Someday Dreams and my Vintage Coffee Bar

Pending Projects

At the start of the weekend I was feeling very discouraged because I haven’t completed a single project this week. Not one. Instead I’ve created a bunch of pending projects for myself.

There was this pile of used fence boards purchased on Monday. My plan is to pull all the nails, clean them up and stain them. Once that’s done, I’ll use them to add a skirt to my deck. The area underneath the deck is visible when approaching my house and it isn’t a view that puts our best face forward.

Then on Friday I made a trip to Picker’s Pig Pen, where I found this rusty Butterfly Chair frame. I’ve already cleaned up the frame and painted it, but there is still the cover to sew.

Eventually I will create a small sitting area under this willow tree. It’s a perfect place to sit and admire the work that has already been done. The finished Butterfly Chair will go there. Replacing the German Shepherd’s kiddie pool with a natural looking smallish pond is just one of my someday dreams.

I can’t imagine anyone other than a fellow blogger appreciating the value in this bucket of old shovels. Now I just need someplace to stash them away until inspiration hits. Storage at my place is scarce, a garage, workshop, or even just a shed of my own, is another of my someday dreams.

My Mother’s Garden

On Saturday, I went to the Blenheim Cherry Fest with my mother and Aunts and their cousins. I picked my mother up at her house and took a few pictures while there.

This planter has PW’s Begonia Pegasus along with some Pink Dragon Wing begonia. It’s value is primarily for those pretty leaves, and with a pair of them on either side of her door, this planter combo is very attractive.

The pictures above and below are of just one of my mother’s Hosta beds. My father built the little bench for her out of scrap lumber. It would be easy to build your own. In my opinion, benches and other places to sit are a very important part of any garden. They anchor garden beds while giving them a purpose, plus it’s a great reminder to avid gardeners that they need to occasionally sit and admire what they’ve created.

For anyone who thinks shade gardens or even Hosta themselves are boring, I would have to argue that they simply haven’t explored the huge variety of leaf colors, textures and sizes that are available in Hosta. Plus they haven’t seen what my mother can do with them.

Blenheim Cherry Fest

At the Blenheim Cherry Fest we went to an Art in the Garden event. The gardens themselves were lovely.

I was quick to spot this Golden Tiara Hosta.

The old-fashioned pedestal sink complete with faucet made an interesting statement in this bed.

Most of the pathways were found bits of old concrete with plenty of benches and areas to sit placed here and there. On some of the benches, there were these handy tic-tac-toe boards. I doubt many ever intend to play tic-tac-toe, but I bet it gets used as people sit and enjoy the gardens around them.

A must see artist website

I really hope you’ll take a minute to click on this next link – Alishia Ellis creates beautiful art that I felt would be unethical for me to photograph. I stood in her booth and admired her stunning work until my Aunt dragged me on. As much as I would love to own one of her pieces, my house is not fine art friendly at this time.

Vintage Coffee Bar

Indoors there were antiques and treasures on display, I fell in love with this vintage buffet. Thanks to my wonderful Aunts, it came home with me.

It’s perfect as a coffee bar with my vintage canisters on top. I love using that wicker basket for our to-go cups. They are tall and so tippy that without the basket, it’s hard to contain them.

Check out the chrome drawer pulls. They really are in beautiful condition.

And really, when have you ever seen anything sexier than those chrome legs?

The space behind the sliding doors is perfect for storing my collection of vintage green glassware. Does anyone else have a vintage chip and dip bowl? They are genius for serving nachos and salsa, I try to use mine when my friends are over for cards and tea.

Those are my ‘company’ mugs. The design is partly in silver so I refuse to put them in the dishwasher or have them disappear into the boys rooms. There is plenty of space behind the etched glass to store my everyday coffee mugs too.

The one drawer gives me a place to stash my handful of vintage tea towels. I’m reluctant to use them, even if they are nicer than anything you can buy today.

This drawer makes handy storage for our flavored teas. You cannot imagine how much counter and cupboard space this beauty has freed up in my tiny kitchen.

I love the aluminum edging. This is how they used to make counters and while granite counters are what most people want, I prefer this vintage look.

I’m feeling a need to polish the chrome on my kitchen set now. My mother got it for me at an auction and recovered it 14 years ago. It’s starting to show some wear and tear with the missing upholstery nails, but I still love it.

It’s time to get off the computer and look after yesterdays undone chores. Have a fantastic Sunday!

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4 thoughts on “Someday Dreams and my Vintage Coffee Bar”

  1. I hear your frustration over not getting as much done as you’d like. Sometimes the down time in between projects brings out more creativity and helps us perfect the brilliant DIY ideas that are tumbling around in our heads:) Loving your coffee bar too! Those metal edges are classic!!

  2. I’m loving your buffet!! It’s the best color, design, shape, and size! I wish I came across something like this 🙂 Also, Alishia Ellis’ work is beautiful. I wish I could paint like that.

    1. The Shade Gardener says:

      Isn’t Alishia Ellis brilliant? You have no idea how badly I wanted one of her pieces to take home, unfortunately even though it would have been worth every penny, that caliber of art work is still a bit out of my price range. At least until I know I can safely keep valuable objects and rowdy young men in the same house.

      That buffet is perfect in every way. I appreciate how lucky I was to find it – and the price was in my opinion more than fair. It smells like it was used to store scented candles or soaps, so it even smells good! I’m sure you’ll get your fair share of lucky finds – they do come around every so often!

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