Around the house

I am happy that I decided to purchase fresh veggies at the local Farmer's Market and some of the local folks who raise produce this year.

Old Garden:

I have a bit more time on my hands which means I can spend more time making my flower gardens look a bit more tidy. 

As this new heat wave bears down on us, I am finding things to do on the porch outside. It stays fairly nice in the shade and generally there is a nice breeze that flows through. 

This old table was given to me a few years ago. It is in a sad state of disrepair so I cut pieces of wood and did what I could to stabilize it enough as I figure out what I am going to do with it. It sat under the pine trees for a couple of years with pots of begonias on it.

The table should be tossed. But I figure if I can brace it up enough and cut down the legs [or not], I could use it as a coffee/craft table on the porch. [What I wouldn't do for a nice gate leg table!]

The project table is on the porch along with paints. I spray painted a coffee can and a Gatorade bottle for Porch Vases. Maybe it is tacky too, but I like flowers on the porch as well as in the house. I don't like broken glass!

I've always loved the idea of a Fairy Garden. I am constantly moving little things around so that I can be amused at what I have put together.

I love this little Zen Dragon. 

I move him/her around quite often. 

Morning light on a 'Fairy Garden' made 
out of an old pie dish.
It sits on a rickety old chair I
gussied up.

My pallet garden is doing as expected. The tomatoes are doing great and I've used old fence posts and twine to stabilize the plants. I know, tacky, but it was on hand and easier than trying to use a cage. 

The plants that are coming up in the slats are doing fair too. They are coming along a bit slower than those flowers on the east side of the house. The west side has good sun but good afternoon shade too from the locust trees. I think with the heat wave, those plants will do better than the ones exposed to the sun and wind all day.

Other surprises in my garden.
There are the gargoyles who resided in the Forest Garden last year. Right now they are in the growing flower garden. They look happy there! 
Last year the raccoon kept knocking over the gargoyles! This poor fella had his wings chipped.

This fellow sits on another stump and is the Welcome Gargoyle. [Yeah, I like dragons and gargoyles and I am weird.]

This is the porch in the morning. Many of my plants are in old Maple Syrup buckets that Rich's Grandfather used. It is handy to grab the buckets and move them around. 

More Fairy/Dragon/Gardens. I keep changing things up as it suits me. 

Things are going to be hot and muggly. I hope all my friends and their animals do well for the next few days.

I let my mules out to the forest where they can get down into the creek area. I walked there this morning and it was definitely about 10 degrees cooler than in the meadow!

Stay cool!

Sitting and twiddlin'

The Tow Truck guy said he'd try and get here in the morning. So I am waiting.

Chores are done. Critters fed and moved around. Water checked.
Rich is still sleeping so I can't do much in the way of house work. I'm missing CrossFit to wait so I am fidgety.

Since it is chilly out and things are quiet, I thought I'd open up a tutorial on Paint Essentials. It is a program that allows you to mimic painting, except of course you use software.

About this time of year, most things around here are not so photogenic. I mean brown leaves, dreary skies, and dirt are not exactly exciting.

I grabbed some photos I'd taken in October and opened up the program and began to fiddle around first.

First snow fall on Tigen Road with an auto paint of impressionistic painting layered with detail painting.

Monarch on a Zinnia with a 'gel' layer and a bright painted detail painting.

Then I tried a pencil 'painting'.

Meh. Not too great, but then I decided to go follow a tutorial.

Why not? I'm never too old to learn something. And who knows, I might like it.

So I went to here: Getting Started with Auto Painting
and followed along as the lady did a painting....

This shot below is similar to the original that I 'painted' in layers.

It is pretty artsy fartsy. Enough to keep me engaged to try some more fun things and watch tutorials while I have to be quiet and  wait for the tow truck man.

And while I am still waiting, I did another one.

Because I cannot leave well enough alone I decided to add a layer of writing and then take my finger and smear paint around.

All in all, it was quite fun.

Since the Tow Truck Man hasn't come yet -- I certainly hope he comes before the snowfall tomorrow -- so on to cleaning the coffee pot and working on a DIY project that I'll share for the November doldrums.

Oh and laundry folding. How exciting is that?

Toodles...
Cool project stuff coming up.

Oh and for sure more cleaning in the large shed later this week.

Nagging

Here is what the 'porch' sort of looked like just before they put the concrete in. After the remodel, we had to add dirt around the fresh concrete.
It has settled down after two years and I've been nagging my husband to please get dirt with the skid steer.

So I did what any good nagging wife would do. I dropped it.
And I started to go get dirt by myself.

It was very hard work, but yesterday was nice and cool. I figured it would be a good day to move dirt.

Nagged Husband noticed the wheelbarrow and Wife hauling small loads of dirt back and forth while he and Neighbor Guy visited and discussed the garden tiller.
Neighbor Guy said he'd tune up the tiller for Nagged Husband if he could use it on his own garden as Neighbor Guys' Wife was Nagging him about...the Garden.

Well it worked! Nagged Husband went out into the winter pasture and started to bring in dirt and dump it.

Well many loads later, the nagging Wife had her work cut out for her. Nagged Husband helped for a bit and then went inside.

The nagging Wife worked and worked and worked with a shovel and a rake. And she got most of the work done and some seeds planted. After all, why waste all of that dirt to grass at least for the first summer???
.

By late evening the nagging Wife finished everything but the west side of the house.

If it doesn't pour rain today, nagging Wife will put some grass seed around on the dirt and some flower seed on the west side.

Neighbor Guy returned the tuned up Tiller. Neighbor Guy's Wife was now happy. Nagging Wife was happy. Nagged Husband and Neighbor Guy smiled because they knew they did the mechanical work...however.
Now the Nagging Women would do the dirt work!

And so it goes.
~~~~~~

Old Dogs and Toys by Morris

Sometimes it is hard just to keep things going around here.

I have to make sure that my toys are spread just right across the living room floor. And to make everything better, the toys must be tossed artfully in front of the Christmas Chair.
I swing the hedgehogs and my Angrybird as hard as I can.

Don't you think it is artful?

I do.
She doesn't. Today she pursed her lips and shook her head at me. She called me an old fool and a couple of other names. She should talk, she's getting up there in the years too.

So what, I'm getting to be an aged dog. This only means that I play very hard and just take longer naps.
Preferably in the sunlight on the floor.

I rest my case.
And my eyes.