Shelter In Place Early Gardening

 This was March 28 just a bit after we were ordered to Shelter In Place.  I finally decided that we were going to remove the four Alberta Spruces that followed the walkway to the patio.

 Why you ask?  Well they had become so overgrown they were taking up half of the sidewalk.  I'll take the blame for this because they were planted too close right from the beginning.

 So Dan geared up and began cutting them down.

 The reason I didn't just trim them up is beause as you can see the branches were brown underneath with only green on the ends.  If I could have trimmed them up they would also have been severely lopsided.

 Ahh I like this a lot better.  Sorry for the blurred photo but it was all I took.

 Now we have four stumps to get rid of so Dan hooked up a log chain and dragged them out with the garden tractor.

 Their roots were spread everywhere so so we had a raking and pulling to do afterwards.

 I hope this video attachment works!

 There were 5 hostas planted on the other side of the Alberta Spruces near the grass so I dug them all up and Dan split them all in half for me and then I planted them in a row.  These are a pretty tall dark green hostas (which I transplanted last fall from my hosta hill) and should make a nice display.

 Here we are on Saturday April 18th and now I'm targeting the three Limelight Hydrangeas on the left side of the large stepping stones.  I've got my fertilizer and tools ready to go!

 This is a close up of the three hydrangeas next to the tulips.

 I'm going to move them over to the area where the hostas were just planted. 

 I pre-dug the holes for the three hydrangeas and Dan lifted and dug out the hydrangeas.  Somehow he managed to barely disturb the tulips!

 Here's a closer view of the Limelights.  

I hope you can see them and imagine what they'll look like as they leaf out!

My goal is to make my garden areas less maintenance and to plan for the future.  It looks pretty bleak right now but before you know it it will fill out and take on a whole new look!

Hard to believe that those twiggy looking shrubs will look like this before long!

I have plans for this area too!

I am joining:
Between Naps On The Porch
For
Metamorphosis Monday

Spring Plate Rack and The Etagere

After my tablescape post the other day I decided to try the dishes on the plate rack.  They add a nice spring pop and add a fresh look to the plate rack.

I emptied the top of the little black table and changed out what was there.  I was going to put the table centerpiece here but after trying it I didn't like it so I left it on the table.  I had blue and white plates in the basket and changed it out to apples and artichokes.  I used a napkin like a doily.

I'm enjoying this centerpiece.  I'm sorry for everyone that has asked me about this plate but I can't find the set for sale any longer.  I searched a bunch and came up with nothing.  

I also have a set of six miniature plates with the same pattern that I stacked here and some miniature fork and spoons that I found some years ago that are great for dishes with condiments and pickles.  The little pig salt and pepper shakers my sister gave me are still my favorite and will keep showing up in my posts!

I used the same Lacy white dishes and the LaVie Boho dishes from the tablescape.  I kept the same flowers on there as in my last update of the plate rack as seen "here".

I kept the white tulips around and they look nice on the top shelf.  They keep that spring vibe going.  It's still very much spring here and the tulips are just now blooming so this is very much in sync with the season up here.

I found this deep blue chicken creamer a little while back and just added the creamy white pitcher to replace some smaller dishes that had been there.  The fleur-de-lis tray style plates came from Sur La Table last year (on close out).  They have a new version this year but the pattern is a tad bit different.

This hasn't changed much except the copper bottle opener was added.

I picked up this cute lidded box at Hobby Lobby a few months ago.  I put a chicken and some eggs in there but it's hard to make out.
The bottom layer is the same with a basket and tablecloths loaded into it.

Thank you for visiting!  If you want to see this centerpiece with my tablescape click "here" I have much better photos of it there!

I'm joining:
Dish & Digging It 
MetamorphosisMonday
Inspire Me Tuesday
Thoughts of Home On Thursday 

Cleaning Up the Kitchen-Adding Some Blue

This is really the end picture but I thought it looked better than the next picture so I started with it.

 I got all wound up yesterday and emptied all my counters, and cleaned the backsplash, window and counters.

 Armed with simple green and glass cleaner

As I attempted to pull out my behemoth Kitchen Aid mixer and thought why am I struggling with this.  So I got out some 1/2" felt pads and applied them to the bottom.  Now it slides in with ease.  This mixer is a lot heavier than my previous Kitchen Aid and it's just too hard to move when I need to use it.

 I put the coffee maker and grinder back over here.  I had the coffee center here a while back.  I grind coffee every day and make a fresh pot.

