Garden Tours Oh My!

For me, summer is crazy busy! I work hard and lots of hours which means that, before I realize it, August is here and fall feels are in the air.
Don't get me wrong, I love fall! I am not a fan of the high temps, high humidity, miserable hot part of summer. The only bright light of that weather is our pool. Other than that, I am miserable.

But, here we are in August and trees are starting to turn. The nights are getting cooler and I start feeling nostalgic wondering where on earth the summer went! The highlight of summer? Garden tours! Our area has two garden tours of which I always attend. This year, only made one but it was great!

Here are a few pictures:

Marshall Garden Tour

She Shed

AhMazing home in Marshall!

More gardens

Beautiful flowers!

Flowers

flowers

Love this color of cone flower.

Driveway entrance

Bird cage

Cool birdhouse

flower baskets

Sweet patio

Water feature

   

   

This garden was incredible!

Beautiful landscape.

Cute tea table.

Often it's the little things

Most of us already know this but still, I'm always amazed at the difference little changes can make. Especially when you are happy with the basic bones of a room but want to switch it up a bit and do a refresh.

That's exactly what I did by changing area rugs. I moved the dining room rug to the living room and bought a new rug for the dining room. The darker rug was purchased to help blend the burgundy leather furniture that was once in this room. But years later, new furniture, and I was wanting to lighten things up a bit.
Only time will tell how this holds up with our chocolate lab! (Another reason I went with a dark rug!)

Before

After

What a difference!

Six Years Later...

This post came up in my memories feed from 2013 and as I was cleaning my yard this Spring, I realized just how great these stepping stones still look six years later! So, yes I can still say this was my best project yet!

"Stepping stones. Now you might be wondering why this is such a big deal? I have wanted to put a stepping stone pathway from the gate to the backyard and back towards the patio/pool area for eight years. Eight looooong years. You wouldn't think this would be such hard thing to do now would you? But it was either the money (means about 15-20 stones which can get quite pricey), needing a truck or trailer to haul them, needing help to lift the suckers, or just life that got in the way."



Recently I read some articles about quick and easy stepping stones and it got me thinking that I could make that project quicker and easier by cutting a few corners. You won't believe how easy this was!

1. Buy a bag of Quikrete or regular concrete (each bag makes about 3-4 stones)


2. Dig the sod out, sculpting the size and shape that you would like the stone to be. Depth is about 2".

3. Pat down and shape the dirt then stomp on it a little to pack it down tighter.

4. Mix the concrete to a thick milk shake like consistency and pour into the hole, smooth top with a trowel or hand shovel and let dry. Read more about mixing Quikrete.

Add enough water to make it a milk shake like consistency.
Remember, if it is too thin, let it set for a bit to thicken.
Too thick? Simply add more water.

So simple and so happy with how they turned out! If you wanted to get more creative you could add mosiac tiles or paint glitter or tint the concrete. The sky is the limit really!

Stepping my way to the backyard of my dreams!

    

This is Christmas

I am jumping into the Christmas sharing but I have to say that I really hesitate. Especially after I see all the gorgeous Christmas decorating out there. Seriously I love looking at it but I don't have time to do that much decorating here. Wish I did but I am working full time and leading a pretty busy life. I know, just like everyone else, right?

Anyway I thought I would post a couple pictures just to join the fun.

This is more than a Christmas tree, it is a memory tree. So many of the ornaments are full of memories of our life. I love unpacking them!

Yup, truly is the real reason and the only reason that matters!

We don't 'do' santa clause as most do. As we told the boys growing up, santa is a cute story but not real. Why do I want to give him credit for all the cool toys anyway?

Don't you love the 'joy'? Got this and another at Target for $3!

Simple. I like simple.

Including our family gingerbread house.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Garden Tours oh my!

Do you wanna know what one of my favorite things about summer is?

Garden tours. Love garden tours. I have two that I go to every year. One in the town in which we live and the other 20 minutes away in a town I would love to live in. But, there are more. Definitely more nearby. I just run out of time and brain energy. Because, inevitably I come home exploding with ideas of additions and changes to my gardens.

This year, however, our local garden tour was highly disappointing. Not sure if they are running out of houses to feature or what. However the other, in a neighboring town, was amazing and never disappoints!

Here are some features of this years tour:

So simple but cute!

Love this! I make my own garden globes from Quik Crete. Need to do some more and recreate this.

Always love these little garden houses/sheds

Next Project!

This was adorable!

Love the use of this bird bath

Garden sauna!

Beautiful hydrangas!

Love this and I have a crock to use!

Linking up today to:

Feathered Nest Friday  

Flaunt It Friday

Gardens are a Bloomin'

Summer is in full swing here in Michigan and in a long stretch of extreme heat warnings, high temps, and even higher humidity. But who knows, next week we could have a frost. Because, yup, that is Michigan.

However, it is also a time of garden tours, farmers markets, and so much more. And, as a song that we sing at church says...

Every day is a blessing.
In every way it's a blessing.
Every day is a blessing and I'll give it back, give it back to You.

Some days sure are easier than others, but I am trying to count each and every day as a blessing. That said, this has been a strange year in my garden. I have had several long time perennials not come back this year. One lilac tree leaf out and the lilac tree right next to it not leaf at all and none of them bloomed. That is just one story. But, despite the rough start eveything else is doing great. Thought I would share some garden photos today.

Hens and Chicks are great this year and has a boom!

This is the bloom from my Hens and Chicks. This plant blooms about every 4 years.

Bleeding hearts

I have no idea what these are but they look a lot like astilebe but they get about 5 ft tall and are huge!

Don't know what this is either other than a perennial that blooms mid-June. Very pretty plant.

This poor girl has seen better days and each year something breaks off her. But I love the worn and broken look!

Kissing frogs guard my hydrangas.

I found this metal globe on clearance at Home Goods. I had a couple extra fence posts so I poured some Quick Crete and mounted the post, then attached the ball to the top. In total it stands about 5-6 ft tall and the hangar holds a bird feeder. The fence behind it has had bird houses attached but the fence is in bad shape. Hoping we can replace it this year.

Fire pit area where the hostas one one side did not come back this year after 5 years!

Love hostas. Hardy and super easy to grow. Plus, they have babies!

Hanging lanterns

More hanging lantersn

These two old jugs belonged to my sister's in-laws. I cherish them each year as I place them in my garden.

Love me some purple.