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! 

Happy Spring!!!

 Hello, Spring! You make me sooooooo happy! It's my absolute favorite time of the year! Spring flowers, magical light, fresh air, new life, warmth, did I mention sunlight and flowers, being outdoors more, green grass, renewed energy, not freezing to death... It's a happy time of year. This winter has been tough, but brighter, happier days are ahead, I just know it.

For the last few weeks, I've been gathering up a few plants when I'm in town and starting to work in the yard some. Dang, it's been a mess and needs some attention. Anyways, here's one of the rusty, bottomless buckets! I recycle and use trampoline springs to hang the buckets (and sometimes lanterns) in from the gazebo. We brought in a tool box with random items in it one time and the springs were a part of that collection and they've been put to use.

I had to go on a supply run for my shop, but somehow my truck turned into the garden center on the way home ;) I found a few things I've been wanting and came home and was able to work in the yard for a little while! 

Did I mention fresh air, sunshine, and playing in the dirt? Oh it was magical and peaceful! 

I created a little video on how I planted herbs in this old bird cage. Hope you enjoy it. 

(I really need to work on my video skills, but hey, we try. My phone cut off and I had to start back up...#reallife) 

 For the time being, the birdcage is hanging from the gazebo. Not sure if that's where I'm going to leave it or not, as I'm still planting a few more things and getting everything arranged like I want it...

Is this not the tiniest little fern you've ever seen??? It was so cute and I just had to have it, because I knew it would be perfect for that clay pot! 

Stay tuned, I promise to share more gardening pictures, videos, and tips this spring. Until next time, Happy Spring and Happy Planting! Go get your hands in the soil! 

For the Love of Junk - Gardening

Hey Y'all - I thought I would share a few pictures from our junk yard! I planted flowers in April and they are starting to fill in nicely and my geraniums have even bloomed a second time. (That's a record for me, as I don't usually have good luck with geraniums!) Last year, my sweet mail lady shared the day lilies with me and they are blooming pretty this week. 

For those of you who are new here or don't know the story of our gazebo, we rescued it from a trash ditch a few years back. Yes, it was rolled over on its side, all reddish brown, with a shingle roof, in a ditch. Actually there were two of them and our friend had spotted them and ask the property owner if he could get them. We got recruited to help load and haul them and got one gazebo in return! That was before we had great camera phones and I didn't document the rescue. For a season or two, the gazebo was in its found state, but I started landscaping around it and built the brick patio that connects to our house. Finally, we decided a makeover was going to happen! She got painted white and my husband and brother surprised me with a rusty tin roof! 

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It was about the same time, that I decided I would no longer have plastic pots visible in my yard and started planting with recycled junk! That's when the real fun began and my yard took on a new personality. The only thing purchased new in a store is the hummingbird feeder and the solar lantern.

That crock was abandoned in a field. The rusty container the chives are in doesn't even have a bottom. In fact several of the planters shown, have rusted out bottoms. I hide the plastic flower pots by sitting them inside the metal ones. For the hanging buckets, the plastic hanging baskets have been wired to the top of the bucket and then I plant in them. (It's going on 5 years, with the same wires holding the same flower pots inside.)

I have 4-5 different pots arranged in the old wash tub. I mulch around the edges, so it looks like everything is planted in the tub. This makes it easy to switch out plants seasonally or when one begins to made away, I can change it out. I', surprised the geraniums are still holding on, since I don't have the greatest of luck with them. Why do they always look so good on everyone else's porch, but I struggle with them?

This was a beat up, rusty old water jug and I love to plant alyssum in it. Little lizard likes it too!

A broken clay pot, spills a bouquet of flowers into the oval dish pan and is hauled around in a rusty ol' wagon. 

The bike has a gym locker basket full of creeping jenny.

