More Landscaping

Yippee!! Another flowerbed almost complete!
On Memorial Day, I dug a 20' x 4' flowerbed under my scrapbook room window. This past weekend, we were able to lay the border and put in a few of the flowers.

I LOVE my flower gardens!! I'm not the greenest thumb around, but I sure enjoy it. I get my love of gardening from my family. My grandparents and my parents (really my Dad -- sorry, Mom! Your thumbs are beautiful, but not necessarily green.)

I think my garden itch has been scratched - at least a little bit - for now. We'll see if I can hold off until Fall......

On the left (in front of the bright yellow hose....) is a Black Knight butterfly bush. Next are 3 bright purple salvia (they form a triangle around the bird bath). Right now, I have a pink geranium at the far right. This fall, we'll plant a Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

Here's a view of the front of our home. Just imagine what it will look like when all these perennials "Leap" in their 3rd year! 



Moving to the backyard....

I purchased these shutters from our local Habitat Resale Center several years ago. I distressed them and then used them in a small room in our last home. This time, I decided to use them to add some height to our back wall.

I planted a Hall's Honeysuckle and am training the vines to run through the shutters. I'm really excited to smell this arrangement!!

Some yummy herbs......mint, chocolate mint, basil, sage, and oregano. I found a plain wooden crate and painted it a bright, cheery blue. I love how it looks!

 A small arrangement on our patio table. Can you believe I purchased this planter from Dollar Tree?? It's a ceramic pot made by Better Homes and Gardens. I bought 2 and I love them!!

This one has a some blue salvia, ivy, and moss rose. It's too new to start blooming -- I hope it does soon.

Unfortunately, I'm losing the "Wildlife Preserve" (or empty lot) across the street from our home. Boo!! No more quail, bobwhite, or meadowlarks. On the other hand, hopefully we will have fewer weeds and the new houses will be well landscaped. Only time will tell.

 Well, goodnight for now. I hope you have all had a chance to play in the dirt - it's good for your soul!

NAEYC Accreditation!!!

We did it!!! We received our NAEYC Accreditation - AGAIN!!! WHOO HOO!!!
www.naeyc.org

Not only did we pass -- We SCORED 100% ON ALL 10 CRITERIA!!!! PLUS, WE SCORED 100+% ON 5 OF THE CRITERIA!!!!

Let me tell you - that simply doesn't happen!!! It's truly unheard of to get 100% in everything!! Needless to say, we are all thrilled!!!!

My hubby has been so wonderful throughout this entire process!! He has loved and supported me at every turn and I am so blessed!!!!

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Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Last week was the last week of Preschool and this week is the first week of our Summer Program. I've been super busy!!

On Memorial Day, I dug a new flowerbed across the front of the house. I haven't gotten it all planted yet, but I'm working on it. I'll post pictures soon.

Til then.....

Blessings to you all!

Front garden

It's been a while since I posted about our front garden. It's turning out really well. We're happy with it.
The garage wall has a desperado sage, a red Don Juan climbing rose, a container of moss rose, and the yew.

Pink and purple verbena wind around the path part of the pavers. The space to the right of the path is filled with 1 lavender plant and 3 bright pink salvias. White alyssum winds up towards the front door. Finally, we have pink dianthus in a container by the rock column.

Thrift store cowboy boots planted with yellow lantana and purple million bells.

Look at my little hydrangea now!! Looks like she's happy in this spot. Yippee!!

This little container sits beside the hydrangea. It has ivy that will hopefully run up the iron. It's underplanted with light pink impatiens.

Everything was planted for butterflies and hummingbirds. I'm ready for everything to start growing and flowering. It's going to smell heavenly!

Bridal Shower

We hosted a bridal shower for one of the teachers at my school today. She has a western/rustic/sweet theme. We tried out best to pull that off!! What do you think?
I covered the table with burlap and layered it with a pallet and pavers.

