gardening — Page 11

Potpourri on Wednesday

February 24, 2016 at 9:44 am by Claudia

2-24 snow

We had some pretty snow late yesterday afternoon. Maybe about 2 inches? I quite enjoyed watching it fall. I talked Don into having some hot chocolate with me and our cozy cottage wrapped its arms around us.

Today, however, it’s raining, so it’s quite messy out there. This has to be one of the strangest winters I’ve ever seen. Very little snow. Abnormally warm temperatures. Then, suddenly, 20 – 30 below zero wind chill. Then temps in the fifties. My head is spinning.

2-24 livingroom

The living room on this gray morning. Ever since I got my upgraded iPhone, I find myself grabbing it to take photos more often than not. It’s so much more convenient than hauling out my Canon. It’s not as good as the Canon, to be sure, but sometimes convenience trumps excellence. I like to take good quality photos, but I am not a blogger who has to have magazine-worthy photos in every post. Good lord, the constant hauling out of the tripod and arranging ‘vignettes’ (you know I’ve come to hate that word) and waiting for the perfect light would drive me nuts. Life’s too short. Sometimes, the tripod and light and the right lens are exactly what I want to tinker with on that day. But since I blog every day, that ain’t gonna happen on a daily basis.

2-24 succulentgrowth

My succulents are sending out appendages of new growth. They seem to be thriving on the kitchen table. (That’s an empty CD container under the pot – I use what I have!)

We brought Scoutie’s ashes home yesterday. Don didn’t want her waiting for us on a shelf at the animal hospital. It was very emotional, of course. Don and I sat in the car and cried. She’s home now with her brothers, Winston and Riley. We were also given a round piece of clay with Scout’s paw print and her name etched below. It’s on the sideboard, where it will have a place of honor in our cottage.

Don is going into the city today, so I will be facing my first full day alone here. That’s something I need to do. For a girl who tends toward solitary, this is a tough one.

Happy Wednesday.

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Peak

July 28, 2015 at 8:43 am by Claudia

A peek at the peak of the garden, as photographed in the early evening.

7-28 cottagegarden

7-28 cottagegarden3

7-28 pinkphlox

7-28 sidegarden

7-28 tiny bug

(Just because I love this tiny little winged insect.)

7-28 cottagegarden2

7-28 sidegarden2

7-28 limelight

7-28 porchandpatio

Sometimes I look at all of this and a little voice reminds me that ‘living in a cottage in the country and having a garden’ was a dream I held for most of my adult life. The cottage part of the dream was taken care of when moved here at the end of the summer in 2005. As for the garden, there were some sedum and hostas, but basically, this was a blank space.

I had to hold off on my garden dreams until the spring of 2006. It’s taken me ten summers of digging out hundreds of rocks, amending the soil, digging new beds, adding just a few plants each spring (always on a strict budget,) experimenting, shaping, and crossing my fingers to get here. Here to this abundant and verdant space tucked in alongside the cottage, with dense woods just a few steps away.

I pinch myself and feel such gratitude for a dream finally realized.

Not that I could afford it, but even if I could, hiring someone to design and plant these gardens was simply out of the question. Just as hiring an interior designer to decorate my home was out of the question. Good, bad or indifferent; these gardens have my stamp on them.

If you have the option when establishing your gardens, take your time. In this world of instant gratification, some things are worth waiting for.

Happy Tuesday.

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P: The Porch, A Pot, A Plant, And Pruning

May 23, 2015 at 9:15 am by Claudia

I pruned and shaped the boxwoods in front of the house yesterday, as well as the tall bush in the big garden bed. Do you remember my saying that the hens & chicks that I had planted in front of the porch didn’t come back this spring? Well, you never know what some pruning might reveal:

5-23 hensandchicks

Hello! I was wrong to doubt you, little one. You were there all the time.

5-23 glider

Behold our funky, rusty glider. Don found it when we were living in San Diego. He arrived home with it in the back of his Blazer. $25.00. It’s been with us for years. Some might think I should paint it, but I really love it this way. I do, however, want to find a cushion that fits the entire length of the glider.

And no, I’m not in the mood to make one.

But for now, this works just fine. For those of you who are new to the blog, the floor of the porch is made of bluestone and I fell in love with it when I saw this cottage for the first time.

5-23 gardening stuff

Caroline, the owner of the dollhouse, has her own potting shed. I do not. So this is what you see as you enter the porch. Supplies, clippers, soil, mulch, garden gloves, recycling bins. I guess you can say my potting bench is this bench, along with the picnic table which is to the left.

I got the sign several years ago in an antique mall.

5-23 deutzia

Currently blooming in the big garden bed: Nikko Dwarf Mound Deutzia. There are two of them. I planted them the first summer we lived here, so that would make them nine years old. They’re especially pretty this year.

And, I was standing in the kitchen yesterday, I glanced at the Vernors crate that is on the island and realized I had neglected to include one piece of McCoy Pottery when I did the series.

5-23 little mccoy pot

It’s a tiny little flower pot, a wee bit crooked, that I found locally. It holds all of our pens and pencils and sits in the crate. It’s from the 1940s.

5-23 nm mark

It has the Nelson McCoy mark – an intertwined NM.

I didn’t want this little piece to feel left out!

Last night, we had a frost warning. Next week, the temps are going to hit ninety degrees. This has been the strangest spring!

Happy Saturday.

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Potpourri on Wednesday

Peak

P: The Porch, A Pot, A Plant, And Pruning

claudiahillsparks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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