Its HOT!

It is crazy hot around here! 98 degrees with a heat index of 110. I'm not doing much out in the yard, but I did capture a few fun pictures.

This first one is of a large hawk that hangs out in our front tree from time to time. The robins and hummingbirds get so mad, that they gang up and chase him away before long.

I was also pleasantly surprised to discovered that the bush by the deck blooms! I think it might be Crepe Myrtle. If anyone recognizes it, let me know. :-)And the butterfly bush by the back door is a favorite hangout for both butterflies and the many hummingbirds we have in the area. I haven't been able to get a picture of the hummingbirds yet...they're fast!

I'm spending a lot of time right now at the tiny house filling nail holes, painting, and doing what I can to get it ready to sell. Most of the big projects are downstairs and require Hubby's construction skills, so they will have to wait until he has some free time. But, all of this work is seriously cutting into my blogging time. I hope to be able to catch up on all of the fun summer projects going on in blogland soon.

Stay cool, everyone and have a great week!

A Front Yard Tour

I was finally able to take some pictures of the front yard. The previous owner was an avid gardener, so it has been a fun surprise this spring to see what is going to bloom next. :-)

Let's start the tour at the driveway.

See that bright orange near the house? Those are gorgeous poppies! Let's get a closer look.

In front of the steps there are also several peonies, rose bushes, different colors of columbine, and alot of things I haven't identified yet.

Near the porch, ferns, hosta, more roses, and another type of poppy fill the area.

Here is the view from the house. A nice line of trees partially hide the house from the street.

And lastly, ferns, columbine, hosta, and lily of the valley fill a shady walkway on the other side of the house.
Thanks for taking the tour with me! Hopefully I'll be able to get my annuals planted this week. Have a great week everyone.

New Yard Photos and a Rainbow

We had a brief break in the seemingly endless storms, so I popped outside to snap a few pictures of the new back yard. As I stepped out the door, I saw one of the largest and brightest rainbows I had ever seen!

Let's walk up to the top of the hill to get a better view.



Wasn't it pretty? Ok, let's head back down the hill and I'll show you a closer view of some of the plantings in back.

This is the view from the deck and also out the french doors of the master bedroom.

There are a bunch of hostas and sweet Lily of the Valley around the tree. Small mounds of Forget-me-nots are also dotted around the yard.

And here's a couple of close-ups.

Bright orange poppies are just about to open in the front yard, so as soon as they do, I'll take a few pictures and show you that area. :-)

Have a great week everyone!

Climbing Roses and More Patio Photos

We had a nice surprise this year with the addition of red roses to the already pink rose covered shed. Evidently, this red rose was the stock used as a graft for my Joseph's Coat rose, which died two years ago. This base rose took off last year and is now blooming very well. Oh, and a little bunny came out to have his pictured taken, too. :-) I went with a mostly red and pink theme this year for the annuals. The hanging baskets are planted with multi-colored flowers, though.
To see a tutorial on how I plant my moss lined baskets you can go to this post from last year. And to see what they look like by mid-summer, click here.
We're going to have an early taste of summer this week here in Ohio. Its supposed to be in the mid to upper 80's all week! Nice! :-)

The Colors of Autumn

The fall colors as seen in our yard...

Yard and Getaway Photos

Another busy weekend around here. But I thought I would share some pictures of the patio flower baskets (click here to see how I made them) and a few from our getaway last weekend.
The flowers are doing surprisingly well for this late in the summer. Usually they start to get straggly and faded out from the summer heat, but thanks to the coolest July on record and a very comfortable start to August, they look pretty good. :-)


The peaches are almost ripe on our small tree.

And as I mentioned in the last post, hubby and I spent a couple of days at Salt Fork State Park.
Its the largest state park in Ohio and has a huge lake, a golf course, a couple marinas, a beautiful lodge with two pools, campgrounds, and cabins. Now normally, I'm a lodge girl all the way, but it was a very last minute trip and everything was booked except for one cabin. So, we took it. It was a very nice cabin right on the lake. We were even able to do some fishing. Although it was just the two of us, the cabin could have slept up to 6 people. There was a jacuzzi on the enclosed porch and a place to cook out and have a bonfire down by the lake.

Here we are in front of the lodge.

A very peaceful getaway.

The Roses are In Bloom!

Our little shed is once again covered in pink roses. Its a variety called New Dawn and is very hearty. Despite having killed every other rose bush I've ever touched, this one thrives. I'm sure being planted in close proximity to our compost pile helps a bit, too. ;)

The blooms are such a lovely blush pink color!It certainly helps to bring a little cottage charm to the back yard. And speaking of cottage charm...the third annual Cottage Charm Giveaway, being hosted by Kim of Twice Remembered , is going on right now. Sadly because of scheduling conflicts I wasn't able to participate this year, but be sure to check out the link over on Kim's blog to see all the wonderful giveaways (now more than 60!). And if you would like to join in with a giveaway of your own, there is still a few days left to sign up!

And just because they filled out so pretty in the last couple of weeks, I'm showing another picture of the patio flower baskets.