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Decorating My Home

What I did on the Way to a Super Bowl Party

By 02/02/2014January 27th, 201921 Comments

Seattle Space Needle

Since we live in the West Coast of British Columbia and are only 2 1/2 hours from Seattle, most of us cheer the Seahawks. And, as you know, they won last night, hooray! That’s enough about that, haha. I hung out with the Mom’s upstairs at the party because truthfully, I have no interest in football.

Tutear

 

Anyway, I was so excited when I got home on Saturday night and Terreeia told me that the tutear that we had ordered was ready!  We had given Henning Jensen, a local artisan/carpenter and Elderberry farmer, the details before Christmas and he made it in between his other jobs.

Vegetable Garden

MaryAnne (the designer of my most fabulous garden, above), had specified two of them for my vegetable garden in the Fall as accessories and to create a focal point. In December, we asked if he could make us a tutear and then when Henning called he said ‘Your “bean pole” is ready’.

This one (below) will replace the smaller black tutear you can see in the vegetable garden above!

Tutear

We originally ordered just the 5 ft one to make sure we loved it when it was finished. Here it is, in his shop. I was so impressed that it was virtually identical to the photo, I immediately ordered the second one. I asked him to attach spikes to the feet so it wouldn’t blow over in the winter wind.

 

Henning & Maria

Here it is strapped to my car, and here’s Henning. We picked it up on the way to the Super Bowl party.

Garden Lattice

The first week of January, I was out in Walnut Grove (Langley) choosing exterior colours for a clients second home they were building in Sechelt, BC. When I saw this lattice in her garden, I took a photo and asked Henning if he could build something very similar for the white wall on the shed which faces the vegetable garden picture (above).

Bird Feeder

My client also had this fabulous bird feeder in her garden (above) and there were so many birds feeding on the sunflower seeds, it truly sounded like Spring in her garden!

I have seen a lot of bird feeders and never been inspired to buy one, so now I need to find a bird feeder that looks just like this one. The store where she found it, doesn’t stock it anymore. Any leads? I want to install one in the tree right beside our bedroom window.

She said the bell above the seeds is to deter the squirrels and it’s so funny to watch them slide right off when they try to reach the seeds.

Anyway, that’s my Sunday! Hope you had a great weekend!  xo Maria

PS. If you haven’t signed up for the personality course for designers I’m doing with Penelope, it starts Tuesday! You should join us, this woman is truly brilliant in interpreting Meyers Briggs so that you can immediately use it in your life!

Related posts:

Ignorance is Truly Bliss: Before & After

My Design Studio: Before, During and After

First Rule of Design: Boring Now Equals Timeless Later

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21 Comments

  • Allyson Paris says:

    I got mine at Wild Birds Unlimited. It looks like they have a store or two in Vancouver, but you can also shop online at wbu.com.
    It will get noisy outside your bedroom window, though. You might end up with a different location! Have fun!

    • Maria Killam says:

      Hmmm. . . that’s a really good point, it would be too noisy outside our window. And she got this at Wild Birds Unlimited but they no longer had the bell on top.

  • Patti says:

    Hi Maria
    They do carry those feeders at Wild Birds Unlimited with a couple of options of squirrel bafflers. There is a store on Oak St in Van and one in South Surrey/White Rock on King George at 24th. They also carry the ‘no mess’ sunflower seeds so you don’t end up with shells all over the ground. Happy birding

  • Chris B says:

    The spelling is tuteur, in case other people want to research getting or making a garden obelisk. Yours look great!

  • Donna Frasca says:

    Wow, from Super Bowl to bird feeders … interesting. I only watch the Super Bowl if the Pittsburgh Steelers are in it otherwise, can’t stand football.

    That is a very common bird feeder Maria. I think you have a comment suggestion to look at Wild Birds Unlimited. They have a great selection. Do you have a Lowe’s Home Improvement store by you? That’s where I can all the stuff for my birds at an affordable price.

  • I love the lattice design, very pretty! You might want to consider the noise that the bird feeder will create if it’s going to be outside of your bedroom window. We have trees close to our window and as much as we love our birds they do wake us up very early!

