My Garden Chair Tranformation

Because of my back pain when I work in the garden I set in a chair to weed.  This helps with the stress on my back. When I first started working in the garden in 2012 I used the lawn chair that went with the set that management furnished for the garden.  They had two chairs and a double chair. here is a picture of them.

In 2013 I noticed that the straps were starting to break and asked management if they were to throw them out that my sister knew how to fix them and if I could have them.  So they said that I could have them to just put my name on them. I did this and moved them over to where my garden area was.

As you can see some of the straps are starting to come off on the front chair.  This is the chair that I set in. I got  the two umbrellas at a garage sale one that goes in the ground and the other attaches to the back of the chair. Well this worked for another year and I got slothful and got the pattern from my sister to re due them but kept putting it off to re due them.  Well in 2015 I had a fall out with management and they changed their mine of what they told me.  They said they only gave me one chair and took the other chair and threw it away and the double chair put it back for everyone in the garden to use. I had no proof to what they previously told me so what could I do.  I really liked these chairs because they have a strong metal base to them and hold  a lot of weight and do not sink into the ground when weeding in the garden.  I was very upset to loose the other two.  So I decides I better refinish the one chair before they change their mine on this one so here is what I did with it.

A good friend of mine Greg Grieves had a man at his shop fix a break and put some new flat feet on the bottom of the legs to help it to stay on top of the ground. Before I started I cleaned and repainted the metal on the chair with white paint. I choose a dark maroon background yarn for the base then weaved white from side to side connecting it with a crochet stitch at the start and end of each row.

Starting to weave a row along the top of the chair

 working my way down the back of chair.

All done. It looks like a brand new chair right from the factory now.  It cost me $20 for the yarn and a weeks worth of time and lots and lots of frustration.  I almost gave up.  I will never want to do another one so this one better LAST FOREVER! If I have to do another one I have my sisters (Pam's) phone number and will be speed dialing it in a flash.  So let me know what do you think of my project?

Birdhouse Project 3014

This is a super cool project I did when my sister Pam came over for a few days for a visit.We made birdhouses from discarded styrofoam coolers.  This is the one that my sister Pam made.

 

This is my birdhouse.  It started with a small rectangle styrofoam cooler that someone here had their meds delivered in. The size of the container was around 6 x 10. The final finished size of my birdhouse was 11inches sides x 14 inches front x 19 inches tall. We inserted two poles on top of container at center front and back with a notch to hold a pole along the width (looked like a goal post sideways). This gave us the top pitch to our roof to lean our sticks on.  We went around our yards and collected things to use such as small twigs, acorns, pine cones, bark, bark with moss on it, and stones, We also purchased from the store some fake leaves, moss and some dried stasis.  We painted the white styrofoam cooler black and made a few holes on the side to vent for air and glued the top shut. Also made a small hole for the door. I choose to use an old metal fork for my perch at the door.  Then we just went wild and created whatever we wanted.

One side view.

back  view

 other side view

Later my friend Jan came over and this is the one that she made. See how they were all different but all so special.  I have not put mine out side yet but before I do I am going to coat it with a sealer. I had several extra containers and Pam took them home to use for her "Crafty Thursday" craft day with her group of girlfriends.  Pam told me that her daughter Caly made one and put it out in the garden and one day during a storm it blew over. I am not sure but I think it broke.  So her suggestion was that before you put it together take and screw it to a heavy wooden base that can be secured down to eliminate this problem. So this just gives you and outside the box thinking of what to do with someone else's trash.  So for all of you that come to my house and say that I am a hoarder stop it because it all has a special purpose in its special time.

So another fun thing that I do with my extra time.  I love to create and this was a very fun project but even more fun when it was shared with two special people in my life.  Let me know what you think.

2015 Garden and Flowers

So now here we are in 2015 and time for a new garden.  Below you well see all that I planted this year and all the new flowers that I added to my flower beds.

Black Raspberries in the spring.

Later the same black raspberries in mid-summer before I weeded. I never got any berries this year because I was clipping them at the wrong time.  My friend in the garden Russell told me just leave them alone for a few years and you will get some berries.  So we will see what happens next year.

Here is my "Dino Egg" again! I just love it.  It is a focal point in my garden and so many people stop and comment on it. Great conversation starter.

Here is a better view of my rock in comparison in size to my chair and wheelbarrow.

My marigolds are growing so big that my zoo animals almost disappear.  I collect the seed from the flowers and save it to plant my flowers for the next year.

My new metal art for the season.  I purchased this at our Saranac "Ladies Night Out" craft sale. They block off the main street and venders set up craft booths.  The stores have discounts and craft booths inside them and all along the streets. We are just a very small town and main street is just a few blocks long but they pack a lot of crafts into it. You get a card in the beginning and when you go to the different booth to get it punched.  Then when it is full you turn it in for a drawing.  I won a $75 Pamper Chef stoneware pot.  I always look forward to it every year.  This metal work was purchased from a local man for $35.  I think it is a fly. It is made out of different discarded metal objects.

Here it is in my garden.

Could not resist this shot of a bee doing its job on a marigold plant. We sure do need those bees in the garden and we had plenty of them this year.

