Garden Journal: July 3rd

 Yesterday I FINALLY got to play in the garden and get everything ready for the summer.  I have been so busy lately I haven't had time to barely even water.  Good thing for me its been raining all spring.  Pictured above are a few containers that I revamped by removing all the spring bulbs that have died back for the year and replaced them with some plant the hummingbirds will enjoy.  The smaller pot has hyssop, coral bells and a purple sweet potato vine.  The large container has cape fuchsias from last year, million bells and multi colored lantana.

I reorganized the patio area in back and put my orchids outside for the summer to help them rebloom in the fall.

 The gnome corner.  I moved a blue-green plant stand outside and bought a plastic top for it to use as a bird bath.  There is a momma and baby scrub jay that have been visiting the back yard and taking baths in the fish pond.

The Japanese maple is still doing great in its pot.  In front the lilies are budding up and should be blooming soon.

 Earlier this spring I added a border around my fish pond and added some really interesting flowers such as this geum plant that is up front with peachy colored blooms.  I also have a pineapple lilly and a white cape fuchsia.  Everything is growing fast and filling in this spot.

These are last year's lights.  I moved them because we kept tripping over them and now they light up the pond area at night.

I Spy in the Garden...

 ...a beautiful spring day on Easter Sunday.  This year for Easter we stayed home and everyone enjoyed working and playing in the yard for the afternoon.  We even set up a pen in the grass so the bunnies could enjoy the nice weather instead of being cooped up inside.  I was proud that I did quite a bit of work while outdoors.  I tore out two sickly rose bushes that I have been fighting with for 3 years and replaced them with a container pond (coming soon in a future blog) and I mowed the lawn for the first time since last summer. I also took some photos of flowers that are blooming right now.  Above is an 'Ice Cream' tulip.  It is not as pretty as the package showed but I like the pink hue.

 A very pretty double daffodil with both yellow and a cream center.

 This orange hyacinth smells wonderful by the porch screen door.

 Charlotte catches some morning rays on the patio.  Its hard to believe last Easter she had only been home 2 days prior.  She has been such a wonderful little Easter puppy!

The gnomes are starting to get busy in the garden.

 You would think bunnies would like to be outside on a day like this.  But Buddy as usual was being a grumpy old man and hiding in the corner most of the time while outside.

 Bunny Girl on the other hand loved it and had lots of fun exploring her pen.  She loves to nibble on the dandelion heads.

I let Charlotte in the pen with the bunnies.  It was going well until Buddy got upset she was too close to him and he started kicking and grunting at her.  He is such a grump!

Holiday Decorations and Family Photos

 I'm sure a lot of people have dropped into the store recently and seen our Christmas decorations already.  I wanted to post some photos of my display anyways for those of you who have not seen the store yet.  (Also I wanted to show my mom what I've been working on since she won't get to see it this year from Nevada).  I put a lot of work into the display this year.  I worked 5 weeks straight getting the Christmas decorations up and organized.  Thank goodness I had help for the other ladies at the store or else I don't think it would have been done on time.  It turned out lovely and I am very pleased with the results.

Here are some of the many great details from the Schmidt's Holiday gift display:

 This is a close up of the "Garden Tree".  There are lots of ornaments for gardeners including snowmen with shovels and overall on, beautiful poinsettias that you can stick in the tree or use in a container, pastel colored watering cans that are just as pretty as functional, angel garden girls, plus lots more...

 A close up of the watering can on the garden tree.

 Other fun items in the "Garden" corner include pastel bird feeders in cute castle and barn designs, garden frogs to decorate the yard, porch or table top, 12x12 prints of garden art that are printed on weather safe canvas and lots more not shown in the photos.

 A close up of the froggy just hanging out on the garden bench.  The windows in the back ground of the photo were sprayed with this really cool spray on snowflake design to make the windows look naturally frosted over for winter.

 This is really pretty.  It is a close up of a holiday banner of a chickadee that you can hang inside or outdoors.  It also is printed on weather safe canvas to hang in the snow and rain of the winter months.

 

This tree was fun to decorate.  I loved putting giant glittered poinsettias in this Christmas tree along with golden glittered butterflies and glittered pinecones.

 Our counter area display.  We have our holiday jewelry out as well as new items this year including garden hats and shoes for your garden, adorable hats for babies to wear during the Holiday season, lady bug decor, shoe ornaments and CHOCOLATE!  We have sold the dickens out of the chocolate.  Its all made local and it is delicious.  We've been giving out free samples and if you haven't tried it yet, I advise you come in and try some.  We can't stop "taste testing" it!