  • franki says:

    Now…that is MY kind of Super Bowl Sunday…birds, (LOVE ALL OUR FEEDERS!!) trellis, gardens…yay, Maria!! franki

  • sandyc says:

    Your garden is lovely, Maria, and your plans are additions to it are neat. Not a gardener by nature though hugely inspired – after a year in my new home, I’ve taken the Container Gardening course again, second January in a row, and learned that my due east-facing front courtyard is the perfect spot for growing herbs and I have a wonderful Baker’s rack just waiting to hold them. Right now the courtyard is totally bare except for some prolific left-over lavender lantana. Sadly, feeding birds is verboten around our area. Even with all the grass, we get fewer birds than we did when we lived with all rock – sad for the kitties too. But birdseed attracts rodents as well as birds and rodents attract coyotes and … Hummingbirds are OK but since they are territorial, I only get one on a regular basis on my back patio. So back to herbs and flowers and plants, and maybe a recording of happy birds to start our morning off.

  • How lovely to think about spring and gardening in the middle of winter!

  • Paula Van Hoogen says:

    Hi Maria! I’ve been away from an internet signal for quite awhile now—so great to see you getting into the outdoor garden, birds, etc.! It’s a whole wonderful world out there, right?!
    Your garden reminds me of the Williamsburg(VA)
    traditional English gardens–I love it!
    We staged and have our FL house (almost) sold…
    hooray for staging!! Still dreaming of coming to Vancouver for an advanced class, should you ever have one! Love, Paula.

  • teresa says:

    I love the tuteur and lattice. I never noticed the little shed before. Very nice. Since you are both quite early risers I shouldn’t think the noise would bother yo,, and the seed shells are good for the soil. I can’t wait to see it all in place.

  • Mary says:

    If anyone tells you the secret to eating what you want, when you want, please share. I workout all the time but can’t stop with the sweets.
    Your garden is going to end up on a garden tour, for sure. I have a feeling that keeping it looking lovely will help you burn some calories.

  • Marguerite Neuhaus says:

    The key to bird feeding is to site it a bit away from the house, 5-8 feet away from anywhere a squirrel or predator can launch from , use no mess seed (no rodents, the doves will eat it all) and use a squirrel proof feeder. I have had the best luck with this feeder because you can adjust the spring on it to be light enough to hold blue jays or cardinals but wont hold squirrels or mourning doves who can perch and never leave. Two good websites are Wild Birds Unlimited and BestNest. This is my favorite feeder, they also have the one you like but yours cant be adjusted for wt. of the bird. Love the tuteurs and lattice. Check out the lattice from Accents of France he is on Houzz too. He did the lattice for Charlotte Moss. Gorgeous.

    http://shop.wbu.com/p/wbu-eliminator-squirrel-proof-bird-feeder/feeders_squirrel-proof-feeders?pp=12

  • Sandy says:

    Hi Maria, I like your garden boxes. So neat and tidy. Do the height of these boxes keep rabbits and squirrels from nibbling at the garden ? Who would I hire to have such boxes built ? Thanks Sandy

    • Maria Killam says:

      I hired a carpenter to make mine. They are designed this way to keep the slugs out. I’m not sure if they keep out squirrels and rabbits but we don’t have rabbits here and the squirrels haven’t bothered the vegetable beds.

  • Deb Bruna says:

    It is so enjoyable to watch the birds, but once you start feeding them you must commit to the whole winter as you become their food source.

    I had a beautiful copper feeder once that was supposed to be squirrel proof, but the squirrels ate through the plastic bottom.

  • Kathy says:

    Your garden turned out so lovely!

  • karen says:

    Maria, as for birdfeeders, I’m not sure if they will have anything your looking for but Ft Langley has a garden shop and they do have a fair bit of birdfeeders if your in the area. Next time I go, I’ll have a look for you and let you know. Also, Buckerfields sometimes has some cool ones, although I haven’t been in there for a bit. They do have some cute white house ones. Just food for thought.

  • karen says:

    oh and just a note about having bird feeders too close to you house, as they attract rats.lol though not to freak you out.

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