Thursday, March 31, 2011

trimming roses

Spring is soooo reluctant in coming...but come it will! Yesterday really wasn't too bad outdoors in spite of the cloudy, cool day. I gathered my tools - a pair of heavy duty gloves and three different trimmers - andstarted trimming the roses by the 'welcome to the garden' arbor. One can expect to get scratched, pricked and ripped clothes when working with roses! But they sure are beauties! These roses, called Dizzing Heights, are a shrub rose, which grow tall but are not a climber. I really like these as they bloom all summer long.

Here is the before and after trim and in their summer bloom:

I never cease to be amazed how much roses grow in a season! This major cutting back is considered the 'kinder cut,' because roses do bloom larger and better by giving them a trim like this. Now is the time to
 re-shape and cut away anything you didn't like from the year before. Last summer, they grew up against the arbor and much as I wanted to keep that healthy growth, I cut that back.

Before beginning, loosen any ties from last years growth.
I cut away where the x's are
This is the other side of the arbor. I cut the larger stem on a slant where the saved stem started growing.The cut stem is the new growth from last summer that was pressed up against the arbor and it had to go; it also took away a lot of the branches that were growing on the wrong side of the arbor. It's a good idea to cut at least one old wood branch on every rose bush, shrub or climber per year.

Any stem/branch that is black must be cut away. Because it was going into the mother stem, I simply cut it all the way to the bottom.
When this happens, I cut away everything except the strongest, straightest growing stem.
Again, I cut where the x's are, leaving the strongest branch there.
I fasten them with green velcro that is purchased at any store that carries plant supplies...it's great stuff and can be re-used until it breaks apart. Be sure to clean up all the little thorny twigs because it's no fun to step on them with bare feet! I either put 'em in a pile or keep a bucket nearby for the trash pile.


...happy gardening!


linking to:
BRAMBLEBERRY COTTAGE
BEYOND THE PICKET FENCE

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

yumm-i-ness!

DIL B stopped by yesterday with a slice of this deliciousness!
pure,
creamy
goodness!


 Hubs is not a chocolate lover...much.
so i eat it...
one
sliver
at
a
time!

...blessedness!

linking to:

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

white wednesday...

my first project to take a 'nothing' and turn it into a 'something' is this linen cupboard.
but it was time to simplify!

- before -
- after -
- thrift finds put to lovely use -
- the picture is my brother and myself -

 fifty cents?! yep!
for now it's simply propped against the back but would look lovely in a frame.
- i was delighted with THIS bust -


...be blessed!

linking to  WHITE WEDNESDAY



nominated!

DIL M from THE KITCHENCOOKIE nominated me this award and i'm honored!

oh my!

Martha is a fabulous and an artistic cook,
 and many times we've benefited from her experiments...really YUMMY experiments!

seven things about myself? h-m-m-m...

i LOVE gardening!
reading
beautifing small furniture pieces with paint
but HATE painting walls
and HATE shopping!
grew up in a family of twelve - i'm in the middle bracket
we have two daughters with three sons between them
and sixteen grandchildren - eleven boys...five girls.

Monday, March 28, 2011

week end musings

it was COLD!
the Gap Fire Company sale was a success!
son W and family from WV came for the event and saturday was busy and fun!
our sunday nap was wonderful! :)

***********************



An overview of our Sunday School Class on Marriage

- Different, Unique and Married -

Our Biology - Male vs Female
Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image;
in His own image created He them: male and female He created them."

A. Physical
Our brains are literally created differently.

B. Relational
  • men think projects - women think relational
  • men compartmentalize - women 'stream' their day
  • men look at the big picture - women look at the details
C. Sexual make-up

1. View of sex. 
men are physical - women are relational
2. Motivation
men by sight - women by touch and feeling
3. Approach
men compartmentalize - women stream

The Curse
Genesis 3:14-19

man's is silence - woman's is control

When Woman (Eve) took and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge (of good and evil) and gave it to Adam, she took control away from Adam and Adam remained silent to the commandment God gave him.
 This is the curse of men and women that is carried down through the ages of time.

What it Takes

A. Fairness
- fair to each other's built in differences
B. Forgiveness
of man's silence and woman's control

"A happy marriage is the union of two forgivers." - Ruth Graham

Wrap Up

We have a choice:
We can allow the differences in our biology to create conflict or we can celebrate
 the differences and blend them into a winning team!

...blessedness!



Friday, March 25, 2011

dinning room

the dinning room is finished...
though in my head, i'm still wondering if a chair rail is worth dusting around weekly;
however, the spring/summer work is going to take a lot of my time from here out.
joy, joy!


