Red

I love unique pieces and the lady that makes this garden art is so creative I can't miss the opportunity to buy one of her pieces anytime I see her at a craft show.  Meet Red the crane, she's a scaled down version of Youcrane that I bought last year.  Hand shaped and welded her body is an enamel sauce pan edged in red.  Right now she's in the kitchen holding an aloe plant.  I smile every time I see her.  Gizzy doesn't know what to think.

garden fun

I love garden ornaments that are unusual and not mass produced.  I picked these cuties up at a recent craft show.  The top dragon fly is an old wood bobbin, washers and wire.  The bottom is an old Christmas light bulb, wire and washers.  Both are on metal stakes and poked into flower pots.  The rustier they get the cooler they look and both were under $10.

almost instant centerpiece

I bought this fish bowl for .50 last week and decided it would make a great vase for my table.  I picked 3 small sunflowers with the stems really short and just popped them into the water.  In less time than it took me to say "I wonder how long it will take the cats to get into this." There was Dusty bobbing for sunflowers, trying to pull them out.  They take them out, I put them in, hours of endless fun.  The two fuzzy looking flowers are my favorite Teddy Bear variety.  They stay short, less than 24" and the flowers are perfect for arrangements.  I'm not sure what the other one is but its plant is only about 30" tall.

helpers

First a big HAPPY 40th  BIRTHDAY to our son Ron.  You have become such a great man, husband and father and we are so proud of you

Our yard is large and filled with flower beds.  With AH working so many hours and the weird weather we've been having, I can't keep up with all the work.  I hired these two youngsters to help me out.  Actually I hired the older boy and since he watches his younger brother while his parents work he came as part of the package. Their grandma is a good friend of mine and they go to our church. So far  they have helped plant flowers, mulch, put in the new hosta bed, weeded and last week put in a new path from the street into the yard.  They are hard working, energetic, strong, polite and fun to be around. I really appreciate how much they have accomplished this summer.  AH appreciates it even more because he doesn't have to do the work.

hard workers

almost finished

how to make a tussy mussy

A tussy mussy is a small hand held bouquet of flowers that were given as gifts during Victorian times. Ladies would carry them to sniff when the nasty odors of no indoor plumbing and not so regular bathing became too much. When the tussy mussy was given as a gift the flowers usually each had a different meaning.  We went to a wedding last week and my grand daughter wanted to give the bride a gift so this is what we came up with.  If a nine year old can do it with little help so can you.  What a charming present for a sick friend or elderly neighbor.  There are many resources on line that can list flowers and their meanings if you want to include that with your gift.

You will need:
flowers, leaves and herbs that will dry well and smell great
rubber band
cutters
satin ribbon 1/2-3/4" wide
Starting  with your central flower held in your hand then add more flowers or herbs around it.  When the group is about 5-6" around fasten with the rubber band.  Trim the stems to 4"  Wrap the stems with ribbon to within 1" of bottom and tie off, a drop of hot glue will hold everything in place if you are worried about it coming apart.  Add a bow from the same ribbon if you like.
Stand the bouquet in a coffee cup with a small amount of water until you are ready to give it.  If you like add a card with the meaning of each flower and instructions to hang upside down to dry.  It will last for years when dry.

the beautiful artist and designer, all I did was show her which flowers would work best and wrapped the stems, she did the rest.

new bed

Yards and gardens change and grow throughout the years.  When we put in our front beds that line the side walks, they were in full sun.  Now the east bed has a large maple tree that makes it very shady.  Time to rethink the lilies, roses and sedum that are there.  I had AH mow around the tree and several feet out. The young man that is helping with the gardens, his brother and my grand daughter laid down card board and mulch.The two younger kids painted some yard sale chairs and we made new seats for them.  A quick lesson on how to use an impact driver and the chairs were whole again. with AH's help we dug and  transplaned several of my hosta that need divided.  We  added the two chairs, a rusty free a table, solar light and bird bath.  The kids worked hard, hopefully learned a few things and the new bed looks great.  Is it perfect, no but they had a great time and who cares if the paint isn't perfect?

