We are settling into fall here at the cottage.  The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are finally dipping down providing for the most glorious time outside.  For those of us in mild climates, autumn is the perfect time to tackle garden projects that were just not possible in the heat of summer.



Here on Lemon Lane that means my long awaited potager kitchen garden is finally being hardscaped and I am totally smitten already.


After much debate we finally decided on a stone border with pea gravel pathways.  It's only in it's beginning stages but I think it's going to blend the best of both worlds.  The curving pathways give me the casual cottage feeling that I love and the pea gravel ties it in beautifully with my husbands more formal garden space.



I am itching to get my cool season vegetables planted and have been busy amending the soil in the future garden beds but just knowing that it's happening is enough, even for this impatient garden girl...for now.



In the meantime, I cleaned up the perennial bed, added fresh mulch and am squeezing the last few blooms out of the flower garden.  There is a quietness in the garden as summer winds down.  With the beds tidied up and the perennials trimmed back, it's time for the plants (and this gardener) to rest and recharge before the next season begins.

xo, Patty

If you'd like to see potager kitchen garden, here's the link to my YouTube video garden tour.  If you are not a subscriber to my channel, take a peek around and hit the subscribe button if you like what you see.

There is no shame in how much I love color in our little cottage.  It just makes me smile and that's exactly what your home should do.  So when I set about refreshing our little coffee station I sought out ways to add a mix of color and pattern to make the whole area pop with sunshine.


I am big proponent of shopping your homes nooks and crannies for decor before bringing in more stuff.  Chances are if we bought or brought it home, at some point I loved it and if that's not true then their is no reason for me to use our limited storage and wall space to keep it.


I knew I had enough room for a small shelf on the wall and was set on having my husband cut a piece of scrap wood for me to paint, when I remembered I kept a small galley shelf  (similar) when I redid the bathroom.  And as luck would have it, it fit like it was meant to be there.


Both the glass canisters and the colorful fruit enamel ones have been around for quite awhile and the pretty floral Pioneer Woman dish was being used on my fireplace mantel plate wall, which is about to be changed out with fall decor this week.  (When you shop your house, you get used to holes in the decor of other rooms until you work your way back there.)


Once those major pieces were in place, the rest of it came together as a matter of necessity for a functioning coffee bar.  Coffee, filters, pods, teas, creamers, mugs...those things we reach for every single morning are now within easy reach.


Friends and family always have fun choosing from my large collection of cups hanging on my mug rack which get changed out seasonally.

So have I missed anything?  What coffee bar necessities do you have at your hot drink station?  I did a full video tour on my YouTube channel.  I will link it below.

xo, Patty

Here's the link to the coffee bar tour.  While your there, be sure you check out the cottage style videos I have of the rest of our little cottage and hit the subscribe button so you don't miss the change to fall.

I feel it in the air, that subtle change from summer to fall.  For those of us living in mild climates the signs are a lot less obvious, just the hint of cooler mornings and that breeze that comes in right after dinnertime, but the changes are there none the less.

I pulled out my totes full of fall decor and couldn't resist setting a few pumpkins out on display.  Nothing over the top just a couple of reminders that these days of 90+ weather won't last forever.

It seems the older I get the sooner that feeling of being behind with the holidays approaching sets in.  

I have never been one of those whose gifts are purchased in October and November and the wrapping is finished by the first of December, so that's not what I'm talking about.  It's more just that desire to prepare the cottage for gatherings, afternoons of tea drinking, snuggling under a new handmade blanket and weekend baking sessions.


I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic when it comes to the holidays.  I will always dream of getting things just right, creating special memories, preparing little handmade gifts for friends and starting new traditions with the grands.


So as I begin clearing out the happy colors of summer to make room for the warm tones of fall, it's more than just a change of decor, it's a whole new chance to bring family and friends together in a home cheerfully filled with love.  With August nearly over and September less than two weeks away, the holidays will be here before you know it.  Time is flying by...

Is it just me, or do the holidays seem to come faster and faster every year and with it, that sense of falling behind?

xo, Patty

For a quick peek at my pumpkins on display, here's the link to my YouTube video.  If you're not already a subscriber, I'd love to have you subscribe.

