Salvaged path, trellis, edging in the garden.

I'm trying to spend my money on shrubs and perennials, so I couldn't see spending 29+ dollars each on trellises. So I went to my aunt and uncle's farm and scavenged around. This was a looong ladder, and my uncle cut it in half for me. Just propped them where I have some morning glories planted. It might need some chicken wire for the plants to climb, but I can still add that.

The bottle tree needs a few more bottles. I guess I'll have to sacrifice for the cause and drink some wine selected by bottle color! The iron pieces are parts of a farm tool (rake?) that I bought at a garage sale. I've got some cosmos planted in there and these should help keep them upright when it rains.

My friend Warren colored the pic up for me, showing what the ladders would look like if they were stained to match the deck, with and without the rungs painted colors. I really like the one with colorful rungs, but I also love the old weathered look they have now. Looking at these pics, I can see how much simpler it looks with the ladders matching the deck color.  I wish I could change the deck railing from sunbursts to straight as well, and I will one of these days. I think the sunburst is a bit too contemporary for my bungalow, plus the gaps are too wide to be safe with little children.

Backyard to Garden (someday)

The front of my house is nicely landscaped (came to me that way!) but the back is a blank canvas. It has a very nice deck, for which I'm so thankful, since that would be an expensive place to start if it  hadn't come with one! The deck is like 3 little rooms stepping down to the back yard. Other than that there were no shrubs or trees or flowers.

Last year, I stained and sealed the deck, and planted this cherry tree. Or rather Jeff planted it...he did all the hard part, and since he planted gazillions of trees at his old house, he really knows what he is doing!

Here is how it ended up last summer. It was pleasant to sit out there, but the yard was still as blank as could be. 

 Behind the tallest part of the deck, I've been working on digging up a flower bed. There is a little door that accesses under the deck, and I laid stepping stones I found behind the garage (free! wooohooo!). I edged it with some bricks Jeff found in his yard. Tonight I'll scrub up those stepping stones and level them out with some sand.

This house is more a more casual style than the last one, and I think it lends itself to my penchant for recycling things. 

This is the yard at the old house. As you can see, I like to have some color! So hopefully soon I will have some here too. I will if I can keep the darn squirrels from digging the plants out of the pots. I had to replant the marigolds they tossed out this morning. Maybe they don't like marigolds?!

Up-cycling...making a planter box

 I am working on my back yard. It has a very nice deck but no plants. I'm also trying to spend my money on the plants that live from year to year, shrubs and such, so I'm getting creative with the other stuff. This wooden box was in my garage. I planted it with morning glories and then some other flowers in the front. Then I decided it was too plain.

 So I sat down on the ground and screwed some old license plates to it. That would have been soo much easier if I'd thought of it before I filled it with dirt and plants! Anyway, I think it turned out pretty cute, and I can't wait to see it with a bunch of blue morning glories growing up the side of the garage.

I set it on some bricks to help keep it from rotting, and attached chicken wire at the back.

Bottle Trees

 I was on my way home from visiting my daughter in Kentucky when I saw these bottle trees. They are in a town near ours...Forrest, IL. The yard is completely filled with all kinds of yard art...a bit much for me, but you have to admire someone who isn't afraid to indulge their passion. My favorite part was the beautiful bottle trees...there are even more than these two, but I thought these were stunning because they have so many more colors than I usually see on bottle trees.

I want to have one like this in my back yard. My son thinks we can make it happen. I've already been saving bottles...some from friends, and some from me picking my drinks by what pretty color bottle they come in! LOL

It's for the Birds

It was beautiful out today. Although I was pretty lazy this morning, I did putter around the yard for a little bit this morning. It's still to early to put out flowers, but I washed out the birdbath and filled it up.

It's the first mosaic project I ever did. I wondered how long this birdbath would last, and to tell you the truth, I've been pleasantly surprised. I made this probably at least 9 years ago. In the winter we take the top off and lean it against a tree so water does not freeze and thaw in it. With that little care, I expected it to fall apart long ago, but it's still looking pretty good!

Little by little, I've been saving snippets of yarn and tucking them in a jar. Today I put the yarn and some lint from the dryer in the bag some oranges came in, and hung it out for the birds. We did this last year too, and when we cleaned out the birdhouses it was fun to see all the nests with woven with twigs and bits of wool.

Christmas Cactus

Isn't this lovely? Honestly, all the variety in nature just boggles the mind. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about all the time and energy I spend making things and and just trying to make things pretty. You know, especially when I think of some of my friends who are nursing or teaching school children or practicing environmental law and such (God bless my brainy friends!). Then I think about how God could have had everything the same color, maybe a few designs of flora and fauna, but instead, look what he did.....He gave us so much color and variety. Animals that just make us stop in wonder! Some that are so odd looking that we just have to laugh. And then I realize that He made me the way I am and gave me that desire to create.

On a more practical note, my house plants have to be tough, since I frequently forget to water them. I just brought the last ones off the front porch today and even though we've had a few snow flakes already, they are still alive! I bought this Christmas Cactus last year and it spent the summer on the back porch. It's been inside for a couple of weeks now....I went into the living room today to water it and saw that it was bursting into bloom. Maybe it's a Thanksgiving Cactus!

A little indoor garden junk....I use little chairs as plant stands. This plant is sitting in a little wheelchair that my granddad made for his oldest daughter who had Spina Bifida. He designed a wheelchair that she could use herself, and would be low to the ground so she could play with toys on the floor like other kids. Sadly, back then they did not know how to operate for SB and she died when she was five. Grandaddy and Nana refined the design and added an option for a stroller handle and marketed them to hospitals. There's that creative thing again....but boy, inspired by their daughter, they really did think of something that helped people. Every time I look at that chair I think about how much they loved their kids.

