Durham/Orange Quilt Show at the Historic Tobacco Warehouse

Sabrina and I went to a wonderful quilt show last weekend - the Durham/Orange Quilt Guild's bi-annual show - held at the Historic Tobacco Warehouse District in Durham, North Carolina. It is a wonderful venue for this show as it is open and airy with a ton of natural light streaming through the large windows of the two story facility. The walls and floor are wood and stone and make a magnificient setting for the beautiful artwork.


Here's a glimpse of a few of our favorites. I did not take down the names of the quilts or the artists, (I wish I would have,) but I wanted to share them with you anyway!












Oh, and did I mention -- our friend Jeanne won a Blue Ribbon at the North Carolina State Fair for her trapunto dogwood quilt. Be sure to go and visit her at All Things Quilty and take a look - it's beautiful! We're so proud of you Jeanne!!

So Many Plants, So Little Time.....

In case you've been wondering where I've been and what I've been doing for the last week - I've been planting, moving, rearranging, mulching, fertilizing, pulling, weeding, trimming, watering and replanting. Whew!

We have about 4 acres with hundreds of trees and two buildings on our lot -- which cast tons of shadows at different times of day. Every 50 feet represents a different "microclimate" in our shadowy, hilly yard -- so knowing which plant to put where has been a major problem. They might do well for a few weeks, and then the sun moves over slightly and -- a whole new microclimate has developed which may NOT be suitable -- causing yellow leaves, sparse blooms, root rot, mold and - um- an untimely death. :(

It's taken me two years of documenting shadow zones and times, damp areas, dry crests, etc. to figure out which plants do well where. I've moved things about 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years -- totally revamping the beds - pulling everything out -- putting everything back in - but finally, I think I've gotten it right. My family just doesn't understand that a "true gardener" is constantly moving things around in an effort to locate the ultimate "sweet spot" for each plant.

Here are the results of my obsessive/compulsive moving, pruning, watering, mulching, weeding and seeding...... (and it's only Spring!!!)

Front Yard:

Back Yard:

This is a four-tiered water fountain that was constantly getting full of leaves, birdseed, and other delightful birdie tidbits that, if not cleaned out every few days -- just didn't look right. So, I filled it with dirt and planted in it. I miss the sound of the water -- but it makes an awesome planter. I'll probably clean it out at the end of the year and try the "water thing" again next year. But for now .....

Notice my purple picnic table in the background? Sabrina and I love to sit out there in the early evenings and in the mornings and have tea.

Perennial Lavendar - grows fantastic in North Carolina. Green all year and doesn't bloom only in January and February. And smells soooooooooo good....

Gizmo follows me around the yard - everywhere I go.....

and is NOT camera shy in the slightest!!

And finally, the vegetable garden. Hey Tammy - the sunflowers are about 6 inches tall already -- and there are peppers on my pepper plants, and flowers on the tomato plants!!!

Now I can't take all the credit for our landscape as my husband keeps the trees and bushes pruned, the lawn green and the brush cleared -- a HUGE job -- and he keeps things looking great :)

As an aside - I've also been doing some sewing -- but nothing blogworthy. In fact, I am not happy with what I've been working on so I'm not even going to talk about it right now. I'm still ripping out seams!

Enjoy your week.

The Reccas Light up the Neighborhood!

Every year the weekend before Thanksgiving my husband goes up into the attic and we drag all the Christmas lights out so that we can light up the house Thanksgiving evening. It's a Recca Family tradition. Here are the fruits of his labor. (Do you see a teeny weeny Gizmo in the foreground?)









Finally, as I was finishing up taking these pictures I looked up to see this beautiful sunset in the pines. Ahhhh, I do love living in North Carolina!