The Children's Garden

This is the garden that I have dedicated to our Grandchildren, now and the ones in the future.

This piece of our property had always been a "waste land". But when our first grandchild was born, our lives changed. I wanted her to have a place she could go to smell & pick flowers, watch vegetables grow then eat them, see birds fly, and dig in the dirt.

I also wanted it to be a place of intrigue.

Today it is everything I imagined!

It takes some work and lots of love.

These are the before and after pictures.

We have garden decorations all along the path, bird houses, statues and flower pots.

This little, pink, bird house I thought was just for decoration but this Spring a family of Wrens moved in. It has been so much fun watching the family grow. There are 6 tiny baby birds (I peeked and counted!). Both dad and mom are working hard feeding all those mouths.

(If you look over the bird house door, you'll see another tiny little bird house! )

My day is complete when our granddaughter comes in and asks to go outside and to pick Sugar Snap peas.

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~Tidbit~

Vase life for cut flowers is extended by filling the vase with warm water.

Party was so much FUN!

The Black and White Party!

Everyone wore Black, White or both. I even had a little black & white doggy dress for Lucy.

These pictures were taken before the guests arrived. Lucy was so mad that she had to wear a dress, she wouldn't even look at me for one more picture.





The backyard was ready and so was the patio.





Now is was time for the guests to arrive.




And all the guests dressed in black and white! The bride and groom wore their bright colors. Well, at least the bride did!

Even Arthur, our other dog, had on a white bandanna.

You sure could spot the bride, no matter where she was.

Look carefully at the picture below. One of our friends wore orange shoes. She told me that she just had to have some color. There is a rebel in every crowd. I thought it was clever.

The cake was cut, presents were opened and we all toasted the couple.

Our son took a wonderful group picture with the Bride and Groom, surrounded by all the guests in their Black & White. Thank goodness our son was there to take the good pictures.

I was having to way to much fun!

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbit~

If you plant basil near your tomatoes, worms and flies will be repelled.

Things are coming together....

Party Tomorrow!

I'm going to make this quick. Still have so much to do.

This is our backyard patio.

I am using Chinese Lanterns to add a festive flare. Some of the small lanterns have battery operated lights in them. This will add to the romantic mood when the sun goes down. I really like decorating with these lanterns instead of balloons because I can use them over and over again. Storage is great because they collapse flat.

I have been moving things around all day long, trying to find the right look. These pictures were take early this morning when the sun was out. I have added flowers to the center pieces. I wanted white flowers and couldn't find just the right ones.

I ended up at a nursery and they were having a Two for One sale! The Impatient's were full of white blooms and the right price!

I then headed down to our local thrift store and bought all the white plant containers they had. I left with 5 white, ceramic plant holders! Wow! What were the chances?

More pictures later this weekend.

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbits~

Use bright colored fingernail polish to identify your keys at a glance. Just add a drop or make a heart.

Wedding Shower - Saturday

My Brother-In-Law is getting married this July !!!

He's 55 years old, never been married and is engaged to his High School Sweet Heart.

They rekindled their romance 13 years ago and have been together ever since.

So Tom, (my husband/his older brother) and I are having a Shower this Saturday!

The shower will be at our home and their sister is bringing all the food. Such a deal!

I wanted this shower to be a very special event.

The theme is Black & White.
Everyone is coming dressed in black, white or both.

The couple is dressing in bright colors!

The couple enjoys the Roaring Twenties, really old movies, and Jazz. For the decorations, I found an idea on a blog and tweaked it to go with our theme. I collected jars and printed wedding pictures off the Internet. Then decorated each jar (about 15 total) with black & white ribbons, beads, pictures and white paper flowers.

My plan is to use these as table decorations and to have them scattered all around the house and our backyard.
Some will have candles in them. The others are filled with shredded black paper.

These are durable conversational pieces. Each jar has a different old wedding picture on the front, and on the back, are cute Love sayings. They will (I'm sure) be picked up and admired.

........Bathroom

Mantel.......

.........Coffee table

**************

I needed more Black & White decorations.

When I saw some flags used as added color, in a magazine, I knew that was just what I needed. I went to Target and bought little America flags from the dollar bins. I took the flags off (will use them for July 4th) and added homemade black & white flags. I bought black & white plaid shirts and black & white flowered blouses, all from the thrift store. I used them as the material for my little flags.

I envision using these in flower pots or in flower arrangements.

Tomorrow I will show you our patio! But right now I have to get back to work.

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbit~

To make the most of available space when storing tapered glassware, position every other glass upside down.

Busy, busy, busy....

This week is so busy for me! I haven't forgotten about my blog, but time is precious. I'm still working at my day job and we hosting a huge Shower at our home this Saturday.

Yes, I will show pictures of this event and the story behind it, but right now I'm getting things ready and trying to stay on schedule.

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbit~

Washing your ice cube trays occasionally in hot, soapy water will keep the cubes from sticking.

Friday Night Overnights with Granddaughter

Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

Doll chest full of scarves

Do you know how many things and way you can use scarfs?

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown

Picking homegrown strawberries. Planted just for her

Real yummy!

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete.

~Marcy DeMaree

"Cinnamon toast, yummy yummy yummy,

Cinnamon toast, good for the tummy!"

Breakfast every morning is Cinnamon toast.

And fresh fruit!

Surely, two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of being a grandchild or a grandparent. ~Donald A. Norberg

Getting bigger. She's going to be a big sister soon!

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Until next the Friday night...

All my love little girl!

Love You, Gamma

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbit~

A plant will live longer if you don't let it go to seed. Cut blossoms off when they begin to fade.

Last Day of School

"We have a duty to encourage one another.

Many a time a word of praise or thanks
or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet.
Blessed is the man who speaks such a word."
~William Barclay

Last day of school and this is what my office looked like! Students and Parents brought me flowers. A long with several thoughtful cards, loaded with Starbucks gift cards. I am thankful in many ways. For one thing I know that I'm appreciated. All the work I did, didn't go unnoticed.

Summertime is just around the corner. I work until the last day of June, cleaning and clearing up. Whew! I have a huge summer coming up. I will share more later on when I through with school.

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbit~

Going on vacation? Simply put all your house plants in the bathtub with a few inches of water. They will drink the water as needed.

What a great weekend!

This was such a great weekend, I have to share some of it with you.

Went to an outdoor wedding...

They had unexpected guests show up. A mother duck and her babies.

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I worked in our yard and enjoyed the all my flowers...

I cut some flowers for our table and cut some to give away.

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Sunday our family got together to celebrate our son's birthday...

All seven and a half of us went to a nursery so he could pick out a "birthday" tree. This nursery is huge. It also has animals (no pictures of them) and a fruit stand.




This picture was at the cafe.














Birthday Boy taking his own pictures. Oh look, there is his wife!












Birthday Boy and his new Dogwood Tree.

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Afterwards we all went our for birthday ice cream...

This place makes it's own ice cream. Birthday Boy had Lavender and Walnut ice cream and it was delicious! Yes... we had dessert first!

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Dinner was served back at our home...

We fixed a salad bar with every known ingredient and more.

This is Birthday Boys 1st plate.

If you look carefully you can see our next grandchild. Our daughter is seven months with child.

This was a great weekend!

~~~~~~Y~~~~~~

~Tidbit~

Newly planted trees and shrubs need watering every five to seven day. Apply a thorough soaking to that enough moisture gets to the roots and helps them become well established.