Well done, Mrs. Appleseed!

Good morning all (Loretta, Sugar Mag). Well I finally installed the last of the plantings yesterday. All were moved from other parts of the gardens, and I beleive I was blessed in that the overnight of each planting had nice showers come down and wet the new plantings. I did not purchase Coral Lake.The final planting scheme did change a bit. From the look after entering the back yard, there's the Hammelis purpurea was planted with three dec azaleas fronting that planting (exbury whitethroat, rh. millenium and a yet unknown dec. exbury (red). Next is a leatherleafed viburnum that I picked up 'off season' up in Warren County one Nov. a few years back. It's got nice purple leaves that have held over the winter and will be a nice bit of composition to the purperea that is next door. (btw, I did not move the Winter Gold verticillata.....don't know why I didn't......just chalk it up to a 'feeling'). Rounding out this bed (before the steps out of the middle of the deck) is aronia 'brilliantissima' which also serves as the sentinel on the other side of the step down. Viburnum's juddii, and burkwoodii round out the bed (right before the Jap. Maple). While my transplants were of nice landscape size, I could not 'jam' the plant listing that I had pre-picked for the project. Thus the beautyberry and frothegilla remain. Pics will be shared of the project (once leaf out occurs in a few weeks, as even these nice size specimens don't look like much at this time). I like it. While my bride commented that all of the birds lost valuable habitat and cover with my removal of the yew hedge, just a few minutes ago, I had Carolina wren and white throated sparrows foraging around some of the oak leaf litter that remains (just under the deck and the new beds). Now, onto scarfing off a sliver of one of the front beds so that I can move a dw. mucronulatum rhodie. Then there's the ilex glabra that needs to move into the slot that the rh. myrtifolium was Fun stuff.

Well the good news is that the plumbers showed up bright and early today to try to get started on the re-working. They soon discovered they needed a part or something and have headed to Lowes so who knows when they will be back. To give a bit more detail : When we saw the plumbing initially in the soffits a few weeks back we were alarmed. The contract was re-worded to include relocating a whole bunch of plumbing but to be honest plumbing terms are like Greek to us so we were still concerned. We cut several more holes (large ones) and had the contractor come over and look in them and say that what he was seeing was covered in the price he had quoted us. We actually did this 2 or 3 times before signing the contract just to be sure he saw all that needed to be done. He also had the plumber(the same one who is doing the work) come look at it before we signed the contract. However there is some wording in the conrtact that says that if plumbing issues are discovered that could not be viewed through the holes it could result in increased charges. This wording is what now scares me and now sounds too vague. I guess I will have to wait and see how today goes. When they were looking at it and the contractor came over to help solve the problems yesterday he made no mention to us about it costing us more but we didn't ask either. I was afraid to open up the possibility with him. By the way, they are already back. That was the shortest trip to Lowes I have experienced. I hope they got what they needed. Here we go!

What? No replies? Yes, I did, but I didn't have nearly that many projects lined up. I had a big project to do, though - making a weighted blanket for my grandson. Those types of blankets are great for calming down a young child who can get agitated quickly, but they are super expensive. A crib-sized runs $120-150. I made one for about $20. My grandson's has a top made from Thomas the Train Engine cotton (50% off at Joann's at one point), muslin for the bottom (30% off at Joann's), and batting (for which I used a 50% off coupon), and then a 20% off my purchase coupon. I had to buy the weighting beads online, however, as they were WAY too expensive at Michael's. Had to buy a lot, but I figure I can use them for a lot of other things. Anyway, making that blanket took me a long time, as I did the type where the beads are inside the blanket, between the top and the batting. I found the directions online. Since this project, though, I am back in the sewing room after a long hiatus. I'm working on a birthday present for my almost-4-year-old granddaughter: a Minnie Mouse "dress up play" dress. Donna