Breezeway to Enclosed Porch

This summer we decided to enclose the old breezeway and I love the results! We still need to finish the inside walls but we are “on hold” while we work on a few other things that need to be done  first – like  organizing the Lion’s golf scramble. That did not stop me from doing a little decorating!  I had some things I wanted to place on the porch but they needed  to be painted so I have spent the last few days measuring, sawing and painting.

First I wanted to bring the small back wire table, chairs and chaise inside but they needed to be washed, painted and the cushions washed.  The chair cushions washed nicely but the chaise pad fell apart. I looked for a replacement pad but they were either too thin or too expensive. I was getting ready to go buy material and  make my own until I started cleaning the garage. I had kept the three cushions from our old sofa and they fit perfectly. The chaise has very comfortable cushions and there are three items out of the garage and put to good use.

The table is just the right size for us to enjoy a morning cup of coffee or food off the grill. I missed my swing chair while we were remodeling so it had to go back up so I can curl up and read. Don’t pay attention to the overflowing waste basket I have been cleaning a lot this week!

One of my main projects was to update the old potting bench. It has undergone a bunch of changes though the years as it’s use has changed. It started out as a $50 Big Lots special and was used as a basic potting bench.

When it was no longer needed for that job  I decided to move it onto the breezeway.  I  added a paper towel holder, tool holder and curtains to the front and used it to hold  odds and ends.

The curtain needed to the replaced and I wanted the bench to stand out a little and to be more stable since I want to allow Shoes access to  this area. I decided to remove the curtains completely and to add boards to the back of the bench to keep objects from falling off  and down between the bench and the wall.. I started with plain boars but decide to add some color. My favorite poster was losing it’s battle with the wind and the corners were broken so I cut it down and used it as a background for the lower half of the bench and painted the back of the top part. I am using the bench to hold my mosaic tiles and craft tools. It can also be used to hold food for family grill outs.

Sitting on the  chaise and I can almost hear the waves

Clean up

I had a bittersweet moment yesterday when I finish grouting the last planned stepping stone. I simple love working with mosaic tiles and will think of more projects for the future.

But for how it is time to clean and organize the work area (a.k.a the back porch).  I have not seen the actually wooden picnic table top all summer so it was time to clean up the area. The cheap plastic tablecloth (less than $1) has served well this summer considering all the paint, heavy stones, tiles, grout, glue, and water that has been dumped on it but it .

I spent a large amount of time simply sorting and putting the tiles into containers and decided that the back porch needed a few changes since we have added my new chair.

I moved some wall decorations  and then some of the furniture. We have been using the grill more this summer and it only makes sense to turn the potting bench into a serving bar and a place to display the tiles.  I will leave a few of the planting tools hanging on the side of it but the rest of the stuff needed to go to the greenhouse. Bill had just finished mowing our yard and was mowing the homestead so the path was clear to get to the greenhouse. I managed to make one trip out there and there I stayed.

I have been so busy I never realized things needed to be done. Most of the garden beds were okay but 8 needed to be cleaned out so I worked on finishing 5 of them. I harvested the okra, green beans, yellow squash, onions, beets, and my first cantaloupe.  And a huge perfect green pepper from inside the greenhouse! I have been gardening for a while but this is the  first time I have planted directly into the ground inside the greenhouse and I am impressed  the plants are huge and in perfect condition! Bill teased me and said maybe I should plant everything inside the greenhouse.  Maybe I been to build a bigger greenhouse!

The bad thing was that  we needed to get to a Lion’s club meeting where we eat during the meeting which meant all this had to be processed within an hour.

Thankfully some could go straight into the crisper but the okra and green beans had to be frozen and  the onions cleaned and placed out to cure. I managed to get everything finished and Shoes fed and walked  and still get to the meeting  on time.

We decided we had not had enough exercise so we hit the gym after the meeting. An hour and a half later we were on our way back home that’s when I realized I had not taken the clothes out to the clothesline.  I tossed them into the dryer and started the dishwashers as I settled down on the sofa to rest.

Keeping Busy

I didn’t get much done outside Thursday due to the rain so I spent most of the day working on my next stepping stone. I got the general center design roughly done before the pouring rain chased all the cats onto the porch. Now I can work around the cats but not all the mosquitoes that followed them! The citronella candles couldn’t even keep up with that population!

