Frog pond

Remember what my garden looked like at the beginning of the year?

Particularly this corner of the garden... it was a messy hodge-podge of stones, grasses, weeds and clumps of overcrowded iris bulbs everywhere...

Then, I started pulling it all out... cleaning, removing, sweating in the midst of winter, and such... that's when it occurred to me to build a little POND in remembrance of the one we had at the little white cottage.

I could not dig a hole as deep as I would had wanted it; nor hire some professionals to do the work at that time, I could not bring out electricity to include a pump either or ask anyone for help, but I did what I could, and I so love the end results!

First, I removed all weeds and grasses growing in that space.  I also removed all that jumble of irises that were growing there along with all that grass, then I made the hole as deep as I could and double covered it with some extra strong trash bags that I later reinforced using some big rocks I had previously collected while camping.  

I placed some of the rock around the bags/pond liner to support it and scattered the rest of the rocks around the little pond for a natural feel and look.  Three bags of river rocks from Lowes covered the emptied spaces between the larger rocks, and then I planted some groundcover (my favorite Creeping Jenny) around everything, and finally filled up the pond (or is it more like a reflecting pool?) with water.  

Elephant Ears are also growing there too to mimic that other pond of my yesterday.  They will be all out by the end of summer, which is the usual time they grow around here. The sprinklers made sure the little pond never goes dry and keep the water moving regularly.  Somehow, the water has kept free from algae and mosquitos.  I can’t tell how this is happening, but I’m not complaining either.

   

My little pond has been through a slow transformation all throughout our spring and summer—more rocks, more littler frog-friends, different kind of flowers surrounding it as seasons progress and the garden changes with the ritual of perennials coming and going—snowball viburnum, daylilies, Shasta daisies…  my little pond is now officially called “Frog Pond”, and I love it so much! 

My only regret is, not having used a real pond liner, like I'd have preferred.  Or better yet, one of those heavy-duty Density Polyethylene pond liner.  They won't rust, dent, crack or tear and their scalloped shelves can hold plants, rocks, etc.  The trash bags wasn't my idea, and it wasn't a good idea either.  But I guess I have the Fisherman to blame him for! Eventually, I will have to remove everything and replace the trash bags and start right again, as I should had from the beginning.  

By the time my Elephant Ears grow to a proper high, it will be time to take them out of the ground again for winter!  Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!  Buah!

I'm so loving it!

   

One day I will have a 'real' pond again, but in the mean time, I'm loving this one!  Now, let's see, what else can I come up with next? Oh I know!  This garden needs a cat!

Hope you're having a wonderful 4th of July, my friends!

The gypsies

Life is better when you imagine it dream it or daydream it just the way you want it be... and thus… the gypsy girl and her beau, the Fisherman, went up-up, higher up than ever before this time, searching for new places to just be… their gypsy caravan went along winding perilous roads, and on trails along the edge of the ravine of a wild river, until it vanished into the blue… or into the green, because that’s just how that part of the world where the gypsy caravan finally rested, looked like… green green green, everything was exuberantly green!  

Except for the clear dark blue lake down below the gypsy camp!

They set out camp among all the shrubbery and tall pines and were immediately swallowed up by Nature..

They felt so small and insignificant under the spell of that forest of Douglas fir and lodgepole pine, and so fortunate to be alive, and part of this amazing beautiful world!

Cold, pristine waters… tripping through sagebrush and talus fields on wobbly knees and ankles, spooked witless by grouse bursting out of the brush beneath their feet they went... until... the calmness and picture-perfect lake… and trouts!  Lots of trouts to fish!

At an elevation of 6,900 feet.

Thin air, low temperatures, exuberant green, rosy, wind bitten faces.

The gypsy girl and her Fisherman lover stayed up high for a little too long collecting rocks and fishing, and then made their way back down the steep face of the mountain in the stumbling dusky hours…  a nice fire for warmth, awesome food and delicious company...

A humble table for two...

A meal for two...

And inside the gypsy caravan dusky light sweet aroma... cozy nights.

Breakfast are the best when in the gypsy caravan!

The girly gypsy quarters are always my favorite... colorful, glamorous, bizarre, filled with all sorts of pretty things to enhance your imagination, and quite unlike that of the Fisherman, on the opposite side of the caravan!

I liked how very messy she let it be this time!

And how the last sun of the day, always-always make fancy designs on the roof just before nightfall!

They had a beautiful time… following the Son and His light throughout the day; and the moon to give them light to dance and play, to sing their songs of love and dance around the fire...  Oh, I hope you have enjoyed my little story!  Don’t be shy!  Come along and join our gypsy caravan!  We are heading for another mountain, for another land.  And would you like to come for a ride? We'll go so high. And if you've got the faith, we'll climb up to the sky… our wagon wheels keep rollin' on.  Our caravan keeps movin' on.  Through streams and over mountains, trough valleys and over the hills, through meadows and across the plains, while our wagon wheels keep rollin' on...

Love you all!

Succulents and the bohemians

Last month, my friend Christina surprised me with a terracotta pot of delightful little plants from her very own garden... all in a variety of fun colors, textures, and shapes! Enough to say I was immediately smitten!  I’m referring to succulents.

I decorated my first terracotta pot of succulents using some acrylic paint.  Not a perfect job, but I’m so loving it!

When before I didn’t even know they existed (or care for them), now I seem to see succulents everywhere in stores and nurseries.  Lowes, particularly, has quite the collection of beautiful planters filled with them… they are all beautiful, all have different designs and textures in stems and leaves, and they look awesome in whatever pot you chose to put them in.

Last week, I decided to make myself a few more pots of succulents. I spent a few hours at Lowes deciding on which arrangement I wanted to bring home, but they are cheaper if you buy the pots separately and plant them yourself... so that's what I did!

I’m sure I will be making more succulent pots in the coming months; particularly during our plant-less winter months. And I already know exactly where they should go, once they'll be brought in for winter... on my little vintage bookcase under the window in my gypsy room!

This cute bookcase has quite the story!  I first discovered it at one of our local thrift stores many months ago.  I could tell it was the creation of some artistic soul out there—unique, and kind of vintage looking. I felt in love with it immediately, but my minimalist soul insisted I didn't need it, and thus, I left it.  But you know how it goes... I went home wishing I had bought it, unfortunately, when I went back looking for it, it was already gone.  What an astounding surprise it was seeing it again some months later at the same store!  Someone must had bought it and then brought it back again I guess, and this time, I didn't even have to think twice before snatching off the tag and claiming it mine.  It was mean to be mine, I'm sure!

So this bookcase will be my plant station under the eastern windows this winter... there, where our precious winter sun warms the house the strongest around 5:00pm... right now, it is holding quite the assortment of things...

I can already foresee my succulents sitting here...

Super cute, don't you think so!

For some strange reason, succulents speak to my bohemian heart like no other plant.  So what better place to put them around the house than in my bohemian room?  

Do you love succulents?