Tranquility Base

Now that I no longer suffer from the debilitating Thoracic Outlet Syndrome pain, I try to not pass up an opportunity to work outside. Today was almost perfect: slightly cool, light breeze, sunny blue skies. Excellent painting weather too except for the Buick size gnats and the mosquitoes.

When we first moved here, I named different parts of the property just for fun I'm weird like that. I even name my cars and motorcycles. This area I dubbed "Tranquility Base". Years ago I used to sit here reading the Holy Bible or one of my many Agatha Christie mysteries.

BEFORE

The area was wall-to-wall leaves, overgrown trees, cats claw vines, potato vines, etc. The swing needed light repair which my Most Excellent Husband happily obliged. It was now ready for swingin'!

 

AFTER

I raked the majority of leaves out of the area and put them in the new vegetable garden. Hey, never waste good mulch is my philosophy! Then repainted the repaired swing, hung two new wind chimes and planted shade tolerant flowers (Torenia) in an old black charcoal grill that I resprayed to match the swing and decorations. The orange colored Dwarf Azaleas are deformed from when the tree used to invade them. They are lovely this year in spite of the years of neglect. I'm hoping that once they're pruned and fertilized they'll look a little less scraggly.

Below is the Torenia. It's planted in an old charcoal grill I saved from the scrap heap.

 

I had never heard of Torenia until today, so, after getting home I looked up the flower on google and learned that this little beauty is in the Snapdragon family. 

Below, I hung an inexpensive cross wind chime over the plants. I gotta have my "tinklies". :)

Oh, and the Confederate Jasmine is in full regalia! The smell is so strong this year it wafts gently all over the yard. It's such a yummy odor. Even the birds & bees seem to enjoy it as much as we do.

I'm whopped now so I'm kickin' back with a brewsky and watching old Seinfeld reruns. Then I'll watch one of my pre-recorded old black and white movies. Hey, it beats the News these days. 

~ Ride Safe ~

Sparky

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Green Beans
Remember the garden center my hubby built last year? Well, another crop is coming in soon! My mobile garden center idea is working out great! Can't wait to have our big crop of green beans this year.

How does your garden grow?

First Container Garden Crop

Remember the new container garden? Well, today, I've harvested my first winter crop from it! That's broccoli and one head of cauliflower. We planted too late for any more harvest this season too. I know, I know, we would have starved to death if this was a necessity. So much for 'shrugging'. Next season we'll start earlier, plant more and I might go back to planting in the ground. I may save the container gardening for tomatoes and green beans. We have so many wild rabbits and such that it's better to keep the beans out of mouth reach anyway.

Bon Appétit Y'all!

Our New Garden Center

I used to really enjoy gardening. I love the smell & feel of the earth, watching things grow, even pulling weeds I found enjoyable. It was such fun to be outside and enjoy nature. But for a couple of years now, I was rendered physically unable from neck surgery to do what, after motorcycling, I treasured the most.

Plus, with the economy quickly tanking, I thought it would be a good idea to get back into growing edible foods and tasty animals. Being half Scottish, I detest spending money anyway and certainly do not trust our failure government to "take care of us". Growing our own food is going to be part of my own small way of practicing Atlas Shrugged: no taxes! I have many, many other ideas about how to legally escape the tax man that I could share later. Let me know if y’all have any ideas on how to avoid buying things that are taxed. It’s time to starve the Monster by trading and buying used products. One idea I have is to only purchase older vehicles from individuals and renovate them to make them look new. I didn't realize how easy it was to do this until our recent Project Bike, but more on that later.

Anyway, I told my husband that I would like to try container gardening. But I didn't have the shelf areas in the sun to hold the containers at waist level. We tossed ideas back and to until we came up with this sketch on paper:


Kinda hard to picture the finished project, isn’t it?

I thought, it would be cheap and easy. Thankfully, it was! The project is made almost entirely from 1 1/2 inch PVC. Another way we saved money, is by using old decking material that we still had sitting in our woodpile.


First prepare the flat,
clean area for gluing the PVC together.
You'll be so glad you've done this first!


Using a power saw saved a lot of time with
cutting the pieces to their proper lengths.


Placing the pieced areas together was fairly quick.


It was finally taking shape.
The only thing left to add was the used decking
for holding the containers and the pots themselves.
Note To Self: Containers with soil are VERY heavy.
Add water and that can be a problem
if not done properly.
Be sure to place lots of supports underneath.


Ta Da! Plants are fertilized and in their containers.
This Garden Center was suppose to be moveable,
at it is, BUT because of the weight of the
plants the only way to
move it without damage is to unload it first.

