midweek this and that

Hello friends ~ I hope it doesn't seem too far off where I begin talking about last weekend. Saturday started out with our washing machine dying. The serviceman said it was the transmission. We asked his opinion if the machine was worth fixing - it's about 12 years old - and he said no. I'm not surprised we needed a new washing machine after 12 years: I do a lot of laundry.

The good news was that the serviceman had a few refurbished washing machines at his shop. I didn't want anything fancy. All I need is a gentle and regular cycle, warm and cold water, and small - large settings. And no digital, please. To me that means more stuff that can break and bigger repair bills. We chose a refurbished Whirlpool machine that was only a few years old and met my simple criteria - for only $175. That included delivery and hauling our old machine away. Before our machine was delivered, we went to the laundrymat to do our laundry. It's been years since I've been in a laundrymat. I've always found these places a little depressing. They look so tired. There was one lone older gentleman in there. You can see him in the middle of the picture. He never moved a muscle and stared straight ahead the entire time. 

We didn't waste any time in the laundrymat, as yard work beckoned. I haven't been able to do much because of my knee (meniscus surgery), back (pulled a muscle a couple of weeks ago), and shoulder (impingement). Jeez, I sound like an old lady! ;-) And with Brian working most days and many long hours, we have to grab yard work time wherever we can get it. Brian and Tim worked hours raking the yard and the garden beds. I planted pansies (hooray for cheerful spring flowers!), and uncovered the patio furniture and got it set up. It still needs to be power-washed, but in the meantime, it will do.

Sunday was Easter. It was just the three of us, plus my mom at our house. I bought an uncured (nitrate-free) spiral ham, and also made cheesy potatoes (no nasty, chemical and sodium-laden canned soup in this recipe), honey-glazed carrots with thyme and lemon, and asparagus with a Dijon vinaigrette. A low-key, not-much-fuss dinner with mild weather where we were able to sit out on the patio after our meal and relax and talk.

 

Spring has truly sprung here in the Midwest. With warmer temps and lots of rain, the landscape has come to life once again. The vinca is showing off its little purple flowers...

hostas are almost completely unfurled...

lilacs will burst into bloom any time now...

clematis has come back to life...

and my neighbor's cherry tree is so beautiful right now, that I had to walk down the street and take a photo.

In other little bits of news, I'm still working on cleaning out my books. I now have 11 bags of books to donate! I contacted one local library so far, and am dropping off five of the bags of books tomorrow for their Friends of the Library book sale. On my last post, someone had commented about getting rid of books after they've read them. I do indeed do that - unless it's a non-fiction book that I know I'll be referring back to. These books that I'm getting rid of are ones I haven't even read yet! Several years ago, I had a friend over and she was looking at all my bookcases. She said, "You'll never be able to read all these books before you die!" I think she'd be proud of my cleaning-out efforts.

Happy Wednesday. Have a blessed rest-of-the-week.

garden stroll ~ late may

Good thing we got a lot of gardening work done this week and that I took photos then, because now the rain (and heat and humidity) are here. 

This is the south side of my house with the path that leads to the patio. It's mostly shady due to the neighbor's overhanging trees, so perennials such as hostas, pachysandra and lilies do wonderfully as ground cover in this area with minimal work. We've never had to purchase hostas. They've all been divided transplants from neighbors and friends. I haven't spruced up the patio area yet except for some new cushions, so I'm not going to show you this area yet. I still need to re-spray paint the ottoman and side table and plant some more annuals in pots for the baker's rack.

Privacy fences are boring and ugly and I'm a bit limited in what I can do since it's our neighbor's fence, but I've hung a few things for visual interest. I found this planter at Home Depot and filled it with petunias, dianthus and ivy.

Parsley graces a tin butterfly planter.

On the north side of the house...remember this plain area that I was determined to spruce up this year? This is where Brian put a trellis and planted clematis for me for Mother's Day. Since this area gets a lot of sun, we decided to plant tomatoes and zinnias here, too. 

Brian dug out a rectangular area, we planted the tomatoes and zinnias, and then mulched. We obviously still have to add some kind of border. See the planter on the left with the bamboo in it? It's growing like a weed. I've read that people plant it as a "living fence" since it grows quickly and tall, but it's terribly invasive. It can take over an entire backyard! I'm glad we dug it out of the butterfly garden and put it in a container.

These weigela bushes have been on the north side of our house since we moved in 26 years ago - planted by the previous owners. They had a lot of dead area this spring so they needed pruning. Hopefully, they'll fill back in with new growth later this season. In the meantime, I'm loving the beautiful spring flowers on these bushes ~ and so are the bees! 

The flowers usually attract hummingbirds too, but I haven't seen any so far this spring.

Pots o' color in different areas around the yard...

I just made this planter yesterday. The big plant is a citronella plant, which is in the geranium family. I originally thought that it would help deter mosquitoes, but from what I've read, the plant itself does not deter the mosquitoes. You have to take some of the leaf, crush it and rub it on your skin. That's the deterrent. Oh well, I'm willing to try this because I don't want to use DEET on my skin unless absolutely necessary. (I've made homemade mosquitoes sprays from natural ingredients in the past and they haven't worked well.) Also, from reading about this plant, some web sites say it's a perennial and you can put it in the ground so that it will come back every year, and other places say you have to dig it up and bring it indoors for the winter. Maybe it matters what variety it is? Sheesh. I'll have to do more reading later.

