Blue and green...

A lovely color combination that has worked its way into both our garden and our home...

In the garden:


An ordinary trip to the grocery store turned into gasps of 'ooooh' and 'aaaaah' when I spotted the beautiful hydrangea bushes being offered for sale in the produce/floral area.


How boring to spend my money on chicken and rice and such when I could bring home one of these instead!!


After all, the family could sit on the deck and eat cereal or sandwiches while gazing upon these beautiful blossoms, right? A great trade-off, if you ask me!

There was a wide selection to choose from... some pink, some blue, and some a combination of blue and green, which is what I chose... It's still sitting on the deck, waiting for me to decide the perfect place to plant it.

I wish I could keep it in a container on the deck year 'round, but #1, it wouldn't survive our New England winters if it was just in a pot, and #2, bringing it inside isn't an option since it grows to a height and width of 5 feet (a tad too big for any of our little rooms!)

In the home:

You've met Pete before (he's the green parakeet on the left)...

...but here is our newest addition, Re-Pete...

Pete is vintage whereas Re-Pete is new, but they haven't let their huge age difference keep them from becoming best of friends.

The pair of them provided me with another opportunity to work in that blue and green color combination that I love so much!! (The three main colors that I keep repeating in our little cottage - because I love them all so much - are blue, green, and peachy-pink!!)

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!! I hope to get some flowers in the ground, if the weather cooperates!!

Donna

Bird Cage Love #3... Chippy Cottage Green!

Continuing with my bird cage collection....

(click any photos to enlarge)

Last week you met Pete, who lives in this little footed cage on our kitchen counter.

And yesterday I showed you this white wire bird cage that is currently housing my philodendron plant...

Today I'd like to share a favorite old bird cage that makes its home next to one of the family room windows (all the better for the birds to see out!)...

I purchased this vintage bird cage from eBay years ago. I absolutely flipped for the chippy, cottage green color. It was also the perfect size for this old black bird cage stand...

I love the domed top, the deep base, and the scrollwork on the front.

And this is sweet Pete, a beautiful blue-green celluloid parakeet who spends his days swinging back and forth...

... while his friend, Miss Canary, spends her days eating! They are the best of friends and share the cage together... (just look at those perfectly chippy cottage green bars!!!!)

The scrollwork on the cage shows up better in these night-time photos...

I don't know if I'll ever get another live bird. I haven't had one since I was a teenager. But if I were to get one, I think I'd have to purchase a larger cage than what we used in the 50's... Looking at some of my old photographs, the cages seem so small. With all my talking about wanting a parakeet lately, the girls suggested we transform the windowseat area of our family room into a big cage and get a couple of parakeets! Wouldn't Spotty and Tiger love that!

Did you know that you can adopt birds from Petfinder.com? I think that's so great because if what I've read is true regarding most pet store birds (bird smuggling and bird breeding - think puppy mills, but for birds), I'm afraid it's not a very pleasant existence for these beautiful little creatures. I've added a link to Petfinder on my sidebar (just click on the parakeet photo), where every possible species of birds can be adopted. As a matter of fact, through the Petfinder website, you can rescue/adopt a wide variety of animals, from cats and dogs to birds, lizards, and farm animals... It's definitely a website worth checking out if you are looking for a non-human companion!!!

And I couldn't end this post without sharing another old famly photo of Pete... (Note: All our parakeets were named Pete)... Here, my sister and Pete are enjoying a warm summer day out in the yard. (I wonder if my sister was trying to capture a playmate for Pete??)

More cages to come in future posts...

Donna