A Rainy Day Visit to Blumen Gardens, Sycamore, IL

When you get a rainy weekend in Spring, it's hard to stay inside when everything outside is calling.
We headed to Blumen Gardens in beautiful Sycamore, IL.  I've posted about them before.  We first visited back when Jonathan and Charlotte were looking for a wedding venue.  The beautiful gardens,
and amazing displays keep drawing us back.  Even though it was raining, we enjoyed walking through the endless varieties of flowering plants, the vintage artifacts hidden among the trees and displays.

 The cobblestone courtyard draws you in.

 There was a  small show with maybe 20 vendors.

 The show outside, well, it dazzled

 Food trucks were parked on the street and tables set up for those grabbing lunch.

Inspired by this little shed, I so want to add some moss to the roof of our shed at home.  Hubby thinks the aging structure would not stand up to the weight of it.  I think, it is another way to charmingly hide our little barn. Getting on a ladder to plant moss on the roof might be the deterrent. Then dearest added we night need a goat to keep the roof neat, ;-) as at a Swedish restaurant we visit in Door County.

 The brick and the blossoms, a delicious combination.

 How about vines, brick and some old wooden doors.

 Weathered fences.

 Old windows.

 Oi that brick!

 Even their storage area was cool.

" I love trash, everything dirty or dingy or dusty, everything ragged or rotten or rusty, oh I love trash."  Oscar the Grouch used to sing this song when my kids were little, now it should be the theme song of vintage treasure hunters.

 Every kind of plant you can imagine.

 One tiny variety of Lilac was in bloom, but the fragrance packed a big punch.  Just beautiful.

 An old postal collection box hidden behind some shrubs.  I wonder if it was holding gardening tools?

 We are looking for a new arbor...this one might work, if we could pick up and move our neighbors house over a couple of feet. ;-)

 Inside those gorgeous brick walls is a gift shop.  Oh my, be still my heart.

 I think this is why I hung a little stained glass in our living room window...it looks so pretty.

 Clever ideas.  Inspiration galore!

 The shape of this urn is exactly like the terracotta urn I just found at the thrift.

 Moss umbrella anyone?

 I have used my wheelbarrow in so many decorative ways since I bought it from a neighbor who was moving.  Never once carried dirt, I have used it to hold wedding programs with pumpkins and bittersweet, a small Christmas tree and white twinkle lights. The more rusty mine gets, the more I like it.

 Watering cans!  I saw one for over $50 dollars at the little antique show, and then at another vendor, one for $15, without it's rose. I'm waiting to find one at the thrift.  

So many ideas, even as I post these photos I see things I missed.  

 I bought this  fern wreath...

 and this wire heart basket.

The wreath looks great in my large hurricane.  Ferns seem to be my spring thing.

We did go to one rummage sale in between the rain storms.

I scored this round beveled mirror. ( I just put it on the bench to photograph.)

Every house seemed to have a large mirror like this when I was growing up.  Ours was rectangular, but with the same kind of beveled flowers.  I am always looking for mirrors, a thing I'm sure I got from my Mom who loved them too.  We walked into this rummage sale, one that I have found some great stuff in the past. The first room marked tools, had this mirror propped up under a table.  We were in 5 seconds and I had my find of the day, maybe the year!  

I should have been looking for a canoe, we've had so much heavy rain in the last three days.  Hoping for some dry weather, and a little sunshine wouldn't hurt.

Have a great week my friends and enjoy this beautiful day!

Love,  Penny

P.S. Happy Birthday Jean! I remembered;-)