Projects and more Projects

Before the rain started we embarked on a few projects as a family. I just have to brag on my fantastic little painting crew for a minute. We decided to give our deck a facelift. A little paint somehow evolved into a whole new roof, new sections of flooring, lattice work around the outside to keep the neighborhood Tomcat out, and a new coat of paint. Over Memorial Day Weekend Abi, Tal, Leah ( in the backpack), and I painted our fence a lovely muted sageish green while Kris started on the deck in a darker "Shade Tree" green. P.S. Green is one of my favorite colors.


The red was an eyesore before but now our deck is a place we will love to hang out - if it ever stops raining. Kris is my amazing handyman.

Quite the improvement. I love how the green makes it cool and inviting. We enjoyed dinner out on our deck one evening.

Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

I must say that I can get quite contrary if I don't get enough outside time in. Gardening is my therapy. Just me and my little plants that grow and change providing flowers and fruit, plus they don't talk back, don't make messes, and I can see the changes they make week to week. These are my little square foot gardens. Don't let them fool you, they really produce a lot of food. This year I gave one box, the closest left, to Abi and Tal to plant whatever they wanted. We are growing peas ( snow and sugar snap), beans, radishes ( 2 kinds), lettuce, swiss chard, green onions, carrots, a squash and a cherry tomato. I moved the majority of my tomatoes and peppers to the back of the house hoping that they will get a lot of heat there and hopefully give me a bumper crop.

My little front garden is really filling in this year. I added white bleeding hearts and some daylillies new this spring. I took this pic after the tulips had bloomed and I cut the stems back. I'm hoping to take pics throughout the season so that I can see how it changes. The dianthus are just about to bloom in this pic and then we'll have some more color again. My big project of the spring was my new perennial border along the front of my house. My aunt was digging up her perennial bed and she got me started. I bought a few shrubs but mostly my flowers came from friends and neighbors. It is fun to see your flowers and remember the people that they came from.