~A LAZY WOMAN'S FLOWER BED'S~

I am joining Tootsie's FLAUNT YOUR FLOWERS and Cindy at SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY. Both such really wonderful blogs!


Yep. This is just clover..and it grows wild here and there..actually considered a weed. But..I leave it and it blooms and...that works for me.

I know what this is but I can't spell is. No matter. It's pretty and I planted it last year and it LIVED!

I was ambitious last year..and smart. I planted perennials!

Well..I know the lovely pink is a Geranium. There is a bit of a Mum in there. Don't know how it got there but as long as it shows green it can stay. Flowers are optional in my garden.

Alive is good!

Below is the back yard...


These little white flowers are Argyranthemum-white. Or..as I call them...button mums.
See those Petunia's? Those are from last summer. The hardy little things are annuals and these just went right through the winter...and being garden lazy, I just leave them alone.

YES! The blasted fence is falling down..and YES we have propped it up with boards! Just pretend that they aren't there. I do. :)

The hedge hid it so we didn't know... Well....we didn't!


We are having it replaced. Don't know when.. :) Sweet husbands in charge of that. But for right now...this is how it looks.


I think I will paint the boards..lol ...and paint vines and roses on them :) I'm kidding, I'm kidding!!


The sprinkler is going...so..

As you can see, even though the lawn has been fed it is still just beginning to turn green once again.

The new little tree's in our yard are White Birch. Two species actually. One has the multiple trunks and the center on has just the one. As you can see, the middle one is way ahead.


Below is the front yard..

I don't know what this tree is...it borders our property and is our neighbors yards...just thought it was so pretty..

This tree is ours and is out front of our home. It is a Fruitless Pear tree. Why on earth did they plant a "fruitless" ??? (I'm always so proud when I remember the name of ANY plant.)

Below is eventually going to be a long flower bed. Son in law has it on his agenda! :)

I planted these last year and had to cut them back. My daughter visited today and told me they needed trellis' so...I will buy them some. The delicate little rose like flowers are so precious. What is it? I am just not a gardener and I buy what appeals to me and hope for the best. I am going to start saving those name tags! It starts with a V I think. Verbena??

Verbena...I think. Please remember I am "plant challenged." Now Tootsie...I could learn a lot from her!

I love these! They are in both the front and the back yard. They bloom most of the time and began to really be in their glory about a month or so ago. I posted them before....but took more pic's tonight. They are also Argyranthemum-red's

More of the same....these grow and bloom like crazy. Once established they have a nice health root system and you just cut them back to the very bottom and in no time they are back up.

Perennials are fantastic! Just plant them...and let them go. Cut them back when spent and your bed is ready to go the next year. I have only recently realized plants should be fed...makes them prettier...and "amend" in the soils does amazing things.

I cannot remember what these are called...but I have had this plant for years and now it is finally really making me proud. Food? :) Probably.

My love to all of you out there!

If I could I'd play James Browns "I feel GOOD!" and do one of those dances...

I feel GOOD.... Eeeeehaaaa!

Mona

~A TINY HUTCH, BUT SO SWEET..~

Our sweet Marty @ A STROLL THRU LIFE is our wonderful hostess!

This tiny hutch belongs to my husband and I feel I am just it's caretaker. It is so small that a dinner plate cannot be laid down on the shelves. Still..it's so sweet and very much from the past when "maple" furniture was the thing to have.

This little velvet bunny with an egg strapped to his back is an addition to my Easter things this year. I am drawn to the velvet I think.

This little wooden egg was painted by a local artist here in Riverside. I love her things. The bunny is a little distorted in the photo. He is perfect actually. It's my photography....well...it lacks a bit.. :) One of my favorite things...

The simply beautiful faux cake was made by a wonderful artist on Etsy. Her name is Rhonda @ Ronda's Rose Cottage Designs and I love her work. The little spoon was by an Ebay artist who's name I have forgotten. I have a collection of eggs from this woman and will look up her name when I post the little eggs. Anything hand painted or hand made, to me, is wonderful.

This tiny chickie in it's shell is another creation of that same artist. I really MUST look up her name. The eggshell is real! See the tiny bit of shell stuck to the baby's head?

This is a slice of cake...I just loved the colors she uses...and it looks adorable in the little hutch.

This hand painted bunny and the eggs are also hand made. The eggs were from a booth in the Mission Galleria here in town. .. foil covering real eggs.

...and this is my contribution to Marty's TABLETOP TUESDAY...Thank you Marty!!

