Category: Odds and Ends

I really haven’t made or done anything new since I completed my broken shovel waterfall. I have a couple projects I’m working on right now, but they’re both multi-step projects and I’ve spent a lot of time waiting for stuff to either dry or cure. Unfortunately I have a busy week coming up so they probably won’t be finished or on the blog this week. There’s always next week though!

One of my projects involved first carving SM Blue foam. What a mess that makes! It’s pretty easy to shape, I mostly sanded it to the shape I wanted, but there was foam and dust everywhere.

Once I had my shapes, I needed to make molds of them. I used a tip seen on Made by Barb to mix silicon and corn starch. Honestly, when she says it smells strongly of vinegar, she’s not exaggerating. We’re talking about a vinegar smell that slaps you right in the face! She makes some really cool stuff though so go check her out.

Learn something new…

Okay this may not be new to you, but it was very new to me. My ex-husband is a plumber and whenever he did any caulking, he always spit on his finger and then used it to smooth the caulking.

I have never in my life had enough saliva in my mouth to even spit much less smooth caulking with it. So there are tools you can buy that will smooth it for you but sometimes the tools won’t fit where the caulking needs to be smoothed. I’ve tried using just water, but water is not saliva and on it’s own doesn’t work. But then I saw this recipe for making silicone molds that uses dish soap and the light bulb went on.

If you add some dish soap – any dish soap people, there’s nothing magical about blue dawn – it adds enough slip that you can dip your fingers in the soap water and smooth the caulking without the silicone sticking to your fingers.

Failure is still an option…

One of the things I most dislike about multi-step projects is that completing any of the steps successfully doesn’t guarantee the final project will work. So I carved my shapes and they came out beautifully, just like I wanted. I’ve made my molds, and they worked in spite of some kinks and the frustration of trying to work on something fiddly with flies biting and neighborhood dogs barking. What I wouldn’t give for a garage!

Biting Flies

On the topic of flies biting – they are horrible this year. We’ve never had them so bad. But I found these disposable fly traps at TSC Stores and they work. They stink – like rancid grease – but they work. The included bait even draws in those gnats that are always hanging out around the dogs butts so I call that a win. It seems to be helping, I have two in my yard. They’re supposed to be good for 30 days so we’ll see how it goes.

Have a happy Sunday and hopefully in another week I’ll have a successful project to share.

At one time it used to be my job to manage orders for pot mum growers. Back then, hot weather could be counted on to bring on calls from growers hoping to cancel or delay orders. The heat would cause a delay in blooming, and the grower wouldn’t be able to ship his pot mum in the scheduled week. Then his benches would get a bit crowded so he would try to delay the next order of cuttings. It may not be the correct name for it, but we always called it heat stall.

Certain flowers are well known for not flowering when the temps climb too high – bacopa is always the biggest offender in my mind but there are others. Certain vegetables won’t set flowers or fruit if the weather is too hot also. Then there are others who seem to thrive as the temps climb.

I’m the type to stall a bit when the temps get too hot, so I haven’t really worked on anything new and exciting this week. Outdoors seemed to hot to move and indoors the constant noise of fans and air conditioners wears at me.

But the siding is clean and there’s always a good book to read so the week hasn’t been a wash in my mind. Even in the heat, my deck is well shaded and usually bearable to sit outside.

What’s blooming?

Hosta ‘Cadet Blue’ is still putting on a show. It’s a spreader, so anyone starting with one of them will eventually have many of them. It flowers as prolifically as it spreads with pretty lavender flowers.

New to me, Lobelia Cardinalis is flowering as well. A native plant that likes a damp location, I planted it for the hummingbirds.

I haven’t seen them feeding from the lobelia yet but I have seen them visiting the Salvia before heading to the feeders.

Zinnia are flowering but not really putting on much of a show yet. Last year I had them in planters and they seemed too gangly, so this year they’re in the ground and seem too short. I have to remind myself there’s still a lot of summer left and they’ll most likely put on the show I want from them eventually.

Plenty of summer left to go

I have a tendency to feel as if the season is over once we’re into July. Probably an occupational hazard because my job has me thinking of next spring already.

While weeding one of my gardens, I found these little seedlings. If they make it through until next spring it will be interesting to see what they wind up as. They don’t look like they’ll be anything special at the moment, but they could end up blue like the Blue Cadet. Time will tell.

How is the weather where you’re at? Hot and stifling or just right? Have you got heat stall in your gardens or your own energy or do you just keep motoring along?

We’ve been knocking off some of the more tedious chores the past two or three weekends. Things like cleaning out the shed (my boys), cleaning the eaves troughs (me) and washing siding (also me).

