Lillies and Such

Finally! The last day of school has come and I am looking forward to working 2 weeks with no phones, visitors, children, etc.  I have nothing against the children, it's just nice to work a while without being interrupted.  The last days of a school are so stressful, the calm is almost surreal!  

The garden is just so-so this year.  Everything is different.  Each plant is pretty, but I swear I can never get everything to be where they will be their best.  I am going to concentrate this year on getting all the holes filled.  That might take more than a year, but I can give it a good start.  The lilies do very well in my shady garden, so I need lots of them.  Plus, this time of year they're one of the few things I have blooming.  I had a beautiful purple Clematis that bloomed so heavily, but the last few years it hasn't bloomed at all.  It bloomed well when I had it on a tall trellis. I just realized that I replaced that trellis with a very short one and am thinking I need to get it up high again, as the light is much better. 

I am making wonderful progress on the Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow project.  The stitching is relaxing and each square is so fun. June's square is pretty heavily stitched, so I was glad that May's was finished early allowing me to get a good head start on June.

I hope you're having success with your Spring plans! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Prettiness

I have a feeling we are going to go straight from winter to summer around here.  We have been so unusually  cold lately, and goodness, the wind has been creating all kinds of extra work ! We have a huge limb in the yard that we just haven't had the energy to deal with yet.  Thank goodness it didn't land on the house! Then there are the lesser limbs and sticks and leaves and squishy-squashy ground. But today the sky is a beautiful blue - the prettiest blue ever. No clouds. None. And the temperatures are more seasonable.  Yes, it was a lovely day. 

The school year is winding down and I am starting to get excited about my time off.  I'm thinking about what fun things I want to do while I have 5 weeks off.  I would love to make a small quilt, just a little throw. I've been looking for a pattern and haven't decided anything yet, though I do know I want to do it in autumn browns and golds.  It's an awful lot of fun to go Pinteresting looking for ideas:)  I am also going to continue working on my Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow cross stitch project.  I hope to do an update soon, I am finishing up May's block.  Can't wait to show you. 

I am so glad you stopped by (leave a comment, okay?).  I hope you're having a great Wednesday. I'm joining Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.

Glorious Spring!

Beautiful days! The trees are so green. The air is still a little pollen-y, but not near as bad as a few weeks ago.  I've got plants to move, soil to work,  garden shopping to do, ah life in the garden! What could be better?  Our days have been cool, which has made the flowers last. How nice!

 I'm always so envious of people who say they spent all day in the garden. I spend a lot of time, but it's not all at once.  I just can't seem to do that.  I'll go out and dig for a little while, or plant a plant, then come in and rest for a minute or two, cool down.  But then I'm back at it.  I was thinking yesterday about how much I got done even though I was in and out so much.  Not as much as the all-dayers, but I was happy with my progress. I'm about half done prepping  the water feature area.  Can't wait to start planting!

I'm participating in Mosaic Monday at the Little Red House, and Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer. Come join the fun!

I hope you've had a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

April Garden

Hard to believe April is almost over!      After the tulips bloom in my garden the iris begin.  They've been beautiful this year. I'm so disappointed that the grass didn't live that we worked so hard on last year.  We are going to try again this week.  We're a lot later than last year, but hopefully it will be okay. The garden is hard to photograph, the red dirt distracting from the prettiness.  

I've been busy in the garden today. I've started working in the area with the little water feature, turning the soil, getting ready to add some conditioner.  We are expecting a lot of rain for the next few days so I'm trying to get as much done as I can.

I hope you're having a wonderful Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

Getting Things Done

I finally got my urn planted and am pretty happy with the end results. This is a totally different planting choice than the one I've done the last 5 or 6 years.  Time for a change!  I don't know what you call the tall spikey plant, but it was the only plant of height that I could find, that went with the color scheme.  The pink is Pink Polka Dot plant (I don't know if that's what everyone else calls it) and the silver draper is Dichondra.  I like the way the urn looks in it's infant stage. Hopefully it will fill in nicely and nothing will crowd out others.

