Tag: Porch

Uncategorized

Busy, Busy

Christine

Two weeks later and I have finally gotten the porch tidied and cleaned the kitchen windowsill.

I forgot to take a picture of the windowsill now that it is clean, and I wasn’t brave enough to take befores of either the porch or the kitchen windowsill. Just take my word for it, this is a drastic and great improvement. Ghetto-porch-b-gone!

I’ve also weeded about 80% of my garden, and now it is much easier to keep after. I know this every year going in, but what can I say, I’m lazy. As you can see from the front crescent bed, I’m a lazy gardener. I’m going for the wild, naturalized look this year. Yeah, that’s it, naturalized… This does look better now, thought, as compared to a few weeks back.

First, I weeded and pulled out several dozen volunteer tomato plants, leaving only the strongest so that hopefully they will be productive. I see a lot of fruit on the plants I left, so that’s promising. The malva has gotten taller than I imagined and for a little while I was worried that my cucumber (tucked way back in the corner) wouldn’t get enough sunlight, but it seems to be doing just fine. I started the seeds a little late, but I think it will be okay.

You may also notice some new plants. Some purple leafed thing whose name I’ve forgotten and some purple petunias. I’m hoping they’ll fill out a bit more to hide the ugly black landscape fabric. See how lazy I am? I should just mulch. But I’m cheap as well as lazy.

Uncategorized

A Welcoming Sign

Christine

Many years ago I was crazy about this new craft I had discovered. Glass painting. I was obsessed with painted Christmas ornaments. It was a lot of fun, experimenting with different colors and textures. It must have been a hot new craft at the time because there aren’t as many kits to choose from now as back then. Fortunately, I had stocked up. Well, I guess really I bought more projects than I ended up completing. Ah, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I had two of these lovely glass panels, purchased from Ben Franklin Crafts, long before they closed. I still have one I need to paint, but I managed to finish this welcome sign with its art nouveau ladies before the glass painting phase wore off. Then it sat in a closet for a decade, just waiting for the perfect spot. Notice, too, that it is hung so as to not block Oliver’s view. That’s important, you know. And no, I did not buy this house because my welcome sign would look good next to the door, it just worked out that way!It was difficult to photograph from outside and still catch the details, so here it is from the inside looking out. Just imagine the image flipped.

Uncategorized

House Numbers, Finally

Christine

At long last, we finally got around to mounting the new house numbers on the front porch!

We’ve only had these pretty metal numbers for the last four years, and since we installed the new old door last August we’ve been completely without house numbers. This became a big problem a few weeks back when I was expecting guests who had never been to my neck of the woods.
So, my friend Marc got roped into helping me put these up one day a few weeks ago. He’s such a good sport. Please forgive the bug dirt, dust and pencil markings. Actually, does anybody know what will remove those pencil markings from the metal siding?
Uncategorized

Mower Damage

Christine

My next door neighbor has been super sweet by mowing my front yard and my little strip between our houses when he has his riding mower out. I am so grateful for even that little bit of extra help. That’s why I feel bad for being upset over this:

It looks like he bumped the trunk of my purple leaf plum with the mower. He probably doesn’t even realize he did it. I’m not mad or anything, just worried about the tree. What if it doesn’t heal, or gets disease or bugs?

Otherwise, it looks full and happy and healthy.

We planted it last April, and it looks so much better. I can’t wait for it to get tall enough to provide a bit of shade and privacy on the porch.

Uncategorized

Behind the Forsythia Mass

Christine

We are looking at the small area beside the house, on the factory side. This picture was taken from the sidewalk, facing the front of the house.

The massive shrub is my forsythia. I like it because it is large, established, and has pretty yellow blooms for a brief time in the spring. But. It is also massively overgrown. Again with the neglect of the outdoor things.*

There is a semi shady little spot next to the porch, where I’ve been meaning to plant some things.

Since there is also a small pine-y shrub there, the soil is acidic and that makes it a good spot for lily-of-the-valley. I love lily-of-the-valley. My grandmother had planted it at the cabin, and like many other things there, it has outgrown its original boundries. But that’s okay, ’cause it’s pretty. And is smells nice.

Who’s that peeking through the branches? After a couple months of smothering the weeds with plastic and heavy objects, I pulled all that off last week, turned the soil over, placed the pavers to form a mini-walkway, and planted some plants.

At the back, on the left is a coleus from last year, that I tried to overwinter on the kitchen porch sill. It didn’t do too well, got kinda wood-y, but it was still alive, so I figured I’d stick it in the ground somwhere. After I gave up on it, of course, it has decided to get all bushy, healthy looking and thrive. Go figure.

On the right, at the back, is some lavender from my mom’s yard. She dug it up, just to see if it could be divided successfully. We’ll see. It looked rather dead when I put it in the ground, but has since perked up a bit.

All along the front are some hostas that mom’s friend Janie dug up and divided for me (to replace the ones I killed last year on the other side of the house), only she gave me far more than I knew what to do with. So I stuck the smallest ones in here, all in a row.

The soft, fluffy stuff on the far right front corner is artemesia silver mound. I love this stuff. It is so wonderful to touch. Nothing else quite like it.

And the small green plants in between the front and back rows are my lovely pink lily-of-the-valley that mom bought for me. Last summer. Which I never planted. But they’ve hung in there, so they should be lovely next spring. I also have some beautiful yellow hyacinth bulbs I want to plant here in the fall. I know it looks a bit rough right now, but it should be pretty in the spring.

And, since the electric meter is on this side of the house, I have been striving to keep this narrow pathway accessible for the guy who comes once a month to take a reading. I hate when they estimate my bill. I work hard at conserving electricity, and I don’t like being overcharged. Not even for one month, knowing that they will give me a credit the following month. That also helps me to be aware of how much I am using. So, these pavers are for you, meter-reader-guy. Or gal. Whatever.

*Please forgive the Buffy-speak. I’ve been watching the series on dvd since Greg at Petch House posted this a few weeks back.