Sunday, May 31, 2009

Spring Jewelry

A turquoise donut tied with brass chain, with little turquoise beads here and there.... Matching bracelet and earrings. Just like little pieces of the sky caught up and wrapped around your throat, wrist and ears....
And some new earrings. Little shell pearl dangles with sterling silver ear wires, and brass hearts with little blue glass drops....Fresh and sweet on your earlobes for Spring!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Dog's Domain ~ The Side Yard

This part of the yard has never had anything planted in it except for whatever grows wild, and my morning glories that cover the fence. Because i live in such a small space i have been wanting to grow some of my own food, but didn't know where i could do that. So, here is my little container garden, smack dab in the middle of the dog's territory. I had to put the plants in big tubs so that Zinnia and Pollyanna didn't decide to use the plants for tug of war, and so that Gipetto didn't water them with something other than water if you know what i mean... Even tho this is the North side of the house, this half of the yard gets sun all day long. Just right for sun loving tomatoes!(see...not much grass grows here due to all the 4 legged foot traffic, but my lawn guys are hoping we can let all the wild things grow and cut them back and at least there will be green covering the ground. Who needs grass???)
In this smaller tub i have two heirloom varieties of tomatoes~ Brandywine, and one called Rose. I picked these because i loved the names...I'll let you know how they taste)

And in the bigger tubs we have Early Girl and Big Boy, with a little extra basil planted around them. If it gets too crowded in the tubs i will move some plants to new containers, but i was told i shouldn't have any trouble with this set up...we'll see...)

So, for now, that is it for the gardens here. I'll take more pictures in the coming weeks when the gardens explode with color... Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, May 29, 2009

No Rain~No Rainbows...

In Honor of the rain and the rainbows tonight...

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Shade Garden

This garden is the one that was completely leveled and the one that is most exciting for me. Some of my old hosta collection came back , but many of the plants here are brand new. This collection of plants enjoy the shade, and dappled sunlight.

We have hosta (all kinds) columbine, astilbe, bleeding heart, lily of the valley, tiger lily, violets and violas, and a few evergreen bonsai planted in the earth to speed and strengthen their growth. Voluptuous flowering begonias are in the planters hanging on the fence. The bird feeders here are very busy and any seed knocked to the ground is eaten by the mourning doves, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks

This little statue of Mary was given to me by my Aunt Joey before she passed away. She loved this statue and wanted to be sure someone else would love it too and place it in their garden and enjoy it. An old honeysuckle vine trails over the statue, and bleeding heart, lily and viola surround it.

Here is another statue named "Mary" by Samson Contampasis, standing in front of this pine tree. She is also surrounded by columbine, viola and hosta

And another statue by...guess who? Sam... with bonsai planted in the ground behind it and hosta to both sides

So far this is the only chair in this garden and it hasn't been used for sitting yet! Here are more violas, and three peony bushes waiting to be planted out in the Front garden...Next garden is the last one~the Side Garden ...

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Front Garden

The front garden is my most colorful garden here, but right now things are just busy growing...not much blooming yet. But there are fresh pansies in the tufa pots near the front steps and geraniums in the pots on the front porch. (There is another one of Samson's sculptures too...)

SMILE!
I planted a lot of violas around the base of the big old pine tree in the front. I hope they re-seed and come back . My Gram used to call these Johhny Jump-ups

This one is called Starry Night

And this one reminds me of the kind my Grandmother kept in her gardens many years ago. I'll take more pictures of this garden as things start to bloom...Next garden up is the Shade garden...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Deck Garden

My daughter told me i should blog more...And i admit have been a bit spotty lately...But honestly, i have been so busy with the gardening that i just haven't had enough time to do much else! For the first time in years i have become so excited about rebuilding my gardens again. I lost many old plant friends these last few years due to some heavy construction work, but now that it is finished and the coast is clear, i have decided to start fresh by adding some new friends. I break my gardens up into different sections and they all have different requirements. This is my deck garden....

