Saturday, July 31, 2010

how do their gardens grow, part two.

Time to finish our little stroll through the quaint historic town of Ferndale, California – where old period Victorian homes and cottages line the neighborhood streets. Many of the homes were built around 1880. Each one is unique in its own way - from the colors, their gardens and their fences.



Join me, will you?



And we shall walk this way today….



down a street where this grand queen, properly titled The Gingerbread Mansion, awaits us.



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P1010072 Such a sweet garden with a little hidden table to dine alfresco.



This hedge makes me think of Lifesaver candy….it brings out the kid in me and lures me to crawl through that hole – but I didn’t….



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Below is a gorgeous boxwood hedge that is sculpted in a wavy pattern. The chartreuse green is a nice contrast to the darker foliage and the elegant cement fountain.



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Fiona is being very patient with me as I take these photos.



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On the opposite corner of the Gingerbread Mansion is this lovely white Victorian. I just love the stained glass in the windows and the diamond pattern above the lower windows. The pretty window treatments and white picket fence are so sweet!


But wait, there's more...come down this street and check out this yellow beauty and the gorgeous gardens. After that is a periwinkle blue home that is funky and fun with HUGE bright pink mop top hydrangeas.



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Look, there is Duhgall!





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A pretty pink door and pink cannon ball finials on the posts. Do you see the little rosette over the front window?



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Look at the old metal tricycle on the porch! Isn’t that just too cute!? This house was built in 1882, as indicated on the placard.



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Let’s mosey over next door to check out the violet and blue house….



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Though this house didn’t have much of a garden, it did have lovely details in the scrollwork and corbels.



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I hope you enjoyed the little photo tour.



The dogs had a good time and even met this sweet little Schnauzer, Maggie, along the way.



Have a sweet weekend!



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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

come and join the fun!!

Have you ever met your blogging friends? I know I have and it has been such fun to actually meet them, hear them talk, see their smile and enjoy their company face to face. Dawn (Cottage State Of Mind) came up with this wonderful idea to have a blogger get together! **thank you, Miss Dawn!**

So here is the scoop:

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(click on the button to sign up)

The Festival will be held at Sandi’s WONDERFUL antique store, The Green Pea Boutique, in Escalon, California. Escalon is located in the Central Valley of California (about 70 miles south of Sacramento and about 70 miles south east from San Francisco). ** There are plenty of fruit stands along the way to grab some good produce to take home, too. **

There is limited seating, so be sure to sign up as soon as possible.

Here’s how:

Sign up as soon as possible by emailing Dawn at

sunnyoreo@hotmail.com.

Put "Festival" in the subject line.

Please include the following:

Your name, blog name and URL,

location and date you started blogging.

Also indicate if we can use your name in a posted list of participants.
Don't wait, space is limited.

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So please join us if you can! Lunch and dessert will be served.

We'll have a contest for the favorite name tag so get creative and make one up that reflects your blog. There will also be some giveaways and a guest speaker.

If you are traveling a good distance and need lodging, there are some nice places to stay in Modesto. Just email me and I can direct you to some lodging. The Riverbank Wine and Cheese Festival will be going on the same weekend and on Sunday there is a wonderful flea market in Sacramento. Plenty to do up in our neck of the woods!

If you are flying, the Sacramento International Airport is closest and the easiest to fly into. The other option would be San Francisco International Airport.

The Green Pea is located at:

1802 Main Street

Escalon, California

phone: (209) 838-1913

Please contact any of the following committee gals and we will answer any questions you may have. Sure hope you can join us!

Sandi (The Green Pea)

Dawn (Cottage State Of Mind)

Jean (In The Garden With Miss Jean)

and myself (Sweet Cottage Dreams)

tootles….