Feel Like Complaining

The last time I wrote about our yard, I was telling you about having to use Round-up to kill off some very invasive Sweet Pea plants. Other than that, I dug in and weeded an area I've always left to my husband, the front rocks where most of the Sweet Pea plants thrived. I figured as long as I'm killing, I may as well be pulling. It's a hard area to work, big rocks you have to work around to find the dirt. Weeds smartly wedge themselves between the rocks and you more often than not have to move them around. It's a brutal area on your knees. I moan about yard work but once I get started I don't really mind it. I even drug the kid into it this year more than ever. We'd don our grubby clothes, grab tools and buckets and hit it early. I do have limits though, 1 hour is about it or then I start to hate it. Hubby finally figured out about the Round-up and reluctantly agreed it was the only way. We also have some horrible ground cover in the rocks that looks so pret...

You all know that my husband and I disagree about....well, just about everything. This time it's outside plants. He loves and brings home any plant he can get a hold of, like little kids bring home stray animals. His pat answer when I ask him where he's going to put it is, "Behind the fence". Our backyard is fenced off and there is a little strip behind the back fence about 4 feet wide which consists of rocks, some dirt, many weeds, and too many damn plants. We are both guilty of planting things that get too invasive and we end up taking them out. Many years ago someone gave him a start of Sumac but warned him to keep it away from anything you cherish because it will send out runners. Of course he didn't listen and put it in the front yard in a rocky area that is very hard to do anything with. It was a beautiful tree in the fall and daughter and I hung our plastic Easter eggs on it every year but then it started sending runners into the lawn. It took him a few...

Since we are probably going to be spending more time at home this summer I thought we should buy something nice for ourselves. Last year we bought a portable fire pit and recently I bought a nice 3 seat yard swing. The reviews were pretty good and the swing was rated highly. Most people said it took about 2 hours to put together. We let him open the box All small parts seem to be there, do we need them all? Hmmmm, this is going to turn into a swing huh? We didn't have the time to do it all at once, but started Mother's Day weekend. The frame went together without too much trouble in an hour and-a-half and we were excited to finish the next day. The boss looks over the directions Uh, this one Dad We put it together under the patio so if we dropped a screw it would be easier to find. Hubby's knees were getting sore so I told him to kneel on the cushions which were still wrapped in plastic. He kneels down and his hand slips and he rolls over li...

Last Thursday it was dark, about 7:30 pm or so. Hubby was in the bathroom getting ready for work. Daughter and I were watching TV. I heard glass break and so did hubby. Immediately I knew it was my glass totems. I peered out the window like I had night vision and could see in the dark. I should have gone out then although I know it wouldn't have helped. The next morning I peered out again and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Friday was such a beautiful day that we all decided to go for a walk when I got home from work. Out the front door we go and I look over and see glass in the flower bed. I walk around and see one of my totems broken, which I could not see from the window. Only one piece but it's like a piece of a puzzle. In order to repair the piece I have to take it apart, which I suppose would not be easy because it's held together with A LOT of weatherproof caulk. It could possibly cause breakage of more pieces. So just for kicks and giggles, someo...

Ah come on, get your mind outta the gutter. But I'm glad I got your attention. All my life I've been a stickler about leaving porch lights on at night to keep the bad guys away, but now I'm not so sure. We have one large yard light, which comes on when it gets dark. Our entire neighborhood has the same type. At our gate we have a motion sensored light, just like all of the homes on our block. Then there is the back porch light and a light in the patio. We have lived in our home for 14 years and we have had so many things stolen from our yard it's ridiculous; a shepherd hook hanger for a bird feeder, multiple pieces of yard art, some bought, some made by me, and hubby's gas can. Last summer someone broke our sensor light and left the back gate open. The latest casualty recently was our snow blower, which was under the patio. We saw our gate open one morning so I took a quick look around the yard the next day and all of my yard art was still there. That's al...

WARNING!!!   If anyone has an aversion to the F word, you may as well pass on this one. I just had to use it. My 10th WTH! To see more, go see Blue Monkey Butt . They are the highlight of my week! THEY STOLE MY BABIES! WTH? If you've been reading for awhile you know that I've been making glass totems. I've made ten of them so far and have kept them all. Last week as I was leaving for work I saw this little ball on the sidewalk at the end of my alley. It looked like my dogs ball. WTH? How did that get outside the fence, she doesn't even play with it anymore? I saw a guy next to a car talking on his cell phone so I didn't want to embarrass myself by getting out of my car to look at a stupid ball. Before I got to work I pulled over to call my daughter and tell her to go look at it. I assumed she did and didn't hear back from her so I figured I had made a mistake. Because if it was my dogs ball, that means that someone had been in our yard. I forgot about...