This is a new addition this year it is called a butterfly plant.  It will get long tiny purple cluster flowers that grow in a long stick like a hotdog.  If you look really close you can see one at the top of the plant. Very pretty and suppose to attract butterflies.

My "Garden Lady" had a baby.  This is a smaller metal peacock with jewel beads (about two feet tall ) to go along with the larger on that I got last year.  It is setting alongside the miniature glads.

Here is a clearer picture of my angle cow statue.

I did not plant these Hydrangea plants they were there already before I made the flower bed but come up every year.  One part is white and the other half is pink. The petal on the flower is huge.

I do not know the name of this flower I had it at one time but lost it.  I added a lot of new flowers to my beds this year thanks to a neighbor friend Cheryl who gave me tons of new flowers.  I tried to keep up with the names but got them mixed up.  So if any of you know what they are called please let me know so I can give them their proper title. I just love the beautiful purple color.

I always loved fern plants and finals got some.  I just love the beautiful shape of them.

I looked and looked for just the right birdbath and I think I found it. It was a little pricey but I love it.  It is made of glass with a separate metal base that folds up.

 These are two different yellow flowers.  I do not know the name of either do you?

This is a new bush I think it is called "Boxfire" but not sure have to check it out.  I got it from our Lady's Club Garden sale. I will have to check with them to get the name.

Tiger Lily

White and light purple lilies

My new pink and maroon lilies.  These are my favorite of all the lilies because they are two of my favorite colors.  It took a couple of years for them to bloom but they were worth the wait.

I think the yellow flowers on the left are Black Eye Susan's but not sure what the pink flowers are can you name them for me?

This was a really pretty group of flowers.  Again I do not know what they were called but they lasted all summer and were a variety of colors.

Morning Glories

There are several different flowers here but the only one that I can remember is the center one (orange and yellow) they are called Indian Blankets  and behind it is a Rose Bush.  Then on the far right is a orange Mum.

Purple and White Glad

This is a new flower pot that I added to the garden next to my grape arbor. Someone had discarded it in the trash and I recycled it for my garden since I cannot have plants inside because my cat Henry would eat them.  I have Geraniums planted in them.

This is a picture of the front flower bed before I added all the new flowers to it.

Side flower bed. A Peony bush bottom center then next to it is a rose bush and in the middle of the picture are some Tiger Lilies. That is my garden spot on the other side of the fence, another flowerbed and herb garden.

Inside front flower bed with nice shot of the Hydrangea's  and in the center is a Rose bush. At the top is the gate where you go into the garden there is another gate over by my side of the garden.  The whole garden is surrounded by fence and all the gardeners have a key to get in.  We have a shared little shed to keep garden tools in.  I think the total size of the fenced in area is 100 x 140 feet.

Outside front flower bed after planting all the new flowers. There are Daisy's  along the bottom followed by various other flowers and my new plastic flamingo's. Along with the new fencing that I put up all along the outside of both sides.  The front side is 70 feet and the outside left side flowerbed is another 70 feet.  I also have flower beds on the inside 70 foot along the front and 30 foot on the side and 40 feet of herbs, grape harbor and rhubarb patch.The reason I am showing you all of these flowers is that later in the year our manager of our apartment building had a tiff with me and to get even told me that I had to remove all of the outside flowerbeds.  This is what she would rather see in their place.

 Here is what the outside of the en-fenced garden spot looked like on a regular basis, full of weeds.  I told her what was wrong with the flowers they only improved  the look of the place.  Her reply was that if they let me do it then everyone else would want to do it.  I said so what.  I have at least four people a day stop by and tell me how beautiful my flowers are and how they enjoy looking at them.  She had no answer to that just told me I had to remove them.

Which would you choose?  After removing them the following year I lost over 2/3 of them and they did not come back up.  I was so mad. Oh well I guess I have to look on the bright side at least I got to keep the flowers on the inside and was still able to keep gardening!  Sometimes people can be so hard to work with that is why I enjoy working in the garden you get to get away from all the hassle.

Finally lets get to the veggies.  On the right are a long two rows of white onions over 500. In the center are leaks and bunching onions around 300.  Then on the far left are my row of regular tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.  I had a 40 x 70 foot garden this year.

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato.  They are the sweetest and best tomatoes I would never plant another kind.

Glamour Tomato Plant. I really like these tomatoes because the grow so round and have no blemishes on them.  They are so perfect not to dry inside and not to much juice.
 

My row of mixed tomatoes.  I planted some Heritage purple tomatoes (which I did not like and would not plant again and were hard to tell when ripe), Roma, Glamour and Sweet 100 cherry.  I had a total of 24 plants.

Fall Harvest.  Nothing like fresh veggies.tomatoes, muskmelon and white onions.

This is a fall shot of my hallapino peppers in the front left of picture.   I only had four plants but had a very good yield this year. To the left of them behind the fencing is my chives and oregano herb garden. At the top left is my grape arbor and some marigolds along the back.

My grapes.  They did not do too good this year but at least I got some.  I got 5 whole bunches but they dried up before they turned, bummer.

Finally could not end without a picture of my rock and zoo animals and all the pretty marigolds I planted around it.  Sorry this took so long but could not decide which pictures to weed out (no pun intended) believe me I had a ton more. So help me out with names on the flowers I could not name and let me know what you think of my garden fun. Have a good one and get ready for 2016.