Showing posts with label garden ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden ideas. Show all posts

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Another Misting Fountain

Yet another water feature added to the house.

Look at the mist rising in the center!

I strongly identify with Gollum from The Hobbit.  I, too, have precious things.  This computer is, in fact, officially named My Precious.  The difference between Gollum and me is that I have many precious things while Gollum was satisfied with one.  Yes, I should be ashamed.  No, I am not.  Techie toys, fabric, sewing machines, and water features--I love them all.  Right now, I'm on a misting water fountain kick.  I love the sound of the water trickling in the background and the mist rising and floating away.

After my sister gave my first misting fountain,


 the obsession began.  That one even has lights that change colors--or not.




The one problem with using the large vase is that it is too deep to see the mist which dissipates rather quickly. You need a fairly shallow container for the water if you want to see that mist.  To get around that issue, I bought a giant cocktail glass and plunked it in the center. 
Ashland Grande Margarita Glass

You can see the upper edge of the glass piece in the photos above.  Dissipating mist dilemma solved, and I still get to use my beautiful vase.  Between the pink pine cones and this, I've had my crafty fix for the month.  One more project off the list.


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The Story of the Pink Painted Glittery Pine Cones

Pinterest sent me a notice that they were removing one of my pins for copyright infringement or something of that sort.  Fortunately, they also sent a photo of the pin.  It was pink painted glittery pine cones in a glass bowl sort of like these.
just imagine them in a glass bowl

I can't believe anyone has the rights to pink painted glittery pine cones.  The photo was nice, but just in a crafty photo--look what I did kinda way, not in a professional photographer can sell this way.


The point here is the the pink painted glittery pine cones were about to disappear from my life.  I could not let this happen.  I liked those freakin' pine cones!  I wanted to keep them on my Crafty-Things-I-Want-To-Do-Someday board because my memory isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell.  I would definitely forget them if they were not pinned. 


This project was supposed to be done when I could find the perfect pine cones that would be painted outside on an eighty degree summer day with no wind.  Instead, I picked up some leftover pine cones while out walking on Sunday.  Then today, I was out in 30 degree weather with high winds spray painting in order to have something to pin on my board.


So that is the story of the pink painted glittery pine cones that had to be made and blogged about so that they could be pinned.

The End

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Birdbath 2015


I'm liking this one.  It's origins are sad, however, because it came about as a result of my "Hogwarts" birdbath's demise.  Well, just part of it, the bowl part, didn't survive winter storage. (I'm blaming Brian for carelessly rummaging through the shed, but he's denying it.) I found this replacement bowl piece at my favorite gaudy glass pieces place, Marshall's.

It's not worthy of being on the grounds of Hogwarts as was the original in my not-so-humble opinion.  Just look at it!  It was practically "growing" out of the ground. 
Which one do birds prefer? Neither, Their first choice is the puddle on top of my pool cover.  They only use the fancy ones when I drain the top of the pool. 

Monday, June 8, 2015

Summer Project #2: Replacing the Plastic Hose Reels and Hoses

I scoured Pinterest to find replacement ideas for our rickety plastic hose reels. We decided to install the wood posts in the photos below. Okay, I decided and Brian the did the actual work.  I do anything that has to do with actual gardening.  He does anything that requires a trip to the hardware store.  It's all in the details!


As for the hose, I finally decided to try one of the lightweight hoses after reading a positive review about them on the Hypertufa Gardener blog. You can see mine in the second photo.  The Hypertufa Gardener acknowledged that they don't last more than a season or two but said she was willing to continue buying them because they are so much easier to use.  She was right about it being sooo much easier than a rubber hose!  I need a hundred foot hose in both spots to reach all the grass and flower beds which makes for some really heavy rubber hoses to have to take down and roll back up.  This new hose is practically a pleasure to use.  I'd still rather Mother Nature watered for me, but if I HAVE to do it, I'd rather be using this new hose.  The other hose will be replaced soon.

If you want to make the hose post, here's what you will need:

  •  An eight-foot treated wood post.  OR you could use untreated wood and replace it a lot if you want.  Brian sank the posts four feet down which made them sturdy enough to eliminate the need for any cement at the base.
  • Something to hold the hose.  After reading many posts (What is it with all these pun opportunities lately?) about post hose holders, I found that you need to be careful about what piece you choose for the hose hanger.  If the edges are too sharp, they create breaks in the hose over time.  We picked up the metal ones you see in the photos at Target, but they are available on Amazon as well. 
  • A top piece if you want to kick up the fancy factor.  There are all kinds of wood finial to be had at wood stores. I chose the ones with a bit of copper on top because I have a thing for copper. I would love a copper roof, but this is about as much copper as I can afford. 
  • A post hole digger.  Borrow one if you have to.  It will make the job so much easier. 