 

So we headed to town for his dental appointment and dinner at Cracker Barrel where we saw some friends. One of which is the person who found Tootsie Roll in her yard so we had a nice chat about how the bird was adjusting. She wanted to know if I could handle the bird yet and the answer was no – but Tootsie no longer goes crazy when I work with my hand inside her cage which is a major improvement. I told Sandy that the bird was now sitting on three infertile eggs and I hope that she doesn’t lay any more and gives up sitting on them soon. Update there are now four eggs in the feed dish.

Yesterday, we were under a sever thunderstorm watch most of the day so I did a few things that didn’t require lots of time since I really dislike having to stop doing something without getting it done. I did some laundry (yes, I used the dryer and the inside clothes rack), unloaded the dishwasher, fed all the animals and cleaned the inside bird cages. As Bill said that was a messy job since Tootsie has been tossing her food everywhere which means the floor had to be vacuumed.

The grass at the apartment needed to be cut so we headed to town to get that finished before the rain started again. While in town we stopped for a sandwich and  at Home Depot and Walmart for some supplies and food.

I rearranged the greenhouse the other day and created a in-ground bed which I needed to plant so I picked up a tomato , green pepper, and stevia plant. We saw a friend there and he made the comment that the tomato plant will never have time to set tomatoes but I have hope. If the weather repeats last year performance the greenhouse will stay warm long enough for it to grow and at the on sale price it was worth the chance.  I need to sweep out  the  area and simply fold back the black plastic to reveal the bed. The plastic will be replaced once the bed is empty so that the bed will warm up faster next spring.The north side now has adjustable shelves at different levels  on the potting table. They will hold the water jugs this fall and winter to help heat the area on cooler nights.

We picked up some food items at Walmart and I got some seed packets for the green house and three little goldfish for the pond. Hopefully these will not die on me.

Greenhouse Is Ready for Fall Planting

Greenhouse

I finally got the greenhouse ready just in time for fall planting. I decided to have an unheated greenhouse so I need to plant cool-weather Crop such as: French Sorrel, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Broccoli, Chives, Top Set Onions, Radishes, Carrots, Rosemary, Fennel, Peas, Dill, Cilantro, Beets, Pansies, and Snapdragons. These can all tolerate colder temperatures, even down to 26 degrees F.  I need to plant now before the weather begins to chill.

Mid-August is the best time to start new seeds for transplanting into an unheated greenhouse for a late fall and winter harvest. I could possibly have chard, kale, cabbage, bok choy, pak choy, turnip, dill, cilantro,and snow peas ready to harvest for Thanksgiving and Christmas and throughout the winter.  I have planted Broccoli, Cabbage, and Cauliflower so far. I will be planting Swiss Chard, kale, beets, and cabbage next week when I get some more soil.

In September I’ll also start lettuce, spinach,chives, radishes, carrots, and other fast-growing greens for my winter greenhouse. By covering the crops with spun fleece, they will often last until mid to late March.

 

The greenhouse is super hot now so I hang “shade cloth” on the inside of the greenhouse on the sunny side. The shade cloth should be hung ten weeks prior to your average first frost date, to cast shade on one section of your potting benches for starting cold-weather crop seeds. I had some grass mats left over from another project so I am using them to shade the shelves. They may not look great but they do the job.

Some people have raised beds inside their greenhouses but I prefer to use pots and keep my flooring plant free. That way I don’t need to worry about weeds taking over in case I have to be away for a while.

Here are some simple directions for using pots in the greenhouse.

. Water lightly, and plant small to mid-sized leaf crop seeds (spinach, lettuce, endive, mache) in  4-inch pots filled with potting soil. Plant according to seed packet directions for depth and spacing. Place the pots and trays and set them on the potting benches in the greenhouse where they will be shaded by the shade cloth. I am a bit fugal and save those individual serving food containers (ex. personal size mashed potato cups, macaroni and cheese cups) and use them for this step along with any other container that meets the requirements – just be sure to punch some holes in the bottom. I also direct plant into larger containers when there is room in the greenhouse to do so.