I do have fun looking for unusual ways to plant in containers and giving life to abandoned items. As the words on one of my favorite t shirts read "For the Love of Junk Rescue ~ Reuse ~ Recycle" 

Baby Cardinals

Last Monday, I discovered a nest of baby cardinals in the bushes right beside the gazebo. In fact, as I watered plants, I could look over the gazebo rail and see them. You may remember my Cardinals and Grandmama story from the winter. All year, I've been working on a "For The Birds" theme and found something bird related on every junkin' trip leading up to our show last weekend. Sunday when I came home from the show, there was a different bird sitting on the gazebo rail as he was learning how to fly. Then on Monday, I found this nest. When the cardinals flew out of the bushes, I was able to identify what these ugly little things were! Today, one week after finding the nest, Jeff alerts me that my babies are leaving the nest. I was really surprised it was so soon, but according to my search, they are only in the nest 9-11 days before flying away. They have chirped all day as they cling to tree branches and get brave enough to flutter through the yard. The daddy cardinal has been coaxing them along a lot and give me a few ugly looks as I observed them. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the cardinals!

Monday - the day I discovered the babies.

Monday - wee little babies.

Friday afternoon - yikes!

Saturday evening - big difference in a day! 

Sunday evening - that nest is getting crowded.

Monday morning - Baby number 1 made his way to the Bridal Wreath in the yard. 

Monday morning - bird #2 left the nest

Monday morning baby 3

"What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?" - e.h.

 I finally got a picture of the red bird, although he wasn't too happy with me! (I've tried off and on since December to get his picture.)

 He would coax and call to the babies and bringing them food. I can't tell exactly what he has in his mouth. I left them alone and went back inside to work, expecting that they would be gone this afternoon.

Late this evening, I went outside to photograph some wedding bouquets I had finished today and heard lots of little chirping going on. They were still here! Bird 1 was sitting in the crepe myrtle in the center of the yard, eye height, and I was able to get lots of pictures of him. I could have reached out and grabbed him up easily, instead, I just took lots more pictures and a video of him. 

 I mean, they are so ugly they're cute!

 Those toes, that fuzz! I shot some of these in macro, about a foot away from him!

 Birdy #2 was in another bush in the yard, but I never found the last one. I think he was in the trees beyond the yard fence.

 I'm glad my yard can be a place for the birds to live. I don't buy feed for them, but our yard and surroundings provide for them and I sure like getting to witness their journey as they find their wings and fly away (or maybe they will all stay here!)

Now, I'm an empty nester...

Recap of The Backwood's Marketplace

Gypsy Farm Girl + Rooster Tails = The Gypsy Rooster! 

Meet our funky Gypsy Rooster mascot, created from a late night sewing spree and lots of fabric scraps! He welcomed guest at one entrance into our booth at the recent Backwood's Marketplace. 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous for this show! We were able to set up early and didn't have to worry about the wind or rain disrupting our plans and for that we are thankful.

This show, we added live plants and some scrap art. I collected the seeds (bundt pans and door knobs), planted the ideas with Jeff, and he fertilized (welded) them and all of a sudden these fun flowers sprung up the day before market! I love how they turned out and they got lots of comments, although some thought it was a waste of a good bundt pan and others said "who would have thought of that?" Ummm, me! :)

I had this bike, that we named the flower peddler and promised a video of me riding it Sunday morning, before the market opened. 

Here's one of the video's of me riding down the dirt road at market! (There's also a live video available on facebook of us walking through our booth and a final bike ride, before it went off to its new home.) Apparently, everyone was worried about me crashing, but I didn't! :)

Since the market, I have been adding lots of new inventory to my shop, so if you couldn't make it out to the market, I can ship to you!

Here's a partial view inside my tent.

The gazebo was part of the property and we were ask to include it within our layout and include some decor around it for picture taking. 

The market coincided with the history gathering and I had some of my vintage church paintings available.

Angea's Farmhouse sign. I had fun creating these truck and camper tin signs / wall hangings from scrap tin. I love my cutting tool that I found to cut the metal. (The truck sold. but the glampers are available.)

Miss Gussie - she loves going to markets and letting everyone peek inside her. She loves all their sweet comments and the super excited squeals from a few!

Looking out from the camper door.

 Almost all of the tin bird flew away to new homes!

Here's a view of all our space! We kind of had a lot of stuff, between the two of us!

 A great big THANK YOU to everyone who came junkin' with us! We appreciate everybody who stopped by our booth to shop and visit. We love getting to see all of you! Also, thank you to the Blackstone Family for letting us be apart of this market. If you were unable to attend, but see something you like or something you wished you had got while you were there, please check in my shop as I am adding new inventory or send me a message. (clothing hasn't been added yet, but hopefully this week I can get it photographed and listed.)

Not all who wander are lost... happy trails till our paths cross again.