Trying something new. Check out the babies video.

Where did the time go? I turned around and realized that its the middle of August. I have been busy out in the flower garden, taking pictures and making plans to move some plants. All I seem to do is water and weed.

Its been a couple of weeks since I last sat down to write. We have been busy working on the front of the house where we took out the barbury bushes. I had my son and my husband putting top soil down, and smoothing out the ground. We had gone to Aunt Sheila's farm to get some stone and used it to outline the beds. (Boy does that save money!) Last weekend we went to the local nursery and purchased some plants and had a load of mulch put into the truck. I thought that it would be enough (right) but was wrong. So this week Jake is working on the side of the house taking out the old weed barrier and stone so that we can work another load of mulch around there. Always something...

Every weekend starts out with all good intentions of getting so much accomplished. But by the end of Sunday night, you look back and say "what the hell did I do all weekend". I wanted to work outside on Friday night after work, but we had a hell of a storm. The skies got those big black clouds and then the wind started and then the thunder and lighting and rain. We were sitting out on the porch watching the storm come, but had to go inside because the wind was blowing the rain onto the porch. I had taken all my hanging plants down, and the wind still blew one on its side. So Friday was pretty much a washout. Saturday dawned bright and clear, but the grandchildren (aren't they adorable) came to stay so that their parents could go and clean their new house. So not much got done on Saturday. We were able to take the refrigerator and stove to the the kids new house, but didn't stay long. Yesterday, I was able to get outside and plant some of the plants that I bought a while back. My back patio is really looking good. I have to get a lot more mulch. Maybe this week...

Some ideas for a garden:

Enjoy the tinkling of chimes, handcrafted from old silverware and antique odds-and-ends.

Create a tabletop fountain with a small pump and rocks, bamboo, moss, and plants. Nothing soothes the spirit like the sound of gently flowing water.

Attract songbirds by filling bird feeders with seed, fresh fruit, berries, and seed-laden flowerheads. You'll wake up with a song in your heart every morning.

Invest in a planter speaker that not only has a built-in drainage system but keeps plants moist.

Invest in CDs featuring natural ambient sounds, like rainforests, waterfalls, birds. Or, develop a collection of classical, popular, and global music that reflects different cuisines.

Garden Designs Home

Garden Designs Home is a website that specializes in different garden ideas, products and designs. You'll find software for designing a garden to accessories for your garden to different garden plants. Take a look around, you'll like what you see.

Weed a little, plant a little was my thing this weekend. I am working around my yard at various flower beds weeding a little then planting a little. I have to say that I hate to weed, but love to plant so I break it up and do a little of both. June has come and all danger of frost has passed, so I take a little time each evening to plant. My husband cringes each time I go to the store because I come home with something else to plant. We took out the fire thorn bushes that were in the front of the house last week and my son has been working on digging out the roots. Sunday we smoothed out the area and placed some top soil down and will plant some orange azaleas there. A neighbor has an orange azalea and I have admired it for many years. We had some coupons for the local nursery so we went looking and low and behold they had some.

Holy cow! It is already the last full week of May. Where did the spring go? I have been debating what to plant where and again the weekend has gotten by without me getting what I wanted accomplished. It was raining Friday night, so that was a washout as far as working in the yard. Saturday was sunny, but cool, but we had a birthday party to go to for our grandson who turned 4. What a wonderful age. We went to a pizza place for the party. He is one well loved little boy. Although, later that night, it was impossible to get him to sleep. Too much cake and excitement. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon outside planting flowers in various pots. Still have a lot to go. Maybe tonight.

Well its happened. The result from all the bush pulling and tree trimming this weekend, I have a case of poison ivy (or something). Its on my upper inner arm, on the inside of my lower arm, and on my fingers. I bet it makes my life miserable. All though I had on gloves, it still got me.

