Let's Plant Something!

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." 

- Audrey Hepburn 

My morning quote and picture that I shared on Facebook today spoke of gardening and later in the day, I just happened to find myself at the garden center!! Two actually! 

So we had to come home and officially kick off the spring 2020 gardening season! I recorded a live Facebook video planting some succulents in upcyced containers. Hope you enjoy and get inspired to get outside and plant something this spring! 

Miss Gussie the Glamper Got a NEW Look!

Whew, where has the time gone??? It's been a busy month and a hot minute since I set down to blog. 

If you've been following along on Facebook or Instagram, you know that in between everything we've been working on, I busted out the paint brushes and Miss Gussie the Glamper got a new look and she went back out on the road after a year and a half of being parked at home! 

My favorite brushes - just the cheapest straw brushes that can be found...

My sweet doggie loves the camper and insisted on being outside with me the entire time I was painting! She was upset when I left out Friday morning and she didn't get to go with "her" camper. (There's a no pets rule at the Mineola Antique Fair and honestly as cute as she is, she's not people friendly, so she would have growled at everybody who came near and we can't have that.)

I've had a sketch in my planner for a while and finally made it happen - Miss Gussie joined the cactus craze! It's been a little over 3 years since I originally painted the camper white with the turquoise lace stripe and the heart with wings. I knew at the time I painted her, that I would eventually want to repaint or add to, so we did just that! 

She's got cactus and succulents painted all over her! 

We decided that Miss Gussie would get back out on the road some this fall and her first appearance was at the August Mineola Antique Fair. We had rain and drizzle on both days, so we had to be careful with where we positioned everything and we left some items inside the camper plus we have an indoor place as well. (We will not complain about the rain though - we are in a drought situation and need every single drop we can get!) 

Her next scheduled appearance is September 7-8, once again at the Mineola Antique Fair! Come see Miss Gussie in person and get a tour! 

For those who are wondering what type of paint I used to paint the camper - originally (2015) I primed and then painted with white barn paint from the hardware store. As the lady at the paint counter told me "you are basically painting a tin barn on wheels" so we rolled and brushed barn paint. I used a good quality turquoise and brown paint, but I can't recall the exact type. This is the paint I used to add the cactus (plus a small can of red.) I simply washed the camper before painting this time and went to painting one afternoon. Concerning my original paint job and how well the DIY paint job held up - I've notice a few tiny places where the paint is chipping off, although nothing major. My original paint job cost less than $200 ($50 of that was for the lace stencil I ordered) and I simply wash and scrubbed with a sanding block beforehand. The camper has set out in the weather the entire time. Honestly, the camper skin was not smooth before painting, so I'm still tickled with how my paint has held up. I knew I would want to paint and change her up periodically, so if the paint really gets to chipping off, we will just paint a whole new scene! The local body shops all refused to even consider painting her and even if they would have, their paint job would have cost way more than I paid for the camper. I love being able to change and alter the look from time to time and it didn't break the piggy bank! 

Every artist has to sin their work, right?! JE'18

P.S. The tin signs, most of the clothes, and all the dream catchers can be found in my etsy shop and I ship worldwide! I'll be adding more clothes and new items in the coming days, as well!

What's in a Junker's Truck?

What's in a Junker's Truck? I saw this question recently and thought I would share what is in my truck. 

A vehicles purpose is to get you from Point A to Point B. My truck serves as a farm truck, flower delivery truck, making supply and post office runs, and of course junkin', so it has many jobs. Every mile it makes is for a specific purpose and it has 202,000+ miles on it and still going strong. 

First off - ALWAYS my Yeti style tumbler with unsweet tea or water! I don't leave home without something to drink and many times my path does not take me near a store and it's cheaper to take my homemade tea anyways. I love how my cup keeps my drink cold all day in the Texas heat - it really is amazing to leave a drink in the closed up truck and come back to ice tea! 

A recent pic of my floor board - sunglasses, staple gun, pliers, a comb, note pad for taking orders on the road, and craisens. I always pick up the little random feathers I find as well.

• ratchet straps
• bungee cords
• old sheet or blanket
• tarp

You never know when you are going to slip up on furniture or other things that need tying down and protecting or you have a load of feed and it starts raining. When I pull out the ratchet strap at a sale, I always get "you've done this before."

The back seat of my truck has been folded down for several years, to carry more stuff. Angea and I were loaded down, headed to our booth recently. A piece of plastic covers my back seat, because I could easily carry flowers, plants, junk, or any number of things and I attempt to protect the seat. 

I have a bucket with bungees, floral wire, old towels, and a flash light. Said bucket can also be used, if I need to pick up flowers and keep them in water till I get home, or emptied and carry small items that you need to pick up from somewhere. When we are headed to our booth, there's also a bag with nails, screws, tacks, and extra tags and cards and a step stool.

On this particular occasion, I was delivering a casket spray and then headed to the farm to haul some calves, so my truck has many jobs. 

My truck is usually dirty due to driving in the pasture... the calves were trying to help wash it one afternoon this week! 

Feed and furniture!  After we got a truck with a bed cover, I found several pieces of furniture that wouldn't allow the cover to close all the way. It didn't take long to figure out that a bungee or hay string would loop through that black handle and hook to the bumper and keep it closed. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Occasionally this sweet girl insist upon going and you'll notice the leashes on the dash in one picture. 

A few other things you will find in my truck:

• jumper cables (Daddy gave me a pair when I turned 16 and said you'll never know when/if you need them, but be prepared.)
• gloves
• wet wipes
• hand cleaner
• tape measure
• duct tape
• a bag with an extra change of clothes and shoes
• mud boots
• wire
• wire cutters
• screw driver 
• hammer
• scissors
• knife
• tire tool
• hoe
• shovel
• cell phone charger
• napkins / paper towels
• spoon (occasionally you pick up some ice cream along the way and need a bite or 10 before you get home!)
• card reader (if I need to meet customers and take mobile payments.) 
• baling wire (on a farm, almost anything can be fixed with baling wire or duct tape!) 
• a few other random farm tools

I think that's the gist of it! Anything that's in your vehicle that I should add to mine? 

Some like it hot!

I, for one, prefer warm weather over cold weather, but darn its been hot this week. I am looking forward to the cooler, more fall like temperatures promised for this weekend though.

 

 The yellow lantana in my yard seems to like it hot! Even with hot and dry conditions, the flowers seems to thrive, which means I like it even more.

 This flower bed with yuccas, cactus, pampas grass, and a voluntary American beauty berry has become my favorite fuss free area of the yard this summer. It survived the massive drought last year and has bloomed with minimal to no extra watering by me this year, whereas my other large flower bed has a bad case of heat exhaustion.

 

Oh and did I mention, this lantana only cost me 50 cents a few years back? Late one summer, I bought it on the clearance rack at the garden center. It was in a 4 inch pot and had been neglected by the big box store. I give it some special care for a few weeks, then it has been a beautiful, pest free addition to the rock garden ever since. The butterflies enjoy the blooms in the summer and the birds eat the berries the lantana produces this winter.  Its like the super plant in my landscape!

 Do you grow lantana?

 

 

Cactus Garden

Along the front fence in our yard, we have cactus, yuccas, and pampass grass growing. The cactus was grown by my husband's grandmother, then his mother. My sweet mother-in-law shared with me as we were establishing our yard and the prickly pear makes a great border. The animals do not want to pass through the "live" fence.
The yellow blossoms are pretty this week.

I played with my camera and switched to manual focus, so the centers of the flowers would be in focus better.

 A bee and grasshopper seem to like the cactus blooms too!