Friday's Yard Sales

Left bright and early this morning to hit the yard, estate and garage sales and the first couple were a bust,  then we drove miles out in the country to a sale that doesn't open until tomorrow (need to read the ads better).   So, off we drove into town, to a apartment complex for senior citizens....O.K....score!

Found this great wall map, 50x36", that has all of the railroad lines routes, color coded by the name of the companies through out the State of Washington. 

 

A closer view of the Puget Sound/Seattle area.  The map does not show roads but does show counties and cities and detailed topography. 

The map, which is in remarkably good shape, was produced by the Dept. of Public Works of Washington in 1928!  The price........$5.00, I love it!

 

At the same sale, I purchased this print of the train depot in Tacoma signed by Paul N. Norton, a well know watercolorist.  At another sale, I feed my lust for flowerpots and bought this blue beauty.

Also, picked up some post cards from 1936 where two people were playing chess by mail, how fun is that.

I say in yard/garage sale shopping "you have to kiss a lot of frogs" but once in a while you have a really good day and find "prince charming".  That's what makes it fun.

I'm off the join the Friday Garage Salen Partay, please join me.

L and M means lots of ........

 

I received a reminder of Melody's Alphabet Party at Etsy Cottage Style this morning, I participated last month and thought it was so much fun, I wanted to do it again so, here goes!

This month the featured letters are "L and M"........

So, for the letter "L"........I have..........

an old linotype block with the letter L, appropriate tribute to my 25 years in the newspaper business.  No, I didn't start in papers THAT long ago, well, almost!

Then off to the garden for...........Liatris!

 

An easy care, low maintenance perennial with great lavender-pink flowers on long stems.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Behind, Liatris we have Lavender, actually, behind the daylily and in front of the Stargazer lilies.

It is time to harvest Lavender, in this part of the country, if you want to save that sweet smell.

 

Another, L word is Lamb's Ears with its soft, fuzzy grey leaves that the kids love to touch, so do adults!

How about vintage LAWN CHAIRS sitting on the deck!

My last "L" is linoleum cut. This wonderful piece was given to me by my cousin from Sweden. She brought it with her when she visited last summer.  The beautiful linoleum cut was done by Scandinavian artist Ole Strand....................

We are off to "M"................ I, recently, refinished the frame on this mirror and...

  couldn't get the time-worn finish on these mirrors, if I tried! 

How about McCoy flower pots with an alphabet plate in the background with "L and M" on the right hand side!

Another shelf of McCoy (some Bauer) flower pots and a MILK glass alphabet plate!

Funny, how we take our surroundings for granted, then we start looking around us and thinking about letters of the alphabet and are surprised by what we see, I am any way!

I'm going to go to the party at Tabletop Tuesday, too, this is a more than one tabletop blog in alphabetical order.

Come visit the party and see what everyone else is bringing to share.  Remember we love comments and followers.  Thanks for visiting.....please come again!

Free yard art!

Here's an idea for a piece of art for a piece of yard art made entirely from recycled goods.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but here on the West coast, half wine barrels are commonly sold at garden stores for use as planters.

Even tho' they are made of good wood......when you add soil and water it doesn't take long for the bottom of the barrel to deteriorate and the barrel staves to fall out.

So, when the one I had fell apart I saved the metal rings, that hold the staves together, and tossed the wood.  I had the hubby line up all three rings, drill a hole and bolt them together.  Repeat on the opposite side of the rings.  Then, simply, separate the rings into equal spaces.

Voila'!...... Free yard art, with an armillary look!

I had a rusty old bell that I wired, to the center, where the rings are bolted together.  I used large rocks to stabilize it and added smaller rocks to finish it off.

 

I like the round shape, the organic nature of rusty metal and the PRICE!  Free is a very good price!

One more thing, before I go, I'm a pretty casual gardener.  I don't baby plants.....I plant good plants, I water them, I even fertilize occasionally....but I don't baby......with one EXCEPTION...........................

