The trellis is up

Well here it is¡ The roses are planted at the base. My containers are looking lovely. Now if I can keep my little stinker of a dog from lifting his leg on the lower pots, I'll be happy¡ Seriously, I love how the patio looks now. We have birds visiting all the time. Summer is soon to get hot, so I;m outside now as much as possible.

The trellis

I have been wanting a place for roses to climb and some privacy screen. Here's what we made. Cattle wire and treated lumber and carriage bolts. We anchored it in cement.

I already plated roses and scarlet runner beans. I can't wait until the braces can come down.

Containers One Month Old

The purple basil fell victim to a frost, but now the flowers and herbs are growing like crazy.

The little disk was a project from last summer.

I mixed succulents and herbs.

My view from the patio is so pretty! The saucer birdbath is a favorite with the goldfinches.

I put cabbage in the pots. I love the purple and dusky blue leaves. The scuttle used to carry the fireplace ashes out of the farmhouse parlor at Kingfisher Farm. As I have no fireplace here, I decided to put it to use.

Gardens 2012 part 2

Here is a preliminary view of this year's container garden. THe fountain is now up and running, intermittently, which is frustrating. Mr. Kingfisher dug down under the brick patio to run a wire, yet the new pump might just be too wimpy. The containers are now a week old and I have already added more.





Back to St. Louie. the paths were intriguing to me. How they were accented, followed, and how they took you to the next vista or building was carefully planned. Too bad at home we have neighbors that don't get this. So often they give you a view of a blue plastic wading ppol stashed behind the bushes or piles of plastic bags of fertilizer, mulch and bright yellow tool handles. Yup! Not a good thing.

Botanical Gardens

I went to visit the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis Missouri over spring break. My friend and her daughter came along. We left tired and inspired. It is well worth the trip in late March, as all the trees in the Japanese garden are in bloom. We toured the indoor gardens as well.

Lumina Pumpkin Man now on eBay

Before I went back to school to become a French teacher I was an artist. Remember those days? Here is one of the last things I created for Create and Decorate. I now offer him to a good home, on eBay.

Antiquing again

Cute little dachshund!
I'm not sure why anyone would want the trophy, but the bird poster was an ornithologist's dream.

I love this booth, I could take all of it home with me.

I was especially fond of this cubby.

I escaped for a few hours with my sister. I am always amazed and amused at the optimism of some dealers. Hope springs eternal, as my friend Peaches would say! I saw a very dirty and battered teddy bear for $400. He was in awful shape. Next to him lay a 1950's era rayon panda in similar shape for $95. Again, really overpriced by at least 90 dollars, unless you like to overpay for grungy bears.

I was anxious to see Hannah's House Antiques. Her booth used to be a favorite of mine at the Washington Illinois mall. She moved here, and has a large corner booth. Alas, prices were out of my reach, although as usual she had lovely prmitives. I found a little frame for a baby doll stroller

and splurged on some crystals for an altered art project. Now that my studio is better organized, I have room to work.