  

Iris and Columbine are blooming well now.  The columbine are from seeds my sister brought from Nova Scotia almost 15 years ago.  They pop up everywhere and I dig the little plants and place them.  I think they're so pretty.  I wish I had more colors. I'll have to ask her to look for some that aren't purple. She spends the summer every year in Novie. I feel like I'm way behind in the garden this year.  I haven't even bought all my annuals yet.  I only have a few pots planted.  Our weather has been crazy, though.  Yesterday was very cold and rainy.  I've NEVER seen it as windy as it's been this year.  The soil is so wet. I'll need a few days of warmer weather before I can work the soil.  Still, it's only April.  Some of you are still getting snow!  Yikes!

I hope you're having a great Saturday, thanks so much for stopping by!

Spring in Georgia

Hello! How are you?  I hope you are enjoying some spring weather. In Georgia we are having a little bit of everything...warm, cool, dry, wet, clouds and sun.  Pretty nice.  If you don't like the weather, it will shortly change.  Today when I got home from work and took a stroll around the garden I found a lot of loveliness. The Viburnum is looking very pretty this year. I love it's snowy white blooms.

The iris, columbine and clematis are starting to bloom and look very pretty this year.

I'm looking forward to going to the plant store soon. I went this past Saturday just to look and found several plants that I would not be able to find elsewhere. I'm really getting a late start this year. The cold weather seemed to hang on and I didn't get myself in gear, so now I'm playing catch up!

I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday, thanks for stopping by.

Friday Garden

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've had a good week .We've had some lovely weather, but the pollen has been killer - it was 8000+ yesterday and 7000+ today.  We had some rain last night, but it didn't do much to reduce the count. 

 My tulips have been very pretty. Here is a picture of the whole garden, about a week ago.

 I was very disappointed that the grass we planted last year didn't survive the winter. I hate seeing all that dirt. We also need to paint our little shed.  We have a long list of things to do!

 

The picture below shows how the garden looks today.  The tulips are almost all past. I planted a few marigolds and impatience.  I'm worried about the impatience because all of mine got a disease last year and died.  But I'm going to try them again.  I'll put some in pots so I can still have them if the in-ground ones don't survive.

I hope I can get out there tomorrow and do a little more planting.  I'm begging for some grass, too:)   I have plans in my head for the little shed, but I don't know if I can get it to "real life".  I'm always impressed with people who can make happen just what they want!  BTW, please don't look at that empty urn!!! I don't know why I do this every year.  It sits there empty.  Crazy.  I'm going tomorrow to get some plants. I had a plan, but I can't find the plants, now I'll have to think of something else.

I hope you're having a happy Friday, thanks so much for stopping by!

Brrrr

What's this??!!!  It's freakishly cold! I was so sure that Spring was here, warmth-wise, but I see it's still a ways off.  Today it has been cold and damp.  The kind of cold that gets in your bones.  I'm sitting with my rice sock on my chest.  It's so comforting!:)  My tulips are still very pretty, it's just too cold to go out and enjoy them! Thank goodness for my big window in front of my Lazy-boy!  While I'm more than ready to be done with the cold, I have used my time well.  I was able to make up the one month I was behind on my Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow. I have to tell you, this is the most fun cross stitch pattern I have ever done.  And each finished block is so satisfying! It's a little pricey...between the cost of the chart, the fabric and all the threads, but it is well worth it!

Here are three finished blocks and the fourth one with a little stitching done on it.

Block one.

  I'm sorry that I don't know how to take better pictures. It's really a beautiful block.  Now that I've taken pictures of the three finished blocks I, of course, have found a few things not completed.  There is a crown that still needs a few rows on this block, also, the top left is missing it's border! 

 Block two.  

I LOVE this block.  I love the peacock in the top right corner. I didn't order the special silk thread to do the snow.  It was really pricey. I just used DMC, off white.  

Block Three

I love this block too.  It's a lot prettier in person.  I see a spot that isn't finished - nine stitches! 

