SNOW Hats in my GARDEN in South Carolina

We have had the absolute oddest weather in South Carolina this winter. This is our second snow fall in 3 weeks. You have to understand that most of South Carolina doesn't get snow for 10 years or more. I am not a big snow fan , but my little boy goes crazy with happiness and tried to get outside at 8 AM this morning. I held him off a short bit, but later we dressed and went outside to get some pictures. 

 It is sort of cloudy, and the only light is reflected off the snow. I looked around my garden, and noticed all the ' hats ' my statues had put on. Let me show you...

Here is my lady face on my tree, with her fluffy frou-frou hat on...

She looks very Celtic Northern to me here.

 

My little reading angel has a snow shawl on with her hat.

 

 My two cherubs, my favorite statue , has the cutest hats on.

 

 My chairs covered with snow upholstery.

I do not own snow boots, only rain boots, and my feet are already getting too cold after about 5 mins. out here. I have my husband's gigantic coat on that the hood keeps falling over my face and covering my eyes. Hard to take pictures , but I prevailed with a few.

 That black large spot in the snow is Maxine ready for a walk.

 My car with a new snow car cover.

 Our sweet spaz Maxine has developed a torn ACL. Cost to fix, over 3000.00. The vet thinks she developed it from either her intense baseball antics ( she likes to play short-stop ), or spinning. We found out it is very prevalent with labs. My main goal with her right now is to not let her spin, very short walks, and no jumping in the truck .

She is my biggest baby.

 There she goes. I keep telling her to stop, somebody get the leash form this cowgirl dog.

She's too happy most times. 

 My little boy and me . I can tell you that it is still difficult to smile for me. It will be 6 months since my daughter's death in a few days. I still expect to hear my phone buzz with a text from her, I still look for her in a car that looks like hers, I still look outside, hoping she will drive up. I still hope she will come to my front door. I do not feel that 6 months has passed, it feels like only a month has passed since the accident. I know that grief can be like this.

I ache to see her and hold her.

 Little snow hat on my garden of good and evil girl statue.

 My snow globe has a nice hat.

 My two twin pups out front have snow hats, and are carrying snow in their baskets.

 All those footprints are from our little boy going back and forth across the street to play and have snowball fights with his friend .

 Mis-behaving and rowdy above.

Let me show you my beautiful oldest daughter and her husband who came by to see us. They moved about a block and a half from us , and we love to see them, though they are a busy young couple.

Look how happy they are, eyes shining.

Full of young love.

 Okay, last picture, we finally got Maxine back inside, and settled her down with a rawhide dog bone.

Warm and cozy and calmer. True love here too , a dog and her bone.

Stay warm , sleep well,

Gina

My New HEART Garden Gate

 

Well with much grumbling about how difficult my heart gate would be to do, My talented woodworker of a husband figured out how to do it.

Accompanied by,  " You don't realize how hard this will be...". Something to do with the weight of the gate, the difficulty with the span of the gate , and further mathematical dilemmas that make my eyes glaze over. I had written a previous post about my other garden gate :http://antique-art-garden.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-one-garden-gate-one-that-i-want.html 

And in that I had mentioned I wanted a front gate built to show my garden was made with love. 

I will start with him first tearing down the chain link fence and putting in treated wood pickets.

Here we go..

I do not have any before shots of during the work...just know it was a typical yucky chain-length fence that we all have had. He followed the line of the drive ,and then curved the top to match the other sides fence look. I planted some lirope grass, monkey grass, down the front... it will look good next Spring and Summer.

I also wanted spaces in between to see my garden when I drive up. Very important to me.

As you can see, I need more monkey grass at this back area. I have not been able to dig yet , with my limitations about bending and lifting...but I will get some here soon.

Too cute. He is quite proud of it now , after all the grumbling concerning the weight of this gate ( for the supports to handle it ). I made a template of a heart, and then he picked up this big gate and lugged it into the workshop, popped it up on his table, and cut it out. Then lugged it back out , and by then it was dark...but he finished it up last night.

Still sturdy , I really like it.

It is lower...the view directly in , I think the gate and fence are about 4 feet tall, so you have to crouch to get these views.

So I got to crouching, and Maxine watched me take some pictures.

I may use one of these in a new header , I like to switch pictures up there alot.

Other side, looking out to driveway. Let me show you these mega hinges..

Reinforced here. I will give you the specifics straight from the carpenter's mouth..or email , as I asked him a little bit ago :

 " Standard gate latch on inside with no handle, that way you cannot tell it is a gate from the outside. There are four butt/strap hinges on inside and it must weight about 55 lbs. it is just big and bulky. I just hope the post will not shift. It should be okay as long as Luke and company do not try to play on it.  Love you "

I like these easy latches, handy when you have a wheelbarrow full of yard debris to get out.

I have no idea what they are called , but I like them. Much better than those latches that you push the latch in a divet in the wood and then over time, it never matches up anymore.

Here are a few shots of my garden that I have not been working in. I need to get some inspiration from my new gate and it's heart. Between my stomach/ribs/and grief...pretty hard to get motivated.

Plus Fall is here.

My excuses, but I am consciously telling myself to go easy with myself. Which is the opposite way I have always been..so hard to not be what you have always been isn't it ?

Marigolds have really like my garden, I just planted some in the ground , instead of pots,..and they are still going strong.

Plumbago is still thriving in three spots in my garden. Cut it back at frost, comes back every year. As you can see, I love hearts.

My first plumbago , draping now.

A pink rose bush we got in honor of Sarah. Will see how it does, black spot usually gets all my roses.

Super pink.

My trumpet vine arbor still keeps blooming. I just come through and cut it back every 5-6 weeks or so.

Some blue salvia I cut back , thought I may have killed it until it came back after about 3 weeks.

I told you those thug cannas would come back ! Ripped them all out, knew that wouldn't deter them...sassy little plants.

Look who I found in the adjoining neighbor's yard, lounging in the warm sun ? Maxine loves this spot, see her stick she has beside her ? It is there just in case she feels the need of it.

So I have my new fence and heart gate, my back porch and railings have been redone. ( courtesy of my oldest son and my husband )

If I could just take some decent shots , this would look better. I believe I need a new camera...or this camera needs a new operator, more than likely.

We have these matching rails on the front too.

Need to get down there and plant my leftover mondo grass to the left here.

There ya go. Need to get some work done here . I know most of you have your hearts in your gardens, if not on a new gate.

May you be loved today,

Gina