There is a complete list of photos here I snapped as we build the Garden Center.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Now I need to learn how to raise chickens, turkeys and goats.

Sunday Musings

We had a very good day at church. Pastor continued his lesson on Second Samuel that we've been enjoying for a couple of Sundays. This time the lesson was about when the The Ark of the Lord Comes to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19). An outline of his lesson is here: LINK.

The Ark of the Covenant (symbolic of our blessed Lord Jesus), which housed the clay tablets written on by God, is carried to the permanent tabernacle in the city of David in today's lesson.

Every place that housed the Ark was blessed.

Every place that did not house the Ark, did not prosper.

I also learned today something new about the stone tablets with the commandments that Moses brought down from the mountain. Let's see if I can phrase this properly: Pastor said that after the hand of God wrote on the tablets, they became very light and easy to carry. When Moses descended the mountain and witnessed the crowd worshipping the golden idol, the tablets were too heavy to hold and were broken.

So, my take on this piece of Holy Scripture is this: When trusting God, He wipes away our sin and makes our lives lighter. When we give in to sin, our lives become too heavy and become broken.

Wow, that's profound!

I always feel so refreshed after going to our services. I've never felt that way about attending church before.

I used to hate it.

What changed?

I don't know, either I did or I've found my niche. Maybe both? :o) Who knows but I'm enjoying myself immensely.

Anyway, after service and a nice light lunch, hubby hung a gourd birdhouse for me down by the road. He painted this plain plastic gourd at my request some time ago but with all the medical this and that, we've been too distracted to have any projects of any consequence.

Hubby installing the
birdhouse and flags

Dragonfly side

Ladybug side

Ta Da! All finished.
Well, I hope that y'all had a good Sunday too. What did you do today?

Spring Has Sprung And I'm Undone

We had a really productive day today. The weather is so pleasant that we just had to 'play' outside. :o)


Here's hubby burning debris that has gathered all around the property. The ashes can then be spread on various areas. Our soil is so acidic from the pines that using wood ashes 'sweetens' the soil. Flowers and centipede grass grow like crazy after spreading this around. And contrary to what some say, burning is good, for too many reasons to list here.


Maxie stopped to have a drink from the bird's little watering hole before I started ...


"Let's go Mommy! Make this thing move please."
... while Sam Jr. looked on ... riding in the golf cart is his favorite place when I'm working in the yard. Lucy, the boxer, is off somewhere chasing rabbits, real or imagined.


"It's Shake And Bake, and I heped!"
Remember that silly old commercial for Shake and Bake and the kid with the fake southern accent? That's what Maxie looks like she's saying. Yeah, she helped alright. Helped getting in the way! :o) Good thing she's so cute.

Now I'm tired from all that work. But, it's a good tired from achieving something and being productive.


Oh, and an FYI for anyone living in the SE Georgia / NE Florida area. There is a new classic country music station now and it is superb! The location on the dial is Country Legends 100.7 FM. I listen to it all the time. It's fun to listen to a song with a good Texas swing.

Our Fencing Project And More

The projects down by the gate are finally completed! Well, almost, that is. The only thing left is to do is hire those nice strong fence guys again and have them complete the black creosote fence all the way down the front of our property (about 100 feet, give or take).

But, for the most part, our work is done!

"YAY! Party! Party!" [lol]

So, here's a few photos of the project.


In the beginning, the fence guys arrived and put up the start of the creosote fence. I had them keep the field fencing behind the new fence to keep our doggies IN and neighbor doggies OUT.


Doesn't that look lovely now? Wait until the fence runs down the entire front of our country property. I'm just waiting for the checkbook to catch up with my gardening ambitions. [smile]


Here's Sweetie laying down the first landscaping timbers to hold the top soil and mulch in place. There will be two of planters, one for each side of the gate.


There ... now you see what I'm talkin' about! Now to just fill them with top soil, plants and mulch ... in that order.


And one for the other side ...


I told Sweetie, "Quick, take a picture, I'm working!" Now there's proof. :^P


Ta da! All done. This side has lavender Lantana and one Bottle Brush plant (red).


Looks better, doesn't it? This side has yellow Lantana with one Bottle Brush (red). These should offer dramatic visual effects when blooming.

One of the really important things I've learned in flower gardening is to cluster the same colors together for a more dramatic effect. It draws the eye to one area at a time. It makes more of an impression that way (if that's what one is aiming for).

Now to call the fencing company and order the remainder of that fence ... oh, dang ... WAIT ... it's Sunday. I'll have to wait a couple of days.

Did I just hear the checkbook heave a big sigh of relief ... ???

