Wildflowers are popping up everywhere on the property.
Fleabane with its pale pink buds that turn into delicate little flowers.
Wild phlox or Dame’s Rocket is just starting to bloom.
I have to do some major garden clean up starting today. With all the rain, things have become out of control. Today, I’m going to dig out a bunch of what I think is comfrey that has popped up just outside the big garden bed. I used google lens to identify the leaves. There’s quite a lot of it and it has to go.
Bushes need to be pruned, weeds need to be pulled, and poison ivy has to be yanked, as well.
I’ll work on all of this throughout the weekend. It’s actually not going to rain for several days, so we can do some chores outside, including mowing the front lawn.
The Beacon Hill. I had a very frustrating two days trying to wallpaper the bedroom. I just couldn’t get it right and I had to rip it out – twice. I finally figured out why. Usually when you wallpaper a dollhouse room, there is either a basic window in place with no trim as yet, or no windows at all. Hummingbird Cottage had the windows, but I eventually added the trim after I wallpapered. Dove Cottage was in such bad shape that I removed whatever trim was there before I wallpapered. In the case of the Beacon Hill, all the windows have the trim attached and it is rather ornate. So wallpapering is a challenge. I usually build a paper template with marks where the window and trim are and eventually transfer that to the wallpaper. I did that yesterday but I could never get it right. One wallpaper design was on paper that was way too thick and hard to manipulate. The other design on thinner paper was also a fail. I was so damn frustrated that I ended up painting the wall a pale yellow. There’s nothing wrong with just painting a wall instead of wallpapering. But I find I miss the wallpaper because it gives the room such personality.
If I’d removed all of the windows first this wouldn’t be an issue but trying to do that with an already built house is tricky. I’m not going to paint all of the rooms. I think the bedroom windows were a specific challenge. The others I think (hope) I can handle.
But, what is telling is the fact that I immediately thought, “Am I too old for this???”
I’m not, of course, and after reasoning out why I was having problems, I was let that idea go.
Anyway, this ‘buttermilk’ yellow is nice, but not necessarily what I would have chosen. I simply had more of it on hand than any other paint color and it took several coats to cover up the original brown walls. Let’s see if I can eventually make it work.
Sigh.
Okay. I’m off to make a second cup of coffee and head outside.
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
you’ll get it (gardens, the beacon hill …) the way you want! in the meantime, hope you have cooperative weather and fun things, a good book to balance out the frustrating parts.
today starts work on our driveway and garage floor. i keep thinking and saying “i’ll be so glad when this is done”. and i will be glad and grateful for that, in about ten days … we’re supposed to have four days of rain, which will obviously delay things. will have to leave the garage door open until bedtime, so my sister and i will take turns sitting outside on squinny (chipmunk) patrol to keep them out of the wet/drying concrete. balancing this out with a book, knitting, baking two cakes for church, praying. all for the best.
happy, safe friday!
kathy
You are both so sweet – watching out for your chipmunk friends – I call them chippies.
Stay safe, Kathy.
squinnies. chippies. all the same and all cute.
thanks, claudia. we want them safe and free, not scared, but to be honest, it’s also for us … we don’t want them indoors (then they would seem not cute, and they would not be welcome).
i will be so glad when this work is done.
kathy
I’ve never seen a chipmunk attempt to enter a house.
xo
that’s good. :)
we see them at our garage a lot (think they live under the bushes nearby), found one in our garage overnight and have seen some go into a neighbor’s open garage several times. it would take more effort for them to get into the house and i don’t think they are brave enough to try that, but we don’t want them even in the garage.
thanks, claudia.
Good Morning Claudia! I sympathize with your wallpaper struggles. Tiny spaces where you can’t see past your own hands to measure or fit or adjust a tiny bit… we love them and hate them! I do a lot of painting on my walls (murals) so I do less wallpapering, but have experienced the frustration. I also find that my “solution” is often to leave the flaws and either hide them (behind curtains or artwork or furniture… )or make up a “story” that explains the funky bits. Old wall paper in houses develops creases and cracks and stains over time! I look forward to seeing the bedroom however it evolves. And you can always go back and “re-do” it later. As for feeling too old…. the changes in my eyesight is the worst part for me. I never wore glasses when I was younger and I find I can no longer tell a “straight line” because the glasses curve the image! I try to remind myself that there is no “perfection”… but there is a “happy result”…. so that’s my goal. And yeah, the weeds…. I swear stuff grows six inches overnight!
Oh, the weeds have just taken off. Spent quite a bit of time digging out some intruders that I would ignore if they were in small numbers. But they’re not, so I’m trying to head off a potential problem in the future.
Thanks for the support, Betsy.
Stay safe.
I always find it is some kind of therapy pulling weeds. I was trimming a bougainvillea yesterday and I came across a bird nest. That ended my trimming. It is a Mourning Dove nest with two eggs. I can’t wait to see them hatch. It is going to cool off this weekend so I hope to get some planting done. There is always some project to do owning a home. Do you have any wallpaper in your cottage? We took the big step of wallpapering our small bathroom. I love it! It turned out really good. It is a Laura Ashley pattern of which I love all of her stuff. Enjoy your weekend without rain!
Oh, I love mourning doves! How wonderful it will be to watch those eggs hatch!
No wallpaper. I wish we had tried it at one point, but it’s not going to happen at this point.
Stay safe, Deb.
Nope. You’re not too old. It’s just a frustrating piece of work and you came up with a good solution. It does have to be annoying, though, having an idea in your head and for very good reasons, not able to do it, especially when the one fix is such a pain who wants to?
I’m glad good weather is coming your way. Watch those allergies!
Thanks so much, Jeanie.
Stay safe.