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!

Blessings, Bunnies & Herbs

I finally got my herb garden planted...

I love herbs, for cooking and teas...

When my husband built it I thought it was
way too huge.  I was like-I wont need
all that! Well...I guess he knew me better
than I did...

I filled it mostly with perennial herbs.

 This bed was build with salvaged 

concrete.  I love it because it reminds

me of an old stone wall.

My greenhouse also now has electrical  so I ran a sting of

lights down the center and it lights up nicely. On sweltering

summer days I can go to my greenhouse on cooler 

nights and putz around.   I switched

out the shade cloth to one I had from the old

house when our apple tree fell down.  How

great that it fits this one perfect!

I finally got all everything organized and neat.
I have been working on slowly
repotting my house plants one by one.

I love my metal letter 

"fresh cut flowers" sign

I found at Michaels 75% off.

I have just been overly Blessed this year

at finding Garden deals on plants, shrubs

and trees.  I haven't kept track of

what I spent but I know it's a total

Blessing when I just sit back and

look at how many I have been able to 

buy.  So many have been crossed

off my wish list!

Many of my succulents were in sad shape.

I have repotted and fertilized them

and am hoping for them to thrive now.

I love my easy ramp like steps...

everything we create now is 

with the thought of how will it

work one day when I am elderly.

As you can see the herbs are filling in nicely

Here's a little sneak peek at the pond & waterfall

my husband built.  I still pinch myself

daily that this is where I live

and this is my dream yard!

I remember 15 yrs. ago driving

by this yard on my way to the barn

thinking WOW... Holy Smokes

look at the size of that yard! 

Would I love to have a yard

like that! That's why it's so hard

to fathom that it now is my yard!

I truly thank God

for my Blessings!