Holiday shopping: More watering cans!

You won’t want to miss the Holiday Open House at The Growing Place. It’s this Saturday, Nov. 17 and Sunday, Nov. 18 at both locations. I was just over to the Naperville location this week to drop off some more watering cans for sale.

Check out how nice the cans look nested in with the birds! (Aren’t the birds supposed to nest? Anyway…) Pick up a couple birds with a coordinating watering can for a holiday gift. (Click on the photos for larger images.)

Happy holidays! Stay warm and safe.

jen (by jennifer)

Medium black with bronze sprinkle spout

Bright red medium with matching spout

Large galvanized can with bronze handle

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Ten years of kitty love

Happy adoption anniversary to my favorite little black and white friend! It’s no mystery that we’ve both changed over the years. But I really realize it when I look back at the post from our third anniversary together. Cheers to many more years to come! You make me smile every single day. – love kitty mom

Labor Day fun 2018

BF John and I left for Dandridge, Tennessee, early (like 3 a.m. Central early!) on Thursday night to spend a long weekend with my brother and family for Labor Day weekend. What fun! And … I managed to be productive and start two step stools that have been on order since the Art in the Garden show in June. (Yes. I’m slow when not given a deadline – something I know I need to work on.) I’ll post pictures of those in the near future. Meanwhile, check out the gorgeous Douglas Lake we enjoyed and a couple pictures of the silly and courageous John and Bill (brother – left)!

 

Water for everyone

When it’s this hot and dry, the birds need fresh water too. Filling the bird baths is a daily activity that Archie loves. Yum! Bird-flavored water!

93 degrees was pretty darn hot!

Thank you for coming out to the Naperville Growing Place last Saturday for the Art in the Garden festival. As usual, it was a wonderful (although H O T!) day. It was very nice to visit with those of you who already own a “jen” and came back for another or just to say hello… and to those of you who purchased an item for the first time this year, I look forward to seeing you again!

Remember to contact me if you have an item of your own you’d like freshened up or to check on my inventory to paint you something I have.

Enjoy the upcoming holiday weekend. Happy Fourth!

jen by jennifer

Stop one at Lodi Gardens

Lodi Gardens was the first place that John and I visited together in the Delhi area. It was Sunday evening and one of the first things we noticed were all of the families in the park. It explains a lot about why we see Indian families in large groups in the States. Families hang together here. They go for walks, picnics, play games–it’s really quite nice to see.

In Lodi Gardens there are Mohammed Shah’s tomb and Sikander Lodi’s tomb as well as other architectural works of interest. It’s a really pleasant place to walk around.

After walking through the park we went to Lodi – The Garden Restaurant. It was beautiful and the food was excellent. I had prawns (HAD to!) and John ordered a chicken kabob that was fantastic. While we were eating we were offered sauce samples. Apparently they were experimenting with new recipes. I love the little wooden tasting spoons and crisps to try the sauces on. It was overall a fabulous experience and I intend to go back there before I leave India.

I will also go back because they automatically donate Rs 10 to People for Animals which is India’s largest animal welfare non-governmental organization. You can ask the management not to include that on your bill but to put it in perspective it’s $0.15 U.S. John and I actually asked if we could donate an additional amount. The following table tent explained the cause and is cute to boot.

The visit to the park and particularly the restaurant must have been meant to be because what did John spot on the way out but…

YES, YES!! that is what you are seeing… it’s a watering can (albeit a “naked” one) hanging on the wall outside the restaurant courtyard! There were different colored watering cans hanging about five feet apart all along the wall. Wouldn’t they be pretty with flowers painted on them?!

Please forgive the quality of these photos taken from my iPhone.  i will try to use better quality images in future posts but I have a lot of catching up to do on documenting my journey and needed to use what was readily available.

Rustic Christmas front porch 2014

I didn’t really feel like decorating that day but the next day was going to be December 1 already!  I had to do it AND it was nearly 50 degrees outside.  It would really have been the wrong move to put it off…so this is what I came up with that afternoon.  I went rustic Christmas with items I bought (very few), collected or was given.  (My basement is FULL of stuff!)  Knowing I wanted to go this style, I had already purchased the ribbon so I was in pretty good shape.

Thanks to my mom for bringing home the fresh greens from her house in Missouri.  I always use fresh greens to fill my flower boxes each winter.  It’s good to have a source that barters in wine and conversation!

Merry Christmas!

October 1

My favorite season is here AND my favorite month. I’m going to make every effort to value and enjoy each day (even though I can’t believe it is here ALREADY!).

Happy Birthday to my brother Bill today.

If you haven’t already and particularly if you are in your 40’s, I recommend listening to “Bossy Pants” by Tina Fey. I just started it on my commute this morning. VERY enjoyable and I’m amazed at how much of it I can relate to. I might even go so far as to say it’s inspiring me (MIGHT – don’t want to set expectations that I’m going to DO anything with the inspiration).

Happy day all!

jen

Looking forward to a long weekend here…

Looking forward to the weekend

Last weekend we had a great time visiting in Missouri.  My nephew Ely graduated from Plattsburg High School.  It was a really nice ceremony and it was so good to see him SO happy!

Visiting after the graduation with Ely and his brother Sammy, and seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time was just as good as I expected.  An important note:  John got to meet Sam’s mom which is something Sam was very excited to have happen.  I just love that the two of them have become such good friends.

Here’s a picture from the day before when John and I were out roaming the countryside.

Having fun in the country!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to the long weekend at home to paint for the show at the Growing Place on June 21, and to work in the yard!

Hope the weather is as beautiful by you as it is here.  Happy Memorial Day weekend all!

Cheers!

jen (by jennifer)

A successful visit!

