Santa

 I love Santa as I said in my last post... just

sharing a Santa I made.  I would love to

 make a bigger one in the future.

Maybe when I retire. 

Natascha

My Christmas Tour

It's been a bit since my last post but I have been

busy decorating and prepping for Christmas.

Last year we moved into our

house in Nov so although I 

decorated for Christmas it was not much.

Christmas is my absolute favorite

time to decorate!  I always fill all my

outdoor planters with evergreen that

I cut and arrange in the dirt.

This year I put big snowflakes in the

window boxes out front and twinkle lights

throughout the branches.  I hung red

berry wreaths in each window pane.

I put two grapevine deer and lights on a few 

bushes by our new pond my husband made

this summer.  I like that I can

see them out of my Livingroom window

This year we got a new tree that can be changed 

from white to colored lights.

Santa's are a favorite of mine so they

are displayed all over my house.

The whole reason for the season...

I love my nativity set.  It came from

Sams club & I built the barn myself.

My faux fireplace in the dining room which I am 

sentimental about since it was in my family

since I was very little.

All my small Santas are displayed here.  

Several of which I made.

For the first time I decorated the half bath

off that laundry room since lots of 

company seems to use this bathroom.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my

decorations.  The lights and decorations

bring me joy and happiness!

 

New Bird Baths

I completed two new bird baths.

This large leaf with a frog.  Which I love him!

He just looks so content sitting there. 

And this shades of blue bird bath.

I'm hoping to get things posted soon 

but my basement is all torn apart

from  remodeling work we just completed.

So my packing area is a complete mess.

Thats all for now...

This Years Harvast!

My first vegetable garden

at our new house 

was a huge success this year!

It produced so much and kept me 

very busy!

  I had tons of greens for the buns

and I am still harvesting the herbs & lettuce!

There are somethings I will do different or

plant in different areas but all in all it's the

biggest haul I've ever had!

I sliced many peppers and froze them for the winter.

I blanched and froze many green beans.

I even tried dehydrating a few peppers

and tomatoes to make

 into powders for sauces.

I froze some little tomatoes whole. As when you

defrost them you can just pop them

out of their skin for sauce or soup.

I had never canned before.  I learned

to can diced tomatoes.  Made

dill pickles and spicy pickles,

and spicy pickled peppers.

I made some spicy

salsa.  I haven't tried it yet

but I will soon.

I also made strawberry/rhubarb jam for

the first time.  It was  a big

hit with my family and I will be 

making that again next year!

Dream it and Make it!

I've been playing around with colored pencils, and

in case you haven't caught on yet, I am a bit

bunny crazy.  I have loved them since I got

my first pet rabbit at 14 yrs. old.  I 

never saw Christmas cards that I liked

with a rabbit in it.

I doodled around thinking what

 I would like a bunny

Christmas card to look like.

This is the progression of my drawing...

it's a learning process as I'm a begginer with colored pencils.

I think it's fun layering colors..

I love how he came out...

Seems like there needs to be a story

about him...

I may just have him printed on my

Christmas card this year!

New Pottery

 This is a very detailed bird bath I made. 

 A lot of time and effort went into this one.

  I would say it is garden art.

This one is a bowl with leaves along the rim.

and red cone flowers...

All items are available in my Etsy shop.

Working on a Dream!

I know it's been a while since I posted 

but we have been busy.... 

this is the making of our back yard sanctuary.

 This is the beginning with a blank slate....

I will speed it along with the many steps so this post

isn't a mile long.

It started with a little doodle....

Then came a big hole in the hardest clay dirt ever!

We then began planting various shrubs and tree's

around the pond.  Some of these came

from the clearance section, but I bet you can't

tell which ones...

Good Dirt, fertilizer and water

make all the difference.

Planting in a yard that gets sun all day 

in 98 degree days was a job even

 though I didn't do any of the digging! 

Dying in the heat but I got the 

best tan I've had in years!

Then came rocks....

And more rocks...

That my husband arranged one by one, 

after installing the pump and hoses that run

from the skimmer up to the top of the waterfall.

I debated over weed cloth.  See this dirt is all

hard clay.  We dug huge holes and planted all the plants 

in the truckloads of good dirt we brought in.

I don't want to weed but I also want to try and improve

the soil quality.  In the end we put weed cloth. 

Most gardeners hate it,but I have to plan ahead.

When I am old...I don't want to be weeding along the

edges of the pond and slipping or falling.

You don't see any black liner in this pond

it is all rock lined to look more natural.

I chose many flowers that I like and

that will attract bee's and butterflies.

There is lots of room to add

flowers every year.

Amazing how this pond attracted frogs and dragon flies.

I see butterflies and humming birds daily!

Here is the pond with plants.

and finally the feeder fish

that we brought from our old house

get to live in their new pond!

They will winter in the pond for the first time.

You can see the two slate walk ways 

where next year we will put a simple

flat bridge that resembles a dock.  

I want to be able to sit and watch the fish

swimming below

We put in 2 seating areas with new patios.

I love the layout of the yard

and how I designed it.  The pond is

 the centerpiece and can be seen

inside, from the upper deck and all the patios.

None of this would have come about

without my husbands hard work and labor.

I am so grateful for all he does for me.

I planted wisteria at the 2 front posts

of this pergola to climb up and over

and have purple flowers hanging down

this patio will be a secret garden off

my pottery studio one day.  We are

still deciding if we want to cover the

top with something to make it waterproof

next summer.

I can't believe all we

accomplished this summer!

Truly a Dream come True!