Love and hugs,

Mona

~EASTER TABLETOP...finally...~

Some people would call it writers block. Sweet husband calls it "funny" and I ...well I won't tell you what I call it..but I am not going to do anymore on this table.

So, the bunny in the basket is a Fitz and Floyd which I added this year. I had several more chocolate bunnies...but they are no where to be found. IF they turn up...IF...I will put them....oh....somewhere...who knows...

The basket is an old one I have had for years and spray painted white last year..so no work there. I left my little garage sale pitcher with the green bunny on it ...and added another vase.

The brambles around the basket are an old wreath that has fallen apart but I can't seem to throw it away.

And my gosh, that spanish moss that I bought at Michaels made the biggest mess! But, you know us, if it's pretty we'll get around anything. :)

The white milk glass vase was here when I arrived...way high in a cupboard...I finally pulled it out, gave it a bath and used it. It's lovely.

That little fence I found at a Hallmark store about thirty years ago. The store closed and that was one of their props in the window. I have since seen others.

I found this lovely crocheted tablecloth on ebay. The seller was Monatwo. I have been buying from her for a very long time. Now and then she gets something in that is just beautiful..and for some reason no bid against me for this tablecloth.

Michael's had these darling eggs all colored and ready to go. And they came in a couple different sizes. Don't you love it when you find just what you are looking for? :)

The flowers were also from Michaels and some I had..

I have to tell you about the ribbons. I had a pink satin ribbon..and knew that somewhere there was a roll of soft moss green. The search finally turned it up...and unrolled it and then...I cut it in the wrong blasted place, which left a piece of ribbon stuck to the roll. NO more green ribbon.

So I took the part off the roll, remove that piece of tape and stitched the ribbon together. Now both ribbons were the same length. You can't see the patched part...I mean...can you???

Sweetpea's, Daffodils and moss...I LOVE EASTER..

I want to thank all of you that made such nice comments on my...um...roses. I have all sorts of idea's for some things I want to paint...good or not...you have created a monster! :)

(Now I am all conceited! )

It's kind of like that show..."SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SING?" or "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?" Well, this is called "SO..YOU THINK YOU CAN PAINT?"

LOL, oh LOL, LOL!

Hugs and thank you! :)

Mona

~DETERMINATION..~

Cindy @ My Romantic Home is hosting the fun event...please stop by and enjoy other show and tells...

...I wanted roses and I kept buying them from wonderful artists on ebay. Finally I decided to try it for myself. No..they are not great..but I'm learning and having a sense of accomplishment.

It's been fun..

So I bought a book and then bought a video of a well known instructor and set about trying..

I cried a bit...crumpled a ton of paper...but kept on trying...

I still have a long way to go..but ...

...all it took was a few different colors of paint for 99 cents each, a few brushes, a package of those papers that you use to handle food with which they sell at Costco...and lots of patience...

which I do not have much of.

I want immediate gratification...and that isn't always possible. Then one day, I remember Rebecca @ A Gathering Place saying...how difficult it was for her and how she just kept practicing over and over...so I kept practicing...still am...

I bought a garish egg that I didn't like, spray painted it pink, painted my ..um..roses and leaves on it and added a bit of lace and ribbon. It will take time...but I'm had a good time.

I have had this bunny for years...and years..but a couple of Easters ago when I began this learning project...I grabbed him and added some (sort of) roses.. and he looked better to me.

He looked a bit startled by the ordeal...but ...he adjusted.

I should have put this first as it was my very first attempt at painting something beside pieces of paper. These are SUPPOSED to be wildflowers. One day I will paint over it and try again. :)

That time is getting nearer and nearer.

Nothing exciting here ...just sharing my attempt at painting. (Rebecca, if you wander by...do NOT say a word! NO laughing! :)

Bedeea bedeea bedeea ....that's all folks!

Love and hugs!

Mona

p.s. I always decide to take pictures at night in the worst possible light...and it doesn't help my photography. I tried to lighten them a bit. I'm sorry... I need to plan better! :) I know, excuses, excuses!

~A LOVE LIKE NO OTHER...~

This below is my office and library area just off the kitchen and it is NOT ready for company as it is early and I didn't plan on photo taking.


This is where I sit when blogging...and now and then I feel something soft brush my ankle or a paw is placed on my foot and I usually go on with what I am doing..

But today I picked up the camera to show you what is constantly under my desk chair if I am in it.

