The House Dressing Company

When September arrives it’s funny how you can feel the change in the air.  It’s as though I blinked and suddenly our long lazy summer days with brilliant blue skies and beaming bright yellow sunshine disappeared to reveal golden sun rays, dewy mornings, and a slow rising sun against a serene blue sky.  Born in April my favourite season is of course spring- I just can’t get enough of it but September holds a special place with fond memories of the transition from “laid back” to “let’s get moving”- back into the swing of either school or college, new fall promotions at my store, and now tidying uniforms for my little ones as they get excited to see their favourite teachers and friends from school.  Just a bite into a golden juicy bartlett pear brings me back to recess, the first week of school, out on the playground playing hopscotch.  Now as I look around my house I just have to make some seasonal changes to reflect this new feeling in the air.  The roadside stands beckon with sunflowers to die for, zinnias and dahlias.  The “road-sideeeah” bull rushes are irresistible…..and the rose hips… they make me almost drive off the road as I admire their gorgeous glossy red and orange hues.  I love living out on the Saanich Peninsula, out in the country it feels like, just so I can enjoy the sites and the incredible colour journey as this season progresses to winter.  I never tire of nature’s entertainment or offerings.  Every year it’s the same excitement all over again as I experience it.

As I began writing this blog I had no idea what my fingers and my brain might put together for this post- I was a little stumped as to what this week’s post would be about but now I am stoked by what showed up on the screen – September- and can’t wait to share some of my favourite ways to embrace the season in my home and in nature.  So I ventured to capture some images for you so you tooo can get excited about September.  Take a gander!

Here I started in my kitchen with this corner and these Chinese lanterns- aren’t they just gorgeous?  And my bird fettish appears again!  We just got these ceramic birds in at the shop-you can tuck a small sprig of anything in them, here I chose a few rose hips.

Also in the kitchen I did this bouquet of red and yellow with some local organic Macintosh apples.  The berries are from my hawthorn tree yet I usually don’t cut them til Christmas but decided to try them with yellow.  I like the September feel of this bouquet.  The sunflowers are from a roadside stand on West Saanich Rd about 2 mins south of Keating on the left hand side as well as the Chinese lanterns.  The fellows that grow for this stand have incredible blooms to choose from and are often at the Peninsula Country Market at the Saanich Fair grounds every Saturday til Sept 26th.

Moving into the living room I had to try out the new cushions we just got in, how yummy do they look?  I am always changing up my cushions so for me a neutral sofa is a must. This way I can satisfy my creative need for change so that anything goes for any season.  I trimmed up some willow branches that were covered in white berries and popped them into a lovely white vase that we also just unpacked today.  The ceramic raised flowers add a lovely feminine flavour.  The sun was just pouring in so please forgive the brightness in this shot.  This room has 10 windows making it wonderfully bright even on the dullest of days- my favourite room I have to say!!

The coffee table always gets a weekly fluff with fresh flowers, this week my olive green provence jug is filled with buttery yellow rose hips (from Wallace roadsideeeah just 2 minutes south of Benvenuto) and sunflowers from the above mentioned flower stand.  I love cherry tomatoes and just can’t get enough of them right now- yummy to nibble anytime.  These are sugar cherry tomatoes in a gorgeous colour mix in my matching bowl from provence.  Hmmmm……makes me really want to see what Provence looks like right now- harvesting of the grapes, sunflower fields, and ooooh those markets bursting with abundant September produce!  Almost forgot about the rock- I just had to have this when I spied it at the Pike Place Market- it’s one of my favourite quotes!

The front porch is always a must in September because I like to savor any sunny afternoon that I can sit here perusing my magazines with a cup of tea while the kids enjoy the sunshine after school.  I managed to gather enough rose hips with long stems to create quite the scale in this large urn combining the cat tails (Pat Bay Hwy heading south just past McTavish all the way up to Amity- but be careful on the road side) and more sunflowers.  This should stay nice for at least 2 weeks and even when the sunflowers are finish the rest will weather for quite some time.  The aluminum jug is filled with willow twigs from last year.  These raven cushions were begging me to take them home for my porch- don’t you love this porch?  I just want to spend the whole afternoon here!  Here’s a close up.

This shows the bird nest that Amelia received when we picked up our blueberries at Bear Hill Blue Berry Farm.  My brother in-law made this bird house, he’s a roofer and always has cedar shake scraps to use up- love this!

Outside the front door this large jug is so cheery.  Makes you feel glad to get home.  Sunflowers are the epitome of September for me, could you tell?  I love them with blue-so French!  My hydrangea bush had a bumper crop and some of the blooms are turning a smokey blue and on to a ruby red in some areas and a sage green in others.  They dry so well when they are picked in September.  Just put about an inch of water in the bottom and leave them be and you can enjoy them all year till they are ready to pick again. Here’s another shot to make you drool and want to fluff your own front door!

I hope this is enough inspiration to make you want to give your home a nice seasonal change.  Stay tuned for our next post because our September Sale starts next week and I will have all the details for you early in the week so that you can pick up some of the goodies you might need to fluff!  Have a wonderful weekend, it’s supposed to be sunny and warm in Victoria – Yeh! so take time to savor it!