A wonderful surprise

I can't begin to tell you, what a wonderful surprise and meaningful gift I got from our youngest son for my birthday.  My family knows how much I love to spend time in our yard.  It was so fitting that he commissioned an acquaintance of his to do a water color painting incorporating our back yard and deck where we spend so much time. 

It started as a sketch she made from photos that Scott took ~

After they were satisfied with the sketch, she proceeded to bring it to life with water color paints ~

And this is the finished product!   I keep looking at it, finding little touches that make it our home.  The tin star on the back of the house, the Husker birdhouse on the little table, the birdfeeders, the hummingbird feeder, my wheelbarrow filled with blooming flowers, my red wagon (aka salad planter) on the deck, and the chairs and grill arranged on the deck as we have them,  right down to one of our cats, Joey sitting at the door.  There is the little Redbud tree, and our huge Pin Oaks in the front, which form the house.  She did leave out the River Birch clump from the island planter, because it would have covered the view of the deck.  The little bunnies are Don and me enjoying the view. 

Earlier in the year, she participated in a benefit art show for the Japanese Tsunami where Scott purchased one of her pieces.

I am so impressed with her work.  Nicole Gustafsson  has done many art shows - locally and throughout the US.  She also has a blog and an etsy shop.  Her work is so interesting and detailed - she has everything from paintings - seasonal and nature, cards, brooches, and ornaments.  Take a peek and there may be a great gift idea waiting for you to purchase for someone.  Thank you Nicole for such a wonderful piece of art.  And thank you Scott for such a touching gift.  I love it ! ! !

Seasonal changes

In my last post, I showed a wreath I had put together using my fading hydrangea blooms.  Late in the Summer, when the blooms had turned from white to green, I cut some and brought them in the house.  I've done this before and kept them in a vase throughout the Winter and didn't know what they would do if I put them back outside.  

Now I know ~

Now I'm anxious to see how it holds up through the Winter

We went back to visit our son's family in Iowa and I had to drive by a house I admire.  I showed how the landscape looked in August and now I have comparison photos for November.  I have no idea who lives here, but I may mail them a letter or stop and visit next time I am there.  

Here is a landscaped area in the front yard by the driveway.  I love what she has done with her bikes.  I'll show the August photo first and then November one next so you can see the change of colors.

  

It's fun to see what she has done with each bike ~

Nothing different was done with this trike, but you can see a lot of pretty color in the Fall photo.  I could maybe see a pumpkin sitting on the seat for decoration.  

I have no idea what this shed is used for, but it about took my breath away when my husband pointed it out to  me.  I can picture it being a play house for children, a place to sit outside in during the evenings, or a potting shed.  I did notice wreath hooks on each door, so I can only imagine how pretty this home will look during the Christmas Holiday.

They have such a nice selection of plants for Fall color.  Something interesting we noticed - at some of the yards in town, the homeowners had raked the leaves and they were piled along the front edge of the property just behind the curbs.  We asked our son about it, and he said the city comes by and picks up the leaves if people rake them to the curb. . . no charge.  Now if our city could just see it in their hearts to do that for us, instead of charging us to pick them up, and then charging us to get mulch from them in the Spring.  I guess that's the difference between small and large towns.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you are enjoying the Fall colors where you are.  We have had really mild temperatures, which makes it nice for cleaning out the gardens and keeping leaves picked up.  This is a bonus year for us - no acorns from our two huge Pin Oaks in the front yard!

Edges

This post is in response to Sue , who wanted to know what I used for my edges in my flower beds.  These blocks are used in the long flower bed that goes the length of the yard.

For the island bed, we have landscape fabric under the Colorado River Rock and when mowing, we just put a wheel just inside the edge on the rocks.  From time to time, grass might start to sneak into the rocks, so we pull it out after a good soaking rain.

We don't have anything down near the edge of the Hosta bed, because in the past, having mulch up under the Hostas that are along the edge made a perfect hang out for slugs, and then they munched away on the Hostas.   About 2 feet in from the edge, we do have landscape fabric and big bark chips.  To mow, we just sneak one side of the mower under the Hostas and go around the edge.  We never have a problem with grass creeping into that bed, possibly because of the Hostas making too much shade there.

And in this small bed, we put these little crescent shaped edgers.  They were really easy to work with.  I'm thinking of picking a spot in the yard to put a circle of these to sit the fire pit on so we don't burn the grass every year.

The blocks were bought at our local lumber/box store and I'm sure they are available at many more.  They all come in different colors too.

Thanks for visiting!

Shades of Fall

I spent yesterday mowing the yard to pick up the leaves, with the promise of  rain and snow in today's forecast.  Knowing how the rain brings down the leaves, we took some photos to remember the stage the trees are in during their ever changing color.  Every one goes at it's own speed.  The street we live on is lined with Pin Oak trees.  While they provide shade during the Summer, and are pretty in the Fall, we have more than our share of leaves to pick up.  A bonus this year is that we don't have any acorns!  About every 3 years, we don't have them, or if there is a drought and the trees are stressed.

We took some photos after supper, when the setting sun really brightens up the tops of the trees.  Next week, after daylight savings, we won't get as much of a show.

This photo shows how many different colors one tree often has at one time.

The Red, White, and Blue of Old Glory against yellow ~

I got the back yard all spiffed up.  Look Ma, no leaves!

And then Mother Nature pulled an ugly trick on us.  Rain, snow and 30 degree temperatures!

At least it isn't as bad as what the East Coast has had.  We struggled through that in October 1997 and sympathize with them.

