There’s an old wooden sideboard opposite the door to the coat/shoe lobby by our front door. We bought it at a local auction not long after we’d moved here, when didn’t have enough furniture to fill the house. It houses dog-walking paraphernalia, torches, the sat-nav, and assorted random stuff. Mostly assorted random stuff; we have a lot of that. There’s a pewter bowl on top where we keep our keys. We use three sets of these keys regularly and I’m not sure what all the others are for. Some of them could be from sheds-gone-by but we daren’t throw any away just in case. Anyway, I digress. As the sideboard is the first thing you see when you come into the kitchen, I like to have a jug of flowers there and any other treasures from my walks or from the garden. This is often where my Monday vases end up after I’ve photographed them so I thought I’d show you this weeks in situ.
My vase (jug) today is an amalgamation of leftovers from last week’s (the feathery Stipa tenuisima, sedum and aster) with a few more stems of aster – the four large plants in the back garden looking lovely right now – a few sprigs of lavender (from trimmings) and a few cosmos flowers. The cosmos plants have perked up following the recent rain and are sending out more vibrant blooms, which seems like an autumnal gift. I do love this annual – it gives you loads of bang for your buck. You can just see a small yellow flower to the left of the bunch – the surviving ‘Valentine’ sunflower sent out one final flower last week, too tiny to develop into a seedy feast for the birds so I snipped it off for the vase.
The overall effect is very pink. There’s not a lot of pink in this house so it adds a little vibrancy and warmth, and makes me smile. I’m off to have a look at Cathy’s Monday vase and a few others while I drink my coffee.
Wishing you a good week.
acoastalplot 
I love that stipa, don’t you? It’s so tactile. Love your pink vase too and well done for recycling the previous contents – I often have a pot of leftovers on one of the kitchen windowsills, currently last week’s miscanthus. I agree cosmos are such good value – must take my little net bags out next time I ramble to trap those seeds for next year! Thanks for sharing Sam
LikeLike
Not much pink in this house either, in fact I was going to do a post about it, but there was so little I haven’t done it yet. Love the flowers, especially the pink aster, it’s something I’ve been on the lookout for, I understand bees love them. Lovely sideboard, I can see how useful it must be right by the door. Have a good week Sam. CJ xx
LikeLike
I like your little jug and the fact that you put it on a plate with the conkers. I love to collect conkers and interesting seed heads at this time of year. Some of the pink flowers about now are a lovely autumnal pink, but are also still a reminder of summer.
LikeLike
I love the impact of the single colour theme. Really cheerful for a cold dark day. It’s been the coldest day so far here. I’ve had to plug in the greenhouse heater and bring in the guinea pig. She’ll live in comfort in the greenhouse for the winter. Nice and snug – surrounded by all my frost tender plants
LikeLike
How pretty! I love pink but I rarely wear it or decorate with it. I really should, though, especially that dark shade like your flowers. I think that made a very cheerful bouquet. Hope you have a good week ahead, Sam.
LikeLike
Such vibrant colours – irresistible!
LikeLike
Lovely, Sam. I agree, cosmos do feel like an extra gift in autumn, bravely blooming their little hearts out ’til frost ends their reign.
LikeLike
I like the tablescape with a platter of conkers
LikeLike
Agree about the beautiful cosmos. All my seedlings died/refused to germinate so I had none this year and have been lost without it. And it’s fun to see vases in their actual destination spots – thank you for this little glimpse into your home life, and for showing us these beautiful flowers.
LikeLike
So pretty Sam, cosmos are a favourite of mine x
LikeLike
Pink is good for the soul, I love it. A splash of pink here and there really brightens up things. I hope that one year I will successfully grow cosmos. A sideboard like yours sounds invaluable. I glad to hear other people have sets of keys for the unknown lock, too. x
LikeLike
I have a pink dahlia and pink zinnias at the plot and neither shows any signs of giving up – yet. I think your pink posy looks really lovely in situ. I should really pretty up my hall, especially after giving it a long overdue clean yesterday.
LikeLike
That’s a most attractive aster Sam. Do you know which variety it is? We have an abundance of mystery keys too which have proliferated over the years.
LikeLike
A lovely jug, Sam. My husband’s grandmother’s dressing table sits in our hall. We had to buy it at auction but that’s another story! It houses hats, scarves and dog collars and also gathers found treasures just as you describe. It often reminds me of the class nature table from primary school days. Isn’t it interesting, the things that make a house feel like home?
LikeLike
What a lovely splash of vibrant colour. I bet they make you smile whenever you walk past them xx
LikeLike
A lovely combination which is so pretty. It must be lovely seeing your Monday vase welcoming you home. Sarah x
LikeLike
I’m always surprised by how much pink is in my garden as it’s not my favorite color; however, it is a very cheerful color and the vivid pinks in your vase are especially so. That aster is wonderful.
LikeLike
‘There’s an old wooden sideboard opposite the door’, this is the sort of domestic detail I love to read, it is so evocative. Your jug of dlowers looks very pretty against the wood.
LikeLike