An Almost Disaster & A Rusty Wagon

I have been mostly absent from the Land Of Blog today. This was the day the sprinkler company was scheduled to change heads on the sprinklers where the deck was built and gardens have been rearranged. Simple enough, right?

Wrong!

Rene from the irrigation company had the heads changed. And went to test out the system. My beautiful garden, which you see on the left, above, was quickly covered in water. It appeared to be sinking! Alarm bells went off in my head. “Uh-oh,” says Rene. “We have a problem.”

Seems that when they were pouring concrete for the stone garden borders, a shovel had inadvertently sliced an underground pipe. At first, as Rene starting digging out my flowers to find the source of the problem, I was aghast. My beloved flower garden, looking so fine these last few weeks, was being mutilated!

Rene worked as delicately as he could. Then he tested it again. “Uh-oh,” he said, as water continued to spray. Which meant the problem was beyond the concrete bed and out into or even beyond my little brick pocket bed. Or worse, underneath the waterfall!

Visions of mortar and stone being torn apart went racing through my head as Rene worked. I got a bucket and started to dig up the plants in the brick pocket garden above. You gardeners out there know full well what sort of lunacy this nearly drove me into, don’t you?

As you can probably see, the source of the problem was in fact here. He was able to splice into the pipe. And now I have a new sprinkler head where previously I had a plant. But at least we didn’t have to start tearing down the new waterfall. Horror of horrors.

Please tell me you totally understand that I probably would have had to be taken away in a straitjacket? And sedated for days?

In other news, here is the old rusty wagon I bought from the rather toothless man for the sum of $5 yesterday. As you can see, it is really old and rusty. I didn’t think it safe to plant a garden in it, for I feared the dirt would cause the very thin layer of metal to fall through. So for now it holds my gazing balls.

Well, what is important is that I can go to sleep tonight knowing that impending disaster was mostly averted. My garden is patched back together. It didn’t sink. We didn’t have to go farther than the pocket garden to fix the leak. And I didn’t have to be restrained and taken by ambulance to some facility in a straitjacket.

You do understand what this would have done to me, don’t you? Please tell me you do.

Technorati Tags: Gardening,gazing balls,old wagons,decorating the garden

Welcome Wagon Friday 4/30/10

I’ve been out junk hunting today. Didn’t find much. I bought an old rickety Radio Wagon Flyer, the words long since gone to rust, from one sale for $5. It’s pretty pitiful. It wasn’t actually even for sale. I just asked the guy, who owned few teeth, if he’d sell it. It was at the side of their weed-filled yard. Doesn’t it feel odd at times to dig through other people’s junk? Ah well, that’s where you find hidden treasures. Today just wasn’t my day.

Anyway, I’ve found some new blogs to welcome today.

Rosie from Missouri has the blog Journey To Charm. She spent twenty plus years in the corporate world. Now she’s decorating her nest and creating gardens. She’s been landscaping of late, which I love to watch as it progresses. She seems to enjoy digging in the dirt about as much as I do.

Rebecca in Arizona writes the blog Enchanted Bella. She is a flea market and thrift store junkie. She loves all things vintage, antique or just unique. Rebecca has a passion for paper and loves to make one-of-a-kind functional art.

Petite Michelle Louise is from New England. She loves meeting creative kindred spirits. Once, when she and her future husband were dating, she found a child’s roll top desk at the side of the road. She knew he was a keeper when he hit the brakes and helped her load it into his trunk. Then carried it up two narrow flights of stairs to her first apartment.

Plug the coffee maker in or set the water to boiling for tea. Rummage through the pantry for chocolate. And sit down and visit these blogs for a spell. Tell them you’re from The Welcome Wagon and pleased as punch to meet them. I’m sure they’ll enjoy finding new friends.

Technorati Tags: Friday Featured Blogs,Welcome Wagon Friday

Reclaiming My Chair

I bought this chair at my local consignment shop several years ago. It was meant to be my reading chair. But alas, the cats took it over. It was forever covered in cat hair. I cleaned it up the best I could every week. But, who wants to sit and wonder if you have cat fur on your behind should you decide to go out? So I gave up the battle.

Until yesterday.

I’m not saying I won’t lose the battle to my two cats again. But last night I dragged the chair back into my garden room. I cleaned it with my little super-duper Dyson vacuum. I used the lint brush roller. Like to have choked to death.

I went through my stash of quilts and pillows and “dressed it up” a bit. I figure it’s easier to wash these. And so for now, I once again have a reading chair.

But this morning I saw white fur on it. So I guess it will be our shared chair. Sigh…

This morning Charlie and Abi are at the groomers getting spiffed up themselves. They’ve gone to Susan for over three years now. All I have to say is, “Do you wanna go see Susan?” And they become instantly maniacal and start jumping around like crazy. I don’t know if this means they want to go. Or are just excited because they know there’s no getting out of it.

Which means I got to enjoy my morning cup of coffee without dogs in my lap. You know I’m nuts for all my pets. But why don’t they have a Mother’s Day out for dogs? Maybe that’s something to think about. We loving pet moms need a little break too.

My favorite teddy bear sat next to my desk in her black chair and kept me company. She was such a good, quiet girl.

I pick the rowdy ones up pretty soon. They’re only there for three hours.

Maybe I’ll just sit down in my mostly fur-less chair and read a magazine until then.

