Trellis Something Good

I don't want you to think a week has passed that a project has not been started or completed at our home.  In fact I was just thinking the other day that more days than not you will probably find a nail gun instead of dinner on the dining room table.  We had some exceptional weather this past week, and we took full advantage of every single day of it!  It won't be long before it will be too hot for me to be outside after about 10 AM.

I'm sure if you have a garden, or even a patio you have priced a trellis.  They come all shapes and sizes, and of course price ranges.  We have a large shallow garden area on the lower patio/fire pit portion of our back patio that had bushes at one time, but we found it hard to keep them from encroaching on the patio itself.  We decided to tear out the bushes and add vines- primarily evergreen varieties that would keep the leaf debris cleanup to a minimum.  And let me add that the space gets the full Texas sun all afternoon.  I honestly get fed up with publications that show amazing gardens grown places like Washington state!  It takes True Grit to garden here as well as a modicum of masochism! 

Our trellis needed to be over 10 feet long and 5 feet high!  We are so fortunate to have been able to recycle cedar scraps from a work project!  I still plan to add some vertical strings to help coax the vines to fill in.  My son cut out, sanded and assembled it since my husband still does not have use of his arm.  I think it turned out great!

 

 I also took advantage of the shade from our large oak tree in the back yard to work on and paint an old chair.  I should have the project fully completed for the next post! (pending no continued rain-out)

Here is a peek:

A pic of my kitty enjoying the catnip I planted for her

And to keep with our wood/fence/outdoor theme today here is a great free background for your personal use

And to all the Moms out there- Happy Mother's Day!

Foolin' Around on April Fool's Day

In case anyone is looking for me, you can probably find me in a neighbor's garage.  I am kinda nosey- no denying it.  That is why the neighborhood garage sale is one of my favorite events!  I snooped and chatted, talked smack about your stuff later in the day to my girlfriends that had to work and missed the fun.  Yes.....it's true.  But mostly had a great time, and got some great stuff treasures.  The weather cooperated nicely as well.  It was breezy, low 80's and sunny.  Picture perfect.  My thanks to the dad that had fired up his grill and made some awesome hotdogs with tasty toasty buns. 

I am pretty worn out from my bargain hunting, but I will close with a few pics of some treasures and the promise that with the great new scanner I picked up today I will also have some neat-o things scanned in very soon to share as well.  

I love spring!

Waiting for Springs Return

This winter in North Texas has gone on record as one of the coldest and wettest since records have been kept.  We are 'officially' out of our longstanding drought in this state, with one or two counties still looking for a little more rain, but most of us have had more than enough of this.  As Texans, we cherish the rains, but anxiously wait the sun's warm return.
 

This may look to you like a crummy dead hanging plant I should have discarded many months ago, but I can assure you this is much more than it appears.  This will be home to a pair of Mourning Doves that return every year to this spot to nest, and raise their young. 

The first year this unlikely spot was chosen, we were startled when we found the nesting birds settled in- after all, this is 20 feet from our back door, and adjacent to our grilling and fire pit area.  We have little dogs that hang out in the sunny warm spots of this patio- there is just a lot going on here!  But, they held steadfast to their choice, and it was wonderful to see the 2 small baby birds grow, and eventually take flight.   There were a few times we disturbed them unintentionally by bumping the pot, but overall, we got on okay.

The second year I really thought I would outsmart them, and I took down the hanging pot, and waited until I thought mating season was over- well into April.  The birds watched closely from their perch on my neighbor's roof until the pot came back- this time with a fresh, green plant.   Once again they chose this spot to call 'home'.  I was not able to water the new plant because of the babies in the nest, so it just withered and died, and I ended up having to replace it.

So, here we are in year 3 of the nesting bird saga, and I have left my old, withered plant out as a welcome sign to my pair of Mourning Doves, anxiously awaiting their return, and the promise of springs return as well.   The promise that the warm glow of the sun will once again shine upon us, and as the Beatles so aptly put it "Here comes the sun, and I say-it's alright!"