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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

rescued glass

Since our sweet Lesley and Brian are getting married here at the farm this summer, Don and I are into the details of spiffing up the scene for the event. We both love this special excuse to tend to the farm, which will be a nice setting for the vintage-rustic-elegance Lesley envisions. Believe me, it looks a little too rustic right now, if you know what I mean.

Les has always shopped at thrift stores, and so it seems fitting to use previously used or borrowed things in the "something old" and "something borrowed" categories in the old British wedding custom for the bride:

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.


On freecycle Don found a lady who sorts clear glass at a local recycling center and couldn't bear letting these gorgeous bottles get ground up for the next piece of glass. So she gently loaded them in boxes to give away. In fact, she had a few boxes on her porch being picked up by freecyclers. (I got inspired for these photos by Artsy T at flickr. How cool!)

Lesley envisions sunflowers in these bottles on the dinner tables.




We have ordered sunflower seeds by the hundreds. Besides standing in bottles and canning jars, they will also be a backdrop for the ceremony and punctuation around the farm. I hope they'll bloom right when we need them to, but if they don't, the green leafy stalks will be pretty anyway.

In the whorl of Life that is continually recycling, sunflower seeds fall to the ground, germinate and grow into tall new plants the following season. There's really nothing new under the sun, like this tender new love, fresh and bright, that is part of a very old human cycle. How amazing!

72 comments:

ds said...

How wonderful! Congratulations to your daughter and her beau. All of those sunflowers will be stunning

Judy said...

Ruth, wonderful wedding plans! My friend had a wonderful outdoor farm wedding a few years ago. She used garden flowers as well. Visit my blog to see a picture I posted today for you!
Judy-split-in-two (Judy in Iowa)

♥ Kathy said...

I love the bottles and just know the wedding will be beautiful! ♥

Kat said...

I love glass and there have been many bottles I am reluctant to toss to recycle because they are so pretty. I am glad someone rescued these for your wedding party! The sunflowers sound wonderful.

*jean* said...

oooo how exciting! it sounds simply wonderful! i am from north dakota and i love to drive across the state in the summer, through the sunflower fields...blue skies and sunflowers...ain't nothing like it..

Anet said...

Lesley's wedding plans sound lovely! How romatic! Sunflowers, mismatched chairs, old glass jars and the farm. just lovely!!!

VioletSky said...

Sunflowers, with their bright sunny faces turning to the sun...

What a great bold choice.

laura said...

I wish we had freecycle here--what a great resource. The bottles and sunflowers are a spectacular idea--they'll be so beautiful.
When I plant sunflower seeds here, the squirrels get most of them; since there's an acorn shortage this year too, plant extra!!

Unknown said...

lovely lovely lovely!! i am so in love with these photos and can't WAIT to see the glass bottles in person!!! i'm looking at flights today and this week to see if i can come out to the Mich in late April or May. yay!!
loves.

Jill of All Trades said...

So love sunflowers.

NJ said...

Sounds so lovely Ruth. What a great setting for your daughter's wedding. We have a 33 acre plot where we built a house 17 years ago. Actually, the house never got to a fully finished state and hopefully we finish it before the kids get married. My son is engaged but not planning a wedding for another 2 years. I know my daughter would probably love to be married here whenever she meets that man of her dream.

cathyswatercolors said...

I agree with Anet,sunflowers in vintage bottles,mismatched chairs on the farm,what could be better. What a special time in your lives,don't forget to enjoy!

When my girlfriend's daughter got married I was amazed at how calm and happy she was. She glowed as she watched her daughter and son-in-law exchange vows. Later I asked what's your secret,she said a loose fitting dress. Before the wedding she made sure she could bend and wiggle in the mom of the bride dress. She looked great and was comfy too.My other friend was not so pracical. She chose a strapless number that was a little snug and ended up with stomach ache during the event. I think I will wear my P.J.s should my kids get married,black of course:)

Susan said...

It will be such a lovely country wedding! I can picture it already. There are so many varieties of sunflowers. I love them all! Lesley will be a beautiful bride.

p.s. I'll keep an eye out for chairs on our freecycle. It would be a good excuse to visit Ann Arbor. ;)

CottageGirl said...

How lovely!
Congratulations to you and your daughter!
What a special time!
Your farm will look beautiful!
I LOVE sunflowers!
Can't wait to see the pics!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ruth, I love everything I have heard about how you and your family are planning Lesley's wedding.. what a find.. Those bottles are beautiful...

How exciting this will be for you... and what fun planning!

Susan English Mason said...

I'm really glad you rescued the glass before it was too late. Interesting post.

Ravindra Mundkur said...

Congratulations!May your daughters wedding bring many more cheers and glory to your family.
Glass bottles are beautiful.

Dutchbaby said...

What an outstanding idea! The sunflowers should look fantastic in those beautiful bottles. Consider getting delphinium seeds too; I always love how sunflowers and delphiniums look together - very Provencale.

Angela said...

Congratulations on your daughter's wedding. The sunflower idea sounds beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Make sure you upload pictures of the wedding!!!

Babs-beetle said...