Enjoy Fall, because you know what comes next . . .

Bloomin' Tueday

Time for one last Bloomin' Tuesday at Ms Green Thumb Jean's blog.  Not much is blooming anymore, so all I have to offer is dried blooms, favorite things, and visiting critters getting ready for Winter.

One of my favorite decorations for Fall is my pumpkin made from barbed wire ~

The bushes are ready to feed the birds for the Winter ~

And the Squirrels are burying acorns anywhere they can dig a hole.

Sometimes, I cut my Hydrangea when the flowers are white, sometimes when they are green, and sometimes not at all.  I hot glued green and brown blooms into a styrofoam wreath and wired it to my old screen window for the Winter.  It will be interesting how it holds up over the Winter.

I put my trusty old wheelbarrow in the front with pumpkins, a little hay bale, and a bushel basket with pots of Sedum Autumn Joy, Rudbeckia, yellow Mums, Kale, and Purple Fountain Grass in it.  A tip I read a couple of weeks ago was to spray your pumpkins with flat polyurethane to keep the squirrels from chewing them up. They haven't gone near it and the pumpkins at the neighbors across the street has been eaten down to the bottom.

I hope you are enjoying Fall where you are.  While it's a very pretty time of year, I don't look forward to Winter at all.

Changes, visitors, final bloomers and plans . . .

I wish I would have taken a picture of the Redbud tree when it was all in bloom, but now it is putting on it's Fall show.  From purple buds, to green leaves, to yellow leaves.

Our Red Jade Crabapple has gone from being covered with white flowers ~

To now offering berries to the birds ~

There has been such a change in my Japanese Blood Grass, Sand Love Grass, and Sedum Autumn Joy - these pictures were taken 2 weeks apart ~

We haven't seen the Hummingbirds since September 23, but they'll be back next year.  We did have a larger visitor over the weekend though.  This Cooper's Hawk has been hanging around the backyard hoping to catch something to eat.  To give you an idea how large it is - the rabbit beside it is 9 inches tall.

Our next visitor came Sunday.  This is a Red Tailed Hawk that had caught a squirrel and was eating it in the parkway in front of our house.  He is one B I G bird!!

I also went to a sale this weekend.  It's a great place to find old 'stuff' for the yard.  I picked up this old garden cart for half price ~

I have been looking for one for years!  I have admired one I see when I take my walks.  In this photo, they have cosmos and ground cover.  There have been years when they have it filled with Coral Bells, or Spring blooming bulbs.  I may plant some bulbs in mine in a week or so.

This is the last of the blooming flowers in our yard.  My Lancifolia Hosta is the first one to come up in the Spring, and the last one to bloom.  A lot of my other hostas have already turned yellow and shriveled to the ground.  When my other hostas come up and bloom, I can't wait to cut their flower stalks off - on the other hand, I leave these on.  I like that they are a light airy, arching bloom, as apposed to the others that stick straight up from the plant. 

Thank you to Jean for hosting Bloomin' Tuesday.  While our weather has been beautiful, I'm afraid there won't be too many more Tuesday's with new flowers blooming.  Check out Jean's blog for more beautiful gardens.

Favorite Things Friday

I'm going to borrow a theme from Jean and call this post Favorite Things Friday.  My favorite people, of course, are my family and friends.  My favorite things are usually anything that involve gardening.  I enjoy incorporating vintage finds into my flower beds.  

Here are just a few ~

I really like this part of the back yard.  This Spring, we took out the old railroad ties that surrounded this area - they were in really bad shape.  Now we have a permanent sturdy wall.  The old park bench was from a dear older gentleman friend of my husbands.  He had worked for the City, until his retirement, and had this old park bench that they would sit on and visit.  When he passed away, this bench was a gift to my husband.  We have had to replace the wood, but it still holds memories for him.  I love planting Impatiens in my wash tubs every year.  They were given to my husband by a co-worker who was getting rid of some of his mother's old things.

Here is a picture of how it all looked this Spring after we got the wall in.  We are so pleased that the Honeysuckle vine came back with a vengeance after being cut back to the ground.  The Hummingbirds have enjoyed it too!  In this photo, you can see my old hay fork that was given to me by my cousin, Cheri , who is on a mission in the Philipines, for her church along with her husband.  You can click on her name to read about their new adventure.  It is a reminder of her beautiful flower beds she had before they sold everything to leave this year.

A birdhouse that sits hidden on the park bench surrounded by Honeysuckle.  The Honeysuckle is even putting on berries, so the Cardinals can enjoy them this Winter.

Another favorite thing is my big Hosta!  And I love old cream cans.  I have a painted one that sits on the porch in the Winter.  And my primitive flower was made by Kindra .  That girl can make gold out of gravel!!

This rusty little butterfly was one of the many open house items at our son's workplace.  It started out as a flat sheet of metal, taken apart like a puzzle, then put back together.  I put a spot of glue where the pieces joined and let it sit outside to rust together.  I wish I would have picked up more of these!!

My old tricycle planter.  I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for the blooms, but this plant does so well in it.

My old garden gate, picked up for me by a friend at our annual Junk Jaunt.  I just planted the pink Knock Out rose a month ago, and hope that next year I will have a nice big mound of  flowers.

And this is my latest find.  I found this while 'junking' with a friend at a local antique store.  It is a vintage clothes basket that folds flat when not used.  Next year, I think I'll line it with burlap and Spanish Moss, then plant in it.  I'm glad I have all Fall and Winter to think about it!

Thanks for visiting!  I hope it's a great Fall weekend where you are and you are able to get out and enjoy it!