Friday, May 17, 2019

Porch Swing Visitor

The other day I was strolling around our yard taking flower pictures, creek pictures and caught a glimpse of our first visitor to the Porch. I was able to click a picture before it flew away.

This beauty was enjoying the nectar from the blossoms on our mock orange bush. It's a beautiful bush with it's white flowers dotted everywhere you can see. 

We've had many birds, squirrels, lizards, snake on the bridge and even a baby calf that got out of the pasture beside the house. I didn't think to capture a picture of him because he was too scared and trying to get back to his momma on the other side. To keep from upsetting both of them, I left well enough alone and helped corral him back into the pasture and back in view of him watchful momma.

We are still underway with many projects line up for Porch Swings & Sweet Tea this summer so stay tuned for their reveals.

As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop by my blog. If you enjoy reading the blogs, sign up to receive them by email. I'm also on Facebook and Instagram as well. Have a blessed day!

Friday, May 3, 2019

Rock Column Flower Bed Renovation

The days here are blossoming into a land of beauty and rich color with all the flowers, green grass and blue skies. Each days seems to bring something even more stunning than the day before. This time of year I fall in love with my natural surroundings every single day. Rain or shine, it doesn't bother me at all. So, this year, I decided that I would dig out all the dirt from our rock column flower beds which are located at the corner of our front porch. These columns have suffered lots of stress and damage and show it prominently. Since I had the columns cleaned out as much as I could, we called a good friend to come and repair the damage and bring them back to what they looked like when they were first built.

I must confess to you. I had an accident with our tractor while cleaning out the dirt in one of the columns. When returning from dumping a load of dirt and rock that was in the bucket of the tractor, I was positioning the bucket to be parallel with the side of the column. The tractor jumped as I was maneuvering the bucket and trying to stop the tractor at the same time. The tractor went forward when I wanted it to stop and down came the wall. My immediate thought was, "The sheriff is going to KILL ME!" These rock columns were built by the hands of his parents and now I've
demolished one of them. I was overcome with nausea and a cold sweat. I knew I might as well go ahead and make my funeral arrangements now. I began to pace back and forth, rubbing my forehead and brainstorming how I was going to break this to my husband. I quickly texted the mason that was going to begin the repair work the next day and told him of my terrible accident. Could it be fixed? Did I just ruin a sentimental portion of my husband's memory? Breathe~Breathe! He can't kill you, that's illegal and he's the sheriff. Oh yeah!  Luckily, the mason texted back that it was fine because he was going to take it down to the ground anyway and start over. I had just save him some time and digging. WHEW!!! I continued digging more dirt out of the column and dump into the tractor bucket and my phone rang. My heart began to palpate, my palms got sweaty....well they were already sweaty-who am I kidding. It was the sheriff calling to check on me. I spilled the beans and then waited. It wasn't bad, I could hear the grimace on his face. But, I quickly followed up with what the mason had told me. It wasn't something that couldn't be fixed. Yay! It's all ok.

The mason arrived the next morning and told me he was just glad I wasn't on top of it when it fell. I was safely behind the wheel of the tractor, unfortunately it wasn't safe for the rock wall while I was driving said tractor. I'm definitely going to have to learn where the brakes are on that beast. So, while the weather held up for the mason, he has worked hard repairing my damage. He isn't done yet so final pictures will be posted soon. Here are the interim repair pictures.


The mortar is still wet in the picture, but now the wall is straight up and down instead of at a lean. Years of pressure from the dirt and water had cause the wall a lot of stress. We will be much kinder to both of them once they are done and I can fill them back up correctly and have beautiful blooming flowers once again.

Speaking of flowers, the rain we have had lately has really encouraged our other flowers to compete with each other and show off their vibrant colors.

As of late, I've become a big fan of Calla Lilies. They are so sleek and beautiful. I love how there's not much about them, just a simple flower. Sleek lines and a "no frills" kind of flower not ashamed to show her stuff. It's a "just the facts ma'am" kind of flower that has caught my eye.
 This little beauty caught the sheriff's eye when we were out and about. The contrast of the white and purple really draw you into the yellow center. Seeing several all about in the basket is stunning in itself.
 Here are more of the purple beauty. Love these stunning buds and how they attract the bees and humming birds outside my office windows.
 This gem is my shaflerra. This beauty almost died when I sat her out too soon this Spring and she got frost bit. She is still recovering and is now outside with all the other plants. I cherish this one because I received it at my grandmother's funeral. It broke my heart to know that I almost killed it. This is why I took a tight shot at just one bunch of leaves. Several are still in shock and not pretty.


This is the patio where I have my potted flowers all in a tight circle. These are a mixture of Asiatic Lilies, Impatiens and Ornamental grasses.






As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop by my blog. If you enjoy reading the blogs, sign up to receive them by email. I'm also on Facebook and Instagram as well. Have a blessed day!