Claudia — Page 12

Prettying Up the Porch

April 25, 2026 at 9:17 am by Claudia

I am tuckered out today. I did a lot of work outside this past week and much of it involved bending over repeatedly. Back aches, along with a major allergy flareup, have resulted in my surrender today. I need to take a break. Fortunately, it’s going to rain all day today, so I will not be tempted to “just do do a little something.”

I went to the nursery and, hurrah! – the impatiens had come in. I put together a flat, found some more lobelia in a paler purple, and the geraniums I grow in the barrels by the funky patio. And more potting soil. I still have to buy a certain kind of hanging plant that I use every year, and some coleus for a pot in the secret garden. I’ve decided that I’m only going to use one or two pots out there this year. That will save some money.

Came back home and started in on my porch project. I had to retreive the pots I use from the shed and then I proceeded to happily pot flowers for the next 3 hours. I swear, I was so happy! Nothing makes me happier than working in the garden and adding flowers to the porch. Don came out on the porch after I was done and thanked me for prettying up our favorite place. We sit out there a lot, Don plays his guitar there, I sometimes go out there with a cup of coffee very early in the morning and listen to the birds sing. We love that porch.

Nothing surprising here, it’s my usual setup. Hey, it works, so why mess with it? I want dependable at this point in my life.

The impatiens will begin to fill in pretty quickly. Before you know it, they will be quite lush.

So that’s pretty much done, save for one more hanging plant.

Hurrah!

Then to make it an even better day, I walked down to get the mail and decided to check out our culvert – the section that always has water. As I neared, I saw something jump in. It was a frog! A large frog. Has Phileas come back, or is this Phileas Jr.? I immediately went inside to tell Don and he was so happy. Unfortunately, when he ventured down to the culvert later in the day, the frog was MIA. But I reminded Don that that often happened last year. I hope Don can see him soon.

Okay. Time to rest.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Green, Green

April 24, 2026 at 9:15 am by Claudia

I had a coaching session yesterday and then I went outside to rake the leaves out of the big garden bed. I managed to get rid of a lot of them, but I usually have to rake it twice. I raked them onto a tarp and lugged it up to the pile.

Then I ate lunch and took a nap.

Today, I’m headed to the nursery as soon as I finish writing this post. I have a list of plants for the porch and the barrels, etc. Hopefully, more will have come in since I was there on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!

On the far side of the front yard, just beyond the lilac bush, the flowering quince has burst into bloom.

My favorite little crabapple, which sits just under the maple on the far side of the house. The larger crabapple just beyond this one has very few blooms. I think the unexpected frost had an impact. Darn!

Deep pink, soft pink and a pinkish white. So lovely!

So far, we’ve mowed the largest section of the front lawn and the corral, which Don mowed yesterday while I was raking out the bed. The back forty is okay for now as is the lilac side of the front lawn. Everything is so green! The maples have leaves, the shag hickory has buds, the ash has started to leaf out – the only trees not looking green at the moment are the catalpas and they are always the last to develop leaves. I guess they like to show off – after all, those heart-shaped leaves are huge!

Alas, my allergies have gone haywire with all the pollen in the air. So have Don’s, though he refuses to admit he has them. He does – they’re just not as insane as mine.

Okay, I’m going to throw on some old clothes and head to the nursery.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

My Latest Little Project

April 22, 2026 at 9:03 am by Claudia

Thankfully, though the temperature remained at 27 degrees for several hours, everything in the garden seems to have survived the sudden cold. It’s raining a bit this morning and I was all set to clear some of the beds. I’ll have to wait until this afternoon.

Just after I left you on Monday, Don left for his eye appointment, so I decided it was a good time to do the face up on another ‘Bunny’ doll head from Little Keiko Dolls. The body that I needed was due to arrive later in the day. I worked on the face up in the studio for a few hours, occasionally donning a mask and goggles to go outside when I needed to spray her with sealant.

Then I had to wait several hours for UPS to deliver the OB 22 body.

Consequently, her hair color is different in every photo because the light kept changing. But it’s really a silvery blonde.

The body was attached, an outfit chosen, and then – it was late in the day – I ran around the house trying to find a good place for a photo op. I had to play with the color in this one because it’s a “late afternoon sun in the studio” photo. Her eyes are brown, but they look darker here.

Don and I chose a name: Willow.

And finally, on the next day:

All four of the girls together on the church pew.

Gilly, on the far left, and Ruby, on the far right, are Landoudou dolls from Landazz Doll.

Greta and Willow, the girls in the center, are from Little Keiko Dolls.

I did all of the face ups except for Ruby’s.

I’m getting better at it, though I’m far from a professional. But it’s fun, it’s creative, and it’s less expensive, to boot! There are definitely flaws, but since they’re for me, it’s no big deal.

These smaller-head dolls are so charming. I really love them. I had an pre-order ready to go for another Landoudou doll head but it was going to cost $60 to ship her from China. So I’m going to hold off until things get better.

Speaking of which, I vowed not to start the latest Louise Penny (It’s been here for 6 months) until he was no longer in office. But I realized that I’d already read the other Susan Hill that I had on hand, so I gave in. I’m going to take my time,

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Prettying Up the Porch

Green, Green

My Latest Little Project

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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