Christmas Gatherings....

Just a few of the gathering for Christmas and most of winter.  

This is one of my favorite ways to decorate a tree.  I dry orange slices and string cranberries.  After Christmas, I put red silicone lights on with the white ones and replace the oranges with heart ornaments. 

When we brought our tree in a few weeks ago, I had enough time to put lights and a burlap garland on.  We then went on about a two week run where we had something almost every night of the week.  And as you can see, it is still not decorated.  I think I like the "simple"  aka "lazy" look!!

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful evening.  

Blessings...Melissa

Santa Claus is Coming to Town....

Good afternoon.  I wanted to stop by and share some of my Santa collection with you.  A few I have purchased and a few I have made.  Like many of you, I really like the simple decorating so most times it's just Santas and greenery.  

The mittens in the dry sink belonged to my grandma.  We found them in her attic a couple of summers ago.  They are a perfect reminder of her.  

This guy is one of my favorites.  I originally made it to sell, but changed my mind once he was finished.  

All of the samplers in this display are ones I have stitched over the years. 

This is a new addition this year.  I made him from an old feed sack.

This old window chalkboard was also a project from this fall.  I've had the window for years and came across this idea from Pinterest.  Such a simple project!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful evening.

Blessings....Melissa

Lazy Summer Saturday

Good afternoon.  I hope you are having a wonderful summer day.  It is getting very warm here  No complaints from me because I really do not like being cold!! Since I last posted in May....where has the time gone??... we have had so much rain.  This is a very strange thing for us because we usually miss most of the wet stuff in the summer.  The crops are looking very good for the most part and all of the wheat has been harvested.  

This is the new garden I have posted before  The corn is HUGE!!   The pod corn is on the left and the red stalker corn is on the right.  The pod corn is just beginning to get ears while the red stalker has had them for quite a while.  I am so anxious to pick them!

I planted the sunflowers behind the corn.  They were only supposed to be 4 feet tall.  Um.....I don't think they were labeled correctly.  They are as tall as the corn. 

A littel display next to the smokehouse with my favorite black-eyed Susans.

I started an herb garden this year.  It's not as organized as I'd like.  I didn't any planning and just planted a few things here and there.  I may have to revamp it next summer.  I made these cute little plant markers from some old silverware found at an antique shop.  

\

I forget the name of these flowers, but they have just gone crazier than normal this summer.  The name starts with Heli....something. I can never remember.  They spread like wildfire so I'm always pulling them out from where they are not supposed to be.  You can barely see the white picket fence behind them because they are so tall!

My other favorites.  I can have more than one favorite summer flower, right?  I have many different colors of coneflowers.  It bums me out when the new color varieties come out  and they are so much more expensive than plain jane purple. 

This is the backside of the new counter/grills we put in last summer.  

And this is the front.  The grill on the  right is for wood fires. I used it last fall and made chili in a cast iron pot.  It was yummy.  We just made popcorn on it a week ago and it turned out really good too.  It takes more planning than I usually give to a meal.  That's when the gas grill comes in handy!

That's it for today. Time to do some Santa making or sampler stitching.  The stitching will probably win out since I am probably going to plunk on one of these lounge chairs with my buddies to stitch and catch a few rays of sun.  I can see a bonfire in the plans for tonight  with of course some yummy smores!!  Take care!!  Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings...

Melissa

Saturday Morning Garden Walk

Hello.  I think warmer weather, for the most part, has finally found us.  I have finished planting my gardens and flower beds.  At least I say I'm done until I find more plants to fill all the spots that just aren't quite full.  I am totally a perennial plant addict.  All of the flower beds around the house are filled with them.  I enjoy watching them grow and change through the seasons.  It is more work that having shrubs and bushes around, but to me, it is worth the extra effort!!

I took a walk around the yard this morning before it starts to get too warm and the rain comes.  I snapped a few pictures to show how things are growing.  Here is my buddy, Benny.  He is one of two "kittens" I bottle fed and babied most of last fall and winter.  He is a sweetie and likes to follow me around and water things!

This is the new garden we added earlier this spring.  The pod corn and red stalker corn is really taking off.  I was disappointed with some of the pod corn.  I had some seed from last year and planted that in addition to the new seed from this year.  As hubby always tells me, old seed doesn't usually grow.  And in this case, he was right.  So instead of 8 rows, I only have six.   Darn!!  I'm hoping everything is going to green up now that it's warmer.  Plants look a little anemic!!

T

This is a new plant this spring.  It's an "Elfin Pink" Beardtongue.  I love the shade of pink.  

One of my all time favorites....yarrow.  

Next to our little smokehouse I've added some white enamelware with a touch of yellow.  There will be Black Eyed Susans blooming soon as well. 

Finally, along the back sidewalk are my coral bells.  This spring I added the iron bed to give a little height to the area.  I have seen them woven full of twigs, and that was my intention.  Until I get the ambition to do that, it will just be plain.  I made the gazing ball last summer out of a blue thrift store bowling ball and lots and lots of pennies.  I love the subtle sparkle it adds!

I've also been working on some of my summer blackened beeswax items.  These are hand poured from pure beeswax that I have dyed black and scented heavily will cinnamon oil and rubbed with spices.  I have many seasonal items available in my Etsy shop.

We have a few graduation parties to attend and then some shopping in the city.  Maybe I'll spy some more plants along the way!!  I think it's my spring time addiction!  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of your day.  

Blessings......

Melissa

Garden Expansions

Hello!!!!   Gosh, it has been forever since I have posted.  I guess daily life takes over!!  To be totally honest too, so many of you have such amazing blogs, talents, and projects to share, I feel a bit intimidated! Since it is spring and time for new beginnings, I'm going to jump into this again and hopefully be more successful with sticking with it!

My newest project is an expansion of an existing vegetable garden.  I have had the one on the right for several years and just last year added the barrels and fence.  This year I decided to add on a bit more with construction help from my husband!  I usually "borrow" a corner of my son's sweet corn patch for pumpkins, gourds, specialty corn and anything else that looks interesting. By having a larger area of  my own, I won't have to take his.  This is after the railroad ties were put in.

Here it is all filled in with dirt and the fence moved.  My first thought is there sure is a lot of room for weeds to grow!!!  I love gardening, but weeding is not my thing!!  I had a grandfather who stood in his garden all day and as soon as a week poked through, he would dig it up.  Oh, how I wish I had inherited that gene!!!

Here are two of the specialty corn plants I am growing.  I grew pod corn two years ago, but then couldn't find seed last year.  I ordered extra early this year.  I am also trying the Red Stalker Corn. I'm not really sure what it is, but the picture looked interesting!

This is my pod corn harvest from before.  I just love the variations in color.  They range from cream to dark tan as well as a couple that had some purple.  I guess you never know exactly what the harvest will be!

It was nice and warm last weekend, and I was able to get a couple of my flower beds cleaned up and ready.  Cold wind and rain have taken over for a few days with frost expected so I guess I'll be inside  spring cleaning or stitching one of my pillow tucks.  Stitching sounds way more fun, but I'm sure it will be the cleaning!!  

Thank you for stopping by and I hope to keep you updated on the progress of my gardens.  

Blessings....

Melissa