- before -
- after -


- kiddie corner -
- recent birdcage found at GW for (don't hate me!) $2.95 and empty for now -
- new window dress tied with ribbon -
- and i especially like this before and after -


the room seems bigger and is brighter. i also scaled back on the glitz and bling,
so that it looks cleaner, more defined.
any-hoo...
it's done for now!


...blessedness!



Wednesday, March 23, 2011

time to trim the roses!

On the two beautiful days we had last week, I was in Ohio; however, there will be more gaw-gee-ous days like that again! Easter is as late as it can get this year, which means that the possibility of a long, cool spring is probable this year. In years past, I've been out on sunny afternoons in February but not this year!

Today I saw the first cluster of daffodil blooming behind a rose climber. You can see the roses are as eager for warm weather as we are! The best time to trim and transplant roses are when the forsythia bushes are blooming...easy-peasy to remember that! I'll be posting before and after pictures of rose bushes and climbers when I work on mine.
Look at these buds! This peony, which is considered a tree peony, does bloom early and is able to handle really cool weather, though I don't know how much frost it can take. The blooms are dinner-plate HUGE!
And my poor helleboro! They bloom VERY early and by now I usually have last year's leaves trimmed off, but not this year! Hopefully, the next warm day...
I'm still wrapping up a few indoor projects but am getting ready to begin outside. I did a lot of fall cleanup so I'm thinking my spring work will be lighter. We're also working on a project out front which I'm excited about! DIL M will be getting the greenhouse and I'm planting some garden things there instead. Just writing this post is getting me 'all het up about it!' :)

...happy gardening!

tinkering in the dinning room

i'm still tinkering in the DINNING ROOM...
some changes i liked - some NOT!
like this one...
i like to re-cycle stuff, so i switched these from the living room to the dinning room -
yikes!
too bed-roomy and competes with my lovely rose dishes.
yesterday i hung these - the fabric has a delicate look but is as tough as nails.

- a painted/stained before and after -

which i do like!

a completed (does this ever happen?!) room reveal coming soon...
i hope! :)

and  i'm tinkering with this in the kitchen...
hu-m-m-m...gotta live with this for a bit!

***********************

on saturday is the annual GAP FIRE COMPANY sale and it's gonna be cold and damp.
the best part of this occasion is the yummy chicken bar-be-que served for lunch that day
 and the friday-after-the-auction freebies!
fun, fun!

...blessedness!

Monday, March 21, 2011

week end musings

today is the first day of spring!
and though it's raining, i can look forward to this...
 and this...
 and this...
 and these!
ah yes...SPRING!

***********************

the full moon was fabulous and unusual saturday evening...
it was the closest to the earth since 1993.

i know - the picture quality is poor,
 but then how can a simple camera do justice to God's awesome nightlight?
mine can't!

**************************

due to prior plans and an emergency, we haven't had our no. 2 lesson on marriage -
God willing...next sunday!

a text was read today in our service,
based on the question that was asked after the global and personal tragedies...
'How big is your God?'
Psalms 61
(personalized for myself)

Hear my cry, O God: attend unto my prayer!
From the ends of the earth I cry to You, especially when I'm overwhelmed:
lead me to the Rock that is higher than me.
For You are a strong shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle for ever:
I will trust You in the covert of Your wings.
Selah.

Psalm 62

My soul, wait only on God - my expectation is from You.
YOU only are my Rock and my Salvation - YOU are my defense;
I shall not be moved!
My salvation and my glory is in YOU...
YOU are the rock of my strength and my refuge.
I trust in YOU all the time;
I pour my heart out before YOU!
God is my refuge.
Selah.
my Bible dictionary tells me Selah means...'a musical direction, pause.'
can i turn the pause in my life into a musical...
even the hard pauses?

quoted:
We don't need to understand the hard stuff of life -
what we need is a God bigger than anything else!


...blessedness!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

i've been MIA...

our DIL M is from Ohio and her and i spent four days there this week, she with her family
 and i with my sis-ta...such a lovely time! we had wonderful travel weather - always a relief.

i introduced M to Quiznos on the pike...
(anyone remember when Howard Johnson restaurants was the ONLY choice?)
so de-lish!
did a little antiquing,
and treated myself to this...
a buck-eye sundae made with fresh made-on-the-spot ice cream!

**********************

- last friday -
i babysat these youngins while their mommies worked at a fun-raiser.
eating lunch and having a candy party of their own -
and where one was i could expect the other to be!
S did the big sister thing and was a big help, wiping up spills and helped with the entertaining.


...blessedness!