Thanks to my friend Cindy who I haven’t seen in years which is hard to believe, I had a “shopper” a couple weekends ago.  In conversation at work, Cindy’s friend Jenny mentioned she was looking for a unique gift for her mom’s birthday.  Edited story…Cindy showed Jenny my website and blog and now I am writing this post!

Thanks to Jenny for stopping by to shop “the shop” for a gift for her mom.  It was a pretty Saturday afternoon and the experience went just exactly as I had always hoped it would when someone made an appointment to come.  I was thrilled to have a guest, Jenny was very excited to find not only the white container (pictured below on the left), but also a pitcher that I had filled with fresh flowers.  Ironically enough it’s a pitcher that Cindy gave me to paint!  I love karma.  She took the pitcher water, flowers and all.

In an email exchange after her visit, Jenny told me

She ABSOLUTELY loved them, she was a little sad to be turning xx so they brightened her day!  Thanks again for an amazing gift for her!

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but that is a true gift.  I love when people are excited about buying something I’ve painted.  And I hope they will enjoy it for years to come.

Reminder:  I will be at the Growing Place again this year for the Gardener’s Art Festival on Saturday, June 21.  I’d love to see you there!

Cheers!

Jen (by Jennifer)

Happy Valentine’s Day (and thanks, brother)

I originally created a facebook account because I wanted to see all the pictures my friends were posting of their kids.  Since that time I’ve enjoyed posting a few pictures of my own, sporadically following some friends and more often than not shaking my head at the things I see there.  I definitely don’t use it as my main means of communication and I rarely check the inbox (email-like) feature. For whatever reason this morning I noticed a message in my “other” folder so I clicked on it to find:

Hello Jennifer, My name is Tammy and I am hoping you are who I am looking for. I use to be friends with a a guy by the name of Dan Anderson and he worked in Slater Missouri for a Company called BHA.

He was always talking about his sister who was named Jennifer and always wanted me to met her. Dan passed away Nov 2005 on the day I graduated from the Police Academy. If you are his sister I would really love to get in touch with you.

This has been in my inbox since New Year’s Eve.  I guess  that I just found it this morning is my brother’s way of saying Happy Valentine’s Day, sister.  He has a way of sending me these messages…

I’m still choking up at “He was always talking about his sister…”  That’s not the first time I’ve heard that from friends of his.  How privileged am I!

Well, I wanted to share this with you as a reminder that not just today but EVERY day make sure the people who you love KNOW IT!  Thankfully I never had to question it for a minute…my brother and I loved each other very much.

Happy Valentine’s Day friends! (And thanks bro…)

Just in time

SO glad to have my new UGGs and my new Sorels to help me battle this weather!  The high today is -11.  That’s just incredible.  Thanks again mom and dad for the always more than generous Christmas cash to shop with for “necessities”!!

Happy New Year 2014!!

Hello!  It’s been WAY too long.  But … at the least I’m back.  Most importantly I want to wish everyone (fan or foe) who is reading this a very Happy New Year!  It’s a time to forget the past (unless it propels you forward IN A GOOD WAY) and to realize that life is beyond too short to hold on to baggage.

I had intentions of posting a photo of my outdoor Christmas decor (that I received many compliments on this year) next to my New Year’s day transformation photo only to find when I went on my phone to transfer the pictures that I hadn’t taken any of the holiday porch!  Oh well.

In short, I still have things to do tonight before I rest for another day at my new job tomorrow.  So I’ll leave you with a photo of where I’m starting outside this year.  AND my thoughts that despite some great loss (my dear friend Lisa – and for John, his dear friend Austin), searching for a new job (SO glad that I found one where I think I can really contribute and thrive) and all the bumps in the road of life, I had a really pretty fantastic 2013.

Cheers friends!  Peace, love and happiness.

jen (Archie and John Cook)

Elmhurst – woo hoo!

It’s hard to believe that a week ago I was doing my usual final push to paint for the Elmhurst Garden Faire and Walk on July 14, and that it’s already come and gone.  What a great day it was!  A beautiful setting and near perfect weather set the stage that morning and I sold the stool shown below before the faire even officially began.   THANK YOU to everyone who came by to check things out – particularly, of course, those of you who purchased some of my favorite things.  I love seeing items go to happy homes.  Although Archie the Cat was disappointed that the toolbox didn’t come back with me, he’s moved on already and found alternative places to nap.

I’ll keep you posted on my next stop.  Meanwhile, I’ll be playing with new color combinations and seeking out unique items.  Every watering can I painted sold this season, so I’ll be focusing on more of them.  Let me know what else you’d like to see!

Have a great weekend.

jen (by jennifer)

Day 9: You Only Get One (1!) Chance at This

Before I move on, I should mention that the flower buckets from yesterday’s post are 15″ tall by 7.5″ diameter at the top.  I will ship to you. You pay postage.  I take PayPal or you can send a check in advance.  Or we can meet depending on your proximity.  I’m flexible. Now on to the GOOD stuff – Day 9!

This is truly a one of a kind find – an old wooden tool box.  Thanks Mom!  She spotted this a few years ago when we were out on an adventure and bought it for me with full faith that I could do something with it.   It was already distressed with white paint. What I found as I continued to work on it was that clearly one side is “noon” and the other is “some time around dusk.”

Ready for work at noon on a beautiful day

 

Work is almost over

SO many options

I see this in so many ways. On a big island in a kitchen with cookbooks and utensils, in a living room full of magazines or rolled blankets, on a porch with potted plants … what do you think?!

This, I don’t want to ship unless I have to because it’s heavy and I don’t want you to pay for that, but hey –  I can see why you would.  I love this.

Day 9 down friends – see you tomorrow.

jen