Boy howdy! Have we been busy around here… but I have about 183 new posts coming, so keep an eye out. One will be to let you know how I took that cool picture of my baby cooling off in the pool.
I’m getting ready to go on a lovely week long cruise on the Carnival Conquest. I’ve got a house sitter who was nice enough to take in our garbage cans, check our mail, and swim in our pool.
We’ll see y’all on the flip side!
I am a self-professed plant killer. It’s sad, but true. I can kill ANYTHING. Ficus, ivy, peace plants… you name it, I’ve killed it. Unfortunately that also includes my herbs. I’ve tried herbs at least a dozen times now… and every time I’ve killed them. We had lofty ideas of making our own salsa with fresh cilantro straight from our garden… Yeah… Hope Pace is good enough for everybody, because there’s not a crispier plant in my yard. Except maybe the mint. Who on EARTH kills mint?
While on my plant expedition to Lowes I picked up my favorite plants. Succulents. Somehow, I haven’t killed succulents… Maybe because I can forget them for 3 weeks and they still look good. I went on a succulent kick. It’s only going to get hotter on the deck, so I figured I’d work with what I know.
MUCH better, No?
This container I put on the back side of the hot tub with our lantern and OFF! bug lantern…
I LOVE a backyard filled with pots of plants… but I think I’m at my limit. Any more than this, and I’m sure someone will be knocked off quickly.
And I finally found a spot for my hammock…. I will spend HOURS out there reading this summer. It’s in my shade garden. Now there’s a table next to it to hold an OFF! candle and a cocktail. Perfect.
Do you ever have something that you just don’t know what to do with it? Trash that is… Do you recycle it? Do you cut it up and bag it? Do you give it to your parents who live out in the country with less stringent waste management programs?
We’ve been kicking around these metal planters since our move to Texas… almost 2 years now. They were a pretty coppery modern pair that turned into a rusted up mess in one, and the other just looked terrible.
While looking at putting more plants out onto the deck, I remembered I had these planters out behind the garage. One was still trash, no matter how hard I tried to work with it… but the other?
It got cleaned up with some soapy water and a wire brush. Then I used an outdoor metal primer, and a bit of aged copper spray paint made for outdoor use. Check out those sparkles!
After patiently waiting for the paint to dry, I filled it with some of the Miracle Gro Moisture Control potting mix, a Queen palm, and some Creeping Jenny.
It helps to add more of an outdoor room feel to the patio and connects our lounging area to the rest of the seating group. I also put one of those beach sand umbrella holders behind our chairs. It screws straight into the ground and holds an umbrella where ever you need one. The afternoon sun in this spot gets SO hot. I still need to locate some cute pillows, but this space is coming along nicely. I love reading out here!
