Blue Sunflower Vase

On returning from a recent trip to a sunflower farm, I came home to make an arrangement. Those sunflowers look a lot bigger at home than they do out in the field. This is the biggest vase I have!

Actually this vase was perfect. See those blue sunflowers on it?

To see more sun shiny faces in the field, click here to see the actual farm I visited. It is amazing!

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The Sunflower Farm

About 30 minutes away from me, near the wonderful town of Lawrence, Kansas ( Home of the Jawhawks), is a beautiful sunflower farm. Early Sunday morning we went there to take photos and cut some sunflowers.

You just can't capture the beauty of fields of sunflowers, with all their little faces turned toward the sun. I don't think God was in church either, He was here!

There were several cars pulled over with people taking photos. I saw a cute family taking some portraits in the fields. I came prepared with a step ladder, because these are soooo tall I needed the ladder to look over the field. 

This is my view standing in front of them on the ground. I am 5'3 and these were at least two feet taller than me.

Sunflowers really do follow the sun. Here is the backs of all of them. 

The butterfly on the top center sunflower really blends in. 

These sunflowers are grown for bird seed, not florist stock. 

SO, after taking about 80 photos and chasing butterflies and dragonflies to photograph, we finally settled down to cutting some flowers. 

There is a can to put money in for the sunflowers you cut. One dollar a flower, what a bargain. We had so much fun even in the heat. A big breakfast in town, and we headed home. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing the sunflower farm, and I will be back with photos of sunflower arrangements!

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Summer Reads

Books are an escape for me, a vacation, so I like happy, interesting books about people who live somewhere I have never been. Think Under the Tuscan Sun. 

 When I recommend books to read, you must note that I am not picking from the best sellers list. I do not read the disturbing  blood and guts mysteries, nor any vampire or shades of gray types. I don't read biographies of screwed up people. SO, now is the time to quit reading this post if the above are your choices.

Today's books all have a beachy, vacation feel to them. 

Being land locked in Kansas....

(no, it's really not that bad)

I want a fun-filled vacation, get away read. 

I am reading constantly, having 2 books going at once, and maybe an audio book too,  but this last one I read really is staying with me. Do you ever read a book and then keep thinking about the characters, wanting to still be a part of their lives?

Porch Lights takes place on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. Three generations are together in the family home, and little Charlie (10 years) and Glam (Glamorous Grandma) steal the dialogue. Funny, heart wrenching, with lots of descriptions of island life there. I liked all the characters, and although the ending is predictable, it is a good summer read.

In addition, when I travel, I listen to audio books in the car. I picked up Porch Lights, the audio,  at the library for my mom, and I must say the reader is EXCELLENT.  This is the book you want to hear! Let someone tell you this story!

I am also reading The Mermaid Garden by Santa Montefiore.

Set in modern Italy and England, the author provides a lush, tranquil atmosphere and wonderful characters you want to know.  The story is set at a beautiful old estate on the English coast. :You come to know the family who own the hotel, as well as the guests who come and go.  Italy is drawn into the book with a corresponding story that brings all the characters together.

I have read several books by Elin Hilderbrand and Summerland does not disappoint.

Taking place in Nantucket, the author's home, the story follows the lives of three families with teenagers  who all live there year round. In a close-knit island community, a teenage car accident defines and changes the lives of these families. A  more serious summer read, Hilderbrand draws you into each families' dynamics, as she tells the story through several different characters point of view. 

Tell me what you've been reading this summer and if you've read any of these books. 

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Milk Glass and Silver Centerpiece

Hobnail milk glass and silver make a kind  of shabby and chic combination.

I put this centerpiece together for the porch. 

I like the cool, calm greens and white. 

I used Huechera, Boston Fern, Lilly of the Valley, and different Hosta leaves. 

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Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness, has never danced in the rain.

.... and I am ready to dance in the rain.

So do we have rain? No, I am still watering. 

  As is most of the country, Kansas is having a bad drought.*** My mom is beginning to talk about the drought of the 1930's in comparison. Eek! We have no water restrictions......yet.

I have given up trying to keep the lawn going, letting it go dormant, however I am keeping the plants alive as best I can. The garden hose has become my nemesis. 

Don't forget to keep the bird baths filled. I put pans of water on the ground to keep the squirrels and opossums from climbing the bird bath and toppling it! 

Except for this bird bath, which leaks, so I planted it. 

View from the screened porch. See how dried up the lawn has become? Boo Hoo. 

I notice the birds are visiting the feeders much more too. I guess many plants dried up before they were able to produce seeds.

*** An added note: Today Kansas is the hottest place in the country. Nice.....

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