Homestead Happenings - Summer 2024

 Lots of hustle and bustle around The Homestead in 2023:

• Shrub Removal HERE.

• Flower Bed Landscaping HERE.

• Concrete Work HERE.

• Planted Climbing Roses HERE.

• Planted Hostas HERE.

• Planted Irises HERE.

• Planted Daylilies, Peonies and Tulips HERE.

• Planted Mums and Setup my Water Feature HERE.

What's new at The Homestead in 2024?

 

The railing on my front porch really needed to be painted.  There were quite a few areas showing rust.

 

Preparation is the key to a good paint job.  I needed to protect not only the concrete, but also the brick of the house.

 

Some may say it's overkill, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  Ask me how I know...  I used gloss black Rustoleum spray paint to freshen up to wrought iron railing.

 

Doesn't it look much better?  There was an ulterior motive to get the railing painted.

 

Last year when I got my Bailey girl, her first mama was moving out of state and gave me three deck planters similar to this one, but without the coco liners:

 

Since my railings were painted, I could install them.  Yay!  My problem with installing these was the bracket is made for 2x4 deck railing and my railing is wrought iron.  What to do?  What to do?  Zip ties to the rescue.  They very securely hold the planters in place and since they're black they're not noticeable.

I soon filled them with plants, and look how lovely they looked.

 

 

Fast forward several months and they've filled in nicely.  I couldn't be happier.

Since I didn't have time last fall to finish all the mulching that needed to be done, I did more this year.  Twelve bags so far. 

 

I mulched the bed on the west side of the house.  It went from this in 2023...

to this...

 

to this in 2024...

 

I've had these rocks forever and thought this was a good way to use them and hold the window well covers in place. 

I also mulched the southwest corner of the house.  I call this The Alcove.   

The roses are Knockout roses. I've figured out that if I trim the faded flowers, it blooms more profusely.  It only took me 15 years to figure it out. Hee Hee!

I still need to put a border between the mulch and the grass.  I have bought some to finish the front and start on the other beds.

Until Next Time,

Marvelous Monday Update 8/26/2024

Happy Monday! The beautiful weather with 70-80F temps and no humidity has come to an end.  The forecasters are predicting 109-112F heat index for the next few days with high humidity.  Ugh!  Thank goodness for air conditioning, right?

 

What have I been up to this past week?

 

MACHINE EMBROIDERY

I made this table topper after last year's Kimberbell Day.

 

 A couple of closeups show the detail of the machine embroidery and the quilting design I chose.  Isn't that glittery spider the cutest?

I finally got around to making the quilt label for the back. So now I can finally call it a FFO!

 

STITCHY STUFF

I misplaced my Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch so I did a deep dive into the stash to try and find some Halloween designs.  I'm hosting a Halloween Mailart Exchange on the FB group Stitchers of Mailart. I also signed up for a Halloween Ornament Exchange hosted by one of my FB friends.  I also found a link to some Halloween freebies on Cyberstitchers.

I didn't have plans to complete the Halloween Ornament in one weekend, but I did.  Whoop! Whoop!  I can't show it in entirety, but here's a sneek peek:

I hand dyed the fabric back in March when I went to the Spring Hoosier Retreat.

 

I had some random spools of Kreinik in ziploc bags so I decided to organize them into my existing storage boxes which happen to be 20 guage shotgun shell cases.

 

As you can see, I'm now up to three boxes.  I have an obscene amount of 032 blending filament.

If you're interested in seeing how I store my other stitchy stash, click on over HERE.

FURBABY LOVE

Early last week, I gave Bailey a bath because she smelled like she rolled in something outside.  I kept calling her my "Stinky Girl" LOL.

 

 

She has always had a floppy left ear.  Isn't it endearing?

 

On Saturday, both Bailey and Baxter had a scheduled spa day. I could hear Bailey crying when I entered the grooming salon to pick them up.  Poor girl. 

Both were so happy Mama came back.  They smelled so good!

 

This morning I woke up to Baxter letting out a scream at 4:50am.  I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen.  He was cowering in the corner of his playpen and he had pee'd himself.  I gave him a bath, he went outside to do his business, and ate breakfast. He seemed okay.  Scared the bejeezus outta me!

 

Based on what I told the vet, they think maybe he had a seizure due to low blood sugar.  They suggested I give him a small snack at bed time and journal this in case it happens again.

GOOD EATS

I tried a new spaghetti squash recipe. It had bacon, garlic, and onion in it.  The receipt called for Parmesan cheese, but I was out so I used Mexican blend.  It was so good!

TRANSPLANTS

Last year, my supervisor gave me a Kalanchoe for Administrative Professionals Day.  It had outgrown the pot it came in so I transplanted it in a larger pot. I'm hoping it will bloom again.  The tiny flowers were so cute.

Months and months and months ago... Did I say how long ago?  I propogated Sedum Morganianum (Burro's Tail) and Echeveria Runyonii (Topsy Turvy) from leaves that dropped off of a mother plant.  They were finally big enough to be planted in a pot.

This was the pot the Kalanchoe came in.  Both have homes on the window sill of my office.

Until Next Time,

Homestead Happenings - Part 8

 The 2023 gardening season seemed like it was never ending. Reflecting upon everything that happened has made me realize I did a LOT!

Garden Mums were on sale at a couple of stores in Fall of 2023, so I picked up six of them.  I wasn't sure they'd survive the winter.  I tried planting some years ago that didn't make it.  Since they were on sale I figured what the heck, right?  Right.

 

This is what they looked like last year.  The colors were really pretty.

Well... They survived the winter.  I think the mulch may have helped.  This year, they are like baby shrubs!  I can't wait to see what they look like when in bloom. 

Sadly, one of the plants didn't make it.  Five out of six isn't bad, though. I'm not going to complain.

 

Last year when I started planning my flower beds, I wanted to create a water feature.  For 2023, my DIY water fountain lived next to the house by the garage.

 

 

 

In addition to the hostas, lilies, and irises I was also gifted some hens and chicks from my coworker.  There were also some on clearance that I snagged up.

I temporarily moved the fountain to it's planned location so I could plant the hens and chicks around it.

This year, I was able to put in place.  I really like how it turned out.

 

 

To think I made this myself... Happy dance!!

Until next time,

 

 

Homestead Happenings - Part 7

Before the building collapsed onto the backside of my garage in 2021, I had a nice bed of periwinkle.  A small clump was gifted to me by a lady back in the day of Freecycle.  They were destroyed when the contractors removed the brick and vinyl sided my garage in.  So, I had a big bare spot next to the garage.

The area went from this...

to this...

to this...

The same coworker who gifted me the hostas and irises, also gave me a daylily. The first year I planted it, it had one bloom.

This year, it bloomed profusely!  I love the color.

When I was young, my parents had large peony bushes on the property. I've always loved the big, fluffy flowers.  I bought and planted two Felix Crousse Peonies on the south side of my house in 2023.

So pretty!  See the white stuff on the leaves? That's a powdery mildew that needs to be treated. From what I've read, it's due to poor air circulation and shade.  Not sure why my plants developed this because neither of these conditions are present.

In my previous post, I mentioned I planted a bunch of tulip bulbs... a box of 50 to be exact. I saw an idea on Facebook to create plant markers so I'd know where I planted bulbs.  Ingenious!

The box of tulips showed photos of a variety of purple bulbs.  I was surprised this year when they came up.  Some were not purple, but they provided an awesome array of spring color.

Much to my surprise, the shrub removal didn't disturb the tulips I'd planted nearby.

I have plans to fill my yard with floral color that bloom throughout the different seasons.

Until Next Time,