Saturday Toilings

I've had such a wonderful day! Husband I have been working outside frequently of late. The weather is so pleasant. The air has that sweet, deliciousness about it that only Spring can have. Even my neck feels dandy. I must be completely healed from the surgery as I have no more pain at all now. Just a little muscle soreness on the right side from lack of use but that can be worked out. The secret is to pace myself and quick trying to do everything in 5 minutes. Even after all these years, I still have to remind myself that my father isn't yelling at me to "hurry up" anymore.

Sweeeeeeeet.

We're almost done with the matching planters project down by the road. The only chore remaining is to lay the red cypress mulch evenly between the Yellow Lantana and I'm 'Good To Go'. I plan to save that for after church tomorrow. When that is completed, I can share all the photos. It's suppose to rain Monday and that's good news too. It's been my experience that transplants love rain. They'll grow like crazy after that!

Then, we get to work on the rest of the yard! [sigh] It just never ends, does it? ... (aw, you know I love it .. lol).

So have a happy weekend y'all!

"Give thought to the flowers: they do no work, they make no thread; and still I say to you, Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not clothed like one of these."
Luke 12:27

Spring And The Waxwings

Cedar Waxwing In A Savannah Holly Tree
Photo By: Steven R. Hudson
The Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) came through our area this week. They are such lovely birds. I love it when they pass through as it means that Spring has definately arrived. Cedar Waxwings are en route to their summer nesting areas further north.

When they have landed in our yard, they proceeded to strip this tree bare. I don't think there is a single berry left, not even on the ground. The resident mockingbird, who had been guarding it all winter, finally gave up trying to keep the invading hoard off his territory. Poor little guy. At least there are ample bugs out now to keep his belly full.

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’,
I wonder where the birdie is?
There he is up in the sky,
He dropped some whitewash in my eye!

I‘m alright, I won't cry,
I'm just glad that cows can't fly!
by Anonymous



Happy Spring Y'all!
♥ ∞

Southeast Georgia Alien Plant Life

Stepping through the sliding glass doors, rather than being greeted by the deliciously sweet aroma of dried autumn leaves to which I am accustomed, I was repulsed instead by a most odious smell. I searched around this area of the house, attempting to locate the perpetrator of my nose hair burning.

Finally, I pin pointed the source.

Under a back stoop, lo and behold, there was a freshly born alien plant life. I screamed at the top of lungs "Sweetie, come here! What is this!?"

My husband came tearing outside, "What's wrong?!" Probably thinking I had cut my hand off or something.

I asked him, "WHAT is THAT!" pointing at the odious offender.

He calmly responded "Oh, that's just a Stinkhorn. We used to call it 'stink cabbage' when I was kid." Then he continued to relate how they as youths would throw these horrible things at each other! [sigh] Boys ...

I had to look this thing up on the internet.

At the web site MushroomExpert.Com, the little monster has a rather fancy name of Clathrus columnatus, aka Stinkhorn.

"Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or gregariously; often near woody debris (and apparently sometimes growing right out of the sides of living trees); in lawns, gardens, cultivated soil, and so on; from North Carolina to the Gulf coast, and in Mexico (reported as far north as New York); October through March."

Sure enough, there's wood mulch under the stoop and it's the right time of year.

Well, next time my nostril radar picks up one of these, I'm running the other way! The mushroom is a lovely orange color but it smells like dog doo on steroids. So, it just goes to show one, you can't judge a mushroom by it's color.

♥ ∞

Polyphemus Moth

Even though it's gosh darn hot again, I was able to get in a little yard work today. September has such fickle weather in the southeast. But first I found this lovely Polyphemus Moth (male; Antheraea polyemus) soon after emerging from it's cocoon. It was early morn as he spread his wings slowly on the little green fence next to our carport, then took off to be a part of the landscape and fulfill his destiny.

Thank you "Poly" for letting me witness this miracle of nature, even if only for a moment. ♥ ∞

Found A Hornets Nest!

We were just finishing our daily walk around the yard this morning and I happened to see a hornet's nest right on our driveway near the carport! How in the world we and the dogs managed to escape getting stung, is beyond me. I'm told the doggone nest was about two years old too. It's just a miracle.

I called Allgood Exterminating in Waycross and Randy came out this afternoon. I sure like them. They give good service and don't overcharge. Anyway, Randy even cleaned up and sprayed the cedar tree afterwards so the tree wasn't even damaged. We're thankful this was taken care of so quickly.

There are more full size photos at: http://redbirdacres.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album11 . I got some very good photos of the whole extermination.

Enjoy ~ Sparky ♥ ∞