Technorati Tags: Decorating,pets,quilts

Meatloaf Sunday

Today I made meatloaf. I went out to the garden with my scissors and snipped fresh parsley to add to it. My meatloaf is a very simple recipe from an old book. One of those cookbooks that I’ve long since lost, but somehow managed to keep this one page. Yum, it was moist and tasty!

After having meatloaf and scalloped potatoes and green beans, I was out to see what was going on in the garden. The dogs trailed behind me. Charlie is still not over his infatuation with the baby chickadees.

I know I’ve neglected my house, and my photos of it. But I am entranced by what is going on outside at the moment. Every day there are so many changes.

The vines are climbing up and up and reaching toward the sky.

I love each petal of each daisy that has bloomed.

The stones are already turning that nice shade of mossy green.

The poppies turned out to be this lovely shade of pink.

The daisies below have not opened, but have grown quite tall. That is the birdbath just beyond them.

I don’t want you to get tired of my little garden. I promise I will be back with indoor topics!

What’s going on in your garden today?

Technorati Tags: Meatloaf recipe,gardening

Suppose

“We dance round in a ring…

…And suppose…

…And the secret…

…Sits in the middle…

…And knows…”

….Robert Frost

Technorati Tags: Robert Frost

The Wish, Dream, Believe Garden

This is the little garden I’ve been working on this week. It is called the Wish, Dream, Believe Garden. Because I had this old sign from a junk store. And it fit nicely on the trellis until the Black-eyed Susan vine climbs up it.

This is just a little space between my pavilion and the garage. I couldn’t dig a garden due to the massive roots in the ground. If you look closely you can see a big root sticking out in the lower left-hand corner. A killer root several inches thick that I can’t budge.

So what to do with this funky little space? The solution was a container garden.

I had two more metal chairs stacked in the garage. I spray-painted them bright yellow. In the yard I found two good-sized plastic pots that fit perfectly inside.

Here’s a tip when you have big containers. It would cost a lot to fill them with potting soil. So improvise. I live in the piney wood region. So I typically have lots of pine cones in my front yard. That was not the case yesterday. I like to throw pine cones in the bottom of big pots, atop shards of broken pottery for drainage, because pinecones will eventually break down.

Discarded plastic pots from the nursery will not break down, unfortunately. But they will help fill the pot so you don’t need as much soil. Unless you’re planting something like a tree that will have a vast root system, you can fill this about halfway up and then add your potting soil.

This little garden is what I gaze at when I sit in my favorite chair on the pavilion. This is my view.

I’m not one for drab colors. And I consider these brown chairs rather drab. But, they were cheap at Home Depot last year. I don’t want to have them recovered. So I used bright colors in my garden beyond them for interest.

The conservatory, dusty with yellow pollen that I see I need to clean off.

Remember the red chair? It’s a match to the now-yellow ones. The fourth is being used in the house at the closet-turned-writing-desk nook in the guest room. See how much the red chair garden has filled out over the past couple of weeks?

So I got stuff out of my garage, and prettied it up to be used elsewhere. Mission accomplished.

I am liking the contrast of yellow and purple. What do you think?

And the yellow and pink. I had not anticipated using this Mexican grass in the pot. But Charlie Ross started eating it and was sick night before last. So it had to come up out of the ground. And it’s kind of quirky. So maybe that’s just a bonus of added texture.

My one Black-eyed Susan bloom. I hope this will take off all the way up the trellis.

To this sign above it. Which gave my garden its name. It actually got hung on the trellis because I didn’t know if I could pound a masonry nail into the brick wall!

Charlie looks much better out here sunning himself when he’s not sick from eating Mexican grass.

Raindrops are still clinging to the flowers.

And here’s my rooster, freshly decked out in red on the deck.

Now I can relax for the weekend. And sit and look at my new container garden.

Technorati Tags: Container gardening,chair gardens,repurposing,rooster planter

Welcome Wagon Friday 4/23/10

I’ve been gardening up a storm this week. Well, mostly repurposing things in the garage. Painting them up to decorate the garden. I get my garage cleaned out and reuse things that don’t cost anything. What’s not to like?

The Welcome Wagon has gone round the world. I’m putting this post up a little early so I can get back outside.

Here are my picks to welcome this week:

Razmataz is Chania’s blog. She is an interior decorator, shop owner and fiber artist. She lives in Ontario, Canada. Her shop website is sure to captivate you. I know I’m headed back over there to gaze some more. Chania scours the countryside for handpicked vintage treasures and lovingly selected products and furnishings for the home. Just take a look at her gallery on the shop website.

Tranquil Townhouse is Kerry’s blog. And she lives in Canberra, Australia. She has a cat named Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her townhouse is her tranquil space. Be along for the ride as she decorates “townhouse style.” She has the coziest little courtyard with a pergola that I just love!

La Maison des lilas is Flaviana’s blog. She lives in Northeast Italy. She is a corporate executive dealing with foreign customers. She has the most eye-catching and inspirational photos! I’m sure they will delight you as they did me. She has a wonderful and elegant style that’s sure to please.

I’m headed outside to start fixing up things. In the next post I will be back with a painted rooster. And two new chair gardens. In the bed I’m working on now, there isn’t a hint of red. (The rooster is somewhere else.) Can you believe that? Me with no red?

Here’s a sneak peek:

So get your virtual casseroles ready (tuna is always a good bet), and welcome these three lovely ladies to Blog Land.

I’ll be back with lots more photos and the story behind this garden.

Technorati Tags: Friday Featured Blogs,Welcome Wagon Friday,gardening,decorating your yard