May your holidays be filled with those
simple joys that mean the most to you!
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
I am doing a Happy Dance!
Thank you, Jennifer! Next door we've had a huge old maple tree ever since we moved in here 35 years ago. You can't believe the amount of maple seeds that buried much of my garden beds every spring! And also collected on our roof and plugged up our gutters! To make a long story short, due to portions of the tree coming down during storms, it has become a safety hazard so is on its last step in removal! It is 18 degrees out there today and those tree guys are working hard to finish taking it down! Brrrrrr! But I am so very happy! The end of 35 years of removing maple tree seeds every spring!
I am looking forward to my first spring without tons of maple seeds to remove! And how they loved to bury themselves in the base of my hostas, which required removal by hand to reach each one! And then later the number of trees that start growing was also quite the crop and sometimes growing entwined in perennial plants! That was a real challenge to remove because you don't see them until they are quite big which requires the whole plant to be dug up to get the roots of the tree that have become tangled in the plant roots!
I am sure the cost of the four tree removal events for this monster has been at least $7,000 over the last 10 years. The yard is totally fenced in so earlier this year required a huge crane to take down and remove major portions of it.
I am looking forward to my first spring without tons of maple seeds to remove! And how they loved to bury themselves in the base of my hostas, which required removal by hand to reach each one! And then later the number of trees that start growing was also quite the crop and sometimes growing entwined in perennial plants! That was a real challenge to remove because you don't see them until they are quite big which requires the whole plant to be dug up to get the roots of the tree that have become tangled in the plant roots!
I am sure the cost of the four tree removal events for this monster has been at least $7,000 over the last 10 years. The yard is totally fenced in so earlier this year required a huge crane to take down and remove major portions of it.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Amarylis time!
Denny enjoys planting amaryllis every year. We used to keep them over and get them reblooming in the winter. Once upon a time we had about a dozen to enjoy this way. They love being packed into a large pot together and are so easy then to deal with outdoors in the summer while they gather energy again for winter joy! That was before our AZ snowbird lifestyle.
But this year I think the collection has started again now that we are MN snowbirds again! He collected four of them this year. One is a white one, and I don't recall we ever had one of those! It was only $5 at Walmart and what a bargain. Two stalks of flowers with a total of 9 blooms! This year we kept them out of direct sunlight when they were in bloom and are amazed at how long those blooms are lasting! Some got so tall that Denny went outdoors to borrow a few lily supports to use with them this year!
But this year I think the collection has started again now that we are MN snowbirds again! He collected four of them this year. One is a white one, and I don't recall we ever had one of those! It was only $5 at Walmart and what a bargain. Two stalks of flowers with a total of 9 blooms! This year we kept them out of direct sunlight when they were in bloom and are amazed at how long those blooms are lasting! Some got so tall that Denny went outdoors to borrow a few lily supports to use with them this year!
Friday, December 13, 2019
Winter Porch Pot lit!
Yep, I lit up my porch pot and hanging basket, thanks to Denny's creative holiday lighting set up outside!
Love the effect in the porch pot! It was a tip I learned in a class in Nov.! Instead of sprinkling a string of lights throughout the pot, I took a string of 100 mini lights and gathered up groups of 15 lights in a bunch and used a rubber band to hold them together, then moved on about 6-8 more lights in the string and gathered another bunch of 15, etc. Then when the pot was arranged, I just dropped those lights down here and there in the pot, which provided a different lighting effect. I really like it!
The hanging basket I just did the usual, sprinkle the light string all over. I think next year I'll do the gathering trick in the hanging basket also. I so enjoy the hanging basket as it is visible through the window in the living room!
Love the effect in the porch pot! It was a tip I learned in a class in Nov.! Instead of sprinkling a string of lights throughout the pot, I took a string of 100 mini lights and gathered up groups of 15 lights in a bunch and used a rubber band to hold them together, then moved on about 6-8 more lights in the string and gathered another bunch of 15, etc. Then when the pot was arranged, I just dropped those lights down here and there in the pot, which provided a different lighting effect. I really like it!
The hanging basket I just did the usual, sprinkle the light string all over. I think next year I'll do the gathering trick in the hanging basket also. I so enjoy the hanging basket as it is visible through the window in the living room!
Thursday, December 5, 2019
December's winter porch pot!
Got it done! I was looking for a white lantern that could be lit but settled for a big fat red cardinal that leaped into my cart! And then a smaller one flew into my cart so that became my theme outdoors for this winter!
I'll get a picture of the big pot with the lights on and share how I did it in a few days!
I'll get a picture of the big pot with the lights on and share how I did it in a few days!
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