Five-legged green cat with two tails

 I began my workaday life in Alaska as a primary teacher in 1966. I taught 5-7 year olds for ten years and they were so amazing.  If you asked a 5 year old to draw a horse he'd say "of course." It wasn;t until they got to be 7 that   they worried that their horse disn;t look like a real horse.  One day I asked  5 year old Bennie to paint his cat for me and in short order he was waving his masterpiece proudly before me. and proclaiming "I did it.! I did it!"  And he had  indeed painted his five-legged green cat with two tails.

My dad's mantra  was that it was important to do a task well or not at all.  It has taken me all these years to realize that it is not important how well you do something but it is important that you actually do it!!!...So like Bennie I am offering up my  humble birdhouses with great enthusiasm saying  "I did it! I did it!"

color, color. and more color

 

As my eyesight diminishes it isn't as if  my world is going black...  Instead I refer to the three "Ds"  First everything continues to get dimmer and dimmer, The second "D" is distorted...everything is warped and disjointed ... the third "D" is double and sometimes more than double images. The hardest to describe are the void areas where there are holes in the retina......  There is no black, gray or anything.. just a void. When I look at someone I can see hair, ears, neck but no mouth and eyes ....just a void.  I still have some peripheral vision in my left eye which keeps me forging ahead.  I am eternally grateful for speech recognition and text reading technology.

I do not mention this to sound dismal as it is just a constant challenge to be tackled.  I mention it to explain my current absolute obsession with color.  I want it everywhere ...on and around me.  So  in addition to masses of blooms, I want color oozing throughout my garden.  I am in love with this walk and the bright totems...both of which I want and must find a way.I care not a whit anymore on the quality of what I do and at the moment am working on some birdhouses for a structure I put in last fall. No precise lines....just the wild application of color in the manner of an enthusiastic 4-year old. Years before I would have designed, built and decorated these elaboratly.  But these I bought preuilt  from Amazon and  am using sponges to paint and loving every minute..

Years and years ago I used old windows and recyled wood to build a small mini-greenhouse/cold frame.  It was perfect for tender veggies before the ground was warm enough to plant.  But alas it being of old materials, it eventually collapsed. 

 I wanted something si

milar for here as the south side of the grargage caputures  the winter sun and is sheltered from the wind.  First I thought of actually buying a small greenhouse and then a friend suggested buying a greenhouse window kit to attach to the garage 

But it was cheaper by far to adapt one of Wayfair's arbor kits.  Cheaper, more durable, plus free shipping and easy to assemble. I didn't quite get it done before spring but it is at the top og the list now. 

The bed in his area by the potting bench is my biggest success story so far.  I started with a 6' round bed with an iron obelisk in the middle.  I planted a clematis and sweet peas on the obelisk and then set out to cram the bed with plants that would be compatible.  I chose iris, shasta daisies, a tall achillea, veronica, ornamental oregano, monarda, lavender , and salvia   and  bordered it with a low, compact perennial  geranium.  It was perfect and wild with bees all summer,  When I added more pavers to this area the circle became a rectangle but with a little squishing of plants it all worked out.

So in this area about 10' square I have this lovely bed. my potting bench,  the mini-greenhouse, decorative tool storage, and this great poly???? bench...another kit from Wayfair and it holds all the hoses, wands, sprinklers. etc/  This was never intended to be embellished but it now has crossed my mind...  I find myself sitting a lot  on this shady bench drinking my giner tea and watching the bees.

 

 

I love upcycling....giving something a second or third life is great.  But it is not often I get to give something a fourth life.  Such is the case with this piece of iron..  It started out as a headboard and then for a while it was the back to a bench in the garden at the farm and next it became part of a gate in the sheep pasture.  I couldn't resist moving it along to the new house...not sure what it would become here but it is now the decorative back to my much loved and much used potting bench.

 

I have always had some type of potting area.  I love to take cuttings, do divisions, and nurse along small plants,  The area by the garage (about 12' x 12') has evelolved into my "work" area and the star feature is this potting bench...  The shelves are wire closet shelving from a thrift store.  During the summer I used it almost every day and the piece of iron gives it an elegant old world touch.

Me Again!!!!

I am supposing that I have lost most of my readers since it has been about 9 months since I posted. But I have to admit I miss posting a lot. I had written iver 2000 posts and had over 1.5 million hits. Posting was a combination of a diary and a way to share my life with friends. To communicate online now  I depend mostly on the capabilities of speech recognition and text to voice programs . The speech recognition is filled with errors and I struggle with all the Narrator commands but keep working at it.  It's awkward but I'm trying to find a better way. 

I spent most of the summer in therapy classes recovering from a stroke which affected my right side.. But now I am as good as I'm going to get.

Thank heavens for my garden. It si the only place I feel normal and spent dawn to dusk all summer transforming my small patch . Most of my time was either digging up sod or dealing with it. After I dug it up I removed the soil and screened it. The fibrous parts are composting and the lovely screened soil (without rocks) went back into the beds. Now that chore is behind me and I can focus on fine tuning the multitude of plants I brought from the farm. I also have some others projects I;ve done and lots of things in the works.... hope to share it all.