In the Garden at Sunset.

                                        Bee Balm

I've enjoyed the mild summer weather these last few days. I slipped outside after supper this evening to walk around the yard and take a few pictures.

                                           Milkweed
                                                       
After the drought conditions we had last year, I am thankful for the hardy plants that returned.

                                 Shasta Daisy
Because I haven't mulched in about three years, the seeds have been able to freely germinate. The garden has become crowded with daisies, echinacea, anise hyssop, verbena bonariensis, black-eyed Susans and weeds! I'll be busy this fall transplanting many of those new plants in other parts of the garden.

I'll also be transplanting some of them in the rain garden that I have been working on in our neighborhood common area. We haven't accomplished much because we, (my son, husband and me), are digging it out ourselves and every time it rains it fills with water and takes days to dry out. Hopefully we can get it finished by next weekend, at least that is my goal.

As I was walking around the garden this evening I noticed the damselfly on the fennel, (which has also freely propagated everywhere).

I didn't have the zoom lens on my camera but he/she patiently posed for me allowing me to get surprisingly  close with the camera.

They are amazing creatures!

I have been so excited about the wonderful response to my potting table. I can't believe the traffic it generated to my blog,  literally well over a thousand specific visits!  Thank you for the sweet comments that were left on my blog from those who visited to see it. I was very excited to have it featured again on Sunday by another of my favorite blogs:



Thank you, Rhoda, from Southern Hospitality for featuring my potting table!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today life, as I knew it, changed forever. My precious mother died a horrible death at the hands of the surgeon who botched her surgery and the nurses who overdosed her on morphine, not once, but twice. She eventually died from the pneumonia that was caused when they realized their mistake and flushed her so rapidly that her lungs were filled with fluid. It still stings to know that she should not have died from a case of diverticulitis.

My mother was the glue that held our diverse, dispersed and somewhat dysfunctional family together. After her death a lot of things changed. People changed, relationships changed...things happened that I never thought I would see in my own family. Family hurting family... it just should not be that way.

Something happens deep inside when the people you love the most cause so much pain and heartache, especially when you are already dealing with great loss and horrible tragedy. Basic trust in mankind is greatly damaged and you have to work really hard to trust people again, to heal emotionally and not become bitter.

It has been a difficult year of hard work trying to heal those deep wounds. I have read a lot, prayed often, and listened to probably a hundred sermons on trials and forgiveness. I've made a lot of progress, but I'm not completely there yet. It is a continual work.

Progress has also been made in some of the damaged relationships but things will never be the same. Some relationships will probably never be restored, I have grieved those losses and have come to terms with that. Some things are simply out of my hands.

I struggle at times with being transparent and real, especially about things of such a sensitive nature. The last thing I want is to stir things up and create more trouble, but this has been the reality of my life this past year. God has been so faithful to me during this very dark year of pain and heartache. I have been amazed at the times that God has allowed me to stumble upon the very thing I needed to hear. He has been a healing balm for my soul. I can't imagine going through the pain of this life without my faith in God and hope of eternal life in heaven.Of seeing my mom again and having real restoration and healing once and for all. Oh, glorious day!

Show the Motion

This month the Picture This Photo Contest at Gardening Gone Wild is Show the Motion. The idea is to capture the movement or action as blur instead of freezing it.

Here are a few of my favorite action shots. In most of these shots the movement is frozen. I'm not sure that any of them really show the full effect of slow shutter speed blur. I think probably the closest is the first picture of the blue jay. I think that is the one that I'll submit to the contest.

From Jun 24, 2011

Edited: I tried three times to submit my picture to the contest and I tried twice to just leave a commit on the GGW site. Nothing showed up. Oh, well....not sure what is happening with their site. They are obviously having issues.

Thursday's Miscellany - Flora, Fauna and Free

So far this spring it has been quite rainy and cool. After hearing from my friends down south who haven't been getting much rain and after our drought conditions last summer, I'm not complaining about it. It has however had an affect on our bee and butterfly population. Last year was pretty hot and dry and I saw more butterflies than ever before. I have yet to see a butterfly in the garden.

The robins have been busy nesting, but they are not very prolific this spring. So far around the neighborhood, I've seen quite a few nests with missing baby birds, (hopefully they fledged the nest but they seemed too young for that), and I've seen a number of eggs that didn't hatch.

