SUMMER SLOSHING 3

That takes us up to summer 2014 - June. Before tackling the read n relax room that I intended to fix up, I did a few other chores - pond maintenance, my favorite chore of reordering the pantry, and sorting through another two bags of junk in what will become the spare room. I also turned out the wine closet...

I began to use the garden in my salads again, as you can see from the above shot of what became of half of a pink rose. The front yard gets more bees and butterflies visiting than royalty or pompous garden snobs, so I have let it go wild. I trim the brambles and ivy and some of the holly, but let everything else grow - weeds and all. I may not be popular with some of the 'fancy garden' neighbors or the council, but the creatures love the sancturay. Here are some photos of the beautiful flowers - weeds and 'real' ones...

up the garden path....

...and a view of the entire front yard...

SPRING CLEANING 30

Here you can see summer about to burst into spring and steal away attention in the form of the large old rose bush in the front yard. Rose petals being edible, either as salad adornment or to create cordial, I usually await their fading and then grab a handfull.

Many people might feel that my front yard is a mess, a disaster, ugly, in need of attention, or some such attitude. Personally, I like the wildness; an array of plants and weeds that attract bees. With the shortage of naturally grown plants for the bees these days, I feel it more important to provide them plenty of options than to make the front yard look like a show garden. It isn't a show garden, after all, but a house garden and therefore entitled to be a wild mess!!

These shots show the 'mess' of aquilegias, fuschias, rose, yellow poppy, weeds, azalea, and more. My current plan is to snip brambles and excess hedging and throw the cuttings into the center of the yard. What grows, grows....

As summer approaches, I am faced my more indoor work. The read n relax room is a total mess. Unlike the front yard, I intend to fix this mess. Shaking out the linoleum mats, sweeping and washing the floor, removing some of the used paint tins to the shed, and recleaning the walls are top of the list.

Eventually, I plan to remove the little needlecraft table with the antique box on top and replace it with my bookshelf from my bedroom. I intend to lay the last large piece of linoleum onto the main floor area and replace the little footstools with a futon, small sofa, or possibly a furry rug and bean bags.