The past while I have been working on a new garden project.  To the south of my fairy garden was a spot that wouldn’t grow grass and just became overloaded with white pine needles.  I decided to turn it into a garden area last fall and began working on it.

I had torn the bricks from my old herb garden and wanted to do something with them.  I stole them from the State Bank of Davis after it was built.  They had discarded a lot of unused bricks, some whole and some broken in half.  I took the whole bricks to the south west side of the house and made several planters out of them.

I have since filled the planters with Japanese iris, Blackberry Lilies, my transferred Japanese fern, a transplanted Bleeding Heart and I purchased a delphinium last week to go in also.

Two weeks ago, I laid down newspapers and covered them with weed barrier.  I hoped to kill most of the weeds that were still growing.  This week I got brown mulch and filled the garden bed.  Yesterday I purchased gold mulch and filled the pathways.  Ta da -- a new garden.

I have to finish spreading the gold mulch today in the upper flower bed.  And then, I have to put in some time weeding and getting rid of some irritating plants that are trying to take over.  Anyone out there looking for some daisies?  They must be thinned.

My hollyhocks are looking so beautiful in my flower garden, thank you very much Noeha Garard.

The dog is growing and is a happy camper.

Life is good.

Peace be with you.

I had a pleasant surprise this past weekend.  I was watering the plants at the front gate when someone pulled up beside me and said, “Hello Wilma.”  I turned to see who it was and to my surprise it was one of my best friend’s, son and his wife. Jay and Katie were out visiting the old neighborhood and wanted to stop by.  I told them to give me an hour to get to the grocery and back and I would love for them to visit.

We had a pleasant visit.  Katie is pregnant and she and Jay caught me up on all the details. They invited me to join them for breakfast on Saturday.  We met at Rowe’s A Frame in Durand.  I had biscuits and gravy with a fried egg on top.  It was very good.

Later that day, Jay and Katie came back to the house to help me transplant a Norfolk Island Pine that lives in my solarium and is about 12 feet tall.  Neighbor, Jeff Scaduto, joined in the replanting and after struggling for some time we finally got the plant out of its old pot and into a new one with more room for it to grow.  And it took all three men and myself to get the thing done.  Thanks to Jay, Jeff, and the hubster.

Afterward the hubster and I repotted my Phyllodendron bipinnafidatum which is also a huge plant.  We had to cut it out of its old pot to get it into a new one. It has had a baby and is starting to grow another one. If there is anyone out there who would be willing to take on a monstrosity of a plant, I have one.

It finally rained last night and the garden is looking good.  Snow peas for dinner again tonight.

Peace be with you.