Playing in the potting shed

I have been busy lately playing in my potting shed so I thought I would give you
a few more peeks at what I am doing.

Do you remember this old white shelf that I purchased a few weeks ago? It ended up out here and I
think it is just right for my goodies.

I did add a bit of fake greenery before I got the bright idea {DUH!} to add real plants. :)

My flowers are still doing just wonderful despite the awful heat we had this summer.

I love this chippy green chair. I purchased FOUR of these chairs at an estate sale
years ago for 50 cents each! Everything was cheap at that sale and I was carrying
my baby granddaughter who was living with us at the time so that was about 11 or 12
 years ago. This is the ONLY green one I have left. I have two more that I let set outside
and they lost all of their paint and I sold one in my booth {dumb thing to do I know!}
I am hanging onto this one!

I love real bird nests and this one is a beauty.

Still trying to figure out if this is too much shelving , but it is what it is right now
so it is staying for awhile anyways.

Did you notice what I had hubby do?? This shed does not have interior walls except
on the back wall. It is something we have always intended to do , but just have not
gotten around to it. I was tired of waiting so a week or two ago I grabbed some paint
that we had sitting around and painted the top two thirds of the walls white.
I painted OSB board, I painted old beams...I painted, painted, painted!

Then I had hubby put the fence around the bottom part of the walls! I love how it
turned out, but once again the whole shed is not done, so you are seeing this one
wall! ha! We replaced a few sections of fence this year that were rotting and I
wanted it all to match so we took the above fence down also even though we had
just put it up a year or two ago. I do LOVE to recycle!!

More fake greenery in this cast iron wall vase.

I realized I should have added some gardening gloves and clippers or scissors , but I had already
spent too long taking photos so I opted not to redo it. I don't know how photographers do it!!
It must take them DAYS to do some photo shoots.

I have lots of goodies so I have pottery and all kinds of treasures sitting around in here.

Still lovin' my burlap potting bench skirt. See the slats in the top of my bench?
When hubby made the bench he added a pull out plastic tub underneath the slats so
that after I pot my plants, I can just grab a whisk broom and brush all the soil
 down the holes and right into the tub. Then take it out and dump it and wa-la all
nice and clean! :)

My favorite chair again with my pretty pink impatiens.

Loving my little *GROW* knife that I made last year.

A little nest that I spray painted white. That ends the tour for now. I know it isn't the most perfect
shed in the world , but it is mine and I love it. I decided whatever I did to fix it up this year I was
NOT going to spend any money doing it and I am happy how it turned out. Now on to the other
walls...oh goodness. Woman's work is never done...:)

1...2...3...planting outside the box

I am sure you have heard of thinking outside the box...I decided to plant outside the box.

Using containers that are not necessarily for planting such as this swinging pockets container.

I haven't a clue what it's original purpose was , but I picked it up a few months ago
on clearance at Hobby Lobby for only $3.00. Some of the screws were missing and I
knew we could fix it so I brought it home with me.

{sometimes hubby tells me that I have a few missing also , but we won't go there lol.}

It just sat around in my studio doing nothing

{because I don't have one square inch left to set anything except on the floor!}

until I had an *ah ha* moment this week while planting flowers. 

I do love how it turned out. I lined the swinging pockets with plastic, but
that will be totally hidden when the flowers get larger.

I say to you " how cute is this" .
Almost wishing I had some more. 

I went to the greenhouse again today to spend some Mothers Day money from my daughter and this
 is what I brought home with me. Several ivy geraniums, asparagus fern, trailing vinca, impatiens
 and another fern.  Can't have too many flowers or ferns. I love this time of year...time for rebirth,
planting and just being  happy digging in the dirt. 

Contain Your Excitement!

Notice my white bicycle in the middle of the top row?

 Ladies Home Journal contacted me and wanted to know if they could put my bicycle
 photo in the June issue of their magazine and of course I said yes. Who would have thought
that little ole' me who lives out in the boonies...on a dirt road...somewhere in Pure Michigan
would ever have anything published in a magazine. It is rather fun to go to the store, pick up
 the magazine and thumb through it until you find your photo. Then when you purchase 10
copies of the same magazine the cashier wants to know why!!
 Just kidding. I only purchased two. :)

I love the title of the article.

Contain Your Excitement
"We got our hands dirty searching the blogosphere for the coolest, most
creative container gardens we could find.  These savvy planter ideas all
repurpose regular household stuff, proving it actually is easy being green."

