Good Morning, Everyone! Thank you all for the "welcome back". I missed each and every one of you. Stormy here today on this Good Friday. Dark and a bit chilly out. Good weather for gardens though. Glad for the rain though. We've had high temps and high, dry winds this past week and wildfires every day. Nothing close to here, but close enough that I could smell the smoke. My dogs erupted in chorus with every firetruck that passed by over on the highway.(hehehe). I took pictures of the gardens on the 31st. Glad I did, as the hot, dry winds dried out all the pretty yellow Jonquils later that day. Blasted hot winds ruined them before our Easter Sunday family picnic and egg hunt. They were magnificent in chorus with the yellow forsythias, white Bridle's Wreath, and Redbud trees now in full bloom all over the garden. My beloved Jane Magnolia is breathtakingly beautiful this year and smells so wonderful. I planted out some Orange Perfection Phlox yesterday. Tried them last year, but they didn't make it. This rain may ensure these do. I dug around in the bin at the store until I found one, just one package with moist peat inside. Holding it up to to sunlight, I could just make out something possibly alive in that dark green plastic bag. Makes me mad to pay five bucks for dead rootstock. They are not the best looking root stocks I ever saw, but think they will make it. I only need one to survive to establish a nice clump this year for next year's blooms. I also planted a package of purple Liatris and a package of Freesia bulbs for summer blooms. I love the smell of Freesia. Yummy. All the Peonies are up and beginning to make tiny flower buds. Hopefully the red ones and deep magenta ones will bloom this year too. If they do, it will be their first time. Some deer came into the yard this winter and ate the top branches off the one surviving River birch sapling, but it is recovering nicely now. I caged it with a tomato cage and for now they are leaving it alone. They are "camped" up on the hill, hiding in wait for my juicy, delicious roses to start blooming, no doubt. :[ I've been taking the dogs for walks up there every morning and hopefully their pee and poop will make them think twice about coming any closer to the back yard. My English Shepherd could easily take down a whitetail deer. DH said this weekend he would finish stretching field fence around on the inside of the existing barbed wire fencing to keep out critters. That won't keep deer out, but it will keep our dogs in, so we can let them run loose on the property. That will be great. They need the exercise and I need them to do their job protecting the place. They love it, too. Hopefully the raccoons & coyotes will take the hint. Keep Out! Anyhow, so far so good. Gotta go check on my chicks. They poopy up their water really fast and will be ready for breakfast. :) Talk to you guys later. ~Annie

Thank you Deanna! The thing that surprised me the most, was that all those gorgeous plants were already there when I moved in, but I just couldn't see them through the weeds and overgrowth. Like finding a hidden treasure. :) Thank you Rita! Thank you Christin! That patio set was such a lucky find...$35 on craigslist. I love sharing pictures.. seeing them through someone else's eyes is like discovering them all over again . :) thank you. Thank you Flora! I had not even thought about annual vines, like sweet pea, but that might just be perfect! I think I 'll be able to take care of them more easily than perennial ones. I do have one clematis vine against the house that's just beautiful. And it has its own trellis, so it's fairly easy to maintain. The trickiest part is remembering to trim it back before everything freezes! Thanks for the info, min! Could you help me find those posts about shrinking my lawn? I tried searching for them on the CA forum, but didn't see them. I'd LOVE to shrink back all that grass! Any ideas on user - friendly annual vines? Or where I could find some pictures for inspiration? Thanks! Betty

If I were the judge, you certainly would win a prize for your lovely work! I can't imagine that I will ever achieve something that beautiful and precise. I've never heard of echo quilting - boy do I have a lot to learn. Thank you for showing yet another artistic endeavour of your expert quilting. Best Wishes - Corinne

Oh..I love the before look...but I love country... I think I know what you mean, Patti. When I first moved into this house 35 years ago, my favorite look was Shaker--graceful, but very spare. This is probably why I was content to live without a rug under the table for so long. My preferences have evolved over the years, and my appreciation for comfort has grown. So the look of the interior is softer and warmer than it used to be. I think it's still "country," though. I hope so, since the house sits on 31 acres of rural land. Not to mention all the money I've sunk into Country Living subscriptions. :-) Thanks, all!!