Summertime and the Livin's Easy

 

The parking lot plant auction was a success and I came home with a car load of perennials and annuals.  Nothing says crazy plant lady as much as waking up at 4:30 am to be at the greenhouse parking lot by 5:15 am.  And before you ask, yes there were already other crazy plant people there waiting.  Mom and I stood in line with our carts discussing our plan of attack.  By the time 6:00 am rolled around, the line of other crazy plant people had grown significantly and the line wove it's way up the parking lot.  At 6:00 am we all made a mad dash to the perennial section and loaded up as much as we could get on our carts.  We then paid, loaded up our cars, and went back for seconds!  By 7:00 am, Mom and I were at the local diner having our parking lot plant sale post breakfast!  

 

This year, I've decided to spend some time working in and around the back porch of the house.  All of the plants I've gotten at the sale, I've used on and around the back area of the house.   I've been working on making plant beds around the porch area that wrap around the side of the house.  I'll have to take some pictures of my progress there!  I've been doing lots of digging and moving dirt around and still have a ways to go yet.  I plan on adding more perennials to this area at the end of Summer when the green houses sell off more of their stock at cheap prices. 

 

It's fun to see the changes that we have been making on our little acre of land over the last two years.  Gardening and landscaping is something that both Sgt and I share a passion for. There are still a few Summer projects that we would like to accomplish this year.... an earth oven and a fenced barn yard are left on our list yet to take care of.  We'll see if we have the time and energy to get those projects knocked out before Fall rolls around.

 

How's your Summer garden projects coming along?  Any big landscape plans for your back yards?

~MaryDeluxe

Hangin' Out with Some of My Fellas

When you buy chickens that aren't sexed, you will have a 50/50 chance of getting one or the other! We certainly don't need three roosters around here and the pecking order is once again being worked out in the flock.  Because the roosters were part of our younger second flock of chickens, they are only just beginning to realize that they are roosters and with being a rooster, comes a certain placement and responsibility to the overall flock.  The pecking order once again must shift.  It's actually very interesting to watch how the order gets worked out in the flock.  It reminds me a lot of teaching high school freshman and watching them discover where their place is in the high school world. 

 
The Big Boy

 
Little boy and big boy.

 
What the hell MaryD....that's not a chicken!  No it's Sgt's new gnome. Ain't he sweet! 

 
King & Queen

 
The middle boy.

It's hot as Haiti here on the East Coast.  Mother Nature says, happy Summer here's a mini heat wave for ya!  Ick!  Not much you can really do except perhaps, eat more ice cream and lay low.  I'll be venturing to my Mom's house later today to prepare for our annual Mother/Daughter parking lot flower sale we attend every year.  We don't do black Friday, but we will do this flower sale every year at 6am.  Here's a post I did in 2009 about the parking lot flower sale.  I can't wait to drive the 2 hours home tomorrow sneezing my head off with a car full of flowers!

One

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.

 
Long live our goofiness!

Vintage Lamp Scale

I recently picked up a pair of old ceramic 30's/40's lamps (missing their original shades) at a recent yard sale. The lamps were fitted with harps which I assume are original to the lamps.  I've been playing around with some different size lamp shades to get an idea of what the scale should be...  I  also removed one of the lamp harps to see what a clip on shade would look like.  I'm hoping to get an idea of what size would work best on these lamps before I begin my search.

 

 

I'm throwing in a picture of my "big papa" lamp just so you get some perspective of the lamp sizes. Yes, I know I needed another set of lamps like a hole in my head, but I fell in love with their classic look and light green color.  I'm also a big fan of ceramic based lamps like this. 

 

So, what do you think?  Which lamp shade do you prefer or perhaps you have a better suggestion for a lamp shade style? Have you seen lamps like this before?  If so, what type of shade were the lamps wearing?  

Who knows what I'll find when I begin my hunt or how long it will take me....but that's the fun for me!

~MaryDeluxe