations