Wednesday, December 16, 2020

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

Friday, December 11, 2020

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!






 

Monday, November 9, 2020

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...


Wednesday, October 21, 2020

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!

Friday, October 2, 2020

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.


Wednesday, September 9, 2020

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!