Garden Dreams

 

I have a daydream place I like to visit once in a while. Come with me and I’ll show it to you. It’s a modest garden, lush and lovely. Filled with bird song and butterflies. In random order, here are some of the accessories I’d like…

 

Fairy/decorative lights all over the place!! And no, not with the cast from 3^rd Rock From the Sun. I put this one first because I knew I’d have to explain this. I loved that show. Especially when they’d all gather at the end of the day on the roof and they had all these lights. And they’d be different sets of lights. Not just plain ones, either. Seasonal ones. I knew the first time I saw that scene…THAT is what I wanted! Didn’t matter where it was, patio, garden, around the front door, living room ceiling. I wanted decorative lights! 

 

 

Little benches. At least 2 or 3 of these around the garden. And if they had these hanging ornaments on them, the lights on the top and side poles would be the discreet fairy type so as not to distract from the ornaments. 

 

 

Green Man faces. Some of the trees would have these. No lights, because Green Man has dignity and doesn’t need lights. Maybe just the lower hanging branches of the tree.

 

 

Beaded garden stakes. These would be all over the place, too. Random places. Everywhere you looked, there would be some of these.

 

 

Woven wall art. LOVE THIS!!! One of my favorite types of art. Haven’t decided if the garden walls would be wood or stone, but there would be some of these scattered around. I would make these myself. 

 

 

Chiminea. So many different designs to choose from. I was really torn between this and a fire pit. The biggest drawback to a fire pit is the smoke. The least bit of breeze and you get the smoke right in your face. You have to keep moving the chairs around. And with a chininea you can still toast marshmallows. And what’s the point if you can’t do marshmallows??

 

 

The pièce de résistance!!!! The garden swing!! I’ve seen these made with old swing set frames, but this is a bit classier. And the frame would be COVERED in lights!! Of all kinds!!! COVERED, I tell ya!! What better way to greet the evening and watch the sunset than from this wonderful garden lovely?

 

So there ya go. My dream garden. Wanna join me? All are welcome.

 

Picnics of the Past

 

Picnics have been around for a LONG time. Meals eaten out-of-doors could be very simple or very elaborate. Some of those wicker baskets contained enough food for a small army. Nobody went home hungry. You’d travel to a nice pastoral setting, perhaps by a stream, making sure there were shade trees to eat under. You’d spread your blanket on the ground and dig in. After stuffing yourself silly, you might be inclined to take a little nap while the children played.

 

There might be a cold collation, which was simply bread, cheese and several types of meat. There might be cold game pie in aspic, or small hand-held meat pies. All sorts of nuts and fruits would be in the basket as well. Usually included were hardboiled eggs, tarts, cookies and fairy bread. Wine, cider and lemonade would quench your thirst.

 

Box socials were popular in the early 1900s in the US, Canada and the UK. In the US particularly, a woman would take a box and fill it with a lunch or dinner for two. She’d decorate it, and it would be auctioned off to the men. The highest bidder for a box would then get to eat the food with the lady who had fixed it. Sometimes the boxes would be decorated with a special color of ribbon or some token so the lady’s favorite would know to bid on that box.

 

Typical box social meal:

Fried chicken

Cornbread and honey

Hardboiled eggs

Pickles

Joe Froggers (a type of molasses cookie)

Bottles of sarsaparilla

 

My favorite picnic food if there is a grill available are hotdogs or hamburgers with the extras like cheese, potato chips, black olives and dill pickle slices.

If there is no grill, then it’s sandwiches with the above extras.

And of course there is the cooler with beer and soda.

 

What do YOU take on picnics?