Old farm supply stores, and my homemade bird seed wreath

Old hardware and farm supply stores are as much fun as antique shops and flea markets, in my book.  Since we needed a new shovel, Galen broke ours a few weeks ago taking out the lirope and a tree stump in the back yard, we decided to go to Yoder's Farm and Garden Supply store in Grifton rather than Lowes.  After all, it's a ride in the country and lunch at the dutch pantry.  

You can find everything from hammers and nails to kerosene lamps to rubber boots and shoes, to kitchen towels and utensils, birdseed, bird feeders, flower pots and garden tools.  We picked up a shovel and a few other things, and then had lunch in the restaurant.  Did I mention homemade pies?  

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On another note ~ I made a bird seed wreath.  I have been seeing these a lot on other blogs and also on facebook and thought I would give it a try.  It's so easy!

And here it is, hanging on the picket fence in the back yard.  We love feeding the birds at Mourning Dove Cottage.  

Enjoy your day!

Back Door Kitchen Herbs

One of the things we've been wanting to do here at Mourning Dove Cottage is cut back on yard maintenance.  

Over the years the shrubs and trees have grown so large that we seemed to be pruning and cutting back all the time.  Outside the back door along the picket fence bordering the driveway were three big holly bushes.  They had to go.  

I decided to put in an herb garden because it's right outside the kitchen door .  

Rosemary, sage, parsley, oregano and chives.  I'll be adding more as time goes by.  

Change

Change happens everyday, and a lot of changes can occur over 15 years.  That's how long we've lived in our home, now called Mourning Dove Cottage. 

What prompted this post was a tree that was cut down over the weekend in our neighbor's yard right behind us.  That neighbor (an elderly lady and an avid gardener) has now gone to a nursing home and her house is up for sale.  She had a beautiful garden, by the way.   

The tree that was cut down has made a big difference in the look of our back yard because it was along the fence line and gave us a lot of privacy, not to mention a haven for the birds, and it softened the look of the fence.  

I miss the tree.  It was a big beautiful Elaeagnus tree.  

Let me show you some of the changes that have occurred in our back yard since we moved in 15 years ago.  

This was the back yard looking toward the back of the house (before we painted the house) and before the patio was layed, and before the pergola was built, and before the back yard was fenced in.

The back yard when we moved in.  A tree stump in the middle of the yard.  One tree.   

The above photo shows the neighbor's tree that was recently cut down. 

This is the neighbor's house, minus the tree.  It looks so bare now.  We had the privacy fence put up several years ago.   

So you see, many changes have occurred over the years.   

And many more changes will come!   

English hedgerow

A hedgerow is defined as closely spaced shrubs and tree species, planted and trained in such a way as to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area. The root word 'hedge' is much older: it appears in the Old English language, in German (Hecke), and Dutch (haag) to mean 'enclosure', as in the name of the Dutch city The Hague, or more formally 's Gravenhage, meaning The Count's hedge.

We have a hedgerow growing along the side of our house extending all along the one side of our back yard. We inherited this hedge when we moved into our house 14 years ago. It stands 6 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. It makes the perfect privacy fence and a great buffer, reducing traffic noise from the street. Only problem is, it needs to be trimmed several times throughout the summer.

I like to trim the hedgerow by hand using only my hand trimmers (not electric), and a ladder. It takes the good part of a day, but I find that if I get started early in the morning it's really not that bad and it becomes very therapeutic for me.

The straight line across the top is fairly easy to achieve just by standing back every now and then and eyeballing it.

Our patio is enclosed and very private with the tall hedge on one side and holly bushes and a picket fence on the other side.

When Otis and Riley were puppies I put up a green wire fence all along the hedgerow to keep them from getting out, and now the hedge covers the wire and makes it unnoticeable.




Even though hedges are a lot of maintenance, there is an aesthetic beauty to them.

~Perfect for a cottage garden.

A back yard makeover

There's an area in our back yard under the big holly tree where the grass just would not grow. It was driving me crazy for some time, and no matter how hard I tried, only the weeds seemed to thrive.

So hubby and I cleared it out, roots and all, leveled it nicely, and spread down pine bark mulch. This area is in the middle of two stone walk ways.

Our little helpers.

And after all day working in the warm sun, I must say I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

I brought in the wrought iron table and chairs and moved the wicker courting chair near by and now it's a nice sitting area in the back yard.

It wasn't a huge back yard makeover, but enough to make a big difference!

Sloshing in the rain

Otis and Riley are outside today wading around in the puddles. Our back yard looks like a lake!




Sloshing around in the rain....



and I'm sloshing around in my garden clogs.





We've had 7-1/2 plus inches so far since Sunday. Still raining....




and more rain tomorrow.





I was happy to see the daisies blooming. A bright little spot in this gray day.

I think that folks should carry bright umbrellas in the rain...

to smile into the sullen sky and make it glad again.

Lil Miss Priss

Donna's Art

Mossy walkway

I call it our mossy walkway, but I really think this ground cover along our stone pathway is some type of weed. Maybe duckweed?

Every summer it grows....

all along the path....





Some places it grows...

and some places it doesn't grow,

like here along the path to the garage.

It may not be moss but it keeps the weeds down and blends in naturally with the rest of the back yard.

I like to call it my mossy walkway (even though it really isn't).

Fall

Today was one of those beautiful fall days.

A great day to take Otis and Riley for a walk, a great day to do a bit of shopping and a great day to work in the yard.

I picked up a pumpkin while I was out and about this morning. Then after lunch I mowed the grass. The yard is finally looking better, after all the flooding.

In fact, the butterfly bush is actually standing up now.

I put orange candles in the candelabra on the patio.

And I must say my flowers are looking prettier now than in the summer. Look at the geraniums.

Impatiens too~

And here's a bit of fall color.

Isn't fall such a wonderful time of year!