The deck has a southern exposure, with some shade... Here i have some of my hearty bonsai mixed in with some veggies and herbs. The pot on the deck floor in the front is a blueberry bush i am training for bonsai....

But before i start trimming the branches, i think i will let the blueberries ripen! Yum!

Here is my mini leaf Linden and a Japanese maple.


my Japanese pagoda tree and a Zelkova
and a juniper bonsai and a boxwood in training....
Here is one of Samson Contampasis' sculptures that i have in my gardens. You can read more about Sam and his work here ..This is just a little peek at the deck garden because i have so much more work to do! I have a few empty pots waiting for more patio tomato plants from the Farmer's Market, and maybe some more herbs too...And more geraniums. Next garden up is the Front garden...

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Dragon's Rest

There is a special spot on my kitchen windowsill, where i keep some very special treasures...My boy Seth gifted me this little sleeping dragon, along with all these special rocks, and the robin's egg shell he found in his yard the other day. And every time i do my dishes, i can look at all these special gifts and think of him, and know that i am loved....It really is a magic place for me...

Friday, May 15, 2009

BRUUUUUUUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to see Bruce Springsteen last night. And i can honestly say i had a healing of sorts. I've been feeling a little sad and tired and down lately, like my batteries are running low. But just a few minutes in the arena with Bruce Springsteen, and i'm back in business. My husband and i count 5 Springsteen concerts under our belts. The first one was at RPI back in the late 70's/early 80's... He was very young and all over the place then. One minute he would be standing on stage, the next on top of the piano, then sliding across the stage again, just like this . You got tired just watching him! But last night, even tho he's 60 years old and not quite as sprightly, his energy and electricity is amazing. There were folks older than me and Bruce there last night, and many many more that were younger, and i am willing to bet they have NEVER seen a concert like that before. When you go to see Bruce Springsteen, you can be sure that no matter what the ticket costs, he is worth every single penny and more. He performed for almost 3 hours last night, never taking a break, dripping with sweat, his energy boundless. Amazing...And there is something that his music does to people. It connects us, inspires us, injects us with energy and enthusiasm... He mixed his classics with his new stuff and had us on our feet all night. Amazing....I feel 10 years younger this morning....just amazing....

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Lola's Poncho

It's done! I made it quite a bit smaller than the first one, used different colors in a soft cotton and a larger crochet hook so the fabric is a little more open and airy for Spring and cool Summer nights. Carly and Jeremie like to take the kids to the drive-in a lot during the Summer and this will be like a little wearable blanket for Lola.

And here is the model showing her new "shirt" as she calls it. It is still a little long, but she will grow into it.
She showed us that she can still do her favorite thing, read books, while wearing her new poncho.
(that black blur in the right hand corner of this picture is Lola's best doggie friend Zinnia. Whenever Lo is here, Zin is right next to her!)
Mommy had to step in to try to get Lola to stand still for pictures but as you can see, she is always moving! Oh well, the most beautiful part of her is crystal clear...that beautiful face! Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

A Spring Bouquet and garden plans...

I need to get to a greenhouse and buy some pansies this year. That is one of the garden plants that reminds me of my Grandmother Mary the most...She had the old fashioned yellow ones with the root beer colored faces. Every time i see those little flowers i think of her. Also i need some lily of the valley..My daughter Katie is going to let me have some of hers. She got them from my Mother's garden. The ones i had here were lost in the construction....so i am glad to have a few plants from Mom's original gardens.... I lost my old lilac bush when the garage was being built...So i just ordered some old fashioned lilacs from conservation office to be picked up on Saturday. It will take a while for the lilac seedlings to be big enough to bloom, but until then i will just have to go around the neighborhood sniffing everyone else's lilacs!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Movie Night: Slumdog Millionaire


We didn't get to see this in the movie theater, but gobbled it up on Netflix as soon as it became available. It is a beautiful love story, and a hard look at life on the streets for children in India. (~and one of the reasons i have been supporting children-especially girls-there thru CCF for over 25 years) I LOVED this movie....