Side Tracked!!

Last week I set out to organize my bedroom closet. It was filled so full and not in anything close to a good organized way. I emptied the closet of everything except the hanging clothes. You would have had to see it to believe how much stuff that was! I decided to sort through containers before placing them back in the closet and that was the beginning of the side track..........

I emptied several boxes of my collection of old mementos, crocheted pieces, lace and assorted other things. Some I had not looked at for awhile so it was very enjoyable to sit on the bed and sort and organize. 

The tiny folded yellow dress was worn by both my daughters.  The little handmade ivory gown was my brother's who was born in 1926 and only lived 2 1/2 years. I was born thirteen years after him and never knew him but am so glad to have his little gown. The tiny shoe was worn by my mother-in-law. I sure wish I had the other one, too. 

I  ran across this little bonnet which was also hers. I can imagine her mother (I was able to visit with her several times) sitting at a treadle Singer machine making this for her tiny girl. And, then seeing that cute little girl wearing it. She may have been wearing the little black shoes. It is obvious that she walked in this one. She had very small feet as an adult. When I see the ragged tie end I wonder if, as children are prone to do, she sucked on it.

While sorting through the lace I decided to print off some neat graphics I have saved on Pinterest and  use them to wind some of the old fashioned lace on them.

I love bits of lace but to have them fixed like this to look at is double love!

I used card stock and only used short pieces of lace to not cover all the pictures.

This was not in the closet but I thought it would be a good time to share this cute little crocheted basket that I bought at a wonderful special flea market sale on Saturday. Had I not just been sorting through my collections I probably would not have bought this but now it holds the tiny lace cards.

They are only two and a half inches tall and the cutest little things.

Yes, I really got side tracked with this project and the closet is still not totally back together. But, it has been a fun time in the process. I did finally empty out all the hanging clothes and hauled a big load of them to Good Will. It looks almost empty compared to the way it was. But, now at least I know what is in there and can get to everything easily and what is left fits - love it!!

I should have done some work on some of these pictures before using them but, sometimes you just have to save time somewhere. Besides, I kinda like the creamy look for these old things. 

Dry Creek Bed - Florida Style

........My house is small and my lot is big with much of it in the shade most of the time. The back yard is not suitable for grass, due to the shade and being prone to flooding a few times a year. When I moved here ten years ago, there was nearly nothing desirable growing in the back (or anywhere else) except for many trees, a few wild coffee bushes, one azalea bush and a few wild flowers. It was home to many, many weeds. There was also a lot of bare white sandy soil where it seemed nothing would grow, not even weeds. I disliked the bare sand the most. I began trying different things with little success for the longest time. Assorted types of ferns and other small shade loving plants finally took root and began to fill in the emptiness. Oh, and a few kinds of ground-covers and, after ten years most of the back is covered with something that looks o.k. There was still one area close to the back of the house however, that needed an improved look. A few years ago I had covered a small portion of that with what I called a dry creek bed but wasn't satisfied with it and had always intended to lengthen it. Finally this week I did just that and, so far, I am very pleased with the overall look and am excited to show it to you.

 The stone path has been here awhile and the first stage of the dry creek stopped at the upper edge of the path and was not as wide. It needed some larger stones which were added along with the new lengthening addition last week.

Another long shot showing the corner of the screen porch and where the "creek" begins.

In this photo you see the blue pot which is the source of  the creek. I stretched out a hose and first had the stone edge very straight and even but it didn't look good or natural so I messed up the edges.

When I first came here, all across the back of the porch and down to where the stone path is was nothing but weeds and eroding sand until I put in the Asiatic Jasmine. It was in a friends yard but deer kept eating it there. One day she brought over bunches of Jasmine roots for me to plant. It took awhile but finally filled in the whole area. I haven't seen any grazing deer! I mow it with my weed whacker. 

This is looking  back towards the source from the bottom where the creek enters a cluster of Papyrus plants, some walking lilies and a few other plants. You can see that there is a noticeable incline which helps with the "flow". Which also explains the flooding/standing water problem - the back yard was never filled in or graded as it should have been.

Oh yes, this is where my mosaic birdbath is too. Now I will show a few up-close pictures so you can better see what makes up the dry creek bed.

Most of the stone is marble chips and the round ones are called egg rocks, a different type stone which really made the whole thing look more like a creek bed. I hope to eventually add about five much larger round stones here and there along the length of the creek. That probably means another trip back to Pebble Junction.

There are quite a few sea shells and also sea glass. I ran across a large bag of nice large and medium size shells at the Christmas Tree Store. Believe it or not, shells are usually expensive to buy around here but these weren't and added greatly to the look. Some of them are about five inches across. Even though they look better like I have them, I plan to turn over the large ones that catch water to prevent running a mosquito farm.

Now. there is that fact that I live under a bunch of trees and they will be dropping leaves in my creek bed!  If I can't keep this neat I am not going to like it. Can you envision me out there picking up leaves and pine needles, one by one.  Actually, I have a small electric blower that does a pretty good job of blowing leaves. You can take my word for it, it would take a hurricane to blow the rocks around. Those things are heavy! I do know it probably looks better right now than it ever will again so, you better hurry on over if you want to see it at it's very best. Ideally, I would rather have the look of a dry creek that you might see meandering through the Smokey Mountains with all it's round, brown, water tumbled rocks but for this location I think this choice fits in pretty good, considering the palms and tropical plants.