That all sounds wonderful! I love sunflowers :O)

myonlyphoto said...

Hey Ruth I love what you did with the bottles. This is very nice photo, and I am sure they will look very nice as a decor. BTW have fun shooting moons now, lol. Anna :)

PeterParis said...

How nice it sounds what you are preparing at your farm! No need to rent castles like many tend to do here in France(costing a fortune for the parents)!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Last Friday, I was part of a huge rubbish zero waste project at a festival. The end station had the awful job of sorting. A lady next to me told me she found a beautiful bottle, too beautiful to recycle. She was going to take it home, sterilse it and use it.

Anonymous said...

I am sure, the scene of the wedding will be just a right kind and what Lesley is hoping, you have a talent to do it.
And I guess, you have already a vision in your head, how everything should appear to be, am I right?

All the best for you!

Ruth said...

Thank you, DS. Lesley proved her love for sunflowers in art school when she made a very large colored pencil drawing of them for her grandparents. She used like 13 different yellows on the flowers. I don't know how many hours went into it, but it's spectacular.

Ruth said...

Dear Judy! I shared the photo you posted of Molly's wedding with my family, and we are hoping for as beautiful a setting as that. Thank you!

Ruth said...

Kathy, thank you for that. In our family we do love to design, and so the pleasure is here even in the anticipation and planning.

Ruth said...

Kat, yes. The problem for us is that we already have too many things piled up that we brought from our last, bigger house. We have stopped going to antique stores because we absolutely don't need anything. Some things we have are heirlooms, so we'll pass them on to our kids and nieces and nephews.

Ruth said...

J and Z, yes, that image of yellow heads against a blue sky is spectacular. And I love how they turn toward the sun. Good symbolism for looking toward life and energy.

Ruth said...

Anet, we have found that everyone who comes to this farm feels at home, comfortable. We are just caretakers here. And so a wedding here seems right, to start off this marriage with loving family and friends in homey surroundings where we can laugh and dance and hopefully not smack too many mosquitoes!

Ruth said...

Hi, Sanna! If you met Lesley, you would know that she is bold too, the way sunflowers are bold. The room brightens up when she enters.

Ruth said...

Laura, thanks for the warning, duly noted.

After talking about what you wrote, Don and I decided to build a temporary fence around and above the tender plants until they are past the nibbling stage. Raccoons ate the seedlings we had on the porch last year and forgot to pull in overnight.

Ruth said...

Oh that would be brilliant, Wesrey!

Ruth said...

Jill, I'm beginning to think it is a universal love.

Ruth said...

NJ - there is nothing like a wedding to motivate you to get things done. So for your sake, I hope it happens. We actually spruce up a little each year for Farm Day for my family in August. This year Farm Day is Farm Wedding Day and will require even more sprucing. It means we'll get things done we keep talking about. Enough talk!

Ruth said...

Haha, Cathy! That's brilliant.

Actually, I was happy to read what you wrote! Because I found my dress for the wedding, after looking at literally thousands online. And it is loose and flowy, so I won't be uncomfortable. In fact, when the package came in the mail from the store, I thought, "oh dear, they sent me a handkerchief by mistake." It was that light!

Ruth said...

Susie Q, how sweet! But you and I don't need an excuse to meet up in Ann Arbor. Let's just plan it! When we are certain there won't be any more ice or snow storms.

Lesley is even going vintage with her hair and jewelry. So fun!

Ruth said...

Hello, CottageGirl! Thank you, oh it's so nice to hear you say you think it will be beautiful. I wish you knew Lesley, she is such a bright soul. And her fiance is very sweet, and I miss him, have only spent a few days with him. I wish they could live closer, but such is life. Thankfully there are $100 airfares sometimes!

Ruth said...

Gwen, I am not surprised that you approve, since you are the Queen of Recycled things. You turn everything to gold with your touch. And you serve as inspiration for Don and me as we work around the farm.

And you know too, that the planning and design is half the fun - if not more! The day will come and go too fast I guess.

Ruth said...

Hi, Pouty, we're lucky this lady too such care with the beautiful glass.

Ruth said...

Oh hi there, and welcome, Prof. Mundkur. Thank you for your congratulations and wishes.

Thank you for the continuous work you do on TuLu studies, I read your posts, even if I don't always comment. I am fascinated by the roots of the Dravidic words. This helps me learn more about India, a country that grows in my heart thanks to wonderful friends I have met online.

Ruth said...

Delphinium! Why didn't I think of them, Dutchbaby? They are purple, and that is one of the colors in the wedding. I think we need to add them to the order. I love that flower.

Ruth said...

Oh thank you, Angie! We are a happy lot around here that Lesley found a wonderful man.

Ruth said...

Ha, Kanmuri! I will share, probably photos of the official photographer, because they will be ours to use as we wish in the package. I don't plan to carry my camera around that day, although I might be tempted.

Ruth said...

Beetle-Babs, thank you. I'm glad you approve. :)

Ruth said...

Hi, Anna, yes, I will let you know when and if I succeed at the moon shots! Thank you again for your excellent tips.

Ruth said...

Hi, Peter! Truth is I bring a little France to this farm because it is in my heart. But you are right that we don't need a castle.

