WHAT'S THIS GROWING IN MY GARDEN?

Have you ever had something pop up in your garden
you never planted?

Ever since I started composting
it seems to happen more and more.

"Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothin about
growin no vegetables".
What is it???
A melon, a gourd, what?

I never planted these tomatoes,
but here they are.

And what is this?
Friend or foe,
weed or plant?

These little purple flowers are everywhere,
again I never planted them
but I like them.
Do you know what they are?

The magic of gardening.

MULCH MADNESS!

This weekend is the Bi-Annual Garden Tour
in my neighborhood.
I've been working all Spring and Summer
on my yard to make it
"show ready".

My big dilemma this year was...
...to mulch or not to mulch.
For the past four or five years I have ordered
a truck load of mulch
for my beds.
This year they have filled in and I wasn't sure
how much I needed or if
I could get away with not mulching
at all.

Oh, how I would love to have a little truck
of my own!
The gardening life would be so much simpler.
I could haul mulch,
buy bigger plants.
Yes, that is a dream of mine.

Well, back to mulch.
How much mulch can you pack into a
Ford Focus?

Exactly twelve bags full.

I told the guy at Lowes,
pack it as full as you can
and then I'll pay.

Going the bag route instead of the
truck load route was a good decision,
I ended up only doing the front yard,
you know, curve appeal and all that.
With my back giving me problems this Summer,
it was a good choice.
Johnny, my lawn mowing guy, help me spread it,
another good decision.

Front yard...
check
Now, on to the backyard.

*
I'll be linking with
Cottage Flora @
Fishtail Cottage.

Show and Tell@
My Romantic Home

THERE'S A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

Just kidding.

They're just so darn
cute!

Sweet dreams

and a very good night.

*

I'm linking with Angela's
Show and Tail
at
West Virginia Treasures

EIGHT AT EIGHT

It's a little past eight and I just strolled through
the garden with my camera.
I wanted to see what kind of pictures
I could get at dusk.

My four o'clock are blooming and
they smell Divine!

They lived here before I did
so I can't take any credit.
They are one of my favorite things
in the garden.

At three o'clock today
I was officially on vacation.

I took this week off to play in the garden.
Next Saturday is our neighborhood garden tour.

I will proudly, be showing The Catbird Garden.

I'm hoping for a big crowd,
the funds we raise go to some
great community projects.

I will be posting throughout the week
on my progress
Wish me luck.

Happy gardening!

GARDEN SHED REDO

Say hello to my new and improved
garden shed.

Last time I told you I was always looking for ways
to camouflage my
old, ugly, beige
shed.

Well this week I
went to town on it...

...and I'm liking the results.

Now I didn't do the whole thing, just the front.
The rest is another project,
maybe in the Fall.
First thing I did was
prime and paint it
sunny yellow,
the doors I painted cream.

What got me going was finding this
louver door panel for 12.99.
Painted that bad boy bright blue.

Decided to spray paint
my baby bed springs black
so it would pop a bit more on the cream doors.

Attached the shutters with a little eye screw
and some clear fishing line.

Can you see the little birds on top?

I found these on my latest outing to the
antique/junk shop.
Fifteen dollars.

Just drilled a little whole and slid them in.
Love it!

So there it is...what do you think?

Happy Gardening
everyone.

*
I'll be linking with...
Kim's Wow Us Wednesday @
Southern Savvy Style

Fishtail Cottage's
Flora Thursdays

My Romantic Home's
Show and Tell

stuff and nonsense's
fridays unfold

Homemaker on a Dime's
Creative Bloggers'
Party & Hop

Between Naps on the Porch's
Metamorphosis Monday

OH MY ACHING BACK!

My 4Th. of July weekend was not a walk in the park!
I've done something to my lower back and
it hurts like HELL (pardon my french).

I seem to be popping Ibuprofen
like they were M&Ms.

I was able to spend a little time in the garden,
but wasn't able to do all I had hoped to.

I did manage to finish a little project I've been thinking
about since the beginning of Summer.
My gardening shed is so ugly, I'm always
trying to camouflage it the best I can.

I decided to make a little black board to hang on
one of the doors. Just a little novelty, mostly
just for looks.
I covered an old frame from the basement
with some crafting moss.

One coat of chalkboard paint.

Six coats of chalkboard paint.

I think it turned out okay,
but I wish it was a little bigger.

Oh well, I can live with it.

I bought this little wind chime...
the first time I put it outside the
graphic washed off.
I decided I could still make it work
and stenciled the number three on it.

Do you remember me telling you about the
geraniums I wintered in my basement?

Here they are today.

Happy Gardening!

Linking with Kim's
Wow Us Wednesday @
Southern Savvy Style