Taylor Made designs

Slow Down

 

A few photos from Easter.  

Is it me... or does this year seem to be flying by? Next week, it's May. Good grief. Let's slow it down :)

I've been busy with work, family and prepping my gardens. The kids are on vacation this week and since Neal is working on a huge contract we can't take time off. Which is fine by me. I'm enjoying the down time.

My sister Renée bought a pug a few days ago. That would be Gracie in the photos above. Cute huh? We have babysat her a couple of times. The kids LOVE her. Montana, my yellow lab, not so much. It just confirmed what I thought...bringing another dog into our home would be unfair to Montana. He had no tolerance for Gracie, which I found pretty amusing. Unlike me, who wants time to slow down, you could tell Montana was thinking, grow up pup, and then, maybe we'll play :)

Home Sweet Home

It's July 17th and it finally feels like summer. Today it was hot and humid. Just like summer is suppose to be. For awhile, I was afraid with all the rain we had my flower boxes and pots would die. Seriously, we had so much rain I think we broke some records for the month of June + July. But my flowers are looking good :) I love being able to cut flowers from my garden to bring inside. Just makes me happy. Have a great weekend everyone!

Boxwood Topiaries

Every year I make these boxwood topiaries for my kitchen window. They are really easy to make. For those of you interested here's a very quick breakdown of how to make them.

Buy standard ceramic clay flower pots. Apply gold leaf to them. Cut up floral green foam squares and basically, for the lack of a better term, "smoosch" the foam into the bottom of the pots. Push two sticks into the foam. {the sticks are available at a crafts store like Michael's} then take two more floral green foam squares + shape these into spheres. Before attaching them to the top of the stick soak them in water for about 10-15 minutes. {This way when you put the boxwood into the foam the boxwood won't dry out so quickly.}

The spheres will be wet and heavy. Find the center of the spheres and then push them onto the stick - about 1/3rd of the way. You'll need to use your hot glue gun to secure them to the sticks. Don't worry about making a mess because the boxwood will hide all of this. Then take branches of boxwood {I buy them from the garden center} and cut them into little pieces measuring around 2 inches tall. Start from the bottom + move your way up.

It usually takes me about an hour to make two of these. {I'm usually sitting in my kitchen drinking coffee and watching tv while I do this so you could probably do it faster if you're focused} I then add spanish moss to the top of the pots to hid the green foam. I found the little orange balls in Michael's. They were attached to something, and all I remember doing is detaching them from whatever they were attached to. Make sense? No? Email me and I'll try to try to explain better :)

Searching for THE Perfect Christmas Tree

After visiting Santa on Saturday, we ventured out to the local garden center for a Christmas tree. It was a cold and windy evening and Neal was not looking forward to spending lots of time finding the perfect tree. We had just spent an hour outside waiting to see big old Santa. To say we were a bit chilled was an understatement.

Once there, we headed straight to the trees. No dawdling. William picked out several trees, I picked out several trees and Neal said, "great, let's get it." All of the sudden Davis exclaimed, "I found it. The perfect tree! Wait!" and off she ran. Next thing I see, is Davis carrying this little tree in her arms. Ever the comedian, she says, "look! It's THE perfect tree!" and then she sets it down and collapses into a fit of giggles.

It might not have been THE perfect tree, but she is The perfect little girl :)

How does your garden grow?

My side garden is growing like crazy this year :) I think it's all the rain we have had. I'm so happy!

How pretty does my door look surrounded by my climbing roses?  We cut them back in March.  I always get nervous that they won't come back in June, but without fail, they always do. We hardly ever use that door. It opens to the street. Mainly Mike, our Hood milkman and Polands Springs delivery uses the door. Otherwise it's deadbolted so no one from the street can access it. 

My bed of lilies will probably pop this week. Usually by July 4th they are in full bloom. By August, my urn  filled with annuals, that I keep by my side door, will have doubled in size. Davis actually planted the red flowers in the black pot I put on the gate that leads to our backyard. I had other annuals I wanted to use, but she took it upon herself to plant them. I was so impressed (not to mention how proud she was) that I just couldn't take them out.

I have SO many projects I am working on, that I feel a bit overwhelmed. Trying hard to figure out which project i should tackle first. In the next few weeks I am trying to muster up some motivation to finish some projects that I have been procrastinating big time on. Any tips you have on getting your butt in gear? I'd appreciate any advice :) Have a great weekend everyone!