Monday, May 31, 2010

In celebration of Debbie's new garage.....

I decided to 'de-hoard' my garage and muck it out. I like to keep my truck parked in my garage instead of sitting out on the driveway cluttering up the neighborhood. But my landscaping efforts at the beginning of May made my usual 'messy' habits even worse. These pictures were taken on May 10th and are the 'before' pictures - don't worry, Debbie, the 'after' pictures are below these! I know Bob will be proud!

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Yep - even the attic was stuffed!!
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Today I finished 'de-hoarding' the garage. I still have to put up hooks for various implements, jackets, extension cords, etc. I have the hooks, I have a stud-finder, but will wait for another day to try to find the dratted stud. And, no, I can't hear the change in sound by tapping on the wall.

Anyway....
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Finally - after a month of parking in the driveway I can get my truck in the garage tonight!
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Unfortunately, this concludes my wonderful 5 day vacation! But it has been productive, maybe I can do this again on the July 4th holiday weekend!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

More holiday landscaping chores!

And still so very wonderful to have one more day off tomorrow! It is still very hot, very hot and very humid. After I finished mowing and doing the weed-eating I laid down newspaper (as weed kill) and then pine bark mulch over that in the corner of my backyard. This has been part of my plan but have never gotten around to it. Now the weeds are gone and it looks much better. And, most importantly, this particular flower bed is finished!
Behind my fake granite rock are common field daylillies - the orange ones that grow along the roadside. I rescued a bunch of them when my new neighbors tore them out to put in their box o' wood. It looks like they will bloom hanging over the fake rock - I think that will look pretty nice.
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I left the little electric co. lid free of mulch because Mini likes to lay there in the sun. Even in 100 degree heat and wearing a fur coat. Well - she is a Southern Belle - born and raised in Valdosta, GA.
She is checking out her new spot
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Mini is checking out the Sweet Grass. Next to the Sweet Grass are my Chives and next to them is my Lavender. Sweet Grass grows naturally here in the midwest and can be harvested in the fall, soaked in water then braided and will keep it's wonderful smell almost all winter. I thought Mini was going to roll in it - dogs like to roll in Sweet Grass. Unfortunately, she was rolling in something but not that! She rolled in something that caused her to be put in a bath immediately!
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My little crop - Sweet Grass on the left, the Chives are the stringy things in the middle and the Lavender (the kind that is hardy here in IN) to the right. I planted to Lavender last year and it made it though the winter.
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I have finally determined what I am going to do to break up this side of the box 'o wood yard. This is the fence that was in place when I got here and can use some help from my side but doesn't bother me like the other one.
To the left on the fence is a Russian Sage/Red Cone Flower/Russian Sage - there is a stretch of board between that and my little bed in the corner. It has needed something. I have another Russian Sage waiting to be planted about 3/2 of the way between the 2nd Russian Sage and the start of the corner bed. I have been searching for something to either grow up the fence or some tall bush to be planted in front of it. I think I have landed on Clematis -a yellow one that can grow over the fence after the first clump of Russian Sages and as far to the flower bed as it wishes to go. This is what I found:
"Tangutica. A true yellow clematis, this plant also produces bright yellow blooms from mid summer through late fall. This yellow clematis has dark green foliage, which adds a nice contrast to the bright yellow flowers. These yellow clematis can grow to height of from twelve to fifteen feet, and like the Tibetana, are more drought resistant."
Of course, none are to be found right now but I think it will do very nicely. I will need to find a couple to plant here next year.
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And there is Mini, again, post roll and soon to be in the bathtub!
One more whole day off tomorrow!!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Landscaping on side of the house - finished!

Happy Days! And it was HOT out there yesterday afternoon. Sure wish I was a morning person.
The front flower bed is looking good -everyone survived the winter.
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Going to the right, around the side of the house, past the flower bed with Day Lillies and past the first town of hostas, are my new little hosta plants. Lots of top soil and lots of mulch was hauled out there in the hot afternoon sun!
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Grow babies grow!!!
This is the first year I am trying just newspaper under the mulch instead of newspaper and then 5-year landscaping cloth. I layered the newspaper to about 1/8 to 14/ inch. I am hoping it does as good a job of keeping the weeds down as the landscaping cloth does.
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And in the backyard - my red coneflower has started to emerge. This one faded in the hot sun last year so it may need to be moved to the side of the backyard.
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I think my garden is doing well - it looked like this 3 years ago when I planted it
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And two years before, in 2005, when I bought it it was pretty bad. I bet Steve Bayer remembers these bushes! That yellow door was incredible. At least the house was hard to miss!
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Friday, May 28, 2010

It is good to have a new camera and a day off!