before

crowded beds, it is good for hostas to be divided every few years

great helper

I could not have nearly this much garden without this guys help

bird bath won't hold water but does a great job of holding a plant

after the hostas will fill in quickly

close up of chairs and table

dirt bag

I saw this on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try.  Just poke holes in the bottom of a large bag of potting soil, cut a large square out of the top.  Add seeds and water.  I did this three weeks ago and look at the difference.  I planted spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes and mixed lettuce.  Salad for supper tonight.  We should get several salads from the bags and when we'er done I will recycle the soil back into the garden.

spring time flowers

 We have had what seems to be a very long, wet dreary spring so the burst of spring flowers seems even more beautiful.

blue bells a native Illinois wild flower

even dandelions brighten my day

red twig dogwood growing in and around the mini green house

I've had so many people stop and ask what these are, they are huge double ruffle tulips

lilac time is way too short

Spring is springing

A few warm days and flowers are popping up every where.  The daffodils and tulips are blooming and my green house plants are really growing.  They should be ready for planting by mothers day.  I haven't been able to work outside much due to the remodeling we have going on.  I do intend to spend at least an hour every day this next week cleaning out beds and cutting back plants.

zinnias and sunflowers

dill and basil

I love pink tulips

daffy

There is no oter spring flower that smells as great as hyacinth 

A touch of spring

We had a tease of spring a couple of weeks ago then it got cold again.  What better way to brighten the winter blahs than a visit to a green house.  Prairie Gardens/ Jeffery Alan's had an open house this last week end.  I love walking in a warm sun filled  green house dreaming of every thing I could buy and plant.  Then reality hits and I picked up just a few things to brighten up the house and plant outside early.  I bought pansies, primroses and a few herbs.

pansies and johnny jump ups in a chamber pot

I refinished these containers from a very drab olive to this antique white.  I'll plant the herbs when I have more time

Primrose in a little yellow drawer will brighten a table or shelf

What do you do to make your home feel like spring?

last hurrah

A hard freeze is coming and these are probably going to be my last cut flowers from the garden for the year.  I love flowers and I really miss being able to go out and cut whenever I want.  For the next several months I will have to depend on blooming plants, forced bulbs and cut bouquets from the grocery store for my flower fix.  After a long cold winter I will anxiously wait for the first daffodils, lilacs and tulips to bloom.

garden explosion

The garden is just exploding with colors.

Usually by late July the garden flowers are tired of the heat and starting to slow down.  No this year, the cooler weather has made the blooms heavier and longer lasting.  This is just a little tour of the blooms.

We're done YEA!!!

The patio we've been working on since the beginning of summer is done, well almost.  We are still in discussion on what to do with the stump at the end.  My idea is to put a stacked ring of bricks around it and form a flower bed.  AH wants to have the stump ground out and carry the bricks all the way across to add extra square footage.  When we christened the patio last weekend with neighbors, family and s'mores we really could have used a table.  For now the patio is usable and we really enjoy it.  I'm still having nightmares about cleaning bricks but at least my shoulders and neck don't hurt all the time.  A big project like this is hard work but we do get a lot of satisfaction from completing the job.  The total cost was about $500, most of that was the fire pit at $300 and the sand at around $100.

Great looking fire pit we bought as a kit at Menards.  In the background is the bench we made from a head board and a table made from the base of a bird bath and a pizza pan

Cool vintage chairs spray painted just the right colors.  Even cooler grand daughter.

Nina and Kathy, they have listened to all my moaning and groaning all summer long

That paddle in my grandsons hand is a bug zapper, I don't think there were any bugs on his mom

Dose this guy ever put his phone away???

instant garden bed, 8 clearance plants, 5 bags of mulch a couple of decorations.  We put this all in in less than an hour.

We still have a brick pile just much smaller.  The stool is what I cleaned all the bricks on so it has to stick around.

The end of the patio for now until we decide what to do with the stump.

Thrifted vanity chair, spray paint and when the fern wouldn't stay up right a couple of paint sticks to keep it level.

I put all my buckets and big pots of herbs around for color and scent.