We used Ball jars with sand and candles.

Cowboy boots planted with yellow lantana and purple million bells.

Faith Candles

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. Work has been crazy busy and has taken all of my extra time. Even so, I managed to squeeze in a small project. Enjoy!
I found these brass candlesticks while out thrifting. Sorry - I forgot to take the first official picture -- ugly brass with some strange markings all over them. I lightly sanded them down and cleaned them up and grabbed my can of black spray paint.

Yup - I'm a rebel -- didn't prime, didn't use a special paint -- Nuthin fancy! Just a .99 can from Lowe's. It did take several coats and I would HIGHLY recommend NOT trying this in West Texas with a dirt yard - during a windy day! Augh!

I already had 3 small pillar candles. They were a mix of white and off-white. I knew I wanted to do something special. I just couldn't leave them nekkid!

The church I work at was giving away some old hymnals and I couldn't grab one up fast enough! DH and I love to sing, and we especially love to sing the old standards. The songs in this hymnal were perfect. I simply ripped out some of our favorite songs. I tore them into small pieces and lightly burned the edges.

Note: This smells a lot worse and smokes a lot worse than you think it will!! You might want to do this part outside. Just be careful - it's harder to see the pages burn outside! It's trade-off.

Love a good Mod Podge project!

First: paint a light coat of Mod Podge all around the candle. Next: layer the torn/burned paper. You'll need to add a touch of MP to help lay the edges down.

I stepped back and took a look -- then added a light touch of my walnut stain distress ink. I just pounced a cotton ball onto the ink pad and then lightly rubbed it right on the paper. There were just a few places I thought needed a little extra umph.

A thrifted silver tray and moss "rocks" from the Dollar Tree complete the vignette.

My finished project!! I love it!!

HOT!!!

What?? Isn't it still APRIL??

The high today was actually 104*!!! I only got a picture of 101*

I'm NOT ready for summer!!

Btw - my newly planted hydrangea is NOT happy with this sudden heat wave!! I sure hope she perks back up. I'd hate to think that I've lost her in the first week!!

Do YOU like Yew?

I am a sun gardener. It's what I know. Our last home had a butterfly bush, canna, day lillies, salvias, and black-eyed susans. Everyone of them just soaked up the sun. Sure, I lost some plants along the way - even the most drought tolerant plants can burn in the West Texas sun and wind. (And boy, do I mean wind!!) I completely fried our purple fountain grass and a small spruce tree. (OK, that one we probably should have lost. He wasn't really made for the spot we placed him. Oh well.)
Welp, you guessed it. Our new home has....Wait for it....SHADE! I'm not really sure I even know what that is!! Sure, it's not a lot of shade, but ANY is pretty exciting.....and a little weird!

Our new home faces north and the garage is on the east. That means a good section of our front seating/planting area has full shade and/or partial shade for the entire day. I knew I wanted something that would fill in the corner between the garage and the dining room, but I wasn't sure what that would be. All of my ideas required full sun. A quick trip to a local nursery was in order!

The nursery guy recommended a Hick's Yew! Great idea! It meets everything I was looking for...

             Evergreen --- CHECK
             Tall --- CHECK
             Full --- CHECK

Of course, this little guy is still a young 'un. He needs to grow up!

Since the entire dining room is in complete shade, it gives me the opportunity to try new plants. I have always wanted a hydrangea, so......!! Here's my perfect chance!

I'm excited to play around with the soil to make the flowers turn blue or purple.

The front part of the bed is in almost constant sun. I can really do some fun things here! Today, we put out some purple irises and liriope. These were at our old house and we transplanted them to our new house. We originally got the irises from my mother-in-law. Two different purples -- I'm in love!!

I've got big plans for the open areas! A climbing rose, some bright pink salvia, a lavender plant, and a sage of some kind (either Russian or Texas - not sure yet.) Anyway - stay tuned to see how my garden grows!! : )