All that is left for the siding is the front of the house and deck. Then it’s bye-bye swag of yuck. Fish flies seem to be done in my area, even if they’re still going strong elsewhere – like this ball game that had to be called because of fish flies – Windsor ball game called on account of fish flies

Yesterday I scrubbed down all the outdoor furniture – I’ll move it back once the front of the house is respectable again. This is actually where I hope to someday move my patio so I can sit with my coffee in the morning and admire my gardens. Maybe watch some hummingbirds and orioles at the feeders.

Right now it’s off the deck and just isn’t working. First because it wasn’t installed properly – it should have had a bed of sand underneath to level it out. Second, because of the location. It should be a path there to elsewhere rather than a destination.

Ho

What’s blooming?

Hosta ‘Blue Cadet’ is in flower and doing it gloriously. Blue Cadet is a spreader so even in my relatively young gardens, there’s quite a bit of it. As you can see, it is generous with the flowers too.

This is another one of my planters that is finally all in bloom. Other than the Angelonia it is entirely PW varieties. Salvia ‘Rockin’ Fuchsia’, Penta ‘Sunstar Pink’, Supertunia ‘Vista Paradise’, Calibrachoa ‘Superbells Compact Blue’ and ‘Superbells Blackcurrant Punch’. The Penta doesn’t really fit, but it had to go somewhere!

I hesitated to share this one because the color of the petunia doesn’t photograph accurately – at least not on my phone.  The petunia is Wave Lavender Sky Blue along with Angelonia ‘Serenita Rose’ and Calibrachoa ‘Kabloom Orange’. The Petunia is really more blue – almost fluorescent it’s so bright and the Calibrachoa is really a far more intense orange.

As expected the Calibracho in this planter has stopped blooming. There really isn’t enough sun for it here, but that’s why foliage is so important for shade gardens. I mean honestly, with all that color who needs flowers?

And then it rained…

We had a hard rain last weekend that really knocked around some of my plants.

The bleeding heart split down the middle and will need to be cut back. Thankfully I still have a few annuals I can stick in the gaping hole it will leave.

My hibiscus took a beating too. Hopefully next year I’ll remember to put a plant support around it. I think when they are planted in full-sun they can take a bit more wind and rain, but there’s no such thing as full-sun in my yard so it’s in part-sun and making do.

The Waterfall!

In case you somehow missed my bragging all week, I made the most awesome waterfall last weekend.

It’s made with broken shovel heads and honestly I love the thing. You can see how I made it here>>>Broken Shovel Waterfall – With No Welding!

Have a fabulous Sunday!

One of the worst parts of middle age is that I’m always awake early. No more sleeping until noon or even 8 o’clock for this chick. So every weekend I’m wide awake at 5 am ready to start my day. Then for the first 3 or 4 hours I’m awake I have to be quiet because it’s so early. Which sucks monkey balls because everything I’m eager to work on today involves power tools. Even chores I just want to get out of the way involve waiting for the rest of the world to wake up. Usually it’s the weekly grocery shopping, but I took care of that yesterday while it was raining.

A Turtle Update

Just look at this guy! He’s gorgeous. The best part about not using hens and chicks for his shell is there’s no waiting for them to fill in. Here he is just a month after planting and everything is lush and full – and flowering! I just adore the flowers on some of these dwarf Hosta, they have all the bloom of any hosta but it’s condensed into a tighter more compact sturdy form. If you missed the post showing how I made my turtle you can see it >>here<<

Hosta in Bloom!

I like the flowers on all hosta, so I was shocked to find out a couple of years ago some people cut the scapes off before they can bloom! Above is a close up of the bloom on Blue Mouse Ears.

Prairies Edge is flowering. I wasn’t sure if I liked this one when I first got it, but it adds a nice bright spot to the garden. You can see the stupid May Flies hanging out on some of the leaves. Some of the leaf damage might be from slugs, I suspect maple keys are the culprit for the two holes though.

Diamond Lake is also in bloom. The leaves on this one are more silvery than blue. Both Diamond Lake and Prairies Edge seem to have a more upright habit. It will be interesting to see how they look in a couple of years with some size on them. Both seem to like their new home in the back garden.

Mosquitoes are fierce this year

With so much rain this spring there is a lot of standing water around. Since mosquitoes can basically breed in a bottle cap, there are a lot of them this year! I’m just one giant mosquito bite at this point. Our backyard has always been a haven for them because of all the shade and I’ve been back there a lot this year working on the new garden.

I know there are tons of “Plant This To Keep Mosquitoes Away” type articles out there. Personally I think every one of them is absolute hogwash. They all smell lovely, but mosquitoes don’t give a flying f*** about some lemony smelling citronella. So I rely on two things to make the mosquitoes bearable. DEET and an oscillating fan. An oscillating fan on the deck makes it possible to sit outside in the evening, and even keeps the flies away when they’re being miserable little jerks and chewing on ankles.

