Pretty Pics: The Garden at Krause Springs

A couple of weeks ago, we went camping with friends at Krause Springs, which is about 30 miles west of Austin. It's a wonderful spot with a spring-fed swimming hole & a beautiful garden with humongous wind chimes in the towering oaks. These are some of my favorite pics I took. If you want to see more images from the amazing gardens, check out my Krause Springs Flickr set.

Homegrown Bouquets for Giving

Taking fresh flowers when visiting friends & family is one of my favorite things to do. Everyone appreciates the gesture, & flowers are perfect for every occasion. Plus, when you've grown them yourself, they are extra special & impressive! : )

Since March, when our garden began bursting into bloom, I've been gifting flowers left & right. It all started when I took my mom & dad a bouquet of pink heirloom roses & rosemary for their wedding anniversary, arranged in one of the canning jars I was returning to Mom. The simple beauty of that arrangement & the joy I got from giving it to them really inspired me. Since then, I've tried to take a homegrown floral gift whenever I'm invited to someone's home.

The bouquet pictured here is one that I took to my mother-in-law as a housewarming gift when Patrick & I first visited their new home in late April. It contains Verbena, Spanish Lavender, Gaura, Rosemary & California Poppies. Granted, none of these flowers are very hardy, so not usually recommended for cut flowers. They are delicate & droop & wither after a day or so, but I don't mind. Their beauty is fleeting, which to me, just makes them more amazing & worthy of our adoration.

 my ribbon stash; saved from gifts & packaging & project scraps

Tips for creating your own homegrown bouquets:
- Save empty food jars & bottles of interesting shapes to use as vases; you'll want to have them on hand when the need for a host/hostess gift arises! Plus, it's a great way to reduce/reuse/recycle. I used an olive oil bottle for the arrangement pictured here.
- Tie a ribbon around the mouth of your vase to give it that finishing touch - tres shabby chic!
- Put a few inches of water in the vase before adding the flowers.
- Check for bugs on each stalk; you don't want to gift those tiny stow-aways!
- When arranging the flowers, start with the tallest ones in the middle, then add shorter ones around them.
- Keep turning the vase around as you add the flowers, to ensure that it looks pretty from all angles.
- I aim for an interesting mix of flowers that are tall & short, large & small, bold & delicate (in form & color), and upright & billowy. However, a gorgeous arrangement can also be made from only 1 or 2 kinds of flowers. Just trust your own eye - flowers are so pretty that it's hard to go wrong!

Scenes from a Bike Ride: GINORMOUS agave blossom!

Patrick & I have been toolin' around our neighborhood quite a bit lately on our fun new bikes! I snapped these pics on one of our rides over Memorial Day weekend. Look at the flower on that thing - it's sooo tall!

This is an Agave Americana, more commonly called a Century Plant. They're very common in these parts. We have several at our house, but none of them are anywhere near this big!

Fun fact: Agave is in the same family as asparagus, Asparagaceae. I can totally see the family resemblance!

Gorgeous sunflowers are blooming all over the place right now, too! They're so summery & cheerful.


So where were we heading on that particularly lovely morning?

To our neighborhood coffee shop, Corona Cafe! It's love at first sip.

P.s.
Our bikes are Raleigh Specials, if you're curious. They are great bikes if you want something simple with a retro flair - we love 'em! If you're an Austinite, check out The Peddler; that's where we bought them. It's a great bike shop where everyone is super-helpful & friendly.

Do you bike? Know of any great trails or destinations in Austin we should check out?

Pretty Pics: Ice Sculptures After a Storm

I'm soooooo not a winter person; I'm already longing for the warm days & bursting flowers of spring! and apparently, an "arctic blast" is supposed to hit Austin Thursday morning. So I decided to find some photos that might help me appreciate the beauty of winter (Flickr to the rescue).








Thanks, Vilseskogen, for sharing these beautiful photos from New Jersey - they really are lovely.

What's your favorite thing about winter? Maybe y'all can persuade me that it's a nice season after all. ; )