The sun was out but the air was cold. Chopped down a bush/tree that was growing at the corner of the house on Saturday. It was approx 25' tall and 20' wide. I don't know why someone before me didn't trim it back. Well its trimmed alright. Its trimmed to a stump in the ground which will be taken out this evening. It really opens up the corner of the house. I put some stone border around where I want the planting bed to be. I haven't decided what I want to do with the bed yet. I need to get some dirt to build up the planting beds. Also planted 2 azalea's in front of my porch. It gives some nice color there.

It is a beautiful day here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, but I wouldn't know it because I am holed up in my windowless office which sits in the middle of the building. I hope to sneak out of here a little early, so that I can spend some time outside digging up daffodils and replanting them. Every year I think that I get them all, but new ones pop up. I passed a house on the way to work that had some phlox blooming in differnt shades of purple and it just stood out from all the others along that particular road. I was struck by the brightness of it in the early morning light. Makes me want to go to the local gardening center and buy some flowers to plant, but I know that it is just a wee bit early for that yet. I'll bet we have one more frosty morning left...

April showers bring May flowers...
I sure hope so. It has been a wet and cold April here in Southwestern Pa. Maybe May will bring the warm temperatures that all us gardening fools long for. I want to be able to go home from work and go outside to my yard and do my thing. I'm tired of looking at books and catalogs. I want to start doing instead of wishing.

What a beautiful weekend here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It was sunny and warm. I had so much work to do outside. Of course, I started to many projects and finished none. I still have to transplant a lot of daffodils and lily that are growing on the side of the garage. I cut some of my holly tree branches off to keep them from rubbing the side of the house. Wanted to burn some of the yard waste, but didn't get to that until last night. I got a lot cleaned up, but more to do. Set out some of the planting pots so that the rain can wash off the dust and dirt. Its starting to rain here now, so I won't be able to get anything done tonight.

The sun is shining, the sun is shining!!!! Its a balmy 68 degrees today and I'm itching to get home from work to do something outside. I have some weeds that need pulled or maybe I'll gather up the dead branches that have fallen into the yard. I can't wait!!!

My fingers are itching to get dirty!!! Its been so cold here in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania this past week. The weather is getting warmer by the day and this weekend I can finally get outside and start to work in my gardens. My spring flowers are poking thru the soil, and some have been frostbitten. I need to tend to them. Keep ya posted!!!

BRRR! Where did the spring go? Here in southwestern Pennsylvania it has gone from low 70's earlier in the week to high 30's today. My daffodils have froze!! The gardening has been put on hold for the next few days because of the weather. Back to looking at the gardening books and planning. I have some more yard waste to clean up, but that too will have to wait. I'm not freezing my tootsies off!!!

LET THE SUNSHINE!!! That's how I feel today. That old Fifth Dimension song is playing in my head as I look out the window. It is not that warm, but the sun is shinning and I have a lot of things that I want to get accomplished today. I hope to start raking up some of the debris that is always left in the yard from the winter. (branches, sticks and fallen leaves) All my spring flowers are poking thru the mulch and I need to get some of that cleaned up. I think that I'm going to let the fallen leaves still on the planting beds, because it still might get frosty at night. I have some small trees that I need to cut down. They are from the previous owner and were not attended to and have to be moved. I know other people have visions about what they want their yard to look like, but they don't fit in with my plans. I hate the thought of getting rid of any tree, but they are bunched too close together and next to the house. So bye bye trees.

Christmas has come and gone, January and February also. I don't know where the time has gone. Its now March and a lot of things have happened since I last posted. Our twins arrived on December 12, and I have been busy being a new Grandma. Check them out!


I took a good look at the calender today and realized that SPRING is right around the corner. I have been getting some mail order catalogs and have been getting antsy about what I want to do this year. I moved a lot of plants last fall, and hope that they will take and grow. I have a lot of day lilies along the side of my house and no matter how many that I remove, they just come back again. I want to look into adding some kind of water feature this year, but have to talk the hubby into doing that. Maybe a pond too...