My beloved Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana) a zone 10-11 plant, not really suited for living outdoors year round in Oregon's zone 7..........so she grows in a pot. I LOVE the royal purple, looks-like-velvet flowers, so I'm willing to go the extra mile for this lassie.  The green leaves are soft and furry with a red edge.

I over-winter her in the garage and so far, so good.  I have heard that some people have had success planting it in the ground, in our climate, but I haven't wanted to chance it.

In California, it becomes a rather large bush, mine is more like a four foot tall small tree.

As, I look at this photo, I'm thinking I should cut it back a little more in the spring, when I first bring it outside, that might help it bush out a little more.  Also, it likes heat and our cool spring, probably, didn't help it get off to a good start.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoyed!  Please come again and I appreciate your comments and LOVE followers.

Please join me at the following fun blog parties Blue Monday, Bloomin' Tuesday, Tabletop Tuesday and Oregon Cottage Garden,  Metamorphasis Monday     last but not least Outdoor Wednesday .  These are all great parties, you're not going to want to miss a one!

My other favorite ME treasure!

A few weeks back, in my Cherry Chick's ME Monday  blog, I said I had two favorite ME treasures.  I wrote about one, the knobs on my kitchen doors, now I'd like to share my second favorite. 

Actually, this is a birthday card given to me by a friend, close to 30 years ago........gee, seems like yesterday... I loved it and framed it.  The reflection off of the glass makes it a little difficult to read....it says "She who laughs last", an oft used Mary saying but, in this case, it so fits the recipient of the card, me, 'cause #1 I have a distinctive laugh and #2 I use it often....first, last and always!

Currently, the framed card resides in the utility room and hangs with another favorite of mine, not from ME, but embroidered for me by a friend......................

You may have heard this before, it reads "If I'd know Grandchildren were so much fun....I'd have had them first".  Well, don't I believe that, love my kids but their kids are truly my reward for raising them!

Here they are "hanging out".....two of my favorite pieces of wall decor!

Hope you enjoyed and join me at Cherry Chick's ME Monday and Rednesday  where you will find lots of other great bloggers and enjoy their stories.  I always appreciate comments and LOVE followers!

A couple garage sale goodies....redone!

I picked up a few garage sale finds this weekend and had some fun cleaning them up and dressing them up, so, I thought I would share them with you.

First sale, we nearly drove by, the sign was facing the opposite direction but we turned around and went back.  She had a wonderful 1920's sofa with the carved wood trim for $50, that need the springs redone and a new cover but, alas, I do not have room for such a sofa.

But, for a dollar I found this small wood box.  I call them cutlery boxes, not sure of the original purpose.

Not a super quality piece, it is put together with nails, not dovetails, very grungy but nice lines and could have several uses.

When I got home, I washed it down with just plain old water and a scrubber to remove the loose dirt.  Let it dry overnight.

Looked like it could have been painted at one time but it was so worn and dirty, I couldn't tell for sure.  The primitive cutlery boxes, that I've seen, have not been painted so I decided I would leave the natural wood finish. 

I've used Howard's Restor-A-Finish many times and pulled some pretty badly scared and battered wood finishes back from the brink.  Besides removing years of collected dirt, grease and grime, it is great for getting rid of white heat rings and water marks on stained, not painted, furniture.

I went to work on the box with the Howard's product and a piece of steel wool. I wiped it down with paper towels to remove the grime, as I went.  Polished it with a clean cloth and let it dry.

Then with the aid of an alphabet stamp set and some "StazOn" ink, I stamped "tools" on the side and let the ink dry.

TA * DA........................

I set on a shelf on the patio and I like it there!

  

An inexpensive holder for some vintage garden tools but it could be used for serving drinks, holding napkins and silverware or condiments on the picnic table.  Inside, I was thinking I could use it in my craft room to hold colored pencils and pens or on a desk for tape dispenser and stapler. 

My other find was small set of twin buckets attached with a handle, on the underside it reads 1-800-FLOWERS.  I'm guessing someone loved the flowers but the buckets.....not so much, take a look.......

Again........useful storage!  So, I lightly sanded and painted with black chalkboard paint, like this.......

