First, I want to thank Far Side of Fifty for correcting my bird identification. The sidewalk bird from yesterday was not a female red-bellied woodpecker as I’d thought – but a Northern Flicker! (though they are part of the Woodpecker family!) So that’s a new bird to put in my tally book!
Now… onto today’s post!
Burton and I have joined up with the Blockheads again!
He picked out more Tula Pink for this quilt-along! (The line is Sketchbook and we’ve had it in the stash for several years).
The first block came out last week and we just had to do it right away.
Well I had to. Burton had to have a wee nap while I sewed.
But he seemed pretty happy with it when he woke up! The next block comes out Wednesday – stay tuned!
While I was ripping up sod last week, I made a pair of unlikely friends…
