Flowers To Greet You

Morning!
I wanted to share with you our front steps.  It's a great spot for planters and flowers.  Summers past I would always plant a lot of neutrals here. Lot's of white and a bit of soft pink to add a bit of pretty cottage style.  Until that fateful day when the flower tag was wrong! I thought I planted pink and when the geranium bloomed it ended up being a bold red. RED! Eeeeck, I thought.  All this delicate pink and white and then a powerful shot of red!  I was tempted to pull it but  decided to leave it in anyways, and by the end of summer it was my little star.  It really pulled through with great vigour and also looked spot on for fall! Win win and if that's not enough,the red geranium is said to assist in protection for your home when placed at the front door.  So, being benificial and all, I added another to the mix the next year.  I then tried to over winter cuttings from all my geraniums, including pink and an even brighter pink, but only the two red ones survived.  Some one really wants me to have red geraniums!! 

I just planted these pots a day or two ago, after being over wintered in our basement.  They will fill out nicely once they get the sun on them.  Not today though, cloudy and windy is our forecast as you can tell.

Our house is a taupe colour, acting as a warm back drop for richer colours.   Red, purple and yellow is the colour scheme.  The pots have slowly been added to year after year.  Fade and discolour only adds the character I seek.  Not an excess of pots, but enough to feel the welcome. 

Through out the summer I'll usually rearrange the pots to share the sun light.  This is a very shaded spot which isn't always a bad thing, but geraniums do love sun.  They'll each get some time in the sun.

I also have a few Gnomes out here greeting our guest...well, when we aren't in Quarantine they are the greeters.  

I  added yellow into the mix because of the nine barks we have planted in the front garden.  Once this little guy gets growing he'll also add a little sunshine to the shade.

A painted rock from my Mother's Day weekend found a spot in this planter.

Purple wave petunias, with some good fertilizer and a bit of pruning through out the summer, should get to be fairly bushy.

White impatience for the shadiest spot, and some raw Amethyst stones.  I love the energy of Amethyst stones.  I've placed them around the boxwood just to pump up the positive energy that flows into our home.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  This little blog of mine has been a blessing for me.  It keeps me moving forward and pushing myself to find the positive through this crazy time.   I hope you find some comfort here as well.  

Until next time, Abby.

Tulips in Bloom,

Morning!  Yesterday we had a beautiful morning. I managed to take a few photos of where our garden is at before it changes again. It's a small garden and I want a lot from it. Herbs, veggies, fruit, flowers, privacy, water feature....and of course refuge.

Plants are filling out.

Last winter was a tough one. I lost a new little tree we planted last spring and some plants.  My Mock Orange for instance, had a lot of die back this winter.  Every spring this guy struggles, any suggestions? 

May long weekend and the ground is ready for all my baby seedlings to be planted.  This year I am putting  more thought into the planning part of the process, and a bit more selective with the plants that stay. Also, reseeding the patchy grass from winter and Yzerman...it's an on going process.

Usually the trees are covered in honey bees, or pollinators, but not this year. I did manage to catch a photo of this bumble bee in action.  I'm try to get a photo of the hummingbird that visits this tree too, she is just too darn quick!

Clearly I have a lot of work to do.  Lots of clean up, planting and edging, but if I wait until it's perfectly photo ready, there wouldn't be any pictures.  I do hope you enjoyed the quick garden tour anyways.

Mother's Day weekend was a lot of fun.  We packed a lunch and we spent an afternoon quading.
We got to enjoy two of our three daughters.

My husband checking out the bike he just rebuilt. He says it still needs some tweaking.

Sometimes I take my camera and take photos. Does that look like a heart to you too?

The next afternoon we painted rocks.  First Shayla sprayed painted them a flat black as a base.  When they were dry we drew a few lines with chalk as a template, then dotted them up with paint and the end of a paint brush.

The chalk will be wiped off and then I think I'll seal them with a top coat.

Lot's of fun to make, and all the supplies we had at home. The welcome rock will go at the front door and the other two will be in planters around the garden or on the deck.

I hope you are well and are finding joy in every day.
Until next time, Abby

A Good Day to Smudge

Come on in!

I don't know about you, but my energy and the energy around our home has been low.  Right now, especially now, we need our energy vibrating at it's highest!  So, I did a quick clean up, opened up some doors and did a little smudging.   I thought I would share a few pictures of our set up right now.

The butterfly cross stitch is slowly coming along.  I find the Irish linen difficult  to work with, but I love the look of it. Definitely worth the effort.

More seedlings have germinated and need to be potted up again.  

The tomatoes are growing with great vigour, when planting happens they should be well hardened off. The larger totes work really well for hauling them in and out of the house.

I caught a little visitor in the Amur Cherry tree.  They usually fly away at the sight of a camera...photo shy.

I've added a few pictures of the garden, and some of my favourite parts of the garden for this week.

I am thrilled to see this plant has survived!  It produced endless blooms all summer last year.  I know it is a Salvia, but can't find the tag to tell you the exact species.  I'll keep looking!

Hope you have a lovely week,
until next time,
Abby