I decided they would make the perfect container for the Grandkids crayons, scissors, glue and other art supplies........so I painted the handle bright red and

drew on the bucket with chalk.  I'll encourage the kids to improve upon the art by adding their own touches and when they are finished drawing or coloring, they can put their stuff back in the bucket...

and they can even write inside, if they want.  Between visits from the little ones, it will look cute sitting on a shelf holding their art supplies.

  That's how I spent my buck and a quarter this weekend....how about you?  

I'm off to visit some blog parties, please join me at Make It Yours at My Backyard Eden, Making the World Cuter Monday, Metamorphosis Monday , Tabletop Tuesday.

You'll have a great time visiting all the other great bloggers and we all LOVE comments. I, also, love followers and hope you will come back again.

WARNING! This blog comes with a warning.

 

WARNING!  This blog comes with a warning......if you are a very neat and tidy gardener.....you are going to want to STOP here!

You are about to enter.....my garden and she's kind of a "wild girl".  I'm not certain of true definition of an English garden but, I think, that's where we're headed.  Did I mention I love plants!  I would love to have one of each but I'm trying to constrain myself AND develop some sort of landscape design.

Over the past three years I and my helper son and hubby have removed a large messy tree that was located in the middle of the front yard, done away with the lawn and replaced it all with plant material and paths.

This is from April 2009, we laid out a mound in the center with a stone and gravel path on one side and very wide flower beds to the left and right of photo.  In the background, where you see the blue shutter is a narrow area for growing veggies (best sun exposure).

 

 

Right hand side of same general area June this year, shows the blueberries, blue oat grass (planted last fall) and sedum "Angelica".

 

 

 

 

This is the mound and you can see how much the ground covers have spread in a year, I used Wooly Thyme and a sedum "Baby Tears".  The rose is "Happy Chappy", it looks pink here but it is more salmon with a yellow center.

You get the idea, stuff is growing.  We had such a wet spring but it wasn't that cold, so it has become jungle- like around here.

On the left of the path the yellow is Bayberry, the burgundy and pinkish-coral leaves are Heuchera or Coral Bells with more Blue Oat Grass and Hydrangeas.

 

One of my favorite plant color combos is Sedum  "Angelica", which changes color in the fall and winter to copper, right now it is bright yellow green combined with the blue of Blue Oat Grass and a hardy geranium called "Roxanne".  I'm in loooove with Roxanne.  She blooms non-stop from May to October, requires little water and no other care.

 

Another favorite includes Sedum "Angelica" and heather in a dark mauve.  You can tell I like sedums, but especially "Angelica", easy care and lot of color bang!

White Oriental Lily grows in the wide bed between the

mound and the street, shown below.

From left to right above is the white lily, white Verbascum (the tall white spikes), yellow daylily and a gold one, in the background a rose named "Abraham Darby".  On the right side, with the silver leaves, is a Pineapple Guava.

 

 

This beauty is called Verbascum, it is related to a roadside weed, that tells you how easy care this baby is.

 

 

A little different view of the bed closest to the street, here you can see the lavender, Blazing Star (Liatris), the green flat looking flowers on the right are another sedum called "Autumn Joy".

Clematis "Nellie Mosier" growing on a trellis by the front door.

A yummy coppery-orange Coneflower/Echinacea called "Sunset", along with more yellow "Angelica", blue catmint and miniature blueberry bushes.

Curb appeal, or just too darn many plants, you decide!

For me, I am so enjoying the low maintenance.  I tried to select plants that didn't require a lot of care, I do have four roses but two of those are landscape roses and easy care.  A few plants require cutting back and dead heading and some will need to be divided but pretty easy over all. 

I like color, most of the color comes from the plant leaves, although, I do have several perennials for cutting and for seasonal color.  Hope you enjoyed this rather lengthy blog and feel free to ask questions and leave comments!

Not everyone wants, or could live with this much organized chaos and that's O.K., it is your garden....just enjoy your beautiful version!

I am linking up to Oregon Cottage Garden Shop, Tatertots & Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party and Rednesday, for the first time you'll find me at Smiling Sally's Blue Monday,Outdoor Wednesday and Bloomin Tuesday !