Tuesday Treasure #20 - The Bench

Move day was yesterday.  Today I'm back at the house cleaning for the new owners in preparation for their walkthrough before settlement.  Here's a look back at an old post with special memories.

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This post first appeared in December 2008.  My Mom was still alive and a widow for just one year.  The post was written just before her 90th birthday.  She lived until almost her 95th birthday.

Joining Tuesday Treasure.

The Bench

(December 5, 2008)

Almost two years ago Dan and I took a woodworking course. It was a lot of fun and I made some nice things. Afterward I helped Dan make tables for our shop. I also promised Emily a deacon's bench for her house. That was the summer of 2007. She found plans for me, I purchased them, and then filed them away.

Last summer Dan encouraged me to take the plans out and order the wood. We bought some very nice oak instead of the pine it called for. In reading through the plans we both realized I had not done enough woodworking to tackle the project on my own so I gratefully became the assistant to him.

We presented the bench to Emily and Matt at Thanksgiving and they took it home in their car.


It is a very special present because it was made by us and it was hand-painted by my mom, Emily's grandmother, who will be 90 years old on Sunday.


Before we did the final finishing of the bench, we repaired, sanded and refinished an oak antique table I had purchased for use on the porch. We realized it had been made by someone from pieces of wood they had around and we wondered about its history. So no one would wonder about the history of the bench 50, 75, or 100+ years from now we burned on the bottom who it was made for, when, and by whom plus we added who did the painting. (Sorry we didn't take a picture of that part.) We know it will be an antique for someone, hopefully a descendant of this family, one day.

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2016 Footnote:  The bench still resides at Emily and Matt's home in New Hampshire.  I have a lovely photo of my granddaughter sitting on it.

The referenced antique oak table has gone to ReStore for someone else to use.

Tuesday Treasure #19 - A Posting in Four Parts

The big move day is getting closer - six days away.  As I count down to that I have been reflecting back on our time at this house by posting old blogs.  

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This one first appeared in May 2011.  I made a lot of changes in the garden from 2011 to present.  It's interesting to look back to see how it once looked and compare.

Linking to Tuesday Treasure.

A Posting in Four Parts

(May 3, 2011)

PART ONE - "GONE FISHIN'"

That's the sign the heron left on its nest this morning. I startled it as I walked through the perennial garden taking photos at 10 am. It must have been perched on my roof

and when I walked by it flapped it huge wings and took off. I tried to see if it landed on the north side of the house but it wasn't there. Then I thought of the goldfish in my pond.

Here are some of the goldfish some days ago.


I think I had between 25 and 30 of various sizes. Some of them were 5 years old and 6 inches long. I got them as 29 cent feeder goldfish. Notice I used past tense. Yep! No sign of them. This afternoon I did spot this tiny one but nothing else there.


The heron didn't fish for frogs or tadpoles. I'm sure the goldfish made it easy because they were probably attracted to those pinkish orange legs and all it had to do was keep snatching them up.


Goodbye goldfish. You'll be missed.

PART TWO - "I Don't Know, Honey If This is the Right House for Us."



The bluebirds have been in and out of the bluebird box today. I thought finally they're building a nest and so I took a peek. Nope, no nest. They can't make up their mind which house to use since I put up two more. They will miss their chance because the chickadees have moved into one already.

PART THREE - Faces in the Garden

The glen garden

A wooden rabbit - its really just a piece of scrap cedar.

The perennial garden looking east.

PART FOUR - The Pile is Gone!

I moved the last of the mulch today finishing the paths in the perennial garden, adding more around the new junipers on the north side and mulching the vegetable garden pathways. Glad to have that chore complete.

You can see the lavender showing green. I hope they fill out a lot more this year.

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2016 Footnote:  All those faces in the garden except the little girl angel statue are gone.  Sold in the auction!

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Tuesday Treasure #18 - Volunteers or The Benefits of Composting

As I prepare for the big move, I'm reflecting on my time at this house by looking back at popular blog posts.  I've scheduled one a week as I take a hiatus from blogging.

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This blog appeared in July 2009.  Another one of some popularity.  

Linking to Tuesday Treasure

Volunteers or The Benefits of Composting

(July 13, 2009)

As I wander through my garden I come across volunteer plants: tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, maybe even melons. I have to decide whether to pull them out or leave them to grow. In the case of the new day lilies I planted, the tomato seedlings had to go. There were 5 or 6 around each plant. Others that have sprouted in the perennial beds have been given a chance and I hope to harvest something from them.

Below is a butternut squash volunteer. It has two fruits on it.


As you can see below this volunteer appeared in my planter. I can't pull it out now.
This climbing volunteer was thought to be a cucumber. Since it was grasping on to my lily next door I put up the trellis for it to climb. I'm not so sure its a cucumber. It may be a melon.

This butternut is growing amongst the columbine and foxglove seedlings.

The final volunteer is not from compost but from birds or squirrels. This lovely sunflower appeared in my front bed. My bird feeder is on the other side of the house. It has just bloomed and is quite the attraction for the bees. Are they honey bees?

Tuesday Treasures #17 - Hostas

As I prepare for my big move at the end of the month I'm reflecting back on our time at this house by posting old blogs.  I've scheduled one a week as I take a hiatus from blogging.
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This one entitled "Hostas" was also popular in page views.  I don't know why.  It was first posted on June 1, 2011.

Linking to Tuesday Treasures

Hostas

Hostas come in many shapes, sizes and colors. I know they all have names but I haven't maintained that bit of information to accompany this blog entry. I'll let them speak for themselves.

"We are the oldest hosta on the premises, a gift from friends and planted under the study window before there ever was a glen garden."

"I'm one of the newest hostas - a blue one. I was also a gift from a friend just last spring 2010."

"I'm even newer. I arrived last fall in October. I'm going to grow very large: 4-5 ft tall. I"m called an Empress Yu. There are three of us now."

"Sorry I'm nameless. I've already divided myself into two plants but I'm too young to be physically divided."

"I'm from the grocery store. An impulse purchase but I've loved growing in the shade of the glen garden."

"Here I am with two others of the same variety - all from the grocery store."

"We are divisions from other hostas enjoying the glen habitat."

"I'm probably one of the most common hostas you see. And I love to grow."

"We have enjoyed the shade along the glen edge and have spread well. We are content to just be green."

"I'm one of the big leaved variety of hostas. I'm not at my full growth since I've been moved several times and divided each time. I'll get to my full height and width in the next couple of years if I'm just left alone."

"I'm related to the one above but for some reason I didn't inherit the darken edges to my leaves. I'm still growing too so let me be!"

"We are of the tiny variety of hosta with a nice yellow hue to the edge of our leaves. We can't remember where we came from but this glen garden is a wonderful home for us especially here on the edge."

"Didn't you see our parent plants in the first photo? We love to expand and multiply."

"Just let me spread my huge leaves. I'll take over this spot before too long and there won't be room for those durn annuals under me either."

"Hey big leaf! Stop crowding me! I think I need to be moved out so my yellow leaves are shown to their full effect. Hear that gardener?"

"Our yellow big leaves are better than those ones under us. We'd be glad to have them moved out some because we need room to expand. After all hostas take up to 5-6 years to reach maturity and we're almost at that age. Give us the room we say."

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2016 Footnote:  The hosta have taken a beating from voles.  Some have not returned for 2016.

Only the one on the left looks to be of the right size of these three.

And the bed below is sparse with hosta this year.

Compare that with this photo from June 2013.  I guess I'm glad I'm not here much longer to rue this damage to the bed of hosta.