Saltwater Sounds Weekly: Happy Mother’s Day
Welcome to Saltwater Sounds, a collection of ideas, tips, and inspiration. This is where I share everything happening in the world of Shiplap and Shells, what’s to come, and the inspiration I’ve found from other bloggers around the web.
This and That…
Happy Mother’s Day to all the fabulous mother’s out there! I hope your day is special and filled with love and joy and spending time with your loved ones.
And for those of you like me who have lost a mother or a child, please know that you’re not alone. I lost my only child, Katie, 5 years ago, and then my mom last September.
This is a day I take for myself to reflect and replay my special memories. On past Mother’s Days I’ve planted a rose bush, and a lilac tree, and spent the day at Katie’s favorite beach. I usually spend the day outdoors in the garden or surrounded by water.
My hope for those of you that have lost someone special is that you find peace in the memories. Sending you much love today.
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We were scheduled to start our boat trip on Tuesday but are now postponing.
My husband has Covid and I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m headed that way. So we’ll take it easy this week and work on getting better.
The weather is sunny and hot today with more of the same! It should get to 87°F today so I’ll be keeping an eye on my newly planted flower containers and cut flower seedlings in the garden for the next few days.
Around the Garden and Greenhouse
I worked on planting the rest of my flower containers and window boxes this past week.
I ran out of summer annuals so I planted what I had and will make a trip to the local nursery when we get back from our boat trip to Canada.
The peonies are budding and the perennial columbine plants are just starting to bloom.
I spent time cleaning up the greenhouse garden path.
The vintage bike basket was filled with violas and ivy.
My irises are blooming.
I shared this purple azalea bush with you already but now the flowers are in full bloom. I love this color so much. You’ll start to see a trend in my May garden.
There are a lot of purple flowers throughout my cottage garden. The alliums are looking beautiful!
I’ve planted 4 lilac trees on my property. Year after year I get very few lilac blooms.
This was the year for one of my trees. The blooms are stunning and smell amazing.
The May garden is full of lush greenery and annuals in containers and planters.
But just wait for a couple of weeks and everything will start exploding with color. I can’t wait!
My Favorite Finds and Deals This Week
BugHut “Jump Into Spring” Kit – For the person who loves to sample!
It includes everything you’ll need to care for your plants and garden!
– Magic Mix: Organic potting mix
– De-Stressor Concentrate: Defends your plants against heat, drought, and cooler temps.
– Booster Concentrate: A blend of beneficial bacteria to bring larger roots and more robust growth
– Enhancer Sprayer: Beneficial bacteria add vivid colors, greener leaves, and faster growth.
– Nutrition: A blend of fish emulsions and seaweed that is also packed with micronutrients like Boron, Manganese, and Zinc.
– Insect Control: Garlic oil repels aphids, whiteflies, leafhoppers, thrips, and squash bugs.
– Soil Wizard Shaker Bottle: An organic soil amendment that is used by soil microbes to increase their growth and biomass
– BugHut Rain Gauge
From the Blog
Cottage Garden Design Ideas to Create a Charming Garden
Creating a traditional cottage garden is a great way to bring a charming, old-fashioned feel to your outdoor space. I’m sharing some cottage garden design ideas so you can create your own perfectly charming cottage garden feel.
Dahlia Planting Guide for Beginners
Do you love how dahlia flowers look but aren’t quite sure what it takes to grow these beautiful blooms in your garden? Today I’m sharing my dahlia planting guide for beginners with tips for planting, storing, growing, and how to care for dahlias.
My Favorite Inspiration Around the Web This Week
Tieghan at Half-Baked Harvest shares the most delicious Caprese Caesar Pasta Salad.
Simple ways to live a luxurious life.
There’s something about Janine at Happy Happy Nester‘s basket flower arrangement that brightens up any space.
How to make vintage feed sack fabric.
I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and let me know what you’d like to see on the blog! Thank you for being here.
Until next time,
Wishing a week full of joy, kindness, and peace.
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I hope you don’t get sick from it too! And I really hope you don’t have to postpone the trip for too long. I know how long you were looking forward to going! The gardens are looking AWESOME! Thanks for sharing my post this week! xoxo
I definitely got it, Stacy. We are postponing for a week or so and going somewhere closer to home. We’ll visit Canada in September when we have more time.