Use tubs, grow bags, half barrels, or milk crates lined with landscape fabric and filled with soil for larger cold-hardy crops (Brussels spouts, broccoli) and root crops (turnips, beets).  Follow the seed packet directions for dept but plant the seed at the recommended final spacing.  Place the container in it final place and fill with a mixture of equal amounts of compost and potting medium by volume. Water the mixture lightly.

Water the planted seeds lightly as require to keep the potting soil moist but not saturated. Remove the shade cloth when the seedlings reach 4 inches in height. Keep an eye on the greenhouse temperature and open its doors and vents if early autumn days generate temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you have room in your greenhouse you can plant a second round of all seeds four weeks prior to your average first frost date.  And even a  third round two weeks after your average first frost date.

You could spread a 6-inch layer of wood chips over the floor of the greenhouse about two weeks before your average first frost date. Water the wood chips until they are moist but not saturated.

If you have an unheated greenhouse , paint milk jugs black using black spray paint and fill the jugs with water. Stack concrete blocks and lumber planks to create shelves on the northerly or westerly side of the inside of the greenhouse. Place the black-painted, water-filled milk jugs on these shelves. This will help keep the greenhouse warmer in the winter. I am using the north side of the greenhouse to hold supplies under a potting table and have started adding gallon water jugs inside of milk crates  on the back side of the table. I have to run a hose to the greenhouse so these water jugs also hold the water that I use for the plants between fill ups. They are also small enough that I can easily fill them at the house and simply walk them out to the greenhouse. The potting table will also hold growing plants as needed.

You will need to transplant the seedlings from the 4 inch pots into I gallon nursery jugs filled  with mixture of potting medium and compost. Transplant seedlings  when they have developed two sets of true leaves. Place nursery pots in trays on potting benches. Again I will use regular milk and water gallon jugs with the tops cut off and holes punched in the bottom for this task. So far I have found enough pots from my mother’s old house that I have not had to cut down any jugs.

Water the fall greenhouse plants on warm days. You need to be careful and only water the soil without getting any water on the leaves. Once a week, add a dilute solution of fish emulsion fertilizer to the watering.

Fall harvest  of  leaf crops  is a bit different. You harvest them when they reach the early stage of maturity, with head sizes about half the size you would grow them to in the spring or summer garden. You should harvest fall-grown root crops at the ‘baby’ stage, about 2 inches to 3 inches in diameter for beets and turnips and about 3 to 4 inches long for carrots.

 

 

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Halloween Decorating Has Began

Today marked the beginning of our local Oktoberfest and that means family will be coming home for the weekend so I have been cleaning and decorating the house.

Usually it does not take long to clean the house especially after taking over a year to declutter every room. In fact the cleaning was done quickly – in about 3 hours. That’s less than ten minutes per room – no I never counted the garage or the bathroom that we are getting ready to remodel. Everything was dusted, wall wiped clean of natures decorations, floors cleaned – no need to clear things up or straighten up the rooms since that is done every evening.

Then I headed to the basement to get the Halloween decorations. I love my new system for holiday decorations – no more hunting all over the house for the stuff.

Basement Holiday Storage

I am not a big fan of Autumn mainly because I know it leads to bitter cold and bare landscapes but I do love Halloween. By the time Halloween rolls around I have had time to adjust to the cooler weather, wearing long pants and sweatshirts. True the autumn trees are beautiful and the angle of the sun makes the colors pop but it also means raking leaves, tucking the gardens in for the winter, and having to bundle up for my morning coffee on the porch.

Halloween is my favorite holiday for so many reasons. You get to dress up in any costume you want and no one gives you a second thought. No one expects you to cook a big perfect meal in fact if you do cook and mess things up that’s no problem you just call it a “zombie meal.” The decorations are awesome and they move, talk, and scare the wits out of people.You can bake cookies and candy if you wish but “store-brought” stuff is the normal. You don’t have to worry about buying the perfect gift for everyone and stay within your budget .Do I really need to say more!

This is about the earliest I have started decorating and I added a few new things this year:

I lit up the entrance to the back porch – which is the door that most people use to avoid  walking in the mud. We really need to build a walkway to the front door! I added the lit jack-o-lantern and placed a low in the dark mask on the jockey statue.Note: the mask was added late in the day so it was not charged up enough to glow.

I added the hands and head in a jar and the scare mirror  to the potting bench. I have a few more jars to finish yet.