I am a pinner...What I mean is that when I am looking to start a new hobby, learn a new skill or begin a new project, I start pinning.  And ever since I decided it was time we started eating healthier meals made from scratch with as many of our own home grown ingredients as possible, I have been pinning recipes to my Pinterest Boards like nobodies business.

One of the ingredients that seems to come up quite often are herbs.  While I have always grown herbs for their ease and beauty and occasional jar of pesto or mint infused mojito, I thought it was high time I started growing a few of the most commonly used cooking herbs and actually used them in recipes.


So I went to my local nursery with list in hand and bought sage, oregano and thyme to add to my already established collection of rosemary, basil, parsley, mint, lavender and chives.  I am determined to add a couple of herb inspired recipes to our weekly menu and will be starting with this Browned Chicken Thigh recipe and this Ginger Beef with Rice Noodles dish.


I also purchased a couple of seeds packets for herbs that I couldn't find in pots or that don't do well in the heat of the summer and will grow them as soon as the weather cools down including cilantro and dill.


Do you cook with herbs?  Did I miss any of your favorites?  I put together a free tutorial on how to over winter herbs if you don't live in a mild climate like me and want to use them all winter long.

Also new for me this week is my foray into baking all the things from scratch.  Today I am starting my first sourdough starter plus I am beginning my adventure through Martha Stewarts Baking Handbook.  I know, I know, who are you and what have you done with the old Patty?  She's still there, just feeling the need to eat healthier as I get older.

I will be sharing how I liked the recipes and maybe even a cooking video or two over on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube so be sure and follow me there if you don't already.

Have a wonderful week my friends!

xo, Patty

Here is the link to my YouTube Video tour of my herb containers.  If you don't subscribe there, I'd love to have you join me.



Just in case you want to start your own herbs in teacup pots, I found these cute things on Amazon!

I have noticed that there is a direct correlation between day after day of hot weather and my mood and not in a positive way.  I have always lived in a dry, warm climate so it's not like this isn't  something I'm used to but it does seem with every passing year the dog days of summer seem to last a bit longer.


I try to do any gardening that needs to be done early in the morning or just before sundown when the temps are not at their peak and to spite the heat I have still been able to gather enough flowers to create a few floral arrangements for around the house.


My favorites this year have definitely been the zinnias but the yarrow, salvia and roses have all been beautiful as well.  Next year I would love to devote one entire bed to a mass planting of zinnias of all kinds.  They are so easy to start from seeds especially when you use these mini green house seed starter trays.  I am planning out a late summer/fall veggie garden and will be using them for that as well.


I decided at the last minute that I wanted to grow a few tomato plants before the temperatures change so I headed over to my local Home Depot and picked up a few organic plants to put into pots on the patio.  I'm not sure what the yield will be this late in the season but I figured I may as well give it a go, even if I only get enough for a few weeks of fresh salad tomatoes before I put in my cool season veggies.  That is definitely a perk of living in Southern California, you can pretty much grow some kind of edible plant year round.


The neighborhood kids head back to school next week which is a sure sign that fall is on it's way.  I have to be honest, I am none to sorry to say goodbye to summer this year.  Not that I'm rushing the seasons but I cannot wait for a dip in temps and to bring out all things pumpkin, what about you?

xo, Patty

Here is my latest YouTube video on growing vegetables in containers on the patio.  I'd love to have you subscribe if you haven't already.

The heat has been on here in Southern California with temps in the high 90's and low 100's for pretty much the entire month of July and the garden is definitely showing the stress of it.  

I have been in defensive mode out there just trying to keep up with the watering and deadheading without giving a thought to putting in any new flowers or preparing the side lot for my fall/winter edible garden.


As much as I swore i wouldn't, I have decided to tuck in a veggie garden along the western side of our property.  In order to best prepare the area, including amending soil, building a series of raised beds and wired arbors for both climbing and shade cloth support, I have decided to remove every living thing from the soil and start from scratch.


(I will leave the grapevines against the sunroom because they have finally started producing but will be building new support for them when they go dormant this winter.)


I am finding that while Northern gardens have those long, cold winter months to plan and dream as their gardens sleep under a blanket of snow, we Western gardeners tend to go into planning mode when the heat keeps us inside from 9:00 a.m. on, during the peak summer months of July and August.


