The Tree House Garden|Part 3

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This was how it looked earlier in the spring after I planted delphinium in the right corner, and my first round of impatiens .... which have been and gone, alas. Dead as doornails. Walmart flowers. Hmph.

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And now:

Tada!

 

  I barked the path and planted a couple huge impatiens (from Lowe's this time) along the way.

The lovely yellow flowering plant to the left is an echibeckia, a perennial which is supposedly a cross between an echinacea and rudbeckia and attracts butterflies. Loooove this thing! 

Found one more stone to finish the path off!

Strawberry blossoms ...

 A summer blooming delphinium, which I planted near my spring blooming one. These re-seed themselves so eventually this area at the front of the garden will have lots of them, I hope!

Back of the delphinium are dahlias my piano teacher gave me forever ago, and I'm excited to finally have them transplanted down here! This is another flower that will multiply well and fill empty space.

Columbine. I love this flower ... old-fashioned and sweet.

 

The primroses have gone to town ...

I'm very happy. :) Can't wait to see what it looks like next year when the perennials are more established!

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Summer Project #1

It's been quiet around here! :) Want to see what I've been up to? Here's one of the projects -- I've got some before + after proof!

The last couple years we've built up/expanded the flower garden in front of the house & last summer we put a load of dirt down. But it's really needed mulch to finish off & keep moisture in the soil, which we finally accomplished a couple weeks ago!

Before ...

Add a gigantic load of bark ....

 And after a few hours ... viola!!

 I love before & after pictures. Thanks to mom for encouraging me to snap some when I really didn't feel like it! ;o)

Back deck area beforehand ...

 Aaaand aftah!

Amazing what a little (read: A Lot Of) bark and weeding does ... huh. ;o) I love these kinds of projects! They are immensely satisfying.

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Happy Independence Day! (o:

The Tree House Garden|Part Two

And this is the current situation:

 Mom had been saving some iron rings from an old wine barrel planter that fell apart, and she had the brilliant idea to surround the irises at the bottom of the path with one of them. I love this! I dug up a bunch of them and replanted to consolidate them into a more concentrated mass, and now they fit really well.

My primroses have multiplied majorly the past few years, so I divided and replanted them spaced apart ... this area between the path and the tree is shady and perfect for them. I was

 excited to see how many I have now.

I edged the front side of the path with salmon and white impatiens:

And planted pink-and-white multicolor ones at the bottom of the garden.

Next up, I'm planting lillies of the valley and delphinium!

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The Tree House Garden|Part One

Not long ago, my Tree House Garden (although whatever existed of a treehouse in that old maple no longer abides among the living) looked like this.

This, this is what happens when you go to college, and then get a job. It is not all it's cracked up to be.

Please, ignore the big blue water trough in the background that serves as our swimming pool in summer. I had not the motivation to move it.

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Then, it looked like this:

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And then, I transplanted the lemon verbena, and it looked like this.

Please note that at this stage the watering tank is picking up and accentuating the blue of the forget-me-nots which are in liberal supply. Therefore it can now be considered an artistic addition.

And then I planted Impatiens ....

More pictures after I get out to water my plants in the morning and have a moment to take them!

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Hand Work

I've been busy on some thoroughly lovely embroidery from the ladies at Clementine Pattern Company ...

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This was my "valentine" for a ladies' Valentines Day party on Friday.

Cardstock, small cellophane bags, a hole-punch, a black pen and a red chalk marker, and red-and-white baker's twine. Oh, and homemade fudge! ;-)

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Beauty from Friday's drive:

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Running the Race: Goals for 2015!

I was asked to share some of my new year goals! As I said, they are mostly simple ones this year, but here are a few of them if you'd like a peek into my head at the beginning of 2015 (scary, I know ;). And feel free to share yours in the comment section if you like, to catch me up on some of your goals for this year! :o)

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~ Bible study:

• Tackling God's Word at both ends: O.T. and N.T. starting in Genesis and Matthew, 1 chapter minimum each per day.
• Gary Henry's Reaching Forward.
• And memorizing the book of James. I started this last year, but fell ungracefully off the metaphorical bandwagon and am still working on climbing back on, just as ungracefully. It's tough when the bandwagon's moving. Okay, I went too far with that metaphor. Moving on ...

~ Journal. Daily, at best - weekly, at the least.

 

~  Thankful Book: I pulled out one of the pretty blank notebooks I am known for compulsively collecting ;o), and am using it this year to daily record five things I'm thankful for. I'm quite excited about this, and I think it will be a great way to stay focused on God's goodness -- and a lovely book to look back through when I've filled it.


~ Keeping up with my menu plan by staying scheduled at least a month out. I have come to be a real fan of menu planners. So nice to know what I'm cooking a week in advance ... who knew. ;-)

~ Reading aloud to mom and my sis. This has been so much fun, and it's been a joy to share some of my favorite books with them, including The Ordinary Princess, The Reb and the Redcoats, Enemy Brothers, We Were There at the Normandy Invasion, and currently The Treasure Seekers books by E. Nesbit. Hurrah for girl time!


~ Correspondence: Returning mail within two weeks of receiving it. And if you are one of my correspondents reading this, y'all get to keep me accountable! :)


~ Keep at least one crochet/knitting/sewing project going per month.

~ Start saving for a (HOPEFUL) trip to Ireland next year with my family! Lord willing, we are planning to check out the old family homestead, roam through some auld castles, eat haggis and the like. ;o) Or well, scratch the haggis. I think my Irish roots have been a LEETLE too watered down to stomach that kind of fare (no pun intended). So I may go with Irish cheese instead.

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Goal planning makes me think of Proverbs 16:3 & 9 ... "Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established" and "The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." (NASB) Yes, plan away ... but let the Lord lead those plans. Be flexible with them -- because He may change them up a little (or a lot!). But only because He loves us more than we can understand --  because in the end, His own goals for us are infinitely superior to our own. May HE be glorified in my plans and in yours for this year!

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