Summer on the Deck

This summer I decided to go a different direction with the potted plants on my deck.  I found out the hard way that my chickens will eat every flower I plant within their reach.  So . . . my solution was ornamental grasses. This one is "Mexican Feather Grass".  

  I grouped three pots together each with  a different grass and texture.  

  This little lady is called "Fiber Optic Grass" and is sweet and delicate.  

  This quirky guy is "Big Twister Rush" and has large spiraling foliage which unfortunately doesn't stand erect as well as I'd like.  

  Standing alone is "King Tut" Egyptian Papyrus, who is tall and stately.  

 

 

  Grasses don't offer much color, but the trade off is how lovely they look swaying in the breeze.  Hopefully I can winter them over in the greenhouse and use them again next summer.  Also sitting on the deck right now is a large pot of "Hakuro Nishiki Willow".  I haven't been able to plant it yet with my broken foot, but I've been enjoying it up close while I wait.  

   Charlie is enjoying it up close too . . . taking a nap in it's shade.  It is quite large and at the nursery they had them displayed in large ornate pots and they truly made a grand statement.  

  My one spot of color on the deck is a beautiful deep pink Mandevilla.  

  It sits up on a pedestal and the chickens don't seem to bother it.  Plus by elevating it, it can grab on to the wisteria trunk and will eventually grow upward and bloom from even higher heights.  I can hardly wait.  

  I haven't been able to put the deck table to use yet this summer . . . again, because with my foot, I can't risk carrying the heavy glass table top from the shed.  

  Soon . . . I hope . . . and then we'll have a garden party.  

  At the end of the deck sits my lovely oak leaf hydrangea, which has very few blooms this year . . . a result of the harsh winter.  But the few blooms it does have are cherished.  

  Hoping you are enjoying summer on your deck.   ~ Linking with ~   Domestically Speaking for Fun in the Sun Linky Party ~ French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday  ~ The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home    

Friday Afternoon Lunch

 I try to work my 40 hours between Monday and Thursday so that I can have my Fridays off to work on things around the house.  I always have an endless list of projects to keep my busy.  But this Friday, my Mom and her cousin, Helen, came for lunch and we had a delightful time. It was a perfect sunny day to eat lunch on the screened porch.  

  I enjoyed trying new recipes and setting a summer table.  

 

  It's so fun to entertain.  I am such a project driven person, but I am learning to slow down and enjoy friends and family.  It is a process for me ~ one that I find to be a joyful journey.  So, come and enjoy a Friday afternoon lunch with me. ~ It's a simple lunch. I tried a yummy new recipe from The Recipe Critic called Strawberry Avocado Spinach Salad with Creamy Poppyseed Dressing.  Instead of using spinach, I used salad greens fresh from my garden.  So easy to make, pretty, and tasty.  

  I'm not a big salad eater during the winter, but in the summer they are the perfect light, healthy meal, especially when served with a good bread.  

  So that's it ~ just a healthy salad, bread, and flavored water.  

  The water was simple too, just add ice, sliced cucumbers, strawberries,  lime, and a sprig of mint.  

    Polka dot straws and pretty flowers complete the table.  

  The flowers came from the garden too.  To match the plates, I picked yellow Lady's Mantle, pink begonias, and red roses.  

 

  I did serve desert too ~ Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream ~ but I'll serve that up in another post soon. ~ I think I might try to do this more often on Fridays, if not every Friday,  than at least every other. Hope you're having happy summer outdoor meals too. ~ Linking with ~ The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday ~ How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday ~ Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday ~ StoneGable for The Scoop  ~ A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday

A New Fence

Back in March, I spent every relatively nice evening and weekend outside in the back of my yard pruning a very overgrown area.  It was so overgrown, if I had to chase a chicken through there, they could get through, but I couldn't.  Believe me when I say I pruned, because I sent to the curb for pickup at least 30 leaf bags of trimmings, and that was without any leaves on the branches. For starters, I needed to clean out the fence line so the men would have room to install the new fence.  And then, just generally, I wanted the area to look cleaner and more a part of the yard, rather than an overgrown mess. The fence went in over the course of two mornings.  The first one was installed across the very back boundary of the yard, and the second installment finished off the connecting side behind my shed and chicken coop. Here is the back right after it was installed in early April.  

  Behind that fence is a yard full of bright colorful kids toys that are out year round.  I love the way the fence gives the yard a more peaceful feeling, allowing the eye to rest instead of looking at all the toys.  

 

  I love how clean it looks back there now.  But that was in April and this is today.  

  Everything is growing back with a vengeance and I can barely see my new fence.  

  Even so, it gives me the benefit of feeling safer, more private, keeps the dog from barking at the neighbors, and allows the chickens to free range with more safety.  All reasons that make it a great investment.  

 

Projects 6, 7 & 8

It was hard to separate Projects 6, 7, and 8 because they are all in the same area and overlap somewhat, so I decided to put them all together in one post.  These three projects include, painting the door and shutters black, replacing the soil and shrubs in the garden bed leading up to my front entry, and installing a dry stack stone apron under the front porch.  I took a week of vacation to work on these projects rather than drag them out over a month of weekends and I'm so glad I did, since I no sooner finished with them when I broke my foot, and all projects have come to a halt since then. Lets start with before pictures.  Here is the house in early spring.  Notice the dead ivy beds that needed pruning to the ground.  That alone was a major project.  