Onto the next project. 


Thursday, October 9, 2014

Summer Vacation #3 - The Dry Riverbed

My neighbor had some drainage issues that were resolved by digging a trench and filling it with stones.  To me it was a thing a beauty and a solution to my problem of dirty basement windows on the side of the house where nothing will grow.  Well moss grows there, some weeds, the occasional piece of grass, and mud.  Mud does well there.  It then splashes up on the basement windows.  This is not a pretty sight when sitting in the man cave downstairs. 
 
Soooo, the landscape company truck arrived yet again and the wheelbarrow got dragged out again. It's supposed to look like a dry river bed.  What do you think?
 
 
Okay, try to picture it without the green hose and the downspout.  Like this?
Don't let that green color fool you.  It's mostly moss.
 
Now does it look like a dry river bed?  Am I the only one who sees it?

Lessons learned:
  • Don't tell the driver to dump the load in the middle of the driveway blocking the garage doors.
  • Don't overfill the wheelbarrow.
  • Don't get annoyed with the neighbors when they start saying things like, "What are you trying to do, kill yourself?" or "Let me give you the name of my landscaper."
  • Do be prepared to back up your claim that it looks like a dry riverbed, preferably with photos of actual riverbeds.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Summer Vacation # 2 - The Great Tree Removal Part

 
The trees were one of the reasons I wanted this house.  Fall leaf removal at our last house was unending.  Pine trees seemed like a much better idea.  Pine trees were less work in the fall than deciduous trees, but they have their own issues such as pine needles that carpet the lawn and driveway in a thick golden layer in the fall, pinecones that seem as plentiful as the needles some years, and pine pollen in the spring that easily comes through the window screens coating everything inside and out in a thick, thick yellow dust.  Then there are the falling branches. 
See all those broken branches?  Each one can be as big as a small tree when it falls.  Any good wind or snowstorm meant we would be cutting up and taking a truckload or two to the landfill.  Sometimes the branches just get stuck up there.  I'd be mowing and worrying that it might fall on me.
 
 Multiply this by the five trees which might look spindly in the top photo but were all a couple of feet in diameter.
 
 
 
So the fire truck came.  Yeah, that says fire truck.  This company took recycling to a whole new level--old fire truck reenvisioned for tree removal.
 
Silly me, I thought that the trees would come out and I'd through some dirt down and reseed five spots.  In reality, as each of those big chunks fall, the grass gets torn up.  I should have realized this since it happened every time one of the limbs fell from storms. 
 
After vacuuming the lawn, (Yes, I did vacuum the lawn much to the amusement of the neighbors with a shop vac because there was no way the lawn was going to grow under all the wood chips.)  moving a truckload of topsoil with a wheelbarrow, raking in grass seed, I had this:
 

That's Brian trying to lift some heavy bags of wood chips into the truck.
 

After almost two months of watering because Mother Nature decided it as time for a drought just when I needed some rain:
 

 

Notice that it rained in both these photos.   No rain but a near useless sprinkle or two while I needed to water the lawn. Mother Nature can be a nasty wench.  Fingers are crossed in the hopes that the grass will all come back in the spring.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

You Know You Are A Redneck When...

While out biking around the campgrounds at Keuka State Park, we found this little wonder hanging.

 
It's a wind chime.  Really, that's what the proud owners said, and it does make a lovely sound.  You can see it blowing in the wind a bit in the photo below.  It is my all time favorite bit of campsite decor.  I must have a little redneck blood somewhere back there.
 
 
I know you want one.  Come on, admit it.  I'd make one, but the boys have all been drinking their beer from bottles lately.  My diet ginger ale cans just don't seem right for this kind of project.  So here's a close-up and tutorial for those who need a beauty like this hanging in their yard or campsite.
 
You tie the first can on the string with a knot using the ring of the flip top, slide the others on the string through  their rings, and tie the last one on with a knot.  Be sure to use a long piece of string because you know you're gonna to want to continue to add to it.  If you look at the first photo above you can see that the string is dragging on the ground.  These people have definite plans for future partying. 
 