This nest was beside my house, in a small tree. Only one of the four eggs hatched.

The day after I took this picture, the baby robin was gone. I've seen the hawks flying around, I hope they aren't getting the babies.

I have daisies in bloom right now...

and black-eyed Susans.

I love this color of hollyhock, but for some reason the pests seem to always do a number on the leaves and they never look very attractive.

The downy woodpeckers have nested nearby.  From my kitchen window, I watched the father feeding peanuts to his son.

We have a new visitor here at Robin's Nesting Place. One that I'm not particularly excited about. I had a lot of these little guys at my home in Alabama and they are quite a nuisance. He sure is cute though!

He sat on the wall and watched me while I was reading on the patio.

Here is a dragonfly on the neighbor's fence. I haven't seen too many of those this spring either.

The chickadee's have nested in my birdhouse and have already fledged. I was able to see the little ones the day they fledged; they were so cute! Now there is a very loud wren building his nest in the box, singing his little heart out. I hope the female chooses to nest here.




I was so excited to have my potting bench featured on one of my favorite blogs, Better After! Thank you, Lindsey!

I am busy now working on a dining table and chairs that I got FREE on Craigslist! I can't wait to get it finished!

DIY Potting Bench From Rummage Sale Junk

Friday and Saturday one of our local churches had a rummage sale. My neighbor and I were having our own garage sale but we closed up shop on Friday because we had heard that this was a really good sale. Indeed it was!



This ugly, warped table was only a few dollars, (I think I paid $2.00). The top was in terrible condition but the base was solid wood and very sturdy. I have a thing for old tables, so I bought it.



This table is very unusual, I've never seen anything like it before. There is glass firmly attached to the wood as though they are one piece. At first I thought it was acrylic but I hit it with the hammer to make sure and it really is glass. For the glass and the wood to be so warped it must have been either outside or in storage for a long time.



I'm also a sucker for book shelves. This one was rickety and whoever made it was a bad shot with the hammer. Several nails had gone up through the wood and caused it to splinter. I bought it for $1.00 thinking I could use it for closet storage. I thought, if nothing else, I could put my shoes on it or possibly just use the wood for something. I wasn't passing up solid wood for $1.00.



































On Sunday night my husband and I were walking our dog when I noticed that one of the neighbors had placed a twin bed headboard, footboard, and wood frame with the slats attached. I told my husband that we needed to get the slats from the garbage. He thought I was nuts! It's one thing to pick up trash in a strange neighborhood and quite another where people know you. I spared him the embarrassment and we waited until dark. Thankfully they were still there.

I was brainstorming trying to figure out what to do with all of this newly acquired junk in my garage. I have always wanted a potting bench and since the stuff I had was so cheap and not in the best shape I though it would be a good time to make one.

The slats were the perfect size for the table and didn't have to be cut!

My original plan was to just add the slats to the table and be done, but then I thought the bookshelf would be perfect for additional storage.





Here she is all finished and decorated! Isn't she adorable? I had some white exterior paint but I didn't want it to be white. I started adding several different colors to get a color that I liked. Depending on the light, it looks kind of sage green, gray, or a pretty blue.

I turned the bookcase upside down because it added more stability to attach the flat end to the table. I also need the lip at the top so the space could be used and things wouldn't fall off.











































Here is the back. The only real cost was the $11.00 sheet of plywood that we had to buy. It just didn't look right without a back on the shelf and the plywood gave it additional stability.











































I added the corner decorative pieces so it wouldn't look as much like an upside down bookcase. I had them stored in a container my craft room. I bought them a few years ago on clearance for .62 each.




Almost every item on the potting table was purchased at garage sales or Goodwill. I love thritfy treasures!



I already had this little window box primed, but I didn't know what I was going to with it. It was a garage sale purchase from last year. I thought it would be a perfect addition to my potting table.



I am having difficulty with Blogger on this post. I hope the text is in the right place.



I wish you all a lovely and productive day! Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:

















http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/06/pottery-barn-bedford-office-addition.html?utm_source=feedburner

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/thrifty-finds-this-week-2/

http://www.thenester.com/2011/06/best-yard-sale-finds-ever.html