Kansas Julys are usually miserable. I'm a summer-lovin person, but even I get burnt out by the blasting heat of late July in Kansas. But not this year! Its been as sweet as June all month long. We went to a friend's for dinner over the weekend and were lucky enough to get to sit on their country patio and enjoy our meal along with the scenic views.
Of course, I always have to get pictures of the food…. its as pretty as the view from the porch!
And their view is more than a little special. This stream is right in front of the deck of the log cabin that they built themselves.
The stream looks natural, but the home owners built it too. My husband went out and spent a day helping move rocks to form the creek bed a couple years back. Which, he would never do at our house. Funny, he'd do anything for a buddy, but when it comes to gardening at our own cottage, well, he's not that into it, I guess would be the polite thing to say…
So, do I have a little bit of creek envy? I have to admit that I do. This yard is ideal. It is all landscaped into flower gardens up by the house and the rest of the land is left to go in native grasses that never need mowed or watered.
Most of the areas are left to natural landscaping.
And other areas were steered into that direction. Some native plants that spread and become ground cover make this hillside a no-care delight now that they are all established.
This makes me miss living in the country! When we bought our farm years ago, we were in the middle of no where. Now we have civilization on three sides of us, with just the back acreage that we own still wild and free.
But I'm feeling the farmhouse vibe now, anyway. Its time to put up corn for the winter!
I'm doing it the short cut way. We shucked a few dozen ears, dumped them into the sink, then poured a pot of boiling water over them, and iced it all down after.
Then, we cut the kernels off with a simple corn cutting tool from Bed Bath and Beyond, that made the chore zip by quickly.
The kernels went into freezer bags, and one of the bags was marked Thanksgiving , another was marked Christmas. We save up big servings of fresh frozen corn for holiday family dinners, because there is nothing like the taste of Kansas summer in the coldest part of winter!
There is lots of new stuff in the Boutique right now. I've been playing with the millinery flowers and made up some deluxe, rosey collections!
Also, I did snag a little something to add to the JULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK. I just haven't had a chance to get photos.
I might have time to get some photos tomorrow. I've had Sugarwings a little bit extra this week, so we've been pretty busy with the other things I found at garage sales this week, princess dresses and tea party toys!
That picture of the corn in the sink really brings back memories! Beautiful photos, lovely spot. It’s cooler here, too. A plus and a minus, I think.
You made me homesick!! I also miss Kansas homegrown tomatoes! Yummy!!!
your friends’ pond is really nice, love all
the flowers, too.
Thanks for sharing!
Sandy
What pretty country. Nice the weather is being unseasonable. My sis lives on 7 acres of horse property that used to be in the middle of nowhere and now is surrounded by suburbia. It’s a trifle disconcerting.
Enjoy your week,
~Marilee
Karla, your friends home is wonderful. I have a little creek envy too.
I had fresh corn tonight, fresh out of the freezer but it was really good too.Have fun with sugarwings.
Jean in Virginia
What beautiful pictures – you absolutely captured the feeling of the country. What a wonderful home they have! This is so strange of me to mention, but that fabric under the sink is stunning – love it!!
gorgeous! Oh how I miss the county. Living in the burbs just sucks sometimes. Those spring rolls look fantastic! I almost made those for craft day. Now that I know you like them I’ll have to make them for us 🙂
Karla :
The Kansas Country side pics are beautiful.
The corn looks delicious, too.
Loving all the beautiful, and bright vibrant colors !
Love,
Deborah Woodrow
Karla, it looks SO pretty and peaceful at your friends house…the fields of flowers could not be any prettier…i know what you mean about civilization creeping up on you…when we moved here, we had the only house for about a mile on our side of the road…all of that land sold and we have neighbors on either side now…no houses across the street or behind though…so it’s still kind of country…and i can only “see” one of the neighbors…
Ok, admit it…you showed those piles of hat flowers just to tease me!! Now I will have to check out your little shop to see what needs rescueing!! The pond was lovely but with Sugarwings about, it is good NOT to have bodies of water in your yard!! I know this because with 3 daycare kids under the age of 3, I have to keep a CLOSE eye on where everyone is when we play outside….I have two little ponds, both big enough to cause trouble for littles.
Blessings~LillySue
I think Kansas heat has moved west – it’s scorching hot in western Canada. Very unusual and no one has air conditioning. I’m off to take a cold shower before bed!
Lorrie
It’s so funny because I live in a small city next to many larger cities in Southern California and long for your country yard…I love when you show your backyard and your little yellow brick trail in what looks like woods…and the bonfire you had…and you dont consider it the countryside…it is all perspective! The photos were beautiful and whatever those roll-up thingies were looked yummy!
I never thought to freeze fresh corn, that is a wonderful idea! Do you grow your own?
Hugs! karen…
Oh so lovely…..
What a lovely yard! We started having July triple digit temps in June this year!UGH! I usually don’t mind the heat, but the lakes are all so low from the drought that we haven’t even taken the boat out!
Blessings,
Lorilee
Karla, your friends pond and stream is so lovely, I love the picture with the heron standing in the pond. Very nice captures.
You know, you may not have a stream, but you do have a yellow brick road full of amazing little finds along the way.
Hugs Karen
oooohhh, I have some serious rock wall envy….something I have always wanted!
xoxo, Tiffany
Karla, WOW abusolutely stunning, I myself have creek envy now, but I am big enough to admit that I have yard of envy of you too lol Everytime you show pictures of sugarwings out on lil walks I turn a lil green lol we live in the city and are lucky enough to have almost an acre, but it is all uhmm how to put it nicely…not green not green at all lol and when we let the landscape grow it is weeds that grow and take over, we can do those really well 🙂 btw thank you for your kind post on my blog. Hope you have a beautiful summer and oh I wish I could taste some of that corn 🙂 Rose
Oh, that sink full of corn looks so amazingly yummy! I love summer sweet corn here in New England!
What great photos! Thank you for sharing, I feel like we just took a little va-ca for a few minutes, what a treat!
Loving the dinner photos, but especially the one of your kitchen with the corn!
Do you think your friend would mind if I curled up on the grass with a book? Her place looks so inviting! And she sets a darn pretty table, too!
Princess Dresses and Tea Party Toys – yippee! Can’t wait until my fairy grandbaby is old enough to play tea party!
Lorna
Kansas looks so pretty!! I was on a blog from here in Indy Horton’s of Tipton. A neat little shop and she just started a blog. I saw that your friend ‘Raised in Cotton’ is on her blog. It is so neat. She & her husband have a hardware store….half his and the other half is neat things of hers. It is hortonsoftipton.blogspot.com. I checked out raised in cotton and saw your picture in it. Small world!
What a wonderful yard but I think yours is just as beautiful!!!
Blessings,
Christine
Creek Envy! lol. Is that half off on etsy for July still on (as long as I email you)?
Hello Karla,
I have not been by your blog in a while. I’m sorry about that but I did go through to catch up. I love the fairy book you are working on. It is sooo cute, I’m sure sugarwings will love it. Its always a pleasure going trough all your lovely posts. Love the post about your garden too. It looks gorgeous.
Have a wonderful week.
Hugs!
Sonia