Something weird and mysterious has happened to my garden above-ground planter!
What in the world happened?
A couple of years ago, my dear hubby built me a wonderful, sturdy above ground planter. We called it our “coffin”, because it looked like one, when he made it. I was so proud of it, and proud of him for making it. I’ve enjoyed planting flowers and plants in it. This past summer, I planted one cucumber, and it kind of took over. A month ago, I cleaned that out and planted some pansies. So pretty!!
Dick Ruddell, my hubby, making the “coffin”.
At the middle of the first year.
The cucumber grew and grew!
Yesterday, I went out to make my daily circle around the back yard, and found a major surprise! The bottom had caved out of my planter. WHAT???? So we are trying to analyze what happened. Yes, we’ve had a little rain, but not that much. Had some of the bottom soil turned to clay? Were the holes not big enough for drainage? Had some animal gotten in there and messed around? Who knows? This will be my hubby’s new project, for the New Year.
It collapsed!
What a mess!!!
Have any of you ever had the bottom fall out of your planter? How did you solve this problem? What kind of plants do you have, right now? My pansies are pretty…some others WERE pretty.
Such is my world today. Guess it’s pretty minor, compared to many others and their problems. Sigh.
This past week, we’ve had our 5 yr. old granddaughter, Libby, staying with us. She lives in Buda, TX, just south of Austin. She really wanted to come and visit, and play with her 4 yr. old cousin, Isaac. We keep Isaac two days a week. When these two kids get together, they play and play and play. Dick and I love having them here. They are old enough now, that we don’t have to watch them all the time. Isaac had a sleepover, one night last week. They know this house well, and have some basic rules that they need to follow. I’m mainly happy when they are not watching TV all the time, or on their I-Pads.
Libby and her tea set.
Libby brought her tea set along. She and Isaac frequently played with it. I was pretty tired of tea! LOL I also have a container of play dishes and food. If one were to look under the dining room table, one could usually find dishes and food. Actually, you could find this stuff all over the house!!! The last day she was here, they were back in the Master Bathroom, washing dishes. I was informed of this, when Isaac came in to get dry socks. Yep, some water had overflowed on the floor, he had stepped in it, and there were wet footprints all the way from one bedroom, down the hall, across the family room, and into the play room. I gave him a big towel and he cleaned up all of the footprints, after he changed socks. They spent a long time, enjoying washing and drying the dishes. Hope they enjoy that activity as much when they are older!! Later, I found two empty soap containers and three wet towels. But the dishes looked good.
The dishwashers.
We made brownies together. Another day, they played with playdoh, while I fixed a roast for supper, and made three pans of lasagne for the freezer.
Notice the brown dinosaur bone!
And then, one day, I let them play in the play room. It got rather quiet. I went in to see what they were doing. They were cutting blue strips of paper, and putting them on the bedroom door, like a cross…..using the glue stick!!! Oh no. I got those off. I just noticed that there are three note cards stuck to the door.
Yes..that’s put on with a glue stick. AAAGGHHH!
I have a big box…a present for Dick…that I didn’t want to wrap. So the kids painted some designs that I made for them. Libby taped hers on today, before she headed home. They LOVE to paint!
Boppa’s gift.
Paintings to put on Boppa’s box.
A gift for Boppa.
What else could they get into? Oh yes…a couple of things. They hid things. I still haven’t found a remote for our bedroom light. (No, no…it isn’t one of those sexy lights! It’s just the lamp on the bedside table. And no, it’s not the old lamp we used to have, that made a huge shadow on the ceiling, that looked like a large male appendage. ) There seems to be things under every bed and table. Isaac kept unplugging some things. I vetoed that.
Feathers in the fan…this is just a few of them.
I have a couple of boas, hanging on my walls. I know, it’s strange. Goes with my Hat Collection. Anyway, they shed quite easily, if you get against them. When I went to pull down the covers, one night, there were tons of red feathers under the three pillows. GRR. Then I started to turn on the fan. It was full of red and black feathers. The photo is just a small part of what there was. GRRR.
Next week, these two, plus the 8 yr. old brother of Libby, will be here for a day or so. Wondering what they will get into next!!!! I love them all so much.
Happy Holidays. Snuggle up with your partner or your dog. Have a good week. Let’s have a fabulous 2021.
Bill, our dog, in the Reindeer room.
Let me know what you are up to. Do you have fun adventures with your kids or grandkids??
My “Coffin” raised planter. So happy when my hubby made this for me!
Have you ever had a project that you put off, and put off and put off? That is exactly what I’ve done with several projects. I kept thinking that cleaning out my coffin planter box and refilling it would take forever. I’d look at it and think about what I wanted to do. Yep, it was going to look really nice. I even bought two new mum plants. Did I get them planted? NO. They roasted their little heads off.
Then, the weather cooled down and I was happy to work in my backyard again. This past week, I went to Mike’s Greenhouse, and found some plants that would take me through fall and beyond. I paid a bundle for these. My hubby always gives me grief when I bring home things, and they don’t get planted for awhile…or never.
The old plants that were in the coffin.
There were some old plants in the “coffin”….big Coleus, which I wanted to keep; a cucumber vine that was at the end of it’s production life; a huge vine that had come up and wound itself through everything; and other plants that I thought would be good, but they never had any flowers.
Lo and behold, it only took me about 20 minutes to clean out my coffin. (Just in case you were wondering, when my hubby made this big raised planter box, on sturdy legs, it looked like a coffin. ) After cleaning out any weeds, I had my husband put in a bag and a half of potting soil.
Tall coleus and new potting soil.
