Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Views of My Backyard GARDEN Accents

I wanted to take you around and show you a few accents I have in my backyard garden, which is my main garden that not many people ever see. Wouldn't it be nice if we all could flip our homes around so our neighbors could see our back gardens all the time ?
Here is a shot I took , before I decided not to wait for my husband to move the really heavy statues and fountain ( that never stopped bubbling )....so I took it upon myself, and my meager but adequate muscles to move a bunch of my statues around,
Like this...
I took Mrs. Top of bubbling fountain down , and carried her with the help of a dolly cart , to the back of the yard where I had my most favorite statue, my cupids. To do this , I had to semi-slide the 100+ lbs. plus basin out, and to the ground...and then cart it off. When My husband saw I did this , he did not think it was romantic as I did when he did it for me.
He considered it one of my dumb-impatient actions I do in my garden.
He was correct, but it is done. Look where I put my favorite statue...
I put it right directly in the shade garden, and I can see it from my picture window much better.
We had a good rain last night, and it is always nice to go out in your garden after a rain...and see the droplets still on your flowers and foliage. Just planted these caladiums in  my shade garden a few days ago.
Can you tell I just love this statue ? I told my little boy , when he is kicking balls, fighting bad guys..whatever in the back yard...he better NOT get near this statue or else ! I will bet that that went in one ear and out the other without any memory remaining, he gets that from his Dad.
 This was my make-shift birdbath for my poor birds , while the fountain was still bubbling. They did not like it very much. The roses growing beside it are some of the very few I have left in my garden, after having about 20 + bushes. Black spot destroyed my roses in this hot and humid climate.
 Here is a make-shift bird feeder my husband made me and he plopped a plastic container in the bottom and filled it up, nothing for days...even the squirrels didn't touch it. Then all of the sudden, two days ago...
the little guys found it ! I am worthless at taking pictures of birds, but here is one little guy. They all come here very regularly.

Plus, guess who else,
Yes, our squirrels, I told my husband they would. I went for a walk this morning, came back almost an hour later...and this fellow was lounging in the plastic container of food...sort of laying down...claiming it as his new pad I guess.

Look at the very back of this picture and you can see the large basin, my bottom of my bubbling fountain...that' s as far as I got it with the dolly cart.
Here is a statue/urn I moved to the top of our small deck and it's base from the shade garden.
 I like it here so far, but knowing me ...it may get moved . I use a wire hanging basket window box, sans the moss insert...to store my garden gloves.
Has a bit of an artistic look to it...if you squint your eyes. Speaking of that, No..the cute little hand-painted wooden paintings I have to the sides of the porch were not done by my son when he was in kindergarten.
I painted those one early evening, down in the dirt of my garden...to put them in some iron chairs as seat covers. I did use them for awhile, but it was very uncomfortable to sit in ( duh ), and so they have been relegated to the garage for years. I painted them about 6+ years ago. The top iron piece is from our first bed we bought about 20 years ago, and the two iron brackets are from an antique store. 
Remember to squint your eyes when you look at my paintings.

This is probably my favorite element on my back porch, my Art Deco mirror that reflects my yard.

Then I have some hand-painted windows and stained glass windows on one brick wall.

Here is Maxine demonstrating how to stand by the window-wall.

My screen door, every porch must have a screen door. Maxine has autographed it with deep scratches at the far right side. We considered a doggie-door, to let her come in and out...but then a grown man could also fit there as she is a big lab.
So,
No doggie-door.

My heart in my garden, pretend you do not see the weeds around it. I did just weed after this shot, and soon it will be surrounded by blue plumbago and salvia.

 Our gigantic river birch tree, stands approx. 40-50 feet tall, and is very happy when I water my garden to get the extra water. It is a messy tree, limbs breaking all the time, and little pods all over the place, but I do love it. We have another river birch to the back of the garden, not quite so big.
A window planter off the back deck, can you see the chameleon to the right ?
Now you can.
I see this entry is getting too long, so I will stop now...more later,
Bless you,
Gina

" How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God ! How great is the sum of them ! If I should  count them, they would be more in number than the sand ;
When I am awake, I am still with You. " Psalm 139:17-18 

21 comments:

  1. I love your back garden and your porch, all the elements add a sweet touch.

    These days, I don't move heavy things anymore. I hurt my knee last year by doing that. I just can't do what I used to, so have to ask help from DH. Being in my 60's definitely lets me know I'm growing older and I hope to age gracefully, asking for help along the way.

    The scripture verse you ended this post with is one of my favorites.

    Have a lovely week ~ FlowerLady

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  2. Yes, I have the patience of a gnat when I want to move anything ! thanks so much for the nice compliment ! Take care, Gina

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  3. Wonderful garden! I love the brick work and the heart shaped wrought iron piece, the bench and the old clay pot, that is a nice spot. You have many wonderful things in your garden!
    Carla

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  4. Thanks very much Carla, have a great day ! Gina

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  5. Thanks for showing your back garden! You have a lot of lovely garden ornaments.

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  6. What a lovely garden you have! I love the wire basket holding gloves~ great idea:)

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  7. Yes, that wire basket works great, I am pretty hard on garden gloves, so I buy bunches ! Take care, Gina

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  8. You have so much pretty garden art. I was laughing as you described yourself moving fountains and statues around and your husband's response. I am the same way dragging birdbaths and big stones around, but it's faster than waiting for my husband to do it :)

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  9. I have the patience of a gnat, thanks so much for following ! Bless you, Gina

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  10. I just love your back garden. It has a wonderful old world, romantic feel. The addition of the lovely Maxine is a nice plus. Does she help with the digging???

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  11. Occasionally she does, she is mainly our chief squirrel-chaser. she will dig more in deep Summer, like labs do, thanks much ! Gina

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  12. Hello Gina,
    Thanks for stopping by the Lane. What an amazing garden you have. Are Maxine and the chameleon friends?

    Sarah x

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  13. My garden is far from amazing, you are very kind ! No, Maxine does not like anything that moves faster than she can. Squirrels are her arch-enemies in my garden. Thanks so much for stopping by ! Gina

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  14. I love your backyard garden.
    The statue, and your windows are so beautiful.
    You got a nice taste in decoration.
    And my favorite,it's the beautiful black dog.
    Have a nice day.

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  15. Thank you very much ! Maxine is the spoiled beautiful lab we have , she is a sweet dog, take care, Gina

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  16. Hola Gina, I have loved everything about your garden and all the work you have done on it, it`s really beautiful and all your statuas add a lovely touch... but, darling, take care when you move around heavy things!!! I work hard in my garden too.
    Thank you for your interest in my blog and I would like you add you to my blogroll, is it ok with you??
    Excuse my english, please.
    I will be back to enjoy what you are doing in your garden next.
    Muchos cariños from Chile,
    Maria Cecilia

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  17. Yes, I will try to be more careful...I have a low patience level when I want something moved ! adding me to your blog roll is fine, thank you. Your blog is beautiful, I will enjoy reading it very much, take care, Gina

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  18. I really like the window paintings, they are lovely!

    Great quote from Forster at the top of the blog. He is one of my favorite authors.

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  19. Thanks very much, I love old poetry, glad you like it, take care, Gina

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  20. Hi Gina

    Thanks for stopping by my blog I am so behind with blogging at present but glad to stop by your lovely blog.

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  21. Gina those painted windows are fabulous. Thats given me some inspiration. I have a big wall out in the back garden that is quite bare and if I hung a few of those up it would look fantastic. :) Rosie

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I love comments , please leave one if you like. I try to respond to comments,but if I'm running behind, please know that I read each one before they are published. Thanks much, Gina