 

This little guy is new and he sit at the end of the picnic table and welcomes anyone that walks onto the porch.

Some of the older decorations found new homes this year.

My favorite witch, Clara, greets anyone that comes in the front door with a tray of candy and a creepy saying. Bones sits on the bench next to the bear that just may have been the reason he is now “bones.”

 

The witch is so very old but recently found among my mother’s things now she is by the hearth stirring her  cauldron as the three jack-o-lanterns act as guardians.

The lights lead up to the main back door and down a broom that declares that “the witch is in.” A gargoyle ” that lights up and greets you.

Of course the regulars are back:

 

The head on a silver platter in the dinning room.

The alien by the door.

Just think I have 30 more days to add to the decorations! The main problem is that they will need to be mostly DIY projects that are cheap and can be tossed after Halloween because I have to keep my number one rule – If I bring something new into the house I have to get rid of something the same size. Of course no one said I can keep them out all year. Yes, I do use a few as early warning signals to let me know when people are entering certain areas. They really scare people more in July than they do in October! Just saying ….I have a weird sense of humor.

Center – BTB

The last area of the bagua that we need to discover is the center.

This is a place of perfect balance and a great place for meditation or a “quiet” room.  It is called the heart of your home and since it touches all other areas any enhancement in this area affects all the house.  The primary element of this area is earth – so a potted plant in a ceramic pot or a picture of a mountain can be used to enhance the area. Candles displayed in this area help feed the earth element.  Good colors for this area are yellow and earth tones.

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Yesterday was a very productive day. Before I even got the animals fed I was busy cleaning the grout in the bathroom – I spilled powder on the floor and decided if I was on my knees cleaning that up I may as well work on those grout lines. Than when I removed the paper from the bird tray I discovered it was time to cut more sheets – so out came the old newspapers and scissors. The tray is now filled with papers. Every day I clean the bottom of the cage with water and remove the top sheet of dirty paper from the bottom tray. Next after feeding the cats I got Shoes’ out of her room but once outside she “signaled” onto the potty bench. She would not leave the area until I investigated  what she had, praised her and gave her a treat. She had found an old dead stray cat which I had to bury. I am glad  the cat crawled into a bucket before dying because it had been there for a while, but wished it had not been my supply bucket.  That was all before church and  yes I did make it there on time in fact I was a bit early.

I had a deaconess’ meeting after church and Bill had to be at first service today so we drove in separate vehicles which worked out well except for the fact that it was pouring down rain and I had to detour around  the VJ Day parade.  By the time I got home he had stopped at the store and picked up chicken and stuff so we could eat before heading back to the apartment building.

We finished sealing the floor in apartment 3 than loaded up the futon into the truck and headed home for the night. Yeah I worked on more tile in the master bathroom before playing with Shoes.

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August 11th challenge is to read Week # 32 Outdoor and Garden Storage Area

Plain Potting bench to Deluxe

It is getting warmer which means we are thinking about gardens and plants. One of the most useful items to have is a good potting bench but they are not the prettiest piece of furniture on your patio. However, you can change that with just a few easy steps and create a bench that you will  be proud to show off.

I started with an unfinished bench that cost $50 at Big Lots which I had to put together. I stained it with Minwax pine stain and then gave it three coats of outdoor polyurethane. I was pleased with  the results but it wasn’t much to look at when not in use.  I enjoyed working on it but was forever having to hunt down tools and run after the paper towels.

I wanted the bench on the covered patio so I could work in the shade but that meant i would see it from the kitchen window all the time. So I decided to make a few changes. The first thing I did was add a curtain rod to the front and make a burlap curtain to skirt across the front. This hid the soil mixing pail and water bucket from view. I then added a garden tool holder to the left side to help corral the tools needed for the job. A paper towel holder was added to the right side as well as a hook to hold a trash bag.  I then added wire across the front of the shelves to prevent the extra pots from being knocked off by our cats.

The blue trunk next to the bench holds bags of potting soil and doubles as an extra seat when needed.(Cushions stored inside.) At the time of this picture the trunk had not been repainted or repaired. It started out as my toy box, then my horse show tack box, a toy box for our boys and now over 50 years later a storage box.

As you can see this as a much better view from the window!