CHRISTMAS PUMPKINS

What do you do

 with left over pumpkins

from the Fall season?

 

 

This year we had lots of pumpkins

at Buttermilk Cottage

We had decided to go with an Autumn theme

for our Holiday Show...

and just kept buying pumpkins.

 

 

I couldn't bare to just throw them away

and there were just too many

for the compost bin.

SO...my next solution

SPRAY PAINT.

 

 

 

It's amazing how far one can of paint will go.

 

 

Since they were staying outside in the yard,

I didn't even worry about

painting the bottom.

 

 

I scattered them all over the back yard,

and thought I was done.

Then Sue comes home and says,

"No one can see them in the backyard."

 

 

 

So I drag them all back around to the front porch

and try to make a Christmas

statement.

 

 

How long will they last?

I have no idea,

but we'll just enjoy

and hope for the best.

 

 

Do you still have pumpkins

hanging out?

You can buy a can of metallic paint

at Lowes for about four bucks.

 

 

 

Now what else can I salvage?

The wheels are turning!

 

HAPPY HOLLIDAYS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



WINDOW BOXES FOR ME

I've been collecting window box pictures on Pinterest

all Winter for ideas and inspiration.

I know I should have a

killer,

spiller,

and filler.

 

 

 

 

This is how my boxes started this Spring.

Early last Fall I had added a few Mums

to my existing boxes and they made it

through the winter.

 

 

 

 

Here are my boxes today.

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, after so much looking and planning,

I just got some plants from the

 "drastically reduced"

section of Lowes.

$17 for the lot.

 

 

 

 

I'm learning that I can waste a lot of time

dreaming and searching.

 

 

 

 

When you are a girl on a budget,

sometimes you need to compromise

and go with what's available.

 

 

 



 

They still have some filling out to do,

but I think they'll work.

 

No regrets.

 

 

 

 

 

And the Mums should be pretty

this Fall.

 

Happy Gardening.

 

 

Merry Christmas To Me!

Don't you just love it

when fate gives you a gift.

 

 

My paperwhites have played out,

so I needed something living to

take their place.

 

 

I had to run out to Walmart for some supplies

so I decided to drive a little further

and see what Lowes had to offer.

 

 

Am I ever glad I did, it was worth

getting  out in the rain this morning.

 

Lowes had all their Poinsettias

on sale for $1!!!

The very small ones were a quarter.

I came home with three big ones

and three small.

Merry Christmas to me!

 

Happy Holidays 

 



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