Thank GOD for flowers

We spread wildflower seed on our hill - and this pretty pink flower came up - I don't know what it is. It looks pretty with the poppies that are still blooming in all of this HEAT.

My white Agapanthus is starting to bloom. 

These are some of the lilies, my friend gave me last year. 

I love FREE. 

Another view of the Agapanthus. 

Who doesn't like Lavender and poppies? 

Beautiful reminders, that life is still worth living. 

walking around my yard

This Aloe Vera flower is kinda freaky to me. 

It looks like a bunch of plantains.

A dusty-miller. I like to plant them in and around other plants 

for that POP.

My mini roses. My dad bought this as an inside plant for my Mom. She kept it inside until it stopped blooming and so he planted it in the garden. We've lived here for 12 years and this plant must be at least 13 or older. It's been going strong ever since.

I didn't plant any vegetables this year due to all the work we have going on. I did plant a tomato plant in a container under my front window, just to see how it would fair. 

Our summers are so HOT - 105+ and that sun totally burns up my veggies and cooks my tomatoes! I planted this one as a test - 

to see if the tree-dappled-sun would be a better place. 

If it is, next year I may plant veggies in the front yard!

My wheel barrel of flowers. All of these flowers made it through 2 winters. I didn't have to plant anything - just weeded out the dead foliage - added some more topsoil.

And here is my little potting table I have in the front yard.

Rain and delivery delays

Our beautiful warm weather changed into some heavy rain and colder temps. The delivery keeps getting rescheduled.

 They deducted the delivery fee due to the delays. 

All my outdoor projects have stalled.  UGH, that means I have to do something inside and I am not "into" it. 

I could go clean up my craft room. 

I could do another spring clean on the whole house. 

More laundry (there's always laundry!)

I don't want to do any of that - I want to be outside. 

More projects

Home Depot let us know, that our supplies are delayed. 

Delivery won't be till the 12th! I was so looking forward to getting started. 

A few more days won't kill me. 

In the meantime, I am not without "projects" and many are half-finished. I seem to do that. I start something and then get interested in something else. It will get done. Soon... One such project is 2 old IKEA wicker chairs that I've had for 20 years. Since I do not like to throw anything out, I stripped one of them down and what I do, is I stare at it - okay I stare at it for DAYS to try and come up with how I want to repurpose it. 

At first, I thought I might just weave them making a homemade rag rope from old material to make a really cool chair - 
TOO MUCH WORK. 

I wouldn't want to use it outside. 

I have enough chairs! 

Rag design like this? 

Or something like this? 

Probably more like this. 

It's simple - staining the wood, and then placing potted plants on it.  I know, not a lot of imagination -  

It will be good for the time being. 

I just need some old fence boards for the seat part and voila, 

I have another place to display my potted plants. 

Fun times (work) ahead

I liked the one landscaper so much, (he is the gardener for one of our friends) that we just went with him. We clicked. Although it is a bit more than we had budgeted for we are only having them do the hard stuff; the lifting and hauling and some sprinkler work -  We'll plant shrubs ourselves next year. They will come on May 22. I am so excited. He will also totally cap off the sprinkler system on that part of the yard. Replace them with bubblers and drip lines.

Get rid of weeds

level out yard

fill with dirt

lay down weed barrier

river rocks. 

Tomorrow Home Depot will be dropping off supplies for us - some fencing materials, pavers, and bricks. There will be no vacation for us, this year. Maybe camping. That's fine with me. I'd rather stay at home. 

Oleanders

We're supposed to get into the H90's - maybe see our first 100. Then we'll drop down into the '70s. later in the week.  I like it when it does that. It gives us a break from the HOT temps. Soon, there will be no breaks. During the summer months, we stay in the 105+ for 40-60 days straight. Believe me, that gets OLD. 

Oleanders do well in here due to the heat. They are also drought-resistant and keep blooming throughout the summer. 

Pink Pomegranate 

The Pomegranate is blooming profusely - also because of the heat. 

Shasta daisies. 

Take it to the curb

We try to always, do things ourselves. That's why things take so long to complete. Since these SIP orders, we are getting a lot done and we're starting on some bigger projects as soon as the materials are delivered to us, this Saturday.

Right now I am waiting for an estimate from a landscaper to do a small/medium job we just can't do. We've decided to get estimates on a portion of our front yard - that has been problematic for us for a few years. I have another estimate on Wednesday. Still need to find another but 2 estimates are good enough.

The yard from the picket fence to the curb drives me crazy. We have tree roots that have taken over. Overgrown bushes. We want no to low maintenance. All the pretty flowers and such are on the other side of the fence. I am a tree-lover.  I do not want my trees cut. I'm thinking we need to add topsoil to protect the roots from our HOT summers. For weed control, I want a weed barrier laid down and a simple planting area between the trees and surrounded by river rocks. (Due to our high fire danger, river rocks are recommended)  We'll see what we can actually afford, or what we want to spend, etc...

It is a south-facing yard - Trees provide much-needed shade on the backside of the front yard from our triple digits. It's a shaded area with the exception of the sun that peaks in the late afternoon/early evening from the setting summer sun which can be extremely HOT and wilts many plants. I need some drought resistant plants. Some BIG rocks - I could plant bulbs in and around them for spring color.

Something similar to this 

or this. 

Much better than this

Funky times.

Not much we can do, in the way of getting out, we're doing funky things in our yard. I had an old metal security screen door that was sitting to the side of our house - rusting away. I don't like to throw anything out. Of course, that drives my husband up a wall. IT may take me years, to figure out what to do with something, but it will eventually find a home.

Took off the hardware and used it on the backdoor which needed a lock. This area is going to be a garden area - it's small and it will be nice if I ever get it done.

