Holyoke Art.

Holyoke Home recently purchased two amazing pieces by local artists. I'm not sure how to hang one, but it makes me cry and I just know you will love it to pieces. So you'll have to wait to see that one. But the second piece doesn't require hanging; we just didn't know where to put it.

Remember the art show I went to at Open Square? Matt Johnson took down his show a few weeks ago and we were finally able to bring home Coils #2 (still need to come up with a better name for it than '#2'. Don't want folks to think we're talking about poo.)

I scratched my head like a monkey trying to figure out where to put this very (to the tenth power) heavy sculpture. I tilted my head to the side, like a dog when you say 'treat?' or 'outside?' Don't the coils kind of look like flames? Voila:

 Morgan approves. Which means everything to us.

 

Until we get the fireplace working, I think this is where #2 (not poo) lives.

The Post In Which I Hyperlink 'Unitard'

For two years, I schlepped the 50 foot garden hose around the back yard when I needed to water plants.  And when I was done watering, I would - like a Mexican Wrestler (you are definitely going to want to click on that hyperlink)- put on my cape, mask, and unitard, bare my teeth, crouch down with my hands out, and SPRING into attack mode, contorting my opponent (the hose) and wrangling it into submission.  I received bonus points if the hose ended up in something resembling a 'heap' or 'pile'.

This 50 foot of hose pile/heap would then sit on the back porch floor, taking up about 20 square feet (my wrangling skills are limited), making the back porch very 'GO AWAY-y'.

NO MORE!

Dear reader, I bring you, the HOSE PUT-ER AWAY-ER!

Oh happy day.

Tis The Season For: Half Price Garden Pots!

Mr. Man and I are enjoying the fruits of our back porch renovation every. day. We love it. And I love decorating the space with pots of flowers and herbs.

I cannot resist a lovely garden pot. I think of them as my colorful little garden babies. I have a lot of garden babies. We're talking 'Octo-mom' territory. This is a dangerous time of year for me to visit garden centers, because inevitably, they're trying to get rid of everything before they close up shop for the season. I better be careful, or Mr. Man will declare a 'colorful garden baby moratorium.'

This little red and white flower put actually caused me to salivate, even though I generally stay way from pots that are smaller than a breadbox (their small size means you have to water the crap out of them i.e. water them a lot). For more pots like this, visit Annie's Garden and Gift Shop in Sunderland, Massachusetts.

Friday Farm Share! The 'Flower' Edition

*Most Fridays, Holyoke Home is sharing images from our weekly farm share at Mountain View Farm. I hope you enjoy seeing what the farm has to offer.* 

The flowers at Mountainview are at their peak right now. 

No, the image above is not from a movie, or a catalog. It has not been photoshopped. It is actually, really, real.  And if I turn around in the exact same spot, here's what I see looking the other way:

Insert colloquialism for 'that is extremely beautiful':

a. "I dies."

b. "Can I haz some?"

c. "Bananas."

Did you know the french word for 'sunflower' is 'Un tournesol', which is a shortening of 'tourne soleil', meaning 'turn toward the sun'. Because sunflowers turn their sunny faces toward the sun, and follow it through the day. Now, you go turn your face toward the sun.

Wordless Wednesday. Kind Of.

I've seen other blogs post an image on Wednesdays - with no text - and call it wordless Wednesdays. I would like to copy the idea, except I have always been a little.......verbose? Verbal? Talk-y?
Dear reader, consider the scene in the image above. Now add delicious iced coffee and a really good book (my current read: The Warmth Of Other Suns highly recommend). Now please tell me: why can't Morgan go to work for me today?

Friday Farm Share: I Am A Farm Whore

*Most Fridays, Holyoke Home shares images from our weekly farm share at Mountain View Farm in Easthampton, Massachusetts. But this week, I cheated on my farm and 'visited' another farm. Because I am a Farm Whore.*

In fact, since I'm spilling the beans? I might as well tell you: I am also a berry whore. Can't. Get. Enough. Berries. Every year, I trek up to Norse Farms in South Deerfield, Massachusetts to pick me some fresh local berries.
Norse Farm has the BEST berries in the Pioneer Valley. And before you get all organic-y on my ass, I don't even care if they spray insecticides. Bottom line? Norse farm fruit tastes the best. However - Norse farm also has this weird 'Strawberry Man' thing going on. See the smiling strawberry in the photo above WITH A HAT ON?
OMG! THAT GUY ATE SO MANY BERRIES, HIS HEAD TURNED INTO A BERRY. THAT IS SUPER SCARY.

Wana know what my favorite summer activity, EVER? Take a giant handful of blueberries. I SAID GIANT. Look at them carefully. Okay, kind of jostle them around a little in your palm. Now, in one fell swoop, open your mouth wide and stuff them all in. YOU ARE WELCOME.

Salad Bowls: They're Not Just For Salad Anymore

I gasped when spying this salad bowl at a thrift store. Such a pretty shape. On the inside, it's wider at the bottom than at the top. I think it's a perfect vessel for our front hall landing strip. Maybe we could use it to hold Mr. Man's pocket change. Which reminds me. I've been meaning to ask you HOW DO MEN PRODUCE SO MUCH CHANGE?!!?! It's like magic how many nickels and dimes and quarters come out of Mr. Man's pockets every day.

Lower Back Porch Sneak Peek

Okay kids. I am using this post to entice MY OWN SELF to freaking finish the back lower porch. I still need to install the new light fixture and scrape and paint the concrete floor.

But in the mean time? What says summer more than watermelon and a bright red rolling cooler?