Spray Painting Trash Into Treasure

Several months ago I picked out of the trash from the alleys around here a little round wooden table and a plant holder. I've been hanging on to them and nearly threw them back out again (nope, I'm not one of them TV hoarders!) except I got some pink spray paint recently on sale ($2 a can!) and just knew what to do with it. After a quick wipe down, over about three days I spray painted these items outside with about three coats of paint, letting them dry overnight.  I put these items out on my front porch to join the other colorful chairs and plants there.  I'm quite happy about this recycle-reuse activity as I really did need a little table on the porch for cups of tea and cookies and that plant really did need someplace to belong other than the floor. That's the trick to not being a hoarder, you just have to do something with it right away! 

You Know Summer's Nearly Here When You Can Make Sun Tea Fast

Although it rained today, last week I was able to make sun tea on the back porch just by leaving a tea ball filled with tea leaves in the water in a glass jar for about an hour or so. I really don't know if this way of making tea is "better" than the usual boil-the-water and soak-the-tea for three minutes method but it certainly is a great way to watch the sun and the garden grow while you're sitting on the deck enjoying the spring.  If you look closely at my photo here you will see that the tea ball is stainless steel and in the shape of a little teapot!  The tea tasted good too!

Geraniums in February!

It's no secret that I bring indoors all my porch and deck flowering plants every winter. The trick is to keep them alive with enough light and not too much water until I can put them back outside again, usually in early April, when there's no danger of snow. I usually lose at least one plant during the cold season due to not enough light or I over-water and it rots or I forgot to water and it dries out.  This year, I'm doing okay with two potted plants on the radiator in the upstairs den (hubster's man cave), the jade in the downstairs bathroom, two poinsettas in the living room window, and a petunia in the kitchen window.  Everything else is on the basement kitchen counter that has a big window where I've added some plant lights focused on them (with timers).  There's a coleus, another jade, some purple ivy that I don't know the name of and a large pot into which I crammed about three geranium plants in November when I brought them all in.  In fact, this group of pots is doing so well that the geranium which bloomed throughout summer seems to think it's in California and has been putting out lots of lovely blooms!  So, it's February and I've got the loveliest pink geraniums, so I picked some and put them on my kitchen table. Such a delight to look at when there's snow outside!

Golden Marigolds and Sun Tea in November

The past month has been warm and sunny most of the time here in DC as we've had this lovely extended autumn. In fact I can hardly believe it's December. The marigolds just kept flowering, and a few times it was warm enough to make sun tea in a jar on the porch. In fact with Winter Solstice in three days it's hard to believe that the days will in fact start getting longer again! I'm not sure what to make of this except to be glad that I'm not falling down icy front steps, or losing umbrellas in rain storms or turning up the heat in the house.

Unexpected Snowfall in October in DC

snow on marigolds

snow the rose bush

soft snow flaking down

Recently we had an unexpected snowfall and I just had to run outside and snap some photos as it came flaking down on the back porch furniture and in the front garden. Snow on the roses! Snow on the marigolds! An amazing sight! Since then the weather has been a lot warmer but I think we are returning to the colder temperatures soon. So it is just as well that I brought indoors the plants that won't survive the cold.  I've crammed the geraniums, jade and ivies into the kitchens in my house, hoping they can survive on sunny window ledges.  I've also started a red amaryllis that is supposed to flower at Christmas time. It was a giant bulb and it's now -- two weeks later -- got some bright green shoots. 

Angels Hiding in Our Gardens

Passing a house near where I live recently I espied this little stone angel praying for growth in the garden perhaps, or maybe for us passersby to remember the source of all things? Then I saw two little angels sleeping on their sides on a back porch atop the handrails, dwarfed by the nearby plants. I bet there's even more of them hiding in the gardens around the neighborhood and I hope to stumble into them and photo them all sometime.

A Lovely July 4th

July 4th this year was a Sunday so it was a double delight day, not only the best day of the week but also a holiday. So everyone on the street put out their flags and you could smell barbecues going and hear party music. We had dinner of sausages and kasha salad and lime jello with raspberries on the front porch and then about 9 pm we all went out on the front steps and set off some fireworks. We had a few rockets and roman candles and showering banging snapping flashing things and it was a good time. The kids next door watched and dared themselves to hold a few of the sparklers we had. Not only could we hear the thundering boom of the national fireworks display on the Mall but also all around were the rockets red and green and white glare as the neighbors on adjacent streets set off their fireworks. After cake and ice cream we went to bed very satisfied with an excellent celebration day, thanks be to God!

Watching the Gardening Flower

On Sunday mornings I usually have an hour or so to relax since we usually go to Church at 5 p.m. and this morning was no different. I sipped my coffee and watched my garden grow from the front porch and it was just a delight. The new rose bush has the brightest crimson flowers, the pink crepe myrtle is about to peak with its frothy fronds, the roses of Sharon are blazing away, the little red gold marigolds are starting up and even a few day lilies are still hanging about. An interesting smoky dark blue bird, slightly larger than a sparrow, hopped along the neighbor's fence with something wriggly in his beak, catching my eye due to his (her?) lovely color. There was an amazing breeze that swept into the tree across the street making the leaves rustle and rattle and making me think of rivers and trees. Feeling energized, I watered every plant that called out to me, "Me thirsty!" and then transplanted a few seedlings into bigger spaces so they could grow better, taking care to make sure I didn't rip my back out again. But it was glorious and sunny and stayed that way all day even when I went inside and cooked Sunday dinner.

Sounds & Sights of the City at Solstice

You'd think things would have quieted down about 8:30 pm on this summer solstice eve but I just sat down on the porch and listened to a loud assortment of sounds. This is the front porch on this glorious evening in the city. Firstly, there's the dull roar of the NORAD planes up there in the sky over Washington DC doing some drills. Now a helicopter makes its blade-noisy way over to the nearest hospital. A motorcycle just roared by, slowed down by the Fedex truck groaning along looking for the right house. A bunch of birds are tweeting somewhere and a bunch of others are making coo coo noises while a few seem to be cawing and squeaking conversations about the street's residents. They're probably sated from the large assortment of bugs flitting about annoying us humans. Then there's two batches of cicadas grinding and clattering away in chorus at either end of the street. It's always hard to tell which tree they are in or where they are located but they usually all stop at the same time. Quite mysterious. Somewhere in the distance a siren goes off, perhaps it's police or an ambulance and one wonders momentarily what the disaster is, and then, martini in hand, I just forget about it as I'm distracted by some fireflies lighting up the myrtle. And with every breeze -- and there's more than a few -- wind chimes on people's porches are jingling and dingling in the erratic breezes sending soft tinkles out. Closer to where I'm sitting on the porch is the roar of my electric fan -- set up to blow away any flies or mosquitoes that dare trespass in my personal space. Some neighbors have someone banging on their door and the dogs are barking, not recognizing it's the owner's sister visiting. Every once in a while a car does it double toot as the driver locks it up automatically and double clicks the key. A porch door slams tinnily as someone goes out to work the night shift. I can even hear the noise of the TV as someone else watches the World Cup game tonight. Earlier, there were some little girls giggling on their way from the car to their house with their dad telling me how pleased he was that they made it through the first day of summer camp. Thank God for giggling little girls.