 




Thursday, July 25, 2013

Gurgling Water for the Front Porch

I do love the sound of flowing water.  Sadly, the container I used for the small water fountain I had in my sunroom cracked.  I reused the filter and some of the stones to make this one for the front porch.



It's just a plastic planter, large and small stones, and a cute little potted plant from Joann's.  I thought the little flower would sink, but it floated.  I like that even more.  The bubbling water makes it slowly move around.  Both the sound and movement are quite relaxing.


With the Adirondack chairs, little side tables, citronella candles,  Kindle reader, and a cup of green tea, the little gurgling fountain makes my front porch just about perfect.  Number of people who sit on their front porches in my neighborhood: one--me.  We've got lots of nicely decorated porches, but I never see anyone on them.  Is it just my little suburban area???

Sunday, July 21, 2013

My House, The Blue Phase

While sitting on my back patio enjoying the heat wave (over 90 that day--aka heaven), I noticed that I could see the entire house in my blue garden ball! 
This is the freaking coolest effect!  As a blogger, I did what all bloggers do--ran for the camera so that I could entertain (or bore) the virtual audience.  You can see me sitting at the table taking the photo, but I still think this is  a fun shot.


Our heat wave is over.  I'm a bit sad about that.  It will only be in the low 80s this week with nights in the 60s.  I need to move further south!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Yup, Another Glass Garden Totem

No one else in this area is going to be making glass garden totems because I think I bought up all the glass in the thrift stores.  Then I used all of them in this one totem. 


Yeah, I may have gotten carried away with this one.  That tends to happen when fairies are involved.   The bottom bowl has a fairy on a horse in some sand.
 
And the top one has a baby fairy with some fairy dust. (Some might say glitter, but I'm sticking with fairy dust.)
 
 
 
 No more garden glass for at least a year.  I promise. 

 
partying at
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Monday, July 1, 2013

A Glass Birdbath Worthy of Gracing the Grounds of Hogwarts

I think I outdid Sandra the Sewing Muse with that alliterative-laced post title.  Now about the birdbath...Since my daughter was going to Marshall's for a little shopping, I gave her $20 just in case there were some interesting and inexpensive glass pieces to feed my glass garden ornament obsession. 


Were I not being chewed up by mosquitoes, I would have gotten a better shot of the bottom piece.  It looks like green glass roots coming up out of the ground.  Keegan says it looks like something that would grow at Hogwarts. 

Love it, love it, love it!  Thank you, Keegan, my new personal shopper.

Partying at:
 More the Merrier Monday


Friday, June 28, 2013

More Garden Inspiration -- Glass Garden Totems

I saw one of these in my friend's Cape Cod garden over the weekend which inspired a trip to the Salvation Army store.  I accidentally lucked out by arriving on a "most-things-are-half-price-today" sale!

Nature assisted by filling this one last night. 

The upside-down base vases of both totems are sitting atop pieces of a straight curtain rod--so much cheaper than buying something. and the white looks good! 


The top piece of this one is a $6 paperweight from Marshall's.  The rest of the pieces of both totems are S. A. purchases that were from fifty cents to a dollar.  To bring in more blue, I filled the center piece, a cruet with a nice snug top, with water and blue food coloring.

Can't wait for the next half-price day!

Partying at:  

 More the Merrier Monday



Life on Lakeshore Drive

Thursday, June 27, 2013

An Inspired Birdbath

Danni at Silo Hill Farm had a post about the Bloomin' Marvelous series going at Inspiration Cafe that really did inspire me to do something related to the garden!  Here is my newest birdbath. This one, for my hummingbirds, really does look like a giant flower to me.
 

Both pieces were from Marshall's.  The base piece is about two feet high, a giant stemmed goblet!  You can see the base better in the next photo.  I splurged on that, ten whole dollars.  The top, though, was only $4. Fourteen dollars to give the little beauties their own private bath doesn't seem too much.  They've been flitting around the hanging water at the large bird feeders which made me think they might like a small place for water near where they feed.  My hummingbirds LOVE the Hosta flowers. 



These join the other two glass birdbaths I blogged about here and here.  I need to branch out and use another material next time.

Thanks for the inspiration, Danni.

Partying at:
More the Merrier Monday

Life on Lakeshore Drive