I'm sure there will be more this Memorial Day weekend but - just spied my purple coneflower had started to open up.
This shot made me dizzy for some reason - I like it.

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Then it used it's little petals to push me away
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Some people are famous photographers of wide and beautiful vistas and interesting people. I sneak up on flowers and dogs in my backyard.

Mini - patrolling the perimeter

Mini out for her usual morning inspection of the grounds.
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Rocky is inside - the dew is heavy on the grass and he hates to get his feet wet. Our 'Little Prince' stays on the deck.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

Different colors, different designs. Since I seem to get stuck in a rut with colors and design I asked a friend at work to help me. I have named her - Cinderella Horn, designer/colour consultant. I like what she came up with - it has been very nice to do something different. She chose a palette of reds/pinks/silvers/whites/black, picking out 5 color combinations and designs. I spent time stringing the beads and started the bracelets this week. There will be a slight delay on the 5th as I am missing a type of bead for one of them and have ordered it. This is what I have so far:

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My eyes are happy to be beading something besides my usual colors! I will post the progress here as I go along.

I am looking forward to the Beady-Eyed Bunch Solstice gathering in June!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Before

Finishing my landscaping on the side of my house - holes are dug, border has been pounded in, plants purchased. Now I just need to go find top soil, mulch, and plant the darned things. Oh - and then pound in that last bit of border.
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From the other side - my neighbors to the left in this picture - those of the horrid box o' wood - have opined that it just might be my responsiblity to wash the mold off of their house in addition to landscaping it as well. I'm wishing them good luck with that!
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Friday, May 21, 2010

Monday, May 17, 2010

Box o' Wood

Last year I put in Coin Grass and Korean Spice Bushes to hide the horrid Box o' Wood. They all survived the winter and are growing well. In this picture they look like they are pretty tall
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However, from my yard, where I have to look at the horrid Box o' Wood, it looks like it will be another year or two before they start to do their job. Grow, grow, grow!
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Iris are blooming all over the place. My last pictures of them - I promise!
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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Mother's Day + 7

Here we are - the entire family out to a very very nice dinner the evening before Mother's day. Mom, very wisely, decided to avoid the crowds on Sunday and we went to the Melting Pot, a wonderful fondue restaurant on Saturday evening. It was Dan and Tammy's treat and was one of the most leisurely and enjoyable dinners ever.

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I really need to quit cutting my own bangs!

This is my little Brother Ugly. You can see he has an unfortunate malady - his right hand is about the size of his head. I try not to make fun of him, though.
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Here he is, using his giant hand to feed Tammy. She is such a good sport!
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We ate too much!!
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It was wonderful - thank you, Dan and Tammy!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Tammy and The Bead

My Beautiful Sister-in-Law, Tammy, has been learning how to make lampwork beads - those are handmade glass beads. Am I ever happy about that! I am lucky enough to occasionally get one for a special occasion. Hooray for Tammy - keep it up!

She goes to a studio in downtown Indy - can't recall the name of it right now, though. It is a large studio and well equipped. This is a picture of the torch stations around a wonderfully large brushed aluminum table with excellent lighting overhead. I visited during a 'First Friday' studio tour and the beads in the foreground are made by the owner of the studio and are for sale.

Meanwhile, that is Tammy in the very middle!
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A bead Tammy was working on at the time we visited:
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Now she is putting 'stringer' (aka more glass) on it:
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With any luck she will send a picture of the completed bead so I can post it here.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

We have a new tree in the neighborhood!

My next door neighbors - Craig and Meighan - have planted a Japanese Maple tree on the corner of their garage which is very near the corner of my garage.

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And here are the proud parents of the new tree - it is a beautiful color and goes so nicely with our houses. Craig and Meighan are Not the 'wall o' wood' neighbors - they are the nice young couple (you can see that I have come to terms with the wall o' wood people - not).
This young couple has a bright future in agriculture!

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I have to admit - I stop and do little inspections when I go outside. Just to make sure the new fellow is doing well. He will get some good TLC and will be a happy tree!

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Monday, May 10, 2010

Survivor

No - not the TV show - the Iris! I had one bloom and it survived the night. I had to take a picture as it is raining now and the deer may come maraurading tonight under cover of rain and mist.

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Sunday, May 9, 2010

Iris

Maybe - just maybe - the deer will allow the Iris to live this year instead of nibbling their little heads off! They have never gotten this far so I thought I would nab a picture in case the vicious deer decide to go on a killing spree tonight.
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And practicing again in the backyard with my new camera.

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