It's such fun to be doing all these little Christmas blocks all year.  There is also an Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.  We'll see how I feel about doing another year-long project after I finish this!  If you're interested, this is done on 40ct Exemplar Linen, one over two using DMC threads.

I hope you're having a great Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

Fun Time!

It's just so darn exciting - seeing the garden come to life.  I can't stay inside long.  I go out and walk, do a bit, then come back inside.  Ten minutes later I'm out again.  I find I am struggling more and more in the garden.  My knees will no longer allow me to stoop, so I have to bend, which then aggravates my back!  But I am determined! I sit on my bottom and scoot along.  Sure hope no one is spying when it's time to get up - what a comical sight it must be!

I'm loving the tulips and am already making plans for next year!  I've just noticed a pretty iris blooming where there are no tulips! Must correct that next year!  After the tulips are done I usually pull them and plant impatience in their place.  Last year my impatience got a disease. I'm wondering if the soil is ruined.  I will just have to plant some and see.  But I will put some in pots just in case.  Right now there are only begonias at the nurseries.  I love them also, they do beautifully in my pots.  Such a pretty color to dot around the garden.  Such fun planning all this!  I will definitely be making a trip to the garden store, my first day of Spring Break.

I am participating in Mosaic Monday and Outdoor Wednesday this week.  I hope you are having a lovely Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Garden Time

Hello! What a strange Spring we are having. We are at least 2, maybe 3 weeks behind last year.  The leaves are just emerging on the big trees around my house.  Last year they were fully flushed out.  I guess the tulips I bought were early blooming, as they are all up and beautiful, but the garden is still sleepy. Things have not put on a lot of growth due to our cold weather.  I'm a bit disappointed, I had such high hopes, and the deer have left them alone!  Still, they are pretty and I'm good at having tunnel vision:)

 I have these Virginia Bluebells all over the place.  I have had on my plan list for several years to move them all to one location, it would be so pretty to have a large area go totally blue!  Maybe this year I'll accomplish it!

 Maybe I could put this pretty iris with them!  An all blue/purple garden in early spring!

The other day there were tornadoes all around.  You might not be able to tell in this picture, but the sky was green.  Really scary.  We were ready to go into the bathroom and were so glad that we didn't need to.  

I got a little work done in the garden today. I'm so out of shape! I'm trying to play tennis a few times a week, hopefully that will help.  I'm on Spring Break, so I do a little then rest then do a little more.  Slowly I get things done.  I raked out the little pond area and tried to get rid of some undergrowth.  I'm excited about planting it.  My hostas only have little 1 inch points right now, but there is a nice Painted Fern up.  I need to do a little soil work before I plant. We are expecting rain for the next 2-3 days.  I'll be stuck inside so it looks like some good stitching weather!

I hope you have had a good Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

Spring is About

 I love my little table outside my door.  From the comfort of my chair I can bird watch and enjoy spring blooms.  Sometimes it's a potting table, but I do wish I had a real one.  The height is not ideal and can aggravate my back. Well, what's a gardener to do?  You just have to work with it. 

Above is my "goal" area this spring/summer.  It's a tiny little water feature with absolutely no planting around it.  I made it with a cast -off galvanized tub that we used to wash our dog in years ago.  It's been in the ground for at least 10 years.  It used to have a little pump which I hope to replace this year.  It has a lovely little yellow waterlily that shades the water surface.  I think it will be a fun area to work in, but I have no plant list yet.  Some pretty hostas and ferns would be nice, and I have plenty of them. I wouldn't have to buy any. There is a lot of overgrowth around it, trees that we cut down but continue to send up shoots and honeysuckle vine galore.  That's a real problem.  I might have to get my nice strong son and SIL to dig it out.  

My three day weekend is coming to an end.  I will now be focused on Spring Break, which takes place in two weeks, yippee! Can't wait!  

I'm participating in Mosaic Monday and Outdoor Wednesday this week. I hope you have a great Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!