Latest on caravan, revamped path, heat & humidity

Hello Folks ~ I do hope you are all doing well.  Summer is most definitely here. The past few days weren’t too bad, today is bad. There’s a big difference when the humidity is around 50%, than it is today.

This is what it is right now at 10:48 a.m. in s.e. FL. We have a chance of getting some rain this afternoon. We’ll see.

Yesterday morning I worked in the secret garden and trimmed the bougainvillea by my shed.  Not too bad. I got a load of laundry washed and hung out too, which I still need to fold and put away.

I also helped DH get the counter top in place in the caravan.  This morning he’s working on the hinged cover for the stove.  The old one was formica over presswood and had gotten wet and swelled up on one side.  He made a new one and is covering it with the formica as the counter top.

Here’s the counter top before formica was put on.

Here is our ‘curbside shopped’ formica, the little caravan will have a faux granite countertop.

After formica is on.

In place yesterday with the original sink set in. You can see the stove hole which is over the gas/electric refrigerator.

Another view. Remember now, this space is 6’x8’.

I cleaned up the stainless steel sink with Bon Ami and a scruffy pad.

Here’s a view this morning.

This is the path I’ve been working on. The three round pavers were what was the original path.  They had to be bumped over/south when we set up the rain barrel. I wanted to add to it.

06-05

06-13

I incorporated the two pieces that broke off the bench.

I changed it this morning and still have a little tweaking to do, but not today.

‘Prosperity’ on the back sheds’ fence in the morning sunlight.

Now, this afternoon I ‘hope’ and am going to ‘try’ to get some things listed in my Etsy shop.  Dear Darla of Designs by Darla G  and a fellow FL gardener, sent me an email nudging me to get off my procrastinating rear, not her words, but mine. I had told her I was going to be uploading some things the other day, but hadn’t done so yet, so I got a reminder which made me laugh.

That’s it for now. I’m hungry so need to get up and make us our lunch.

If you are working outside, don’t over do it, and make sure you drink plenty of water to keep yourselves replenished.

Happy Summer living ~ FlowerLady

Our tropical jungle

Good afternoon Folks,

Well, it’s afternoon here in s.e. FL.  It is quite a bit cooler today than yesterday. It was miserable when we went out around 9 for trim the front hedgerow that had grown out over the sidewalk from all the rain we’ve had lately. I usually do this, but DH volunteered this time as I was going to be using the electric hedge clippers. They get heavier for me as I go along the hedge, about 50-70 feet or so. I was glad he volunteered.  I ‘LOVE’ doing yard work and have since I was a kid, it’s just the older I get things get a little harder to do or wear me out faster.  Anyway, we headed out front with extension cords, the trimmer, a rake, the wheel barrow and hand clippers, and oh yeh, don’t for get the ‘sweat rags’ to mop our faces. Yesterday it was in the mid 80’s and felt like it was in the mid to high 90’s, a LOT worse than today.

It took us about 1 1/2 hours.  I raked up and wheeled the debris down the sidewalk, up the driveway, and into our fenced in space by the driveway. We don’t have a mulcher, I bag the small stuff up and the county pics it up once a week and turns it all into mulch which is FREE to all who want it.  Larger stuff is stacked in a nice pile to be picked up too.

I still have weeds to pull, weed wacking to do, other stuff to trim in the gardens, but all in good time, and only in the mornings when it’s cooler.

I don’t have before pictures of the hedgerow growing into the sidewalk, just an after picture looking west. You can see the start of the pile of brush.  It will be bigger after I do the rest. Today we did errands and after I put the cold things away, I mowed.

Ok, I am back, this is Tuesday and I bagged up all the debris from Sunday. Did some weedwacking and trimming today and I am pooped.  Also washed and hung out a load of laundry and helped DH with putting the formica on the counter top for the caravan.

Here are more photos of our tropical jungle taken the other day.

Front gate.

My shed garden. Where is the path leading to St. Francis? Where is the rock border? The rock border shows this evening after I weedwacked this morning, but I didn’t take a picture.  I still need to weed and trim the overgrowth into the path.

This is looking west, on the front path between front hedgerow and garden areas.  Mexican sunflowers are the tall plants on the left.  These are from cuttings we took last year from a vacant lot. I’m still waiting to see the yellow blooms.

The main garden area is through the iron gate and lattice arbor.

I’m at the northwest corner of the garden, at the back where the little sitting area is.

Another view from the same area.

I love this vibrant purple gate.

This is a view of the secret overgrown garden.

A view from the front sidewalk.

The fronthedge pile at the base of the palm and another smaller pile at the base of the Queen Crepe.

This photo is after the trim job, and you can see out to the street until it all fills back in.

Front entry patio area.

This view is looking southeast from main garden area.

Gate leads to driveway, east.

I see this patio area from my ‘creative space’ inside.

This is our longest view from inside the driveway gates.

That’s it from our tropical gardens. Our haven from the crazy, hectic world that we live in.

Happy Gardening and living life each day.

FlowerLady

First week of June

Good afternoon Folks,

It is very warm and humid. It’s almost 4 p.m. and the skies are gray, it is starting to sprinkle and there is thunder to the southwest of us.

This morning I did some clean up in the main garden area, then decided to mow, knowing rain was expected. Then DH decided to trim the sea hibiscus that hangs over our fence to the east of us, and we were both sopping and dropping after that.  But, did I quit, no, we had cloud cover so I did some weeding and trimming, until my body said, ‘hey, wait a minute, don’t do one more thing.  That’s it for now.’ So, I quit, took a shower and fixed lunch and was beat. A nap was in order after lunch and reading for a bit.

In the last week, we put up the top section of the lattice surrounding the humongous rain barrel.  We cut the roll roofing that we had between the house and the sidewalk to fit new space, as DH had moved the sidewalk closer to house to accommodate the French drain from overflow of the rainbarrel. We weeded, raked and leveled the area, then laid the stuff back down.  I’m going to work on the path before planting any blue pea vine seedlings to grow up the lattice.  I did stick some Vanda orchids in the lattice and will add more later. There’s an awning over the bedroom window.

So, I got the idea for seating in that area, and thought of a broken tiled, concrete bench top.  We had the two bases for it, just had to round them up. DH had to cut some rebar that was sticking out from the bottoms since we didn’t want to poke holes in the roofing material. (We use this roll roofing around the base of our house outside, so that nothing will grow there and to keep termites at bay.)

I have an idea for the wall space to the left of the window.  I’ll post a picture later.

The screen door leads into the ‘cat-rium’ behind our cottage where the outdoor shower, jacuzzi, and claw foot tub are, as well as a nice swing and table and chairs. Tork sleeps in there at night.

On to what is happening in the gardens.

Our Queen Crepe is in bloom.  I love it.

An unknown orchid with sunlight behind.

Dwarf orchid tree, Bauhinia acuminata

Blue pea vine bloom.

Hamelia paten with bees in next two pictures.

Zebra longwing and hamelia paten blooms.  Hummers, butterflies, bees, and other flying critters love this plant.  It is probably at least 10 ft. tall now.

A passion flower not quite open yet.

A Cocktail rose bloom on the wane. I loved the raindrops on it.

Climbing Maman cochet bloom.

 

We curbside shopped this mirror last year and one piece came off.  I want to take the whole thing apart to have all these neat pieces to add to fencing here and there for sparkle, color and depth in the garden.

Here I am in a section of the beveled mirror that is mounted to the back fence in the main garden.

Well, that’s it for now.  It’s time to think about supper and have a glass or two of wine.

FlowerLady Lorraine