Linked to Amaze Me Monday

 http://creativecountrymom.blogspot.com/2014/06/home-sweet-garden-party-63.html

Fishtail Cottage Garden Party

May Flowers........

..........Before the month of May ends I want to show some of my very favorite May flowers............

"Do you know what I think May flowers are, Marilla? I think they must be the souls of the flowers that died last summer, and this is their heaven." -Anne of Green Gables

I probably have enjoyed this dark purple Cleome the best of all. I take that back. It sure is at the top but so are several others that are in my May garden this year.  I just wouldn't be able to pick a favorite. I  have a lighter lavender and also white ones. They are in a slump right now but I have lots of junior plants coming on.

Some of you have seen some of these pictures before and I am going to mostly let the pictures speak for themselves, especially since there are so many of them.

The mock orange was outstanding this year even though the blossoms didn't stay around long.

My new stripped whirling butterfly plant has excelled this spring, also.

He is about to be covered over with whirling Butterflies.

I so enjoyed my one holly hock until a wind storm damaged it. They are very seasonal here anyhow and don't do well in the heat.

And the same for the snapdragon.

Agastache 

This has been in a pot for many, many years. It never has more than a few blossoms at a time but I love it, partly because it has survived for so long.

I am the only one that I know who has this tropical Blue Pea Vine. 

Blue Pea among my favorite color of Vinca.

I have three colors of Periwinkles, these two and a darker shade of pink. They are such great work horses for our summer heat so, I wouldn't like to be without them.

I forget the name of this one at the moment but, this has been it's best year - more blooms at a time.  It is hanging full right now.

You can see it is trumpet shaped with pretty ivory throats.

I have had less than usual African Lily blooms this May but they were a larger size.

Salvia  (I have several colors) will always be one of my favorites. This is Wendy's Wish.

My newest and maybe the one I like best - this darker one.

Lots of showy Pentas have really been doing their thing!

Which includes attracting butterflies! I just took this photo about an hour ago.

Old fashioned Gloriosa Lily

It was a thrill to have many blooms on these at two different locations. One has just started blooming.

Another tropical - Tibouchina. 

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I have many other May blooming flowers, including all my roses, but will save those for another time. We have already started having 90 degree days here and so far, I am not getting rain so, I know June will have less blossoms and I stay in more during our hot summer. You will no doubt start seeing less blog posts from the garden - I have a lot of other neat things in mind so, don't go far - I'll be right here.

Feel Like a Real Gardener......

.......I feel like a real gardener almost, when I eat something that I grew.

I just discovered that I never have photographed the entire tomato plant. 

I just have one, a grape tomato growing in a big pot. It looked pretty healthy for awhile...

......and grew tall with several nice looking grape tomato clusters. It now looks a little sickly, so I chose not to run out to get a full shot. I fertilized it this week and can already see some improvement. I suppose tomatoes need more than Miracle Grow's fertilizer in the soil.

This is my first harvest.  I kept waiting for the tomatoes to turn more red but I don't think they ever will. So, I brought these in along with some herbs. Yesterday, I saw an article on Facebook that was emphasizing the importance of pairing particular foods to boost nutrition. One pairing sounded good and since I had everything I needed I decided it would become my dinner. The pitcher has nothing to do with anything except being a nice backdrop. Since it is here, you might wonder why it is covered with the doily. Many years ago when people had a problem with flies, they would sometimes use something like this to cover pitchers holding lemonade, etc. I never have flies but, still like to see this antique pitcher with it's cover.

The pairing for this one was using tomatoes and olive oil. So, with my harvest waiting on the island, and some frozen garlic bread from the freezer, I cut up the little tomatoes, and drizzled them with one tablespoon of olive oil, a little sea salt and pepper. 

Here is what the article said about tomatoes and olive oil: "Cancer and heart disease-fighting compounds called carotenoids (the most well known of which is lycopene) are found in abundance in tomatoes. They're fat-soluble and, as such, they're more available to your body when you eat them with fats such as olive oil or mozzarella cheese." 

I ended up using  basil, cut small. I always use sissors to cut up basil leaves. With the bread warmed and toasted in the oven, the tomatoes/olive oil spooned over it and basil and feta cheese on top, my yummy dinner was ready in a short time. And, yes, eating something you grew does make you feel like a "real" gardener not - just playing one.

 I also had some cut-up watermelon and fresh blueberries, mixed. Not sure how healthy that pairing is but it is tasty. I can vouch for that and seldom eat watermelon without blueberries. They came from publix. Didn't grow them!

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Get something started in a pot or small plot and and enjoy eating something you grew yourself!

The Old Chair #2

I thought it might be nice to pause on this busy holiday, Memorial Day, slip outside for a cup of tea.............

You remember the old chair? If not go here to read about it first. It will just be me, you and the old chair.....

I cut some pretty roses and borrowed the pitcher from the kitchen window sill.......

There is something relaxing about pink and white, don't you agree?

  

I softened things up a bit with some old linens.....

I chose one of my very favorite cups for you and gathered up a few tea party books to browse through.

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I am glad we could take a little time together and hope you feel as refreshed as I do. We will meet up by the old chair from time to time.