lamb's ear

Lamb's ear is a fascinating feeling plant. It's soft and fuzzy and demands to be touched. It's a plant that is neutral and goes well with any color, is draught tolerant and attracts bees. It HATES wetness in any form! It will sulk and refuse to do well in a summer of rain and shows this by just simply 'melting,' or rot to nothing. But never fear, if it gets the slightest chance to grow again or reseed - lamb's ear is your plant!

I do limit mine to certain areas as it spreads and will reseed wherever it can. It's a wonderful filler and looks lovely in bouquets. After the teeny, tiny fuchsia-colored flower is finished on the stalk, I cut the stalks and put 'em outdoors where they shine for several weeks if you like that kind of a look. When it becomes too invasive, I ruthlessly pull them out to control it. I've never dried them but my guess is they'd dry very nicely.

Here is a close-up of a 'melted' spot...

Simply pull the 'melted' spots and throw it on the compost pile.

Stalks cut and in an aluminium bucket -

rugged looking but fits the outdoors.

This is not every one's kind of plant. I once had a yard man tell me they're the silliest kind of plants...

which simply put, means each man to their own! :) If you have a hot, dry area, this is your plant - it will prosper!

week end musings

we had a busy but lovely week end.

this week end was our annual Zook reunion when we spend two days in Belleville, PA,

the place my mother grew up.

four of us siblings decided to do a quick stop

and were welcomed by the present day owners. 

we treasure our time together...

 

food - delicious and lots of it!

games...

cousins hangin' out...

more hangin'...

a popular color!

went 'green' with personal cups hung up on a string.

self-entertainment...

Kubb was the preferred game...

aren't these adorable?! two brothers and a cousin

had an auction for next year's kitty.

 a lovely, lovely time! 

we could only spend saturday there

 as we had a ten o'clock wedding on sunday morning.

the wedding was at a local state park,

under a tent in a small glen beside a creek.

the happy couple...

the reception was in a pavillion...

altogether a simple, lovely wedding!

in the evening we had family time at our house...

the big and small kids played a game of 'take away.'

good times together!

...blessedness!

ox

temporary chair fix

several weeks ago i dressed up the gazebo as a sitting room for a garden tour

and wanted to use this chair i picked up at a GW which is on the re-do list...

i got my thinking cap on and remembered some tucked away sheer fabric

and started on a temporary transformation with eight corsage pins

 from the many i had saved from our children's weddings.

it ended up loking like this...

i started with the arms by ripping four inch strips,

 winding it around the arm until the old fabric was covered,

then using two pins to keep it in place.

to cover the seat i ripped another panel,

making sure it was large enough to cover the seat and hang over all sides.

in the front, i cut the fabric on an angle to fit the seat width,

took the corners and tied it together in a ballet tie.

  tucking the fabric under the back of the seat,

then behind the chair i twisted the fabric and pinned that.

ripping four more strips, i wrapped two strips above the arm and two below the arm,

tying them in a knot around the back, giving it a bow-tied look

i also took a strip of fabric the width of the back 

to tuck up and down behind the cross-wise strips of fabric.

to give it a feminine flair,

 i pinned a fabric flower centered with a seashell to the front and side of the chair.

this was a quick and fun project to do

 and will stay like that until the right job is done.

right now, she's just sitting around looking pretty!

...blessedness!

ox

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