The plants in the background, I am allergic to. So my husband cut them down and dug up the roots. I now have this long planter. I think this year I will just plant some sunflowers, so I can think about it for another season.

The rusted smoker in the background was my dad's. We're thinking of making it into a garden robot or maybe R2D2 if we get really creative.

The spot under the window has always been a trouble spot for me. Now when I am potting my plants,  my kitty (Susie) can sit and watch me from her garden window. The 3 wooden planters I found for FREE on the side of the road. I will stain them.

The front yard is blooming - my Aloe Vera plant and my nasturtiums.

Another day home

Off the beaten path 

I'm going to bake a banana nut bread this afternoon. I decided NOT to buy junk food or snacks. That if I really wanted something, I would bake it from scratch. Using this approach has kept us from overindulging in sweets because I don't like to bake as much as I did when my kids were young. I used to bake all their cookies and snacks. Much cheaper and healthier than store snacks.

I threw some stew meat in the crockpot - with a bag of baby carrots and some whole potatoes, onions, and a garlic mushroom soup on top of it and am just letting it cook all day. It smells good. I'm getting low on chicken. I tried to have my morning cereal but we forgot to take the milk out of the freezer! We have to remember to do that!

The husband mowed the front and back yards. Rain is in the forecast for this weekend. Rain is ALWAYS welcome and appreciated here in Northern California. We still haven't had enough rain yet - we'll get through this pandemic but for us up here, we have to look forward to forest fire season, which scares me to death.

I just feeling blah...not depressed, just blah.

Tuesday Four (First time)

I came across this, from Tuesdays Place and thought, "why not?" 

1. Do you like the way your home is decorated or 

would you tweak things a bit if budget allowed? 

I'm content. But sure, if I had a bigger budget I might be compelled to do a few more things - mainly pay to have someone do the things, we are having trouble doing.

 2.. Do you have any plans/dreams to change anything about your home ? 

Yes mostly in the gardens. There is always fun work to be done in the garden. New plants to fill in bare spots; These last few days I have started thinking of painting the white walls in my home, to be more colorful and bright. Don't know if I will - I always shave a hard time, making a decision.

 3. What style of furniture do you have or want to have in your home and why? 

I'm eclectic in style. I've inherited most of my furniture throughout the years and believe another person's junk could be my treasures. Thus, the "eclectic" furnishings. Honestly, if I like something, I'll make it work! That's my style.

I do love the southwest style but only if I lived in the southwest.

 4. Tell us about your ideal dream house or dream kitchen if you prefer.

I believe I am beginning to have my dream kitchen. A couple years ago, we put in a garden window over the sink. We replaced the sink, with a big white farm style sink with no dividers. I don't like 2 sinks. I applied beadboard paintable wallpaper to my cabinets and painted them, a seafoam green. My husband last year, installed wood countertops, although he stained them a bit darker than I wanted, I still love it.

I don't need fancy appliances because I am kinda old fashioned that way. I was born in the 1950s and like that old-style kitchen. I wanted my kitchen to be different than the others in my neighborhood. It's not for everyone - it is for me and my husband and we enjoy it.

Spring is practically here

2 weeks ago 

I last posted in October! 

 We've been busy and I lost my blog rhythm.  

Plus we had a wedding on the 29th of February - my youngest son, who I refer to as "Navy" on my blogs married his sweetheart on Leap Year. 

They are honeymooning in Hawaii.

One of the many "surprises" from the birds that popped up this year

I like to dedicate this blog to the things my husband and I are working on around the house. As you can see, the reality of this HOME DECOR BLOG is, nothing gets finished. We do most of it ourselves and honestly...we poop out!

Nasturtiums should be blooming soon

With everything in the world going crazy, now is a good time to keep busy - gardening, working on the house, and doing crafts.

 I had my craft room, all set, but then in October my son and his fiancee moved in for the month as they were flooded out of their apartment. I had to pack everything up, to fit the bed in the room. It's funny because that room used to be a guest room. It just collected dust - so earlier last year we decided to get rid of the bedroom furniture, pack away the mattress in the garage and use it for a craft/hobby/sewing room. 

WE no sooner did that when a friend was traveling and needed a place to sleep for one night, so we hauled in the mattress, placed it in the living room. 

Okay, that was manageable. Then my kids lived here for that one month and for that, we had to clear out the room. 

Then for the wedding, my niece came up for 2 nights - I had her sleep on our living room sofa. 

Not ideal, but still not worth giving up that room for guests. If you have a big house, then that's great! 

My house is a small 3 bedroom. We have our bedroom, the other is an office and now the "backroom" which is what we call it when we forget that it is a craft/hobby/sewing room. 

Maybe also a toilet-paper-storage-room! (just kidding)

This is what is starting to bloom around my house.

Rosemary

Marguerite Daisy

Our California poppies are just starting to bloom. I didn't get a photo of them yet.

A drought-resistant flowering shrub we bought 2 years ago.

We bought this yellow shrub a couple of years ago and it only blooms once, during late Feb. 

It is a drought-resistant plant and we forgot the name of it.

 Its yellow color is another Spring welcome!

Our baby almond tree

We're starting to get warm again - 

pushing 80 by the end of this week. 

Then it might rain again this weekend. 

I'm okay with that. These little beauties need their refreshments -

A different view

Needs picking up but it's home

I never see my home this way. From the hill in our backyard. My son took this photo - A cute little house, that I love!

I hope to be back to posting soon. I've had some personal issues to deal with plus my phone bit the dust and I am waiting for a new one - I can take some photos.

I have managed to break away and decorate for Fall, a little. Here I wait and was looking forward to Fall and then we have all this family drama that takes up my time and energy.

I hope this finds you all well. I'll be back...