 A close up of the shoe ornament tree.

The gnome corner.  The black bookcases we got in earlier this year really make the gnomes stand out in them. 

Gnomes swinging in the trees

Snowy owl in tree

Woodland section of the Christmas display

Full sized Elf workshop in the greenhouse.  It took me two weeks to build this.  It has been a delight to see all the children of the neighborhood come in and ooh and ahh over this house.  One little boy asked very politely if the elves inside would let him in because he appreciated all their work they do.

Close up of the window boxes.  We had two perfect plant containers sitting in the store that worked as window boxes.  I painted them red and added poinsettias inside.

I also added a real door knob to the house.  People keep trying to open it and peek inside!

Close up of glittery roof shingles

Santa's workshop at night in the greenhouse

Light up Christmas presents really added sparkle to the poinsettias

Monday night Oz, Charlotte and I came to the store to take our annual holiday photos.  Even though the store doesn't have an official photo shoot day this year, I still encourage people to come in and take some family photos.  The greenhouse makes a lovely backdrop for photos, especially around 5pm when the Christmas lights really twinkle.

What a good Christmas puppy!

In front of the Santa house

Even the trees inside the store make pretty backgrounds for photos

 I hope everyone out there is enjoying December as much as I am.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Beach Babe



On the way to the coast


Monday, a few of us girls had the day off from work and the weather was finally starting to feel like summer so we took Charlotte to the beach for her first time.  The four of us headed to Newport for the day.  We walked along the bay front, watched the sea lions, ate some lunch and then went to South Beach to catch some rays.  Charlotte had a great time the whole day.  She made lots of friends along the boardwalk.  We even went to a pet store and bought her a new toy for the beach.

Eating lunch before hitting the beach

Charlotte and Brandy

Charlotte loved the sand.  As soon as we put our bags and blanket down she started rolling all over the sand and our purses.

Charlotte made a Jack Russell friend named Oscar.  He looks sad here because his family was in the water but he didn't like it so he waited for them safely on the beach. 

Charlotte with her new sand toy from Bow Wow Meow in Newport. 

She was covered in sand everywhere!

Running away from the waves

Girls at the beach

Even Mannheim came with us to the beach.  He was hoping to see some Dune Gnomes but alas they did not show up that day.

Igor our falcon kite

 

We buried Mannheim in the sand.  He didn't mind.  He enjoyed catching some rays between cloud breaks.

 

Charlotte and Mannheim on the drive home.  She was so exhausted on the way home.  Running in the sand really wore her out.

Garden Journal: May 23rd

This weekend I finally finished most of my projects in the garden.  Sunday was a very busy day for Charlotte and I.  We were up at 6 am taking photos of the garden.  And then we spent the rest of the day finishing the patio table area (you can find photos of this project under the post Dinner for Two).  I also mowed the lawn while Charlotte barked and attacked the mower.  The only thing left to finish in the garden is to plant a few more peppers and weed a little in the far back corner.  Here are some photos from the first blooms of the summer season.

The rhododendron bush is a beautiful light pink

I'm not sure what this plant is. Its probably a weed but its a pretty blue and it keeps coming back even when I dig it up.

These tree blossoms are a delicate pretty flower.  Unfortunately they smell awful.

Vinca vine.  I hate this plant because I cannot get rid of it but it does have beautiful flowers.

This planter has a jumble of plants in it.  I'm not sure how its going to look.  Its a mix of whatever plants I had left over from other projects.

Gnomes are invading the yard!  I know have 11 gnomes roaming the garden.  This does not include the three in the house or the gnome salt and pepper shakers.



Lupine is just about to bloom



The humming bird station is all planted and ready to bloom soon.

My humming bird station includes red nasturtiums, a cape fuchsia, thunbergia, rudbeckia, foxglove and lupine.

There is a basket filled with petunias and million bells.  It doesn't look the best right now.  Its had a rough couple of months but soon it will look spectacular.

Verbena and bacopa basket I bought from Schmidts

Tea cup and saucer bird feeder.  I have 2 of these for sale on my etsy shop.

So cute in a blooming garden.

Charlotte doing some modeling for my dog bandanas on my etsy shop.

She even has an Oregon State bandana