  And here is the house after I painted the shutters and door black.  I personally love the black and wonder why it took me so long to do it.  Thankfully the ivy is starting to grow back and looking much better.  You may notice the dog in the window in both pictures.  That is Moby sitting on the back of the sofa.  We call this window his "wide screen TV".  This is where he watches the world go by.

I also painted the wrought iron chairs and several other iron accessories beside the garage to complete the look.

Now for the shrubs.  The ones that I had were there for years and became a little scrawnier every year.  I couldn't even grow annuals in this ground.  

Pitiful, right?  My plan was to dig out all this dead dirt and replace it with nice new soil, but to my dismay, the ground was full of roots of all sizes.  So, plan two was to dig the deepest, widest holes I could manage and fill it with new soil for the new shrubs.  For the annuals, I dug a trench to give them a fighting chance.

Then I planted green and white euonymus for the shrubs and alternating white petunias and pink zinnias in front of them.  Unfortunately the zinnias didn't survive, so I replaced them with impatiens, which are doing much better.  

  Such a nice difference. Lastly, I wanted to do something different under the sides of the porch.  I've been thinking about this for years.  For a long time I was going to put lattice here, but then I decided to do a small dry stack stone wall to add more charm and make the house look older.  Here is the before with the scrawny shrub and algae.

And here is the after.

I love the changes I made and all the hard work was so worth it because I find myself smiling every time I go outside.  Now, everything just needs a fresh coat of paint to complete the look.  Maybe by the end of the summer when I can use my foot more. ~ Linking with ~ Mod Vintage Life for Mod Mix Monday ~ Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday ~ Domestically Speaking for Inspire Me Monday ~ French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to all.  Hoping you are having the perfect weather weekend as we give thanks and remember all those who have so bravely fought for our country. ~ I had some unexpected visitors early in the morning.  Old friends from church that I hadn't seen in years.  They had stopped by to see if I wanted to walk to the Memorial Day Parade with them that was happening at the end of my street. Alas, I had to decline going to the parade as I broke a bone in my foot a couple weeks ago and walking that far with no where to rest was out of the question.  They headed off with their newly adopted daughter for the parade and I headed out to the grocery store to pick up a couple items to make lunch for them.  I was so excited to have company and catch up on the years that had passed since our last meeting, use my new dishes, and try out a new recipe. I was in such a frenzy trying to pull things together before they got back from the parade, that I forgot to take pictures before or during the meal, but recreated the table afterwards.  

  I picked up these star salad plates at the Pottery Barn outlet last week and they set  the mood for anything red, white, and blue.  

   I have a wonderful set of white dinner plates from World Market that I use as my "go to" dishes and then change the whole look by just changing out the salad plates,  as I did here.  

  The red flatware is new too from Target.  Since I can't do much walking, I had shopped around via the internet for red flatware, and although I like Pottery Barn's the best, it was not a justifiable expense.  Target was a fraction of the cost and still had quality.   Acrylic glasses were also purchased at the Pottery Barn outlet earlier in the spring, but I've also seen them at JoAnn Fabrics.  I like using acrylic glasses in the summer since both of my outside tables are glass and I don't have to worry about breaking either the glasses or the table.  Plastic tablecloth was recently purchased at JoAnn Fabrics at 60% off and cloth napkins were a thrift store find.  

  Add a faux red geranium centerpiece and the  table becomes even more inviting.  

  Bright, fun, and cheerful is this table and the company was equally so.  The meal was quite simple since I was short on time.  Just hot dogs and a wonderful new pasta salad recipe that I found over at StoneGable, followed up with a desert of angel food cake, strawberries, and blueberries.  Yvonne always has the best recipes on her blog and you can count on them being great even if trying them for the first time on company.  Here is a link to her Pasta Salad in a Jar recipe.   

   I didn't put mine in jars for lack of time, but I served it in a large white serving dish and it was beautiful.  Wish I had remembered to take a picture.  It was absolutely delicious! Here's to hoping you had a lovely holiday weekend with friends and family. ~ Linking with   StoneGable for The Scoop ~  

   

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Everything is growing well thanks to lots of rain and sunny days.  The lettuce  greens are growing best, but they got an earlier start.  

  Going to make my first salad tomorrow.  There is nothing like fresh  veggies from your own garden.  

   The tomatoes are slowly coming along too.  

   The smell in my back yard is heavenly.  I have huge honeysuckle trees that are abundantly loaded with blooms. The wisteria and lilacs didn't bloom this year, but there are plenty of other beautiful blooms.

  Last summer I grew strawberries in this three-tiered planter, but the harsh winter did them in, so I opted for begonias this year instead.  The bottom plant has fewer blossoms because the chickens think begonias are a treat I planted just for them.  So far they've eaten my petunias, begonias and marigolds.  Still trying to find an annual they won't eat.  I had to put netting around the bottom layer so the begonias would survive to bloom another day.

  My favorite thing to do is to sit in the garden, visit with my chickens,  and smell the heavenly air . . .

. . . especially when the weather is gloriously beautiful.