Here is the front cover of the magazine if you desire to find one in  your area.
I picked mine up at Wally World for a whopping $2.49 so this magazine does not
break the bank. YAY! That is always a good thing. I know Walgreens in our area
also carries them, but not sure what other stores do.

Happy new week everyone!!

Front porch serenity

My ivy geranium on my front porch has really

taken a growth spurt lately with all the rain

we have had and I love it.

I don't know if I have ever told you, but we live on a dirt road

{what other kinds of roads are there in Michigan!}

in a two story house that was

built in the 1890's. We have lived here for over

29 years

and truth be told we will probably always live here.

Once in awhile I get the urge to pack it all up and

move ,but then when I think of all the work

involved ...yea, it stops me dead in my tracks! lol.

Our home sweet home still needs a lot of

work! We went through several years of babies,

lay-offs, machinist strikes, etc. and the time

just has never been right to fix it all up

like it needs to be.

We did replace the siding ourselves one

year when the kids were still at home, hubby

was working 10 or more hours a day and he was

also coaching our sons little league team at the time.

He would get home from work, we would literally

throw a couple pieces of siding on the house

and then run off to a game. I don't know how,

but we finally did manage to get it all sided

that year.

However those little *finishing touches* like the

soffit, trim etc never got all done. Almost , but not totally.

We are hoping to get that accomplished this

summer but once again...

Hubby is working a lot again so that doesn't leave much

time. We also need to replace a few of the windows.

Hopefully within a couple years we will get that

accomplished too, but God is good and I do enjoy

my little corner of the world...most of the time!

Remember this mirror? I think I had photos up

of it last year when it was dark green. I gave it the white treatment and it goes so much

better now don't you think?

A birds nest that I found while trimming bushes one day.

There is still part of a broken egg shell in it.

I purchased this wicker stand one year at a garage sale for $5.00! Still can't believe that price.

I love anything architectural!

I love this bush when it is in bloom. Also loving this plant

stand that I purchased for 5.99.

Don't look too close! The allysum in the pot is almost

dead I think...but it is coming back now slowly

but surely. lol.

View from the west end of the porch.

One of these days I would like to paint

( I mean...I would Mr. Wayside to paint) the green

table and chairs white and our dark blue shutters

white as well. I also want to get a new market

umbrella for the table. All in due time.

I just planted a lilac bush at this end too so am

anxious for that to grow and fill in the space. Once in awhile I toy with the idea of hanging

airy curtains at this end of the porch too.

What do you think?

Hope you enjoyed your tour of my front porch.

Maybe next time I can get better photos of the

glider and other items that I missed.

Blessings~

Cloche {of sorts}, ivy...and a question

I am still tweaking my back deck and have added

a few more goodies to it. I have had this basket for

several years and the big box store had a special

buy on ivy plants for $1.58 this week so I grabbed

several. I need to plant them yet, but for now I

thought they looked cute in the basket.

I don't know what this piece is called, but for lack

of a better word I will call it a cloche. How easy

would these be to make! I know we could whip

some of them up fast. It is just two pieces of glass

framed out and the ends are open. Love it!

Find some old white chippy wood and make

a few...I know I want to!

Still loving my vintage stand on rollers that

I purchased at a garage sale last year.

I made use of my antique shutter by adding it to this small table.

More ivy on my patio table.

I brought the old plant stand out and added burlap

to the table.

It is getting done slowly , but surely. Yesterday and

today we have been deluged with rain so I have

been inside playing. Hopefully the sun will return

soon!

Now I have a question...for those of you who

print on fabric for pillows etc. HOW do you do it

and have it turn out nice? I am lucky to get

50% of mine that look decent. Mine come out of the

printer with black smudges here and there and they

are not pretty. I am using a HP psc 1210 xi all in one printer, scanner , copier.

I have tried the freezer paper method and also

just tried spray adhesive on cardstock and then

adhering it to the fabric and sending it through

with the same sad results. :(

Help please?? :)

Thank you!!

Simple beauty is found...

... in this piece that looks very old , but isn't.

{TJ Maxx find several months ago}

...in this old galvanized tub that I have planted

with various white flowers and a very light pink

geranium.

...in my fairy house and a cute garden chair.

...in my bicycle basket that I just got spruced up

yesterday.

{I may have to wheel her inside the garage in

case of frost}

...in an old white cement pedestal.

...in simple tiny white flowers.

...in a gorgeous gray and white planter

with a mini rose bush inside.

...in my pink roses that have opened

up beautifully!

Blessings~