Good morning, gardeners, and welcome to the Saturday Morning Garden Blog!
I am getting ready for the (supposedly) big snow year we are predicted to have because of El Niňo this winter. I'm hoping it will be a big snow year, and maybe I'm jinxing it by getting my garden beds ready for mucho snow. Part of the preparation for winter is empyting and cleaning the ceramic and plastic pots that hold the summer annuals. I compost the plants and put the used soil in a big trash barrel with a lid that I bought at Lowe's. It's a good way to recycle and re-use the soil. In the spring as I use it for new annuals, I'll recharge the soil with a compost mix from Fox Farms, which has microbes and guano and other good stuff. I also take inventory of the yard art, and put most of it away for the season in the shed with the pots. I wanted to share some of the yard art we've collected over the years, and see what you all have collected.
This little guy peeks out from the upper garden. I acquired him and his fellow dwarves from a friend who moved into a townhome and wanted to find a good home for all her yard art. Even though he is resin and probably fairly weather proof, I'll put him away with all his little friends for the winter. Isn't he adorable? His sweet smile makes me happy.
Mr. Light and I have collected many different items over the years, and they all have a special significance. Our "art wall" has been a good place to collect a lot of eclectic items. Front and center on the wall is the door to a coal furnace from a house we lived in for a few years that was built in 1912. This old furnace was huge, and had to be cut into pieces to get it out of the basement. We swore there was a ghost in the coal room next to the furnace, because the door would open or shut mysteriously without reason. I am happy to report that the ghost stayed behind when we moved, although we kept the door and the base of the furnace.
Our art wall is so full of stuff that it would probably take too long to describe what we have, and the story behind it. For example, there's the two faucets that Mr. Light had left over from a plumbing job, and he just mounted them together on the wall in an empty spot. We hung the timber saw that we found in an Iowa antique store, and we imagine the old timers using it to clear the woods out in preparation for their crops. Our current house is probably circa 1910 or so. We have an old shoe we found in the depths of the crawlspace stairwell. I read somewhere that the Victorians believed a shoe tucked away somewhere in the house would bring luck. Anyone want to confirm or debunk this belief? I'd be curious to find out why there was only one old shoe.
While exploring the crawlspace when we moved in, we found a trunk that looks old enough to have traveled to Colorado on a stagecoach. When we opened it we found a washboard, some old newspapers, and a wooden frame that we finally decided was the rail section of an old crib. We surmise the crib rails were re-purposed as a drying rack, but I decided it would make a nice trellis for my clematis. It's rather plain, but I love the weathered wood and the turned design on the posts.
I also have several wind chimes, and most of them are left hanging winter and summer. Somewhere I acquired a cast iron pine cone chime. I move it around the yard each year depending on my mood in the spring. This year it lived in the upper garden next to the newly transplanted viburnum. It doesn't make too much sound unless I inadvertently bump it when I'm crawling around the garden pulling weeds. It's got a neat shape that I like, and a soft gentle tinkle.
Thank goodness I have a large yard and lots of garden space. I don't know what I'd do with all the stuff. Fortunately, I've got a spot for just about everything. I've collected a little trike, a toy tractor, some unique hose guides in the shape of daffodils, and numerous stakes and trellises. The collection I inherited from my friend includes two flamingos and a family of dwarves. One of my favorites from this collection is the little angel. He had something in his hand that has been knocked off - maybe a little bird seed saucer? A bird? Who knows. At any rate, he kept my shade plants company this summer, and I gave him a little rock to hold.
That's what's going on in my garden right now. What's going on in yours?