Ha! I bet you think I'm going to write something witty about a pasta dinner gone wrong or something like that. But no, today you will get a treat and learn from my gardening wisdom. I have so little of it, that when I do know something I guess you better listen. Have you ever wanted to have a little extra garden space but didn't feel like digging out the sod, weeding, or preparing the ground with tilling? I learned this little technique and it takes a little more pre-planning but is definitely worth it. Simply, lasagna gardening is when you put layer upon layer of materials on an area that you want to turn into a garden space for either vegetables or plants. First thing you want to do is define the area by laying down a rope or hose. We chose this area between two other beds for a couple of reasons. There is a Russian Sage bush on the right which is so big in the summer that it leans over in the space anyway. Then it gets loaded with bees that you can't walk through. ...

My daughter has a friend who I call Movie Star. This girl is in drama at school and other outside theater groups. Her family is from California so the name is fitting. Her parents are professional photographers and they go to every production she is in to document her life. She is the total opposite of my daughter. But they are friends so that's cool with me. She is actually a very nice girl as is all of my daughter's friends. She has chosen her friends well. One day after school Movie Star wanted my daughter and another girl to come to her house for awhile. Her mother picked them up from school and took them all home. When it was time to pick my daughter up I got directions to her house. I was only partially familiar with the area and of course got lost. Once you turn off from the main road and head up the hill, the houses get fancier by the block. I'm talking California fancy. As I got lost I was seeing more fancy houses by the minute. "Who lives like this?" I...

I've been making so many glass totems of all shapes and sizes and sticking them all over my yard. The other day I was looking at a Peony and noticed that parts of it were all brown and shriveled. We had transplanted it from another area because it was not doing very well. So I figured it was just a crappy plant and was going to show my husband how bad it looked. I walked out the back door and could smell wood burning and figured our neighbor was trying to use up the last of their firewood. As I got closer to the plant to show hubby, I saw smoke coming from a piece of driftwood nearby. My husband loves to stick driftwood all over our garden and the sun was coming through a piece of glass and burning the wood. You can see stripes of burn marks as it's been doing it for awhile I guess. Enlarge to see better. So the poor Peony is just getting fried daily and not so crappy after all. Now I have to rethink this stuff I call art or I might end up burning the house down. I'll b...

I'm sure this won't be the last glass totem I will make but it will be the last one I bore ya'll with. This is the tallest so far, 39 inches. It looked a lot bigger in the house and then when I put it out, it looked quite dinky next to the house. I love the glass balls on the top. They were already glued together and I thought they would look great as a topper, and especially against blue. The all blue vase will eventually fade because it's just painted blue and not real blue glass; that's one thing you have to be aware of when working with colors. The base is a large plate and it's partially buried with rocks on top. We are expecting a wind storm today; 40 sustained with gusts of 60. I better not see it rolling down the street!

And they're getting taller! The one on the right is actually shorter but is a pedestal for a small solar powered birdbath that lights up at night. It was too short and I could hardly see it so I made a stand for it. If you enlarge the picture you can see all the different pieces I used. Check out the cool Margharita glass on the top of the left one. I am able to whip out one a day now but find myself having to run to the thrift store for 'just a few more' pieces of glass. I'm addicted.

My mom lives in a retirement community and there is one house that I drive by on the way to her place. They have the most gorgeous looking glass yard art that they make to sell. I've been admiring them for a year now but never have been able to buy one. So I slowly drive by and study them and just figured I'd make one for myself. First I did some research on glass bird baths because I thought that's what they were. I guess it just depends on how they're put together. But I finally found some online, called glass totems. So I studied some more and and then went shopping at thrift stores for glass ware. To start with I'm only making small ones. The three that are made with vases actually slip on top of a stake and put anywhere you want. The very first one I made is leaning badly so I'll give that to my mom. She's my guinea pig for crafting. The other one with the frosted glass and blue is my favorite so far and sits on a bench in my backya...

As I post this picture I must apologize to my back east friends for flaunting our Spring-like weather. My husband spotted this crocus today, our first of the season. We will probably reach 50 today and it's a beautiful day full of sunshine. But I do have several shovels and a snow blower that I could loan out.

For the first time ever I'm not bummed that we're not going to have a white Christmas. My daughter is not happy about it but she's not the one that was out shoveling last winter until her heart exploded. I could not possibly have taken a third bad winter so this feels like a gift to me from the weather Gods. We've had a lot of rain but only a few inches of snow which has since melted. I'm thrilled to see greenish grass and dry stick bushes. The lights even look OK on bare trees. All the blow up Santas seem to be happy not to be squashed by the snow and buried until April. My birds are happy that they don't have to scrounge for my measly offerings. I'm sure by spring the know-it-alls will be talking about a water shortage and warning us of  possible rationing of our yard watering. But for now I don't care, I'm enjoying the nice sunshine. I know, the snow is prettier and probably next year I'll be ready for a white Christmas but for this y...