Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover

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History of the Garden Arbor

It’s fun to go back and look at pictures to see how things have changed over time. Our garden area is constantly changing.

The garden started with three simple garden beds placed in the pasture, which used to be mostly dirt and weeds. As you can see, it was already looking good with “greens” growing.

Frequent feathered guests foraged in the pasture and wide-open garden beds. Which transitioned into even more visitors, of the furry and voracious garden eating variety. The chickens were fine with me, but when bunnies ate down all of my plants, something had to be done.

My honey put a low fence around the whole lot. The main purpose was to keep the bunnies out. It worked great! Actually, the fence is so short, most of us can easily step over it. But the bunnies were befuddled and my plants could grow free.

And then. I found one of those old metal chain-link fence gates while visiting my buddy in Seattle. One of those “free yard sale” treasures! Guaranteed to make my honey whisk his eyebrows up when I drove into the yard with my little Mazda packed to the gills. Gate included. So, we added an easy access gate. By we, I mean him. 😉

And then. I really wanted an arbor. Over that awesome gate. We had this other piece of metal junk hanging in our shaded car park area. Just an old rusted metal grate of some sort. I think it was left on the property from the previous owner. And ta-dah! Instant unique arbor! Instant for me. A bit of hard work for my honey and Taylor.

I might add how HEAVY that thing is! And I am blessed to have 2 strong guys to let me come up these wild ideas and they make it happen. Oh, and it’s rusty. One of my favorite garden colors and textures.

My honey bought me a honeysuckle plant for Mother’s Day. You can see it above just starting out. Below, you can see I’ve been working on training it up. It’s nearly reached the top!

And here we are today. I just took this picture. It smells so good! Last week I stood and watched a hummingbird feast on the fragrant blooms, for so long that I wandered off before it did. That is my kind of garden.

Ahhhh. The garden continues to grow and change.

What about you? Any big changes in your garden or yard over the years? Any cool rusty items??


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Haiku Moment: autumn sun

orange beckons me

summer patience rewarded

autumn sun peeking

autumn sun by Angie Quantrell

Yakima Valley

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79 Cards!

79 cards, friends. 79. Not my best total after a weekend of stamping, but nothing to sneeze at either. 😉

I took up residence with my stamping buddy and her kitties over the summer and we got it done! Between the kitty help (all 3 of them), the walks, the meals, the outings, the visits, the Olympics, the rain (yes, glorious rain), I still managed to create 79 cards. My card stash (housed in those cute picture storage boxes) was getting low. Whew.

Here are the styles I worked on. Many of them are different from the top card, but have the same theme. We love to use up our “crafting stuff,” and no scrap is too small, no tidbit too uninspiring to be included for consideration.

I LOVE creating French-themed cards. One of my goals was to use up some of my French decorative paper. Check. [Hint: Even in rubber stamping, setting goals is a good thing to do!]

Another goal was to use up some tropical decorative paper. Plus, such cute pineapples!

A surprise entry to the card collection took place when Alyson started using this interesting, location-specific stamp. Old thesaurus, patterned paper, solid cardstock. This stamp represents Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico! I’ve never been there, but it looks like I should put that on the list.

This was a cute card to put together. Layers are how it works best, and you’ll notice that old thesaurus pages are one of my favorites to include. Actually, any aged pages from old books work. Though one must be careful to notice which words show up on the card.

I love these stamps! The background paper worked very well. Alas, this card was a lesson in which ink pad NOT to use! The ink never dried, so I had to carefully place scraps of paper between each card to bring them home. And then it still wouldn’t dry! I finally had to peel off the fronts, remove the backings, and re-ink the edges. Sigh. I just need to toss that ink pad. Black ink. Everywhere.

After the gloom and doom of black smeary ink, this summer card was quick, easy, and light!

A little music is good for the soul. It took a bit of time to cut out the guitars to pop on top, but the card was worth it!

Fun stamp, fun text, fun colors! We all need something to celebrate, and this card works for so many special occasions.

I LOVE stamping! It works much better with a buddy (or two or three) so you can share supplies, ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. Of course, the mess multiplies by number of creators. LOL

Can we count the kitties? Yes. I’ll leave you with one of our co-creators. This one loved the trash bag.


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Haiku Moment: autumn tree

hide and seek pumpkin

twisting, vining, reaching out

autumn tree decor

autumn tree by Angie Quantrell

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And the winner is . . .

Author Kim A. Larson visited the blog a week ago to share her plans leading up to her debut picture book launch on October 1. That’s when Goat’s Boat Won’t Float will be released to the world! You can read that post here. (Hint: it’s chock full of great ideas!)

Kim offered one lucky winner a free critique of a non-rhyming picture book manuscript under 700 words or a 30-minute AMA Zoom meeting! Wow!

And the winner is . . .

Eleanor Ann Peterson!

Come on down, Eleanor! Please reach out to let us know the best way to contact you! Congratulations! I know from personal experience that Kim is a wonderful critique partner and shares insightful comments.

Thank you, Kim, for sharing your pre-release plans and for offering a giveaway here on my blog. Congratulations to you on Goat’s Boat Won’t Float! October is nearly here!

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Free Yard Sales, Wood Scraps, and Homemade Table (Kevin’s Woodshop)

Welcome to another issue of Kevin’s Woodshop. In today’s story, we will hear how free yard sales, repurposed wood, and a little elbow grease contributed to this lovely weathered outdoor dining area.

FREE YARD SALES

Recently I visited “free yard sales” with my friend and fellow thrifter, Alyson. We love the thrill of the hunt. Free is an awesome word! My prize for the day is pictured above. Four solid metal framed wood outdoor chairs. Friends, that is what we call a SCORE. At this point in the “free yard saling,” I was cut off. No more stuff. Well. We only had her small car. Tetris in the car is the name of the game. And the limit to the thrifting.

I was so excited to haul these babies home. One of my favorite sights when I pull in the driveway after being away is to watch my honey’s face. My car is small, a Mazda four-door. BUT it works big! Like a truck. I call it my truck. I can get huge items in my little white truck. But not a gun safe. That is a hard limit. That’s a different story, but we did try.

I follow my husband’s eyes as I back around so we can unload my haul. Heh-heh. It’s almost more fun than scoring the “treasure” from yard sales or thrift shops.

He shakes his head. In wonder, I’m sure, amazed at how thrifty I am.

And proceeds to help me figure out how to reverse the process of filling my little “truck” with stuff. What. A. Guy.

REPURPOSED WOOD

We’ve been weathering our deck wood for a few years, always considering when it would be done to our satisfaction and what project required the updating of the deck so we could use the old wood.

Ta-dah! A taller patio table was needed to match the lovely free yard sale chairs. Time to rip off the deck wood.

Perfectly aged to that gray beachy tone. Some people work in clay, watercolor, textiles. My honey works in wood scraps. The older the better. The wood imperfections create challenges, sure, but the results are unique and wonderful.

HOMEMADE TABLE

Woodworker Kev got right to it. As I mentioned, aged wood often requires ingenuity and rethinking. That was certainly true with this table project. Some pieces were warped, so the framing had to be redone. He is so good though. Just look at that beautiful table! My style for sure.

Now we can dine al fresco (as long as the weather holds). Though we have to first wipe off the sunflower shells and debris from our guest goldfinches, sparrows, and red-winged blackbirds. After that, it’s sit and chill time. Ahhhh.

And so concludes another issue of Kevin’s Woodshop. Readers, do you enjoy old wood? Free yard sales? Thrifting? Dining al fresco?

Do tell.