Fun in South Haven, Michigan

Two days after my laptop was stolen, we left for a vacation at our family's cottage in Michigan. I'll share some pics from there later, but I thought I'd share a day when we went to the little lakeshore town of South Haven. It's a charming little town with all kinds of wonderful little shops and historic places to visit.

Most of my pictures from that day are from a garden shop called Sweet Summer Gardens just to the south of South Haven on M140. The lady who owns this shop has the sweetest garden surrounded by picket fence. Don't you just love the little fanciful greenhouse? They are building another one out of salvaged materials but I don't think it will be done until next summer. If you click any of the pictures you can see them in more detail...I left them fairly large because there is so much to see.

They display and sell the work of several area artisans in their garden as well as selling plants. I loved this tin man.

And this one too! Wonderful garden junk! I think this one one is 175.oo.
Another view of the garden. Some of the paths were bark lined with bricks and some were all brick.

The gent who lives here makes wonderful chimes and whimseys from bottles and jars found on the property. Somehow he makes many of them look like beach glass....maybe with a rock tumbler?
Now how is this for a cute, cute fence? It surrounded a sweet little cottage in a South Haven neighborhood. Each post is topped by a dutch shoe.....and Holland MI is not far from here.
Here's one of the many charming shops in the downtown area. It's a lovely downtown with plantings that are very inspiring. There are a wide variety of shops and a wonderful upscale doggie boutique called Decadent Dogs. If you want to spoil your dog, that's the place. You could spend a fortune there or just buy your pooch a treat that looks good enough for us to eat! I didn't try to take Hawkeye into the shops, but I was pleased to see that many of the shops had a dog bowl with fresh water right outside their entrance.

If you are looking strictly for beaches I would recommend St. Joseph instead of South Haven. The beach in S. Haven is not bad, but not as beautiful or as big as Silver Beach in St. Joe.

I'm happy to be back up and running online again. I guess I got quickly spoiled having a computer I could tote anyplace I want.

Grand Haven on Dwellable

Stars and Stripes Everywhere!

Today after work I drove around admiring all the flags. This is not a pretty bridge, but the town decks it out with flags on the holidays and that makes it beautiful and fun to drive down.
They've also started putting flower boxes all along the bridge and it does make it look nicer.
I stopped on the other side of town to take a picture of a whirly gig that I saw while garage sale-ing. Bicycle wheels and funnels...I love it. The lady who lived here was nice to tell me I could take a picture.
Back home again on the patio, having a Coke. My little fountain needs a bigger basin...it's splashing quite a bit. I'd love to have a good sized fish pond to put him in. And a picket fence..I think that would be very cute all around our yard. What do you wish you had in your yard?

Painting Progress plus a little scenery

As you can see we are close to being done with the front. Joe has been reputtying the windows and replacing bad wood as he goes along. We still have to scrape and paint the front of the porch and the left side of the bay area. We did scrape and prime the porch posts before the party because they were peeling so badly. Also, the inside of the front porch is done. I don't know when I've seen a spring when it rained so many days....it rained again this afternoon, so we didn't get to paint today.
Here is a scene from the Illinois countryside. This is a big garden junk project! A farmer put a toy horse in the field to mark a vent that they kept hitting with the tractor....then people started donating more horses and pretty soon he had a little herd. It makes me smile whenever I drive by this field.
This sign is outside a local nursing home to warn drivers to watch out for pedestrians. It was designed by a local artist and I think it's very sweet. It also makes me smile whenever I pass this way.

Birdbath Bling and Peeking at Prom

This is one of those trash to treasure projects that I love. I did post about it a long time ago, but since I filled it up today for the first time this spring, I thought I'd show it again. The birdbath is one we'd had a long time and it developed a hairline crack and wouldn't hold water very long.
I used GE Silicone 2 to put marbles, tiles, coins and bits of dishes on the old birdbath. Then I grouted with sanded grout. I sealed it with a sealer available at Lowes. It says it's safe to use around food products. It seems to be safe for the birds too.
I know now that the silicone is probably not the proper thing to use on this project but it's held up well for several years. I try to haul the top of the birdbath to the basement for the winter, but for the last 2 winters we just leaned it against a tree so no water could collect and freeze....and it seems to be fine.
Here's a little peek at daughter's prom dress. It's pretty amazing.
And she got a sassy manicure to match.

Biking and Garden Junk

Today Joe and I took a bike ride on the Fox River Aqueduct Trail...which wasn't so great because it's still pretty muddy from the flooding last week. I fell and got myself all muddy.
We tried to stop in to eat at this little deli, but they were closed for the holiday. Don't they have great garden junk?! I don't know what all this stuff is. It was a cheese shop and deli...and I think some of this stainless stuff is dairy equipment.
These begonias look cute in the old coffee pot.

We ended up at the river..the water is mesmerizing. This was just an ugly bridge pier reflecting in the water, but it sure looks pretty with the sun on it.

Playing at the Lake....

A little painting...

cousins goofing off.......
summertime reading (what better than a Luanne Rice story!) ....
And some garden junk.... Lifevests waiting for a ride..
not wanting to get out of the water!
Common lilies in the sun... It was all so nice and relaxing. Joe got to go with us for the whole week and he and Mike and our brother in law Doug and his son Adam mountain biked until they couldn't stand almost every day. I'm going to have to try to get pics of that favorite activity...but I'm a little afraid to even see what they are up to out there!