Ruth said...

Good, Ann, some things need to be kept and used. I'm not sure what we will do with these bottles after the wedding. Maybe freecycle them again, maybe with a suggestion in our ad to use them for a wedding.

Ruth said...

Hi, Leena, my dear. Yes, we have ideas in our heads, each of us, and we try to keep talking to bring them together and finalize. What it ends up may be completely different! But whatever it is, we will accept it and enjoy the day.

Anonymous said...

i know there's a malaysian bottle collector in the malaysia book of records [something like guiness book of records but this is only nation].

i thought some bottles r nice as collectible but unfortunately i have no space to put in my house.

Anonymous said...

hello again Ruth, Sunflowers, they are profuse in France, I've always considered growing them , but never actually gor around to it! They do look lovely when displayed, so eye-catching. How exciting hosting a wedding, have the tissues ready; We hosted our third daughter's wedding in our first home in France, it was magic! Delphine

sandy said...

What a great idea to rescue glass and use it for the wedding. The idea of the sunflowers, ohhhh..this is going to be gorgeous. I enjoy hearing more about the plans for the wedding. I could help out in the kitchen and wear by sunflower apron...ha!

maximus said...

Wedding at the farm! It sounds just wishful thinking to me as I live in a city full of blocks of flats. Very romantic indeed...

Amy said...

Oh Ruth! I have missed you so I came by to wave hello and say the wedding will be so well done just look at those bottles! it's all in the little details:) I too would have swooped them up. xo

CottageGirl said...

Hey Ruth!

We are so fortunate that travel by air is so routine these days! Your daughter is just a flight away!

I can't imagine how much you miss her.

You know one of our sons and his wife lived a bit of a distance from us for 5 years...They have moved back since, but I really miss those visits with them...it seems that there was more quality time together...fixing breakfasts as a group, staying up late talking into the night, my DH and son doing their guitar thing together.

Now we get to see them quite frequently which is great, don't get me wrong, but do miss those long weekends we shared.

I teach first grade and my theme or trademark of my classroom is sunflowers! So friendly and welcoming!

I just LOVE the thought of sunflowers at a country wedding. How symbolic. Strong and tall ... symbolic for the love the happy couple share..yet delicate petals representing the sweet tenderness beginning a new life together brings. Above all.. a bright future!

I'm excited for you!!

photowannabe said...

Something old and something new. This is going to be a delightful wedding. You must take at least a gazillion pictures. Sunflowers in the vintage bottles..it will be fantastic.

Ruth said...

Renaye, I so understand not having room for more.

And I think "The Malaysian Bottle Collector" sounds like a great book title.

Don't know why but I am hearing book titles everywhere.

Ruth said...

Oh, Delphine! Maybe you can give me some tips for the day - besides tissues.

I think sunflowers do belong in the south of France, and I do what I can to bring France here to the farm.

Ruth said...

Aunty Sandy, oh! That would be so cool! :D

I saw that you might be getting snow??!!

Ruth said...

MAXIMUS, we feel fortunate to live on this farm. I'll be sure to share some pictures.

Ruth said...

Amy! Did you know I came by yesterday to see what had become of you? Your timing is impeccable. I've missed you too, and your beautiful photos. Hope Mad is all better and you are well too.

Ruth said...

CottageGirl, I actually don't like flying much, because I feel it's too fast, and disrupts our equilibrium. But when it gets me to our girl quicker, I am grateful. We got cheap flights for April.

Ah, you teach first grade. Don teaches 3rd, but he's feeling they're a little young for him this year. He might move up to 4th again. Your students must love the sunflower happiness in your room. First graders are so sweet!

I do hope all the sunflowers will bloom. We just got the seeds in the mail yesterday. Lots of planting ahead, and let's hope we can keep the deer off them.

Ruth said...

CottageGirl, I meant to say that your times together sound like ours, and so wonderful. I must say I can't stay up late with the other 3 any more though, my cycle has changed to early rising and early sleeping.

Ruth said...

Hi, Sue. I have told myself I won't carry a camera around, but you never know! The photo package the kids are getting lets them use them all freely, so I may post some professional ones here. :)

Loring Wirbel said...

Maybe this is the pack rat talking, but I can't figure out why anyone would ever want to throw out antique glass bottles.

Ruth said...

Loring, be happy you don't have outbuildings! Or maybe you do!

Loring Wirbel said...

An oversized garage filled with glorious clutter.

Bob Johnson said...

What a cool idea, my daughter is getting married in June, I shall pass this on to the powers that be and see if they can use something similar, love the pics.

GailO said...

...this sounds like it will be a wonderful wedding...sunflowers are just about my favorite flower...I will never forget driving across country with my husband to be and coming across a field of sunflowers as far as the eye could see somewhere in the midwest...it was astonishing to us...somewhere there is an old slide of it!

Ruth said...

Oh, congratulations, Bob, that's great! I think for her sunflowers and moonflowers too would be in order.

Ruth said...

Oliag, I've been trying to figure out how people plant and raise those fields of sunflowers, because the deer just love to eat the little seedlings.