Garden Talk Again.....

   ........I have spent some very fun hours outside lately.  The first thing I want to show is what I got with my Michaels gift card.....

I walked through Michaels thinking I would find one of those things that I often admire but, is usually too pricey for me to get except this time it would be a gift.  I chose this great urn planter. Since it was 40% off I was able to choose another nice thing which was a Martha Stewart item for half off. That one will be a gift that I give to someone for their birthday. More about it later. I also got a couple of small items and still have $5 left on the card.

I love the way it planted up with the caladium, purple petunia and a variagated ivy.  This area should look better after the polka dot plants spread out and fill more of the empty space here.  Notice the tiles - something I won in a Christmas game and had not used.  They are actually four coasters.  I love them for this use. After looking at this picture I see the one on the left needs to be switched with the one on the right.

I just planted this pot today with mostly succulents. Some are new starts that my friend Carole gave me yesterday and the rest are plants I already had in single pots. If they all do well it should be a nice collection.

The grass clump in the back is a dwarf and won't get as large as most of that type plant does.

I spruced up the gnome area and gave them a new patio.

Carole invited myself and two other friends to her house yesterday to work on mosiacs.  One made two large birdbaths and the rest of us did stepping stones.  I like the way mine turned out. It is bigger than it appears here.  I scattered some sea-glass in complimentary colors and this area now has a neater look.

The project turned out better than these pictures. They don't really do it justice.

This week I had this vistor to come walking up the street - a white Ibis.  I always feel bad when I see only one as they normally travel in groups - maybe a dozen or more.  This one got separated from his group.  It is difficult to tell a "he" from a "she".  The young ones are dark grey but adults are snowy white and all look just alike.

They are always a welcome visitor. They love to feed off of bugs that they find in lawns. I hope my neighbor across the street intentionally killed his weeds and has plans to put down new sod. I saw him using a spreader and soon after everything turned brown.

Now, here are the birds and the last pictures I will show of them in the nest.

Just after I took this picture I decided to try to raise the window to get a better photo.

But, I scared them off of the nest - see one hopped to the window sill and shortly after down to the ground and the second one followed.  I felt so bad and hope they were mature enough to leave the nest and learn to fly and find their own food.  The last I saw them they were still on the ground.

Sunday before last, I found out the garden wagon I have been wanting for years was on sale at Big Lots for $50 instead of the $80 that I have been seeing them priced at in other stores. I decided this was my time. 

Does it look like a wagon yet???  It came in many parts. In this picture I had already put the axle pieces on and at one point had my doubts about ever getting it together!  Especially after I misplaced the directions!

But, I finally found them and proceeded to put all those parts together and just look at it!!!

I'm in love with my new wagon and it may save me some doctor bills.  I have been carrying things that are too heavy for me to be lugging around. It will be very handy for several things, like when we are expecting freezing weather about two or three nights out of the whole year and I move a zillion pots to the garage. Or, anything heavy that needs to go from one area to another.  It's actually big enough for me to sit in. If I lived on a hill I might would try to ride it down the street!  One thing is for sure, I will never get to ride my sled (I still have a wooden one) here!

~~~~~~