I call this my fairy garden. Last year I could not find my fairy birdbath, but you can see it was located this year! My glider needs to be on a platform as it sinks into the ground. You can see Gem Marigolds, cinnamon ferns (?), a somewhat wild rose, Baby’s breath, Pansies, Lobelia and Snapdragons. A few wild Violets are there too. The hanging basket has two kinds of begonias in it. This is really a gnome garden too, but they are all hiding behind the ferns and Baby’s breath. This is on the side of the house between the two bedroom windows. There are also plants along the house too-a white butterfly bush, white phlox, azalea, variegated hostas and a bush with lime green leaves.

If you turn right from the fairy garden, you will walk up to this area. It’s in a half circle under a Japanese maple tree. There are the few roses I have planted here (some are blooming now). Also you will see Dianthus which is so colorful and pretty. There are two adirondack chairs next to two holly bushes. This is mainly in the front yard.

Well…almost. That tiling is surely an interesting and somewhat challenging project so far. I got brave today and peeled off the backing of two of the installed 12 x 12s. Not all the tiles are sticking (not unusual) and I had to reglue them. The old 46 yr old adhesive is to blame. But out of all the 100+ in one sheet, a few not sticking isn’t all that bad. The first sheet had too much adhesive under it and I am scraping some of it away between the tiles with a knife so I have somewhere to put the grout next. The thing I am doing today is cutting my fingers on the glass shards left over when I snip the tiles. I did that three times already today! And I did the corner-like a contortionist (under the cabinet and sprawled on the countertop) getting the adhesive smooth in the corner section. I am a little worried about that area not sticking. At least I am on the next wall-it also has three outlets I have to work around which is also difficult.
Off to take some photos. : )

I finished this for Rachael tonight. I left a little of it bare, but she can certainly fill it in if she wishes. I just ran out of time and I’m not good at doing mini animals like Rachael is. Her dog and peacock were stitched over one and she did a beautiful job. I hope she likes this.
I look forward to getting Barbara’s next.

Yep, it’s hot out today-about 90. I did water a few wilted things before I wilted myself and came in to prime the newly spackled walls. That primer paint is really thin and smelly too.
Remember my previous post about my huge hollyhock? Well, isn’t it sick now with rust! It was fine too yesterday. It looks like is has yellow chicken pox. Some sites say to cut off the leaves and then trim it down to the ground in the fall. Others say to destroy it! I bet it got sick from a tree that has similar spots on it’s leaves that is dropping them about 25 feet from my plant. Another tree in my yard has it, but it’s around the back, away from the hollyhock. That particular tree is ‘Sean’s tree’ as we planted it for him when he was about 2. It will probably have to come down and it’s a tall one. Brian is one of these tree trimmers who trims from the bottom ignoring the tops. That tree could have been kept smallish instead of looking like a gigantic green Q-tip. Now it’s a gigantic twig!
Off to finish up Rachael’s RR. I can’t wait to share it with her and you!

Putting up a few sheets of the mosiac-isn’t it pretty? I sure hope it sticks. The lady who I bought these from said it may take days or weeks (gawd) before you can take the plastic (that’s what has them all lined up so nicely) off of these to do the grouting. I did put too much adhesive under some sections (thanks to the old adhesive) and I am wondering if I will have to level that out before I grout. After grouting is the cleaning part and then the sealing part. Lots of work! I put the tile all the way down to the granite and then I’ll put some clear sealant there. I had to cut the ones directly under the cabinet. I guess that’s not exactly a good job for a leftie, but I am getting the hang of it.

I took this a few days ago as Sean wanted a new photo for his facebook. He’s next to the Japanese Maple in the front yard.

Wow-I do ramble on don’t I?
I love blogging and I am
glad to share my little
part of the universe
with all of you.

Sunday turned out to be an outdoor day for the three of us. Sean cuts the grass around the house and Brian takes over and does ‘the long part’ of the yard. I am in the weeding phase of my May gardening efforts. I actually got fed up with trying to pull out messy tangles of ‘Creeping Charlie’ and got out the big boy rake which takes it out in a few swoops.
Before I went out to garden, I tackled the spackled wall in the kitchen. I must say I did a pretty good job. So good, Brian said to why not do the wall next to the basement door so he could just put up a nice rectangle of plywood for the tin so he wouldn’t have to cut out odd pieces. I spackled that too and it looks great. Maybe I should get into spackling for a living? ; )
It was about 84 degrees and a little humid. I quickly faded and did things a little at a time. I didn’t finish planting a few impatiens and veggies I have. My goal is to plant it all before June 1st and the rest of the summer is maintenance.
We had Chinese food because my freezer only had some frozen pizza and tons of chicken. I guess since it’s Memorial Day today, we should throw something on the grill. Maybe some steak?

I was reading a blog and the gardener said she didn’t like geraniums. I like them like this, lined up on my backstep. See how nice they look in their different pots. Seeing this reminds me that I so need to pressure clean some steps and to paint that railing. So much to do, so little time.

Thanks to Zoey for this idea:

I’ve been waiting for the first tea rose to bloom and this perfect yellow one greeted me this morning. The thing is, the rose bush is a scrawny little thing and I don’t see it doing that much this year. I just had to take a photo of this sweet bloom. I have a collection of Chinese pagodas here, this being one of the older ones with it’s rust spreading throughout it. I like the contrast of the two.