 At this time of day I couldn't get a better picture of the window.  I cleaned it too and wiped everything down before it went back.  This is my little farm window complete with pigs and cows!

 I wanted to add some blue in the kitchen so I have been taking away the Tuscan accents.  That basket loaded with wine glasses came from Juliska on a sale a little while ago. It's really more of a bread basket but on a whim I put these wine glasses in there and decided to keep it.  The plate with the blue shells is one of a set of 4 and I just never thought about using it like this but it brought in the coloring I wanted to that's good.  The towel is new from a set I picked up at Williams Sonoma (I believe it's a new line they're offering).  The canisters were gifted to me from Betty several years back.  She was blogging but due to health issues with her husband she's all but disappeared.

The utensils are in a piece I got from Pottery Barn on one of their clearances.  It's made for wine but I adopted it to be for my spoons and spatulas.  The bread drawer is close by so the toaster stays here.  My kitchen is too small to hide all of my small appliances.

 This is from a couple of years ago.  I kept the coffee maker in the center for a couple of years but today I decided to move it back over by the window.  

This goes back a ways.  That plate on the stand with the Tuscan scene was hanging where the blue plate is now. 

I cleaned the glass on the doors too.  I had a water glass put in them so it softens what what you can see inside and I don't just display things for prettiness in them since it's a functioning area of the kitchen.  Our cupboards are solid hickory made in Tennessee.  I was very proud of this when we remodeled in 1996.  I still like it.

This counter on the right is that spot where everything gets piled…mail, groceries, etc.  I have a few things that didn't go back in the kitchen and one is a basket I keep on this counter that is where misc. stuff is supposed to go in.  Somehow it builds up for a while and has a strange collection in it. I am going through it again to thin it out.  

She's a narrow galley kitchen which actually works quite well especially for one person in the kitchen. 

So that's my clean kitchen with some blue added! 

Ahh… a surprise ending to today!

I was in the office loading pictures for this post when the door bell rang…. Dan was standing there holding these flowers for me!  I was so surprised and didn't even think to take a picture of him holding them!

They're gorgeous big flowers.  We had yellow roses for our wedding so I love that he remembered!

I had this pitcher in the kitchen before I started cleaning so I decided to use it for the flowers instead of the traditional crystal vase.  

Today is our anniversary!  We'll be going out for a dinner in the evening and beyond that I don't know what we're doing!  

I'm joining
Dishing & Digging It 
Inspire Me Tuesday 
Tuesday's At Our Home 
Tweak It Tuesday
Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Little Flowery Easter Baskets

I saw these baskets at Michael's and got the idea to fill them with some flowers.  They came in a few colors like blue, green, pink and purple.

My crafting room is my kitchen table.   First I put in a piece of styrofoam and put in a small spray of light green and white flowers.  

Then I took them back out once I was happy with the height.  (These have been used before so they had extra holes).  The flowers were very inexpensive sprays I found at Michael's.  All I did was make a large hole in the center and then push the flowers down inside.  (I used my turkey baster for the hole.  The large end where the suction bulb attached was about the same width at the spray of flowers).

I found this light brown grass at Pier 1.  I needed something to hide the styrofoam and I liked the natural coloring of this.

I created a lining to cover the openings in the basket.

Once I got the foam back in I stuffed more of the filler around the edges. 

I was actually making two of these at a time.  I raised the handle up slightly.  You can just barely see it here.

I also added a bright green gerbera daisy flower to the top.

I also picked up a few bunches of styrofoam eggs on stems that I also added.  

I figure I can remove the eggs if I want and still use these as cute spring accents.  I didn't use my good camera- just my iPhone but I guess these aren't too bad.  Sorry the area is a little messy but that's how it goes when you are doing projects!

I moved them over to the lace top table for more pictures.  This is a front and back view.  As you can see there are pretty flowers all the way around.   

I got everything on 40 and 50% off so it was a very reasonable project. 

I think these would be cute for table accents at a family gathering or a church function or such.  My plan is to put them on the dish rack when I decorate it for Easter.  

I enjoyed putting them together and seeing my vision come together.  I hope you like them!

Special Thanks once again to Linda (lifeandlinda.com )for giving me another new blog makeover.  I wanted something spring like in color and we collaborated on some ideas for the header.  She's talented and always surprises me!

Joining the following parties:

Dishing It and Digging It 

Metamorphosis Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesday's At Our Home

Share Your Cup Thursday