...and this sweet girl doggie taps me. On occassion I will reach down and pick her up, but I more than likely will absent mindedly reach down and bury my hand in her soft gorgeous coat and then go on typing. She went through the death of Frank with me, just as Winnie went through the death of Pat. If you are not a lover of animals, I have to tell you that I don't understand.

Yes, they are a responsibility. Yes, you do have some things you must do for them. But I can tell you this, when my tears wouldn't stop and life went on for others when mine had come to a halt, she got me up in the morning..made me put one foot in front of the other and gave me reason to get through the day. No tears were hidden from her.

It hit me that my time with her is limited. Or hers with me. We shall see. I pray that if it is hers with me, that someone reaches down and pats her little head, feeds her a tidbit of toast and lets her sleep at their feet at night. Am I asking too much? Am I? Please God, don't let me be asking too much.

Love to all of you and I hope your St. Patrick's was blessed in some way.

Mona

~HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY..~

~THE FASTER I GO...~

...the behinder I get!

I am very busy...accomplishing nothing! Tubs of Easter are everywhere and here it is the day before St. Patrick's Day.

I thought I would show you :) what I carry to garage sales! Is this silly or what?
I save all of my change (I have for ages) and I take the container with me. ONLY when something costs more than a few dollars and then I call sweet husband. (yes, I usually give it back. Usually. He is still making cracks about that ten he gave me for the silver! Brat!)

So anyway...

This is a very small Brambly Hedge tin suitcase that I bought some years ago. Actually, I bought three and all are filled with change in the trunk of the car. :) yep. I'm organized! HA!

See? It went down a bit this Saturday...not a lot though. Not much out there.

However...LOOK! Fitz and Floyd salt and peppers for just one dollar! NOT a chip, not a flea bite, nothing! I was delighted...but then..

I found this little pitcher with the green bunny (GREEN!) and bought him, also for a dollar, but on the way home I noticed there was a good sized chip on the spout of the pitcher. Who cares! I love it anyway. I can see tons of flowers stuffed in it on my table. It has found a home with me!

Five hard back books for a dollar...and I am always on the lookout for lovely hardbacks in perfect condition. This was a luck find. I can't part with my books as I read them over and over..and always wonder how others do.

At the same garage sale was two Beatrix Potter books, also for a dollar. Notice I sat a couple of my collection next to them. The only Benjamin Bunny I have is a stuffed on on the guest room bed. :) So..Jamima Puddle Duck had to do.

See this tub? It's the third one I have emptied... I'm really getting no where fast..

Things just get messier and messier...
...and messier..
and...OH never mind!

By tonight it will all be in order or my name isn't Grandma...I mean Mona!

Love and hugs,
Mona

~WE ARE NOT ALONE..~

Tonight I went blog hopping..so to speak. I followed threads from blog to blog and began to wish I hadn't. I entered unknown territory. Folks, WE ARE NOT ALONE! There is a strange group of people out there...no really..there is. Actually they are scary!

I don't think I am a coward..and I know there are all kinds of folks..but this was a world I really would not want to live in. Young or old.


I'll stay in my world where people are usually nice to one another. Polite. Share simple things and interests. People who compliment and are warm. Sometimes I forget that right next to the peaceful world we live in...there are folks in another reality. I hope I don't have nightmares tonight. I hate those!

Yep, give me a pretty quilt, a cup of tea and a kind word any day of the week. (And chocolate of course.)
I found this sweet little quilt in Tender Hearts catalog. It's a "picnic quilt" :)
So it is now on my table..where I picnic! I thought the colors were so pretty.



Remember I couldn't find my St. Patrick's Day decorations? No big deal..because just outside in the front flower bed..guess what I found! :)
No, no, not down there..those are tree's. The shamrocks. Neat aren't they?? Especially since they are all I have!


I love these trees. They tower over our driveway and shield my little truck from the wind and sun.
Those trees are even taller than they look in the picture. The truck was parked just below camera range..GEORGOUS!


Anyway...I don't think I will be wandering too far away any time soon. I love the blogging world I live in..with cute jokes and photo's of little piggies doing exercises...tablescapes to tax my imagination, lovely antiques and beautiful country landscapes and SNOW. Yeah..you might be tired of it..but I think it is fantastic!
(of course I don't have to shovel it!) Now and then, serious subjects are opened and it's nice. No harshness and no anger..just up front opinions..and we move on.

The simple life. That's for me.

Love and hugs,
Mona

P.S. Yes, I KNOW it's pink Saturday and I wanted to post something PINK..but it's also Garage sale day and besides I forgot. (I'm old! It's NOT my fault!) I'll do Pink Saturday NEXT week.