The Project that got away from me

     Have you ever decided to do something you thought would only take a little bit of time and it turned into something bigger? Well that happened to me this summer. I decided I needed to redo our fairy garden. I did a post in October 2014 about it, see: A Dance With Fairies. The problem with the location was the fact it was under a tree. The squirrels kept running through and knocking things over. I thought it would be better if we got it up off the ground. And so the project began. It started with my husband building a frame for a platform to place the fairy houses, etc on. In the notched out areas he placed wood slats.

    So now how do we get it up off the ground? We still had some concrete blocks from when we did the mound (see previous post). But who wants dull ole grey. I know let's paint them.

Before

During (enlisting the help of the grandson)

After

     Here's the finished platform. Over the wood slats we placed wire and then some indoor/outdoor grass carpet. Now I had a larger area then before so of course you need to make more houses to fill up the space.

I bought this little gazebo at Ben Franklin store. I painted it green and glued on the pine cone seed scales, then sprayed with clear coat. The little hanging baskets are made from tooth picks. The table and chairs I made from popsicle sticks and colored floral wire I found at the dollar store. I also made the weather vane on top from the same wire. Below you'll also see some bicycles I made from wire and buttons.

What better use for an old leather boot then to make a house for the Old Lady with so many children she didn't know what to do.

My grandson wanted a castle. I found this one at Michael's. I sprayed it with off white textured paint, then hand painted the rest. I made the draw bridge from popscile sticks and some chain from my jewelry making stash.

After we got everything set up I realized the area was getting too hot from the sun. So of course we made a sun shade. We also have a tarp nearby in case of rain. A fairy land wouldn't be complete without fairy lights. I found some solar string lights on line. We stapled them around the outside edge. Now it looks just as lovely at night as it does during the day.

Our local nursery sells fun things for fairy gardens. When our granddaughter was here for a visit we had to go and pick out a few more things. She and the grandson had fun arranging things. Everything got moved numerous times. Since Rex got his name on the castle she got to pick a house. This was her choice.

     This project started around the first part of April. I think we might finally be done. Or at least until I think of something else.

A thought to ponder: "Your mind is the garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds."                          William Wordsworth

Participating in: Inspiration Monday, Seasons, Outdoor Wednesday, Grand Social

Garden Therapy: Evolution

     A garden is a living thing, therefore it will change and evolve over time. In this post I thought I would share another area of our garden that has changed over the twenty plus years we have lived in our home. Because our yard is so large and has many different areas we have given these spaces names. This helps us when we are talking about doing something to a certain spot. The area I'm sharing today we call "the mound".

1994

     This started out as a pile of dirt that was left over from the building of our house when they dug the foundation. We decided to leave it and plant flowers and shrubs on it, also a couple trees behind.

1995

2001

     This was fine for several years, but over time we were having problems with grass growing in among the plants. It was becoming difficult to maintain. So we thought about what we could do to make maintenance easier. The following photos show the changes we made in 2008.

     As you can see we decided to build a block wall. We were able to buy the concrete blocks cheaply, they came from a building that had been torn down.

The wall is starting to take shape. My husband used rebar and concrete inside the blocks to help hold them in place.

Here is the wall the following year in 2009. We faced the block with lattice and topped it with rustic tiles. The back part of the mound just slopes down to meet the ground behind.

     The following photos show what the area looks like today. As you can see the plants have filled in nicely. We put down weed barrier cloth and then covered that with rocks. It is now pretty low maintenance. 

And a few little embellishments for fun.

I have three different ones that glow at night

     It is fun to look back at the old photos and see the transformation that has taken place over the years. Gardening is certainly not for the impatient.

A thought to ponder: " To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."

                                                                                     Audrey Hepburn 

Participating in:Grand Social, Amaze Me Monday, Seasons, Wednesday Around the World, Share Your Cup

Building a Herb Garden

     We've had a particularly nice spring this year here in Wyoming. No late unexpected snow or frosts. Our garden is blooming up a storm. I thought in this post I would share photos of our herb garden. As I've mentioned before we've been in this house over twenty years, building the garden from nothing. 

 The above photo was taken in 1993 and shows the laying out of the pathways.

    I'm sorry this photo isn't better but it was before the digital age. But you can see the path goes through the structure with two off shoots on either side and a circle area in the center.

     This photo was taken the following year and you can see things are starting to grow. 

     This photo was taken in 1997. As you can see the grape vines are doing nicely. The far end arbor has hops growing.

     This was the following year. We found that hops was not a good idea, also the store bought arbors were not holding up under the weight of them or the grapes. So my husband built sturdier ones that are still doing well.

     Here's a winter shot. We had to wait until the grapes died back for the winter and rebuilt that arbor in the early spring. You can see more photos of the grape arbor in my post from last year, Invasion of the Grape Snatchers.

     Here's a recent look at the pathways. You might note that I have my basil planted in a pot. It is very tender, so this makes it easier to move inside if there is a threat of colder weather.

We replaced the hops with these beautiful 'William Baffin' roses.

                                                                                                                 

In the center is a sun dial surrounded by lavender. 

     I love mint and have several varieties growing. But if your not careful it can take over the garden. We came up with a way to keep it under control.