Kim
I hope you don’t have covid and can be on that amazing trip soon. I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t even imagine! You are always so positive and uplifting. I’m so glad you’ve found some peace. Thank you for sharing my post this week. You are the best.
Thank you for the lovely message, Rachel. I do have Covid but hoping to be healthy enough to go on the boat for a bit next week. Fingers crossed.
Oh no Kim, not Covid. Hope you all feel better really soon and looking forward to seeing all the photos from your trip through Canada. It sounds amazing. I hope you had a good day yesterday, thinking of you!
Thank you, Ann. We are postponing Canada until September since we’re both sickies here. Hoping to go on the boat next week if we’re feeling better.
You have such an amazing garden, Kim! I love all the vintage pieces you’ve incorporated into the mix and how you plant things in a way that allows you to have big, bold, and bright colors throughout the season. It’s so cool you know how to do that! Thank you so much for sharing my simple ways to live a more luxurious life post, I really appreciate it. Sending you tons of hugs and hoping your Mother’s Day was a peaceful one. Loss is such a hard thing to go through and navigate sometimes and I appreciate the special ways you honor loved ones while at the same time practicing self-care. It’s really inspiring. Big hugs, CoCo
You have touched my heart with your message CoCo. I do the best that I can every year and give myself grace. I’m ok with that, but it took years of therapy to get there.
So glad you got all of your planting done! it will be a beautiful season.
Thank you, Wendy.
Your garden is AMAZING! We have a major deer problem at our home and one naughty deer has struck a devastating blow to our beautiful hosta garden today. We use an electric fence to protect our plants but it did not deter this time. So disappointing. Oh how I would love to see your beautiful garden in person…thanks for sharing!
That is terrible Mary. I am so sorry! Between the deer, the moles, and the slugs, sometimes I just have to go in the house for the day so I don’t get so angry. It’s so hard when you’ve put in so much effort and it’s gone one day. Hopefully, the deer will be full for a while and move on.
Such a lovely and heartfelt post. Tears were flowing. Your photos are as stunning and colorful as ever, so beautiful. My husband would have loved them. I hope your memories took you to a special place of refection and relaxation, as mine do. I want to thank you for all of your wonderful posts. They always make me feel like I’m surrounded by sunshine. Happy Mother’s Day!
What a sweet thing to say, Joanne. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me to hear you compare seeing my garden to being surrounded by sunshine. Thank you for following along and being here. It really does mean a lot. Hugs to you.
Every photo in this post is gorgeous! I saved a couple. Lilacs are one of my favorites but they don’t grow here. Can’t wait to see more pictures of the garden as it starts to bloom. Hope your husband recovers quickly and you also, if it catches up with you. I know you will have a grand time no matter when you go! Thank you for continuing to share your home/garden/life!
Hi Beth,
Thank you for the compliment. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my pictures of the garden. We’ve postponed our trip for a week since we both were sick, but looking forward to going somewhere on the boat next week. Thank you for following along.
Everything looks so beautiful! I’m heading to the nursery today to get flowers. It will be a happy day. Hugs to you.
It’s always a fun day when you go to the nursery and buy flowers. Hope you have the best day my friend.
Kim, sending you big hugs and love on this Mother’s Day. Sorry you need to postpone your trip and hope you avoid getting sick. It’s finally getting hot here but I can’t believe you are experiencing the same. I cannot complain as we had a very long and glorious spring. I will be planting lilacs at our mountain cabin so will be calling you about any and all tips for success.
I’m so excited that you will be planting lilacs at the cabin Mary. I wish I had the garden space to grow them all over. I only wish they lasted longer. Hope you had the best Mother’s Day my friend.
I love the square metal planter in front of your shed. Did you drill holes in the bottom? If not, how do you keep the roots of the flowers from getting water logged. I have a metal container and would like to plant flowers but not sure if I want to drill holes in the bottom.
Thanks for the help….you have a lovely garden. I am envious! Happy Mothers Day!
Thank you for the compliment, Cindy. My husband did drill holes in the bottom of the planter for drainage. We added landscaping fabric as well so the soil wouldn’t rinse out after watering.