Next, I planted three mums, pansies and ornamental cabbage. I am still going to plant tulip bulbs in the front. (Yes, I’ve had the tulip bulbs in my refrigerator for 2 years.) I also planted 4 lettuce plants in my side garden. Haven’t raised lettuce before, so we’ll see how it does.
Newly planted for fall.
Lettuce in the side bed.
Why in the world did I put this off so long? I just needed to make a little effort and get with it. Now, maybe I can move on to the next project. I’ve been putting off cleaning out a big closet full of old photos and teacher things. All of the recommendations are to take 15 minutes on your timer, and bite off a chunk at a time. I think I can, I think I can, I KNOW I CAN!
Let me know what projects you are working on. Do you have any that are weighing you down and you don’t want to start them? Remember the 15 minute rule.
October!! Yeah! It’s a great time to pull out the afghans and snuggle up on the couch. My hubby is wavering between watching football games and Halloween movies. I don’t need any of those scary movies. But both of us always watch Wheel of Fortune. I am SO good at solving those puzzles!
bread dough rising.
Two yummy loaves!
This week, I made some homemade bread . I hadn’t made any of that in forever. It turned out pretty well. Seems a lot thicker and heavier than store bought bread. (OK..I admit…every so often, we have a craving for good ole Wonder Bread, from our childhood.) But part of the great thing about making bread is the whole science related thing. Watching the yeast interact and create a dough, watching it rise..again and again..and finally baking it in the oven. You know it’s going to take all day. When I make bread, it’s like I’m channeling my ancestors.
The oil diffuser, with Lemongrass scent.
At Nana School, with my grandson, Isaac, we are thinking about Fall. This week, we talked about our five senses. Isaac was particularly interested in smelling things. I pulled out all of my sensory oils, and he had fun smelling them. I let him choose the oil for our diffuser. He chose Lemongrass. The next time he came back, he said, “let’s smell things!”
Painting the witch
The finished product. Look at that smile!
Isaac also painted a witch. I bought a small wooden square from Joann Fabrics. My hubby drilled a little hole in the back, so it could be hung up. I kind of outlined the face and mouth, and he painted with our tempera paints. I told him to not spread the paint too much, because it showed the wood underneath. We had googly eyes to put on, and I cut out tiny black teeth from felt. Isaac was so excited when it was done!
Today, I bought some plants…unfortunately, my two mums kicked the bucket before I got them planted. Tomorrow, I will work on the garden.
Yesterday, my hubby said he would take my car and get it inspected, so that we could get the registration renewed. He went to 5 different car places, and would either have to wait two hours, or they couldn’t get their machines to work. He finally gave up. Today, I drove to the Kwik Kar , in Crowley, and they inspected it for me. YES!! After that, I went to CVS and had my flu shot. One more check off of my list.
No matter our political views, we are praying for our President and the many other people who have tested positive for Covid. We’re still wearing our masks and limiting our outings.
Hope you are remaining safe and snuggled up at home. We all need some outings, here and there. A good walk in the woods, a bike ride, or even driving through the drive-through at McDonald’s…these are things to get out of the house. Wear your masks. Wash your hands. Use Social Distancing. Be kind.
Happy September and Happy Fall! I’m starting to feel more alive, since the weather is finally down in the mid/upper 80’s. All over town, the Texas Sage is blooming their beautiful purple blooms. I bought two new mum plants today. Tomorrow, it will finally be cool enough that I can work in my flower beds.
Margaret and I, at my nephew and fiance’s bridal shower, two years ago.
We’ve recently returned from Kansas. My sister-in-law, Margaret Wood, passed away last week. She had gone through four different bouts of cancer, in the last 30 years. She was fun, classy, with impeccable taste in furnishing her home, her wardrobe, and was super organized. She planned her Celebration of Life service and it was a beautiful service. We were all worried about Covid but the church was very aware of the things that needed to happen to make it healthy and secure. Afterwards, the family met at the farm, and had lunch and visited….6 ft. apart, and masks on. We were able to see the newest member of the family, Brooks Treaster. He’s a little doll!
Brooks Treaster, our newest member of the Wood family.
My husband, Dick and his sister, Lu.
My cousin, Scott, my brother, Mike and my cousin’s wife, Sonja.
I bought my brother a fun mask to wear. Will he see the humor in this?
A Classy Mask for my Classy brother!
PROJECTS
Though I still love the light turquoise color that I have decorated with, in the past, I was ready for a change. Our breakfast nook chairs were a total mess. Too many toddlers have sat in them! So I took on the task of recovering the cushions. I also recovered the bar stools to match. Navy is now my go-to color for my breakfast area and family room. We bought a new area rug, curtains and pillows. I will eventually make pillows that match the chair cushions. Oh wow, I LOVE having a new look! I also decorated for fall.
The old decor.
The old rug.
The new rugs and pillows.
New cushions and curtains
Cussing at the corners of the bar stool cushionsThe new bar stool cushions
Adding a bit of fall decorations
Fall decorations
ORGANIZING THE SHELF IN THE LINEN CLOSET
I have a wide shelf, at the top of my linen closet. It has been full of cleaning supplies, that were kind of mish-mashed together. I had a little time this afternoon, and I decided to organize it. And now you see, my lovely baskets with labels on them. What is it about labels that make you feel so much more organized?
Before
Before
After
After
After
My next project is cleaning out the big mess of gift bags. Yuck! I’m going to winnow them down and see what I need to add.
What kinds of things are you working on during this time? Are you a person who enjoys Fall? Are you able to get out and go anywhere? I hope that if you have kids, that you are able to help them with online school, or home schooling. I’m so happy that I’m no longer teaching!!! Leave me a message telling me what’s going on in your life.
