Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo...

Remember the book Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo by Dr. Seuss?  It's about a little bug that sneezes and the sneeze starts a chain of events that brings a city to it's knees.  That has been my week!

Bob and I went to an art show at the Reston Town Center last weekend and bought a print.  It's more of an illustration, and not at all what we thought we would look for, but we love it!  The purchase of the print was the sneeze - we love the colors, but it doesn't match anything in our home, so I bought a rug - a bright, contemporary rug, which also doesn't match anything, so I bought another rug for the kitchen dining area, which looks nice with the new family room rug, but now I need to paint my furniture white, and spray paint some accessories to match the new colors....also, now my dining room rug doesn't work...and if I move the sunroom rug to the formal living room, I will need a new sun room rug...YIKES!

I explained to Bob that by buying the print, we actually saved $1500 because we didn't buy the original...he bought that while we were at the art show, after a glass of wine, but now he's realizing that I'm spending it all on making the house work around our new print!  I was ready for a change anyway and this was a great opportunity to make the house more colorful and fun and less "80's", which is what I think of every time I walk into my family room (I won't mention that we moved here after the '80's and could have used a facelift back then).

Photos will come next week.  The print is getting framed and the furniture is being painted.  Two of the rugs are here, but two more will be arriving soon (we hope).  Have a wonderful week everyone - we are off to watch the Nationals baseball game with my boys!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Back in the Garden Again!

How is it that time goes by so fast?  Is it really the weekend already?  Well, I am still out in the garden and I'm so glad I've been posting about it because I've been getting some really good advice and feedback!

I started to write that this week I picked up a clematis, but after re-reading it, I didn't want anyone to think I'd gotten some kind of virus...so, to clarify, a clematis is a lovely, climbing plant with beautiful flowers (that Costco had on sale).  :)  Although the plant is sold with a little trellis attached to the pot,  I definitely needed a larger one for it as it grows.    You can buy your basic, inexpensive trellis for about $20 at Home Depot or the like, but I would prefer mine for free.  Time for some in-home shopping..

I have a section in my basement storage room where I toss things that will eventually go on Craigslist or be sent to Goodwill.  This CD rack was in that area and, heck, it looks like a trellis to me.

I'm not even going to paint it (gasp!) because I think it will be completely covered with the greenery by the end of the summer!

I went into my garden shed and pulled out all of the small old pots that I've had for years; painted, half-painted, styrofoam cut outs glued on for my son's craft project - no matter.  I want it to look worn.  To keep them from falling off of the shelves, I decided to wire them on.

First I looked for something that would serve as a stopper in the bottom of the pot.  Oddly enough, I seem to have plenty of wine corks lying around...ahem.  Anyway, I poked two holes in the cork and threaded some wire through it, then put it in the bottom of the pot with the wires through the hole so I could tie them onto the CD rack. 

threading the corks with wire



the cork in the bottom of the pot with the wire coming through the drainage hole in the bottom so I can fasten it to the CD rack.

I picked up some annuals at Home Depot and also potted some of the Hens and Chicks that are overflowing my birdbath amongst my irises.  I tied them onto the shelves and then tied some dried mushrooms I've had since the '80's that I used for dried arrangements on the shelves as well (again..never throw things away!).



My friend Kim may remember this pot - I painted it for her baby shower as a hostess gift with the baby's name painted on the back. I had a little baby laying in it consisting of a bulb for his head, a piece of fabric for a blanket and a packet of baby's breath seeds as the headboard.  So cute!  That baby is in middle school now..sigh!

 Now to plant the clematic at the base.  No easy task to get it sorted out from the trellis attached to the pot.  I wound up cutting it all off so not to break the plant apart too much. 

It is a wet, dreary day in Virginia today so I know that these photos are awful.  I'll take some more when the weather clears - although I admit that I've been hoping for rain to help along my bulbs I also planted this week.  I'm going to spare you the photos of the naked mulch since they haven't come up yet.

In other news, I also added my other planter to the fence near the bench.  It's a little in shock, but I think will do just fine.

There are some exciting things happening inside the house as well.  First, we FINALLY replaced the lunar landing, builders grade light above my kitchen table!  With the new, ugly lightbulbs we've all been having to use these days, I couldn't be happier to see it go!  Bonus, I don't get tan every time we eat at the table!

Ground control to Major Tom....(did you see that video this week??  Awesome!)  If you are my true friends, you will not mention the caked on dust on this light - my only excuse is that I didn't see it for the glare of the sun coming from the bulbs!

One awful photo after another!  This is nickel with a white shade.  I love it and my family is much better looking eating dinner under this diffused light now! 

I will end this post with a photo of our little visitor this week.  Poor little bird found his way into our sunroom and looked outside at my garden the same way I do every morning when I have my coffee in there - "I'd rather be outside than in here!"  We got him out safely, thankfully, but after posting the incident on my facebook page, a friend responded that a similar situation happened to him and the little bird kept coming back to look at him through the window.  Not sure I'd recognize this little guy if he came back again, but I kind of like the thought that he just might!  Have a great week everyone!

Garden Variety..

I'm sorry I missed last week's post.  It was for a good reason though, my cousin's son got married in Daytona Beach, Florida.  What an amazing wedding, and even though most of the weekend was overcast and rainy, the skies opened up just before the service and it was beautiful for the rest of the trip! 

As promised, I am going to show you how my garden is growing.  Remember the "before" I showed you on my last blog?



About as inviting as the flu...



Well, that was then and this is now...
I will tell you that when you are not a gardener, having such a large area to fill up is daunting.  It's been much better since I've sectioned it off, mentally, into "rooms".  Ah yes, decorating rooms I can do!  The plants are still so small (I refuse to invest alot of money in something that I might just kill!) but I'm hoping it will just get prettier as time goes on and I add more every year.




After.  Or maybe I should say "Now" since it is destined to change and grow.

 Remember my irises I transplanted from the lakehouse?

Before





Afer.  The irises have gone crazy and I will need to separate some after they bloom!  Does anyone have another color that they'd like to trade for some purple?  The hens and chicks in the birdbath are weighing heavily and will be transplanted to another area shortly!

 

Just beautiful!





And now for my Craigslist bistro set...

Before




After, ready for coffee and the newspaper...





I had this wall hanging that I used with fake flowers on a wall a few years ago.  Never throw anything away, right?  You never know when it will come in handy!

 And finally, my herb garden..I've never been able to grow herbs (yes I know they are "weeds" and are very easy for most people)  These have been doing well in my kitchen window, but my father in law convinced me that they really want to be outdoors and I should plant them in the garden.

Lemon balm, basil, parsley and rosemary.  Should be easy, right?

I picked a little corner of the garden and planted some grasses along the edge.  The herbs I planted in the galvanized tub, after poking some holes in the bottom for drainage with a hammer and nail.  You can get these tubs online for about $20 so I wasn't damaging anything too precious.



So, how am I doing?  Every time I plant something, I do what my grandmother used to do when she planted something...I look at it and shake my finger and in a very stern voice I say, "Now, grow!".

Jazzie doesn't look too enthused, but she's really just mad at me still letting the groomer shave her down to the point that she now looks like a schnauzer with an underbite!  Have a great week everyone!