Mattress: King, Queen or Daylily Bed?

There is a romance to this photo that I want to share. This is the bed of day lilies at the cottage and for yet another summer, a family of deer have been sleeping in it every night. 

It starts sometime in July. After a season of growth, one day the plants are healthy and lush, the next morning there are distinct circles where each mother, father and baby deer has slept. The day lilies don't fluff up much during the day and the circles are even more distinct each morning. This lasts the entire summer. I have never seen the deer, but they certainly leave their mark.

Isn't it wonderful to think of them quietly walking into the yard, choosing their place and sinking into the cool leaves. Do leaves have a Sleep Number? Do the individual deer choose the same spot each night?

You may not have realized it, but this really is a BED of day lilies. Sleep tight!

Wood Veneer Postcard Makes an Interesting Winter Display

The top of my piano looks beautiful in cream, gold, sage and blue, don't you think?  A collection of meaningful items all work together and give the eye a rest from the bright reds and jewel tones of Christmas.  My dried hydrangeas reside in an empty water bottle I brought back from England - remember? 

The star of this vignette is this tiny woodland scene.  It is actually a card made by a German company called Finkbeiner and found it at Downtown Home and Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  It is sold with an envelope and you can mail it! When you are ready to put it on display, you gently bend the wood veneer and fit the tab into the slot.  I love how delicate the cutwork is and it really draws your eye in.  I just re-watched the Shirley Temple movie, Heidi, and this could be the landscape leading up to Grandfather's cabin.

The fact that this display will look just as pretty in January is a bonus.

Serta Perfect Daylilies

This is a post where you have to use your imagination a little.  Bring the fairy tale front and center and think of deer wandering through the yard in the twilight.

My parents have a large daylily bed in northern Michigan that has become "Serta Perfect" for a family of deer.  Can you see the dents?  It might be easier to see them if you look at the rim of the daylily bed.  See how it is fluffy and has many large grass-like fronds?  Now look into the center - nothing is upright.  Those are the deer dents.

At least 7 deer (I counted the dents) come in the night and sleep in our daylilies.  They really aren't eating the garden, we mostly notice their handiwork in the Spring when they devour the tulips.  During the summer, this is strictly a nighttime spot for them.  Isn't is romantic?

We often are awake until 11:30 pm, no deer.  And my mom gets up around 5:30 am on many morning, no deer.  Sometime during the moonlight hours, the family comes, nestles into the leaves and sleeps.

What sleep number do you suppose day lilies are?

Winter Brownies

I normally like to come up with my own cute, but this darling Winter scene (on top of a pan of brownies) exists because Nigella Lawson did it first.  She is a British television personality that has her own cooking show (and many cookbooks).

One day recently on her show, she made a gingerbread cake in a 9 x 13 pan, cut it into cubes, dusted it with powdered sugar and placed a few deer and trees on top.  I loved it!  And you know I have the deer from my successful "Reindeer Games" cupcakes of 2008.  When I was at the cake and cookie supply store the other day I noticed a bag of trees and knew that I had to try making my own woodland scene.  And all of a sudden today I had an occasion to use them!

My nephew came home from Switzerland today after 3 months studying abroad  and his parents hosted an impromptu welcome home party.  I made this batch of brownies and brought them to the party to represent the the snow-filled forests in Switzerland.  They looked adorable and were a big hit.