     Because mint's roots spread close to the surface we were able to bury metal and plastic culvert about six inches in the ground. This contains the plants nicely. The photo below shows the start of the spring growth.

     The next photo shows my pineapple mint now. I also have apple mint, spearmint, chocolate mint and orange mint. All of them add a lovely fragrance to the garden. And can be a wonderful addition to certain drinks and other recipes. 

     Here are a few more pictures of some of my herbs. Starting at upper left; oregano with some chives in front, thyme, sage, parsley. A few others that I have growing are; lemon balm, tarragon, rosemary, lemon thyme, catnip, savory.

     Having an herb garden right out my back door makes for easy access when I'm cooking and want fresh herbs. Some days I just enjoy walking through and touching the herbs to release their aroma. 

Participating in:Grand Social, Share the Joy, Seasons, Outdoor Wednesday, Share Your Cup

A thought to ponder: "Herbs are the friend of the physician and the pride of cooks."                                                                        Charlemagne

Out of the Mouths of Babes

      Young children have a tendency to say whatever is on their minds. They don't really have any filters. That's why many times they say things that are funny and even profound. Now days you can find parents posting all over the internet the things their children have said, sometimes to their embarrassment. When our grandson was around four we were at the bank and he said he needed to use the bathroom. I said, " Ok, we'll ask the lady over there where the bathroom is." As we walk over he says in his loudest voice, "Hey lady, do you have a bathroom in this place?"

     As I've mentioned in another post, A Ready Made Friend, Rex and his cousin really enjoy each other when they get together. Another bathroom incident that happened later that year when she came for a visit, was at a very nice restaurant. He and his parents had gotten to the restaurant first and were waiting for the rest of us to arrive. He had to use the bathroom, so his mother got up to take him. About half way there he turned around and hollered, "Daddy tell Mimi I'll be back, tell her I'm going poop."

     One thing I wish I'd done when my kids were young was to write down more of the funny and interesting things that they said. I've tried to be a little more diligent about writing the words of my grandchildren. But even so I know I've missed some gems.

         When Miranda (aka Mimi) was visiting us she saw a picture of herself, at a little over one year old, in my bedroom. She looked at it and said, "I'm so adorable". What could I say, I had to agree. When she was four she went to a school carnival. Her mother asked her if she had fun, "yes, but I got cotton candy on my hands, it was a sticky situation."

     Rex had been learning songs for his preschool Christmas concert. On the day of the concert all the children got up on stage to sing. Rex was in front, but he just stood there and never sang a word. When his Dad asked him afterwards why he didn't sing when he knew the songs; his reply, "my brain got sick."

     Although the grand kids are getting older they can still make us laugh. When we were visiting our granddaughter this past January, we saw her newly decorated bedroom. When my husband told her he thought it was very lovely, she said, "I'm glad to hear the big guy likes it." 

     Our grandson really wanted his Dad to receive a certain video game for his birthday (because he wanted to play it of course). So he tells me, "I want to get the video game for my Dad." Me: "Do you have any money?" Him: "No, that's what you're for." He didn't get the money. So he went to his grandfather. Him: "Poppy can I borrow $40." Poppy: "No."  Him: "I didn't think so, but just thought I'd ask." 

     When I retired I was given some frog statues for our garden as a gift.

      Technology pops up everywhere now days, as shown by the frog with the cell phone. It also affects the way kids view the world. After looking at these frogs our grandson said, "Hey Poppy, this frog doesn't have any apps on his phone."

     Take my advice carry a notebook with you at all times. You never know what is going to pop out of the mouths of babes. You think you'll remember but many times you don't and it would be a shame to miss a special remark. You might want to look into Little Hoots, it's an app you can get for recording what your child says. I haven't tried it but it might be worth checking out.

A thought to ponder: "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."                          Angela Schwindt

Participating in:Grand Social, Share the Joy, Amaze Me Monday, Seasons, Through My Lens, Share Your Cup

Spring Time is for the Birds

     One of the things I like about living in Wyoming is that we have changing seasons. After the snow finally disappears for good, we enjoy walking around the yard looking for what is emerging from its winter sleep.

Daffodils are usually the first flowers to bloom. 

The crab apple trees are in full bloom now, adding a cheerful pink to the landscape.

     I also look forward to the return of the robins, a sure sign that spring has arrived. We always seem to have one or two build a nest somewhere in our yard. In fact we have one now working on building a nest in about the same spot as the one below.

  

      This brave mama built under our eves, right outside our back door several years ago. It made for a perfect spot for us to view the progress of nest building, sitting on the eggs and feeding of the babies. I was able to get a pretty good shot of her hungry offspring. 

     We have all kinds of wildlife and many different birds in our backyard. You can see more photos of our wildlife by visiting one of my earlier posts: Who's in Your Garden. We always have an abundance of chickadees. A few years ago we were happy to see them build a nest in a bird house we had received as a gift. It was great fun watching their comings and goings.

A thought to ponder: "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."                                            John Ruskin

Participating in: Grand Social, Share the Joy, Seasons, Through my Lens, Amaze Me Monday, Our World Tuesday, Wednesday Around the World, Share Your Cup