So plan I do.  I have started a seed list, nothing crazy or long because my space is limited just a few different varieties of things we love to eat and cook with including greens, carrots, radishes, beets and broccoli for fall/winter harvest.


Am I forgetting any of your cool season favorites?  Please share them in the comments along with how you like to consume them.  Because I want to eat healthier, I am determined to make this years veggie plot a success or die trying!

xo, Patty

If you haven't seen our backyard renovation, I've included the link to July's garden tour which includes the perennial flower beds.  The rest can be found on my gardening playlist over on YouTube.  While you're there, I'd love to have you subscribe.

I have found the key to getting and staying organized lies in writing stuff down.  Sounds simple enough, right?  

I have kept just about every kind of planner or calendar system out there over the years and they have all worked fine...if I kept them up.  I have found for me, the simpler the better, if it's too complicated I tend to skip using them when I'm in a hurry and before I know it, I get discouraged and just give up.

Another way we can over complicate an easy task is by wanting to make our daily planners into works of art (which I love to keep, just not for my everyday scheduling).

So now I keep it simple by keeping three hand written planners, one electronic planner and two notebooks.  Whew!  What's so simple about that?  To start with, I don't write in all those planners every day and I don't write much at all when I do write in them.  Let me break them down for you.

A basic daily planner - This is where I keep what needs to be done each day.  I divide it into two sections, household and errands.  On Monday I might have written under household - clean bathroom and do laundry.  Under errands I might have written - pick up tomatoes, return library books.

I purposely don't put times on my daily planner (unless it's an appointment), just stuff that needs to get done that day.  Simple enough, right?


I also keep a work daily planner - This is where I keep an exact list of what area of my business I work on each day of the week and what in particular needs to be accomplished.  Again, no time frames just tasks.

The third planner I keep is more of a journal and it is work related as well and includes what needs to be done for video footage each week and by what day it needs to be done, so that I can finish my editing in time to publish on schedule.

If you don't work from home, you may not need those last two planners.


The biggest help and the one I resisted the most has been my electronic Google Calendar.  This took a few hours to set up but now that it is, it doesn't require any time at all because I rarely make any changes to it.  This is where my day is broken down in chunks of time.  This is what keeps me on track.  I watched this video by Amy Landino to learn how to set up my schedule.  I highly recommend watching the video and setting yourself up.  This one has been a game changer for me.

I also keep a work notebook that I use for class homework, creative ideas and stats for my business.  If you'd like to see that one, just let me know and I will do a blog post devoted to it.

And the last notebook I keep is my household journal which is where I track my household expenses/budget, quarterly cleaning schedules, appliance maintenance and home improvement wish list.  Again, this notebook requires it's own post as well and I will be sharing it soon.


So there you have it, a quick over view of my planners, calendars and notebooks.  I plan the activities on my calendar on Sunday afternoon for the entire week.  Let me know if you'd like me to go into more details on any of the planners and I will put together a blog or video to share in more detail.

Next week I will have a free planner insert with my basic cleaning schedule on it for those of you who are newsletter subscribers. so if you aren't signed up yet be sure you do that here.

Have a wonderfully productive week my friends!

xo, Patty

You might enjoy this video that highlights how I set up my desk space to be as organized and productive as possible even if you have a small space.

People often ask me how I can get so much done each day? How I can juggle the housework, keep up a flower garden, entertain friends, enjoy my time in the craft room, run an Etsy shop and still make YouTube videos?  Let me tell you, this wasn't always the case.

When I went from full time employee to full time wife and home-keeper I thought I would automatically have all the time in the world to keep my house clean, put healthy meals on the table and still have time for lunch with friends and a little shopping.

Boy was I in for a rude awakening when I quickly discovered that having more unstructured time does not accomplish any of those things on its own.  In fact, I seemed to get so much more done when I was working 40 hours a week.

But how could this be?  I now had an additional 40+ hours in my week to be the perfect wife and friend so why was I rushing at the last minute to get things done and feeling overwhelmed by the disorder in my life?

What I discovered was that when I worked outside the home, I valued those hours I was inside the home and planned what I would need to get done and when I would do it.  

In a nutshell, we use wisely what we have most scarcely.