Metamorphosis

  I love old rusty stuff and when I saw this antique potato planter on Marketplace I knew I had to have it. My friend and fellow gardener took off to go pick it up with his truck and the nice man helped us load it into the truck with his skid loader. How we're going to get it out of the truck is anyone's guess, but we'll figure that out later. I called Pat McCoy and he rounded up a posse to meet us down by the lagoon. They soon figured out that the best way was to back the truck up into the slope and unload it from there. Then they rolled it into place and now it's just waiting for it's new garden to be created. This is my birthday gift to myself. I will use this as the focal point and plant the chute with some bright colorful annuals. In keeping with its former history I'll have to add some potato vine in the arrangement. Hmmm, maybe my lifesize skeleton could be sitting on the tractor seat driving. I'll have to find some bib overalls for him.

  This was my first boat to be started here in the park, and the perennials are starting to fill in nicely. I used annuals before for color, but in an attempt to keep the cost down I'm sticking with perennials. The little bear was donated by one of our residents and I found him a pair of glasses since he's out in the sun all day.  I might have to find him a hat also. Another resident donated the minnow bucket and I added some solar lights to put inside so it lights up at night. The front area is looking good with the daisies blooming. Each year they get a little bit better.

  I went over to Christy's to remove the unwanted hostas from her garden.  Well, let's just say I met my match.  Hostas-1  Cheryl-0 These are some monster hostas, about five feet across and about 3 1/2 feet tall with a very deep root system. I did manage to get the "smaller one" out ok. That's the photo to the right.  Let's just say "smaller" is relative. So I returned to tackle them again.  This time I was armed with a shovel, an axe and a knife.   I was determined. It took some doing, but when I left I had a car full of hostas all bagged up and ready to go to their new home. I had to call my buddy Shawn though to help me get them out of the car as I was wiped out. Then it was time for a shower and a two hour break before getting them planted in the new garden. You'll notice the shirt is pretty clean in this photo.  The next photo was taken during the battle and is a bit dirtier. This is how I generally look at the end of a gardening session...

  We've been working on this for a while now to improve things.  First we trimmed the bushes way back to promote thicker growth and that has really helped. This year we added blocks all the way around to hold in the mulch and set off the edges.   The red mulch really makes the plants pop. The goose was finally starting to fall apart, so he had to leave, along with the stump he sat on.  I planted a black lace elderberry.  The dark leaves will look nice against the gray walls. Poor Shawn, my partner in crime.  It was his birthday and to show my love I had him spread a yard of mulch and go with me to Menards to buy 40 more blocks to finish this project.  Because math is not my strong suit I ended up about nine blocks short.  I went back with Betty (the van) to pick those up and still ended up two short. Grrr. After we weeded it all out I went back to level the blocks.  I dug daylilies out of Judy's garden and put them here. I needed to move...

  I really want to get this shirt but I'll wait until I know what size I'm going to be in another year. Right before I left Arizona I stopped in the Sewing Room to see my friend Mary. She was working on a quilt someone donated for Comfort Makers and I fell in love with the pattern. It was kind of like a crazy quilt and yet different. I found the templates on Amazon and ordered the eight piece set so when the gardening demands slow down and the weather gets too hot and sticky to be outside much (known as July & August in Minnesota) I could start to cut up some of my stash up here to make some quilt blocks. It looks like a really fun way to make some quilts and a great way to use up lots of smaller pieces. I'd been looking for some inspiration to get me quilting again and this might just be it. My favorite things to do are garden, sew and play pickleball. How blessed am I to be able to do all of these!

  I was hoping for my energy to return with the weight loss and that seems to be the case. Yesterday I played pickleball for the first time in a long time. It was pretty rough at first, but I could feel the skills coming back by the end of our play. I went for my walk around the loop today and jogged over the bridge, returning to the trailer to pick up George to walk to the far side of the campground. This amounts to about three miles. After stuffing him back in the house I headed out to water the newer plants in the common gardens. Upon returning I decided the patio mat I bought is too small so packed it up to return to Amazon. When I went back inside Pete was up and moving so we went to Denny's for breakfast before heading out to get the edgers I purchased on Facebook Marketplace. I ordered the 55+ scrambled eggs with cheese, four sausages and two pancakes. I ate half the eggs which would be one egg, took one bite from the sausage and nibbled on a corner of the pancakes. And then...

  After finally getting all the weeds removed it was time to just enjoy the garden. The white clematis near the flying pig is going nuts. It's a variety called Huldine and I think I need to add some more to the trellis. The vines on the trellis at our entrance is finally lush and thick. These are Sweet Autumn clematis and in the fall will be covered with tiny fragrant blooms. The garden behind the shed is doing well, but I need to plant the big red truck.  At least the sink got it's flowers for the season. The lilies in the garden behind the shed is such a deep red. I always like being welcomed by the Lady in Red when I come into the driveway.