May Flies

I made a horrible mistake this week. One evening I went to sit outside and turned the outside lights on. I realized it was raining and went back in the house. I left the lights on! So now my house is absolutely covered in fish flies. It’s a bit soon to wash the siding – I don’t know if they are finished yet – but I suspect I’ll be looking after that chore one evening this week. I have swags of cobweb and dead fish flies hanging from the outside lights and it’s looks disgusting.

I used to use my power washer for that job, but it’s a cranky beast. Now I just use a scrub brush on an extension pole and a hose. I can have the house entire house clean in the time I would normally have spent fighting with the power washer and sulking. My favorite detergent for the flashing and eaves troughs is Mean Green Cleaner. I don’t know if the green refers to the color or that it is environmental, but it does a wicked job of getting the white flashing clean.

And that’s it! Finally it’s almost late enough to start working outside. Have a great Sunday!

The fourth plague has arrived, my windows are covered in may flies, or fish flies or whatever you call them where you’re at. You can see one of them hanging out on this Lily. I’m fortunate to not live near any street lights which usually have piles of them underneath. Storefronts and gas stations, any place that has to have overnight lighting will all reek of them for the next couple of weeks.

For me, it means I will get to wash my siding in a week or two. Blech!

Almost finished planting

My hands are in such rough shape from gardening that I can’t unlock my phone with the fingerprint reader, but I only have a half a flat of pink begonia to plant and some other odds and ends. Mainly petunia which are a hard thing in my yard because petunia like the sun and the best I have to offer is part-sun. I need to turf the snapdragons so maybe I’ll plant the petunia in their place. This was my first year with snapdragons, I would definitely plant again for early season color. They lasted longer than the pansies, just now crapping out from the heat.

Astilbe is blooming – a plant worth keeping in mind for shade.

The lilies are flowering. They really don’t suit this spot all tall and gangly, but the flowers are pretty and there’s nowhere better to move them to so they get to stay.

This penstemon made it through the winter and flowered. Another plant that really doesn’t fit it’s spot. I’m almost afraid to move it – when you’re skating on the edge of a plant’s requirements already moving it is risky. The hosta in front is ‘Grand Slam’. It’s the latest blooming hosta I own and a favorite. Plain Jane green leaves with a ruffled edge, but it has a really tidy habit and the leaves are thick.

The back garden is coming along nicely. I added a Day Lily – White Temptation. It’s a re-bloomer so we’ll see what the flowers look like. I moved some Heuchera into this bed, the Japanese maple was burying them where they were. I’ve also planted a flat of white begonia throughout. Once it establishes I’ll post an update.

The Hummingbird Garden

Achillea is flowering as well. I am calling this the ‘Hummingbird Garden’ because it is planted with them in mind.

The vegetable garden is planted. Tomatoes, jalapenos and poblanos are in the raised bed. Zucchini is in the ground under the bamboo stakes. The stakes are just so the dogs know not to step on the seedlings. The bird bath is just a glass bowl I found at Value Village plopped on a tomato cage. The birds seem to find it acceptable.

First nasturtium bloom! I dropped a few seeds in with the hibiscus while it was still inside, so they’ve had a head start. Nasturtium with their vivid reds, oranges and yellows are a favorite. These are from the jewel mix.

Other happenings

The weather turned hot and swampy so we put the air conditioners in this week. It’s supposed to be hot and humid for the entire Canada Day weekend.

On Thursday I was all set to change the oil in my car, but my hydraulic jack wasn’t working. After some time on Google and YouTube, I figured out the problem. It’s fixed now, but I’ll share what was wrong in case someone else didn’t know this.

With a hydraulic jack, to let the vehicle down you turn a little valve. So what I didn’t know is it is very important to close that valve once you’ve let the jack down. If it is left open, they hydraulic fluid will leak out and your jack won’t work anymore. I replaced the fluid and finished the oil change on Friday.

I’m also working on rehabbing an old bicycle since mine was stolen from the driveway last fall. It was the first time ever that the Canadian Tire website let me down. I needed a new chain and both locations near me indicated inventory on hand. Neither one had any. I am making progress though – the next hiccup is a badly warped rim, but I’ll figure something out. I’m going for functionally decrepit. I want it to look crappy enough it doesn’t tempt anyone to steal it but work well enough to ride. It’s orange and purple so it will be distinctive!

So that is what I am up to. What are you guys up to this Canada Day weekend for my fellow Canadians and Sunday for everyone else?