I have my herbs in various places...

Basil - including a purple variety - went into this planter.

I'm keeping the salad greens, dill and cilantro in a more shady area on my front porch, though the heat is already taking a toll on the poor greens on the left.

A little herb garden in the back of the house has mint, lemon balm, chives, thyme and newly-planted tarragon.

Also, in the backyard, my lilac bush blooms are already dried up. They sure don't last long!

The only thing blooming in my butterfly garden right now is Columbine...

After last night's storm, the sun broke out for a few minutes and I immediately said to Brian, "I bet there's a rainbow." I went outside and sure enough, there it was. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! 

For those of us in the US, it's Memorial Day weekend, with Monday being the actual holiday. We remember those men and women who died in active military service. 

spring goodness

 Every couple of days when I walk around my yard, I spy something new blooming or coming out of ground (though it's usually weeds). Yesterday, I discovered my rhubarb.
Goodness.

 Today I headed to the garden center for the first time this season. What a welcoming sight to see all the pansies. I know they're common, but I don't care. They shout "spring" to me and are cheerful and lovely, so that's all that matters.

 I also found dahlias in bright pinks and purples...

and little Forget-Me-Nots.

Every which way I turned, more vivid colors. More goodness. It simply made me smile just looking at all these flowers. I miss them so much during our long, gray winters.

 This nursery also has a fabulous array of succulents, though I didn't buy any as they were too pricey. I'll wait for a sale.

Though it barely reached 50 degrees today, the sun was shining brightly. It felt so darn good to be outside. On the way home, I stopped at a church where they have a labyrinth in the back. Have you ever walked one? It's so calming. I could see hawks circling overhead and spied a few deer running out of the cluster of trees. Goodness.

 So, what did I bring home with me from the nursery? For now, some viola - also known as Johnny Jump-Ups - which are a relative of pansies. The purple and yellow ones are my favorite color combination.

A beautiful spring day also calls for a springtime meal. For dinner, I made a pasta dish (I used quinoa pasta, so it's gluten-free) with lemon, herbs, spinach and pine nuts. It was easy and quick to make, and absolutely delicious. You can find the recipe HERE.

I hope that your day was filled with some spring goodness, too.

Sharing with
 Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
At Home with Jemma - Thoughts of Home on Thursday
Art and Sand - Share Your Cup

working in the yard

 Another beautiful, sunny spring day in our neck-of-the-woods. We've been spoiled by this wonderful weather all week. Brian had the day off work today (he usually works weekends), so we went to Home Depot and picked up some pansies and a couple of herb plants. The place was packed! Rain is moving in tomorrow and the rest of the week looks cool and cloudy, so I think everyone wanted to get a start on yard work today. We saw a lot of customers buying big hanging baskets of ferns. Wonder what was up with that...why the popularity of those all of a sudden? It almost became a joke while we were walking around the store because everyone we passed was carrying at least two of those baskets of ferns. 

This is the first planter I put out on my porch every spring and pansies are always what I start with too, as they can withstand the cool weather. They always look kind of pitiful when I first plant them, but they'll perk up and fill out in a couple of weeks.

 Cilantro and dill are two herbs that can also handle cool weather, so I started with those in a planter instead of my herb garden. I figure if we still have a danger of frost at night (which is very possible until mid-May), I can move the planter into the garage.

 We were outside for several hours this afternoon, planting and dragging outdoor furniture out of the garage, pulling weeds, cutting back perennials, raking, and sweeping.

Just the other day, the hostas simply looked like purple asparagus coming out of the ground. Now those purple shoots have burst open and the leaves are slowly unfurling like little twirling ballerinas.

If you are looking for an easy, spreading groundcover that likes the shade, try pachysandra. This is about six years worth of growth but we started with only a handful of plants. We actually had no idea it would spread this much and it's now overtaking our stepping stone path that leads to the patio. And it's not fun to dig up ~ it has strong roots! So just a warning to be sure and plant it somewhere where you don't mind it really spreading. This plant is so hardy that it stays green all winter. We also never water it unless we have drought conditions.

Another plant that grows at least an inch a day in the spring ~ sedum.

 

 I could not believe the chives in my herb garden when I saw this plant today! It was just a tiny plant I stuck in the ground last year. This thing is already a monster. That's lemon balm in the background - a perennial in the mint family that loves to take over a garden, so I have to keep that under control, too.

 Clementine was watching me out the living room window. I don't know what she was looking at when I took this photo. Perhaps a bug. We've already seen bees (a good thing), box elder bugs, one of those small white butterflies (another good thing), and the most dreaded flying insect...mosquitoes. We were sitting on the patio yesterday evening and we were already swatting at a couple of those wretched things.

So, where's my hard-working man? Aha! Caught him red-handed. Guess his work in the yard is done for the day.

 Mine, too. 

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! How's the weather where you live? Are you doing any yard work this weekend or are you up to something else?