When Children Grow Up...

Some of you might remember when I posted about our Swingset Deck project here,

complete with [hideous] before & [much better] after photos.

Our two girls, now in their 20's, outgrew their swing set many years ago...

But because of memories like these, and me being the overly sentimental fool that I am,
I couldn't bear to part with their old wood swing set...

... so it became the inspiration and framework for a backyard sitting area where
climbing hydrangea and clematis will be crossing the monkey bars rather than two little girls.

The story isn't too different for the Gnome Home  
(so called because of its current lone inhabitant).

Once upon a time, long before Mr. Gnome
called this place home...

... two wonderful, silly little girls inhabited this magical place,
built by their daddy just for them.

 They spent countless hours laughing and giggling
in this magical little place...

... so magical that they were even able to entice our old Mr. O'Malley
to climb the ladder stairs and join in on the fun!

But children have a way of growing up (much too fast) and
leaving swing sets, tree houses, and all their sweet memories behind...

And no matter how much we'd like childhood to hang on
for just a wee bit longer...

...it's not part of nature's plan.

And so these days, it is little bunnies who frolic by the base of the tree house...

...and a family of birds who wind their way from the birdbath to the ladder steps
to pay Mr. Gnome a visit.

But sometimes when it's very quiet, while I'm out watering flowers or filling bird baths,
just sometimes an enchanted breeze will gently blow through the treehouse...

... and stir up memories so real that I swear I can still hear
two little girls laughing and giggling from inside.

Wishing you all the loveliest memories in your own enchanted gardens.

Donna

This week I'm joining

Tracie's Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage

and  Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Hanging in there....

A lone petunia in the hanging pot on the treehouse...


Picture 1: The petunia in focus... the shed and yard out of focus.


Picture 2: The petunia out of focus... the shed and yard in focus...

Her friends all left with the first frost, but she has hung around to watch the yard turn from green to gold, and to see sprigs of orange leaves replace the summer's pink flowers in the windowboxes...


Her friends don't know what they missed... It's been a beautiful autumn. Of course it was a beautiful summer, too... I miss you, summer, no matter how short or rainy you were...

Donna

Old windows and flower boxes... a match made in heaven....

Window boxes... Flower boxes... Whatever you call them, few things equal their instant cottage charm!!!

We live in a split entry where the windows (hence, any window boxes) are well above watering level, so I've had to create my own at ground level by pairing flower boxes with some of the old windows I've collected in the past.. (another great way to recycle those old windows!!).

It's hard to believe that by by mid-summer these impatiens should be tall enough to meet the windowpanes.... (By the way, Mr. & Mrs. Wren have accepted the fact that I must water the flowers behind their cottage each day. Although they still keep a watchful eye on me, they have at least stopped their loud chattering, aimed at driving me away!)

This is the girls' old tree house, which is actually a free standing fort that hubby built for them when they were little (they're now ages 19 and 22 so, needless to say, they don't use it anymore!). We dressed it up a bit with an old window and flower box ....

This garden window is attached to the fence along the backyard, right next to the patio we put in last year. It is also the one that the squirrels like to rip apart on a daily basis... Vinca vines and impatiens are always strewn on the ground below in their attempts to bury/find/rebury/refind their favorite stash of nuts. Darn good thing for them that I think they're cute!!

Now if you read yesterday's blog post about patience, this is where I need to remind myself that it is indeed a virtue, because I sooo want these little guys, planted in the windowboxes of our shed, to look like the ones from last year (see sidebar photo!)... Granted, that photo was taken late in the summer... Patience, Donna... patience!!!

I promise I'll do an "inside" post one of these days [soon]... but the weather is just fantastic, as anyone from New England can attest to... and I'm just loving being outside and planting and having fun with the flowers and birds and critters!!

Comments Update: The shed came with its own flowerboxes, and we didn't make the ones on the fence (but I did paint them that bright green! ha ha)... I bought them at The Christmas Tree Shops last year. I was just there the other night and they have them this year, too. My husband screwed the windows and the planter boxes into the cross rails/support rails of our "oh so old" stockade fence and they seem to be holding really good!

Donna