Visiting The Front Yard!

The flowers in the front yard are really going crazy right now! So, I took my camera out to capture some of the pretties!

First, meet "George" (yes, we named the tree George! LOL!) He is our Walmart special tree.

One day, while Mr. Mister and I were wandering around, aimlessly, in Walmart, (come on! admit it! you wander aimlessly in Walmart too!) we discovered that all of the trees were on clearance. We spotted this poor, pathetic, half dead tree, and decided to adopt him. We ended up paying around $5.00 dollars for him! You can't BEAT that! And he is doing GREAT! Well, except that he is looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa right now, because we cannot seem to get a stake to hold him upright. They keep pulling up out of the ground or breaking, when all the dratted wind blows through.

The second picture is of the red bowling ball I made a couple of years ago. I LOVE how it shines in the sun. I need to make another one because the bowling ball has cracked and some of the pebbles/marbles have started to fall off. I am also planning to make a white one for the moon garden (which is still in it's beginning stages.)



The lilies are GORGEOUS right now, and really putting on a show!



The red lilies are everyone's favorite!





There is also salvia, miniature bleeding hearts, and gayfeather.


The columbine is almost done blooming, but it still brings a smile to my face.



Just LOOK at the Echinacea! (Purple Cone Flowers) Even the bees are giving them some LOVE!



There is nothing better than "Flower Power" and "Bee Love" LOL!

I hope that your garden is bringing you as much joy as mine is to me!

Garden Junk

Since I am sitting here praying for Spring to come, I decided to take a look at one of my favorite garden websites called GardenWeb. They have TONS of forums related to gardens/gardening. My favorite forum on there is Garden Junk. I am always amazed at the cool projects the members on that forum come up with. It is the place where I first learned about decorating bowling balls with colored glass pebbles. (Some people have even covered them with pennies.) They turn out so beautiful, and I love to see the sun shining off of them as they sit among all of the flowers. I made several bowling balls. Out of all of them, my favorites were the blue one (that I gave to Mr. Mister's mother) and the red one, that is still sitting out in my garden now.







It has been several years since I made the bowling balls and the pebbles have started falling off, so I just may have to revisit this project soon and make a few more.

There is also a new project I want to try my hand at. They are now making glass flowers out of dishes. The following pictures are NOT flowers that I have made. The pictures were posted by user name Kirkus and taken from the Garden Junk forum. The first two were from a craft show, where the vendor let them take pictures of her flowers.





This one was taken by Kirkus to show the plates they bought (at a thrift store) to make their own flowers with.



Aren't they just the cutest things? Now, I am going to have to go on the hunt for some really cool glass dishes, ashtrays, and candle holders! From the information given, it would seem that the flowers are attached to a brass rod, with a "flange" and silicone glue. I believe some people are going to use PVC instead of the brass. They are painting the PVC a different color.

Here is a another link with directions on making "Glass Flowers." It also shows a picture of the flowers. They did not glue the flowers to the poles. Instead they drilled holes through all of the dishes, then used a nut and bolt to hold them together.

The members have also made glass totem poles out of bottles and different glass pieces. Some even use lamp parts. They use whatever they find. It's so COOL to see all of them.

This one was posted by user name Luvstocraft:



These were made by Cindee. You can see more on her blog. She also has a "Shoe Garden."



While you are peeking around the different forums at GardenWeb, make sure to take a look at another one of my favorite forums Hypertufa. They make castings with hypertufa or concrete using REAL leaves from plants like gunnera and elephants ears. This picture was taken from the website. (That large leaf is NOT real! It was made from concrete.)



You can read more about how to make a concrete leaf casting here.

I have talked with Mr. Mister about planting a "Moon Garden" around our deck, so that we can sit outside and relax at the end of a busy day. Unfortunately, by the end of the day it's growing too dark outside to really enjoy all of our flowers, so a Moon Garden is the perfect solution for that. A Moon Garden is planted mostly with white or light colored flowers that bloom or can still be seen at night. You can also use plants that have silvery foliage that will help reflect the moonlight off of them. You can read all about them in the Moon Garden forums.

Of course, Moon Gardens are also known as White Gardens. You can search the internet for all kinds of photographs, plant choices, and information on them. One of the most well know White Gardens is found at Sissinghurst Castle. (Scroll down on the page) The garden is breathtaking!

So, since most of us are stuck inside due to the cold weather, maybe dreaming about all of these cool projects for our gardens, will help keep us warm, until we can get back outside and enjoy some beautiful weather!

I am sure you will thank me for adding more things to your "TO DO" lists! HA HA HA! Happy JUNKING!

Nature!

I have always been mesmerized by nature. I am constantly saying things like: "LOOK! There is a cardinal in the tree. Do you see it? Can you hear it chirping?" "WOW! The sky is SO blue and filled with white puffy clouds today." "The trees are getting their leaves! I can't wait until everything is GREEN again!" "Can you SMELL the salt air from the ocean?"
I cannot imagine going through life, not paying attention to all of the beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis. It's not just the big, obvious things but the small things as well. Like all the flowers in my garden just starting to bloom! Yes, most flowers are beautiful when they are in FULL bloom. But what about when they are just starting to open their petals? Or when it's the first flower on the whole bush to burst forth with color? Take a look at the texture of the unopened blooms on the hostas. Little peaks of purple just starting to come through. And the fern leaf? I just LOVE it! The shape is PERFECT! So far, there is only one plant, with a ring of petals on it, in the echinacea patch.
How could I not enjoy taking pictures of all of these? Flowers ALWAYS smile for the camera!
What if flowers aren't your picture of choice? Then maybe it's the geese at the local park. I love the picture that is so close that it cuts off part of the beak as the goose is walking by me. And the little ripples in the water as the other goose starts making it's way into the water.
I think everyone should grab their cameras, go sit on a park bench, and just take some random shots. Pick a day! ANY day! Why wait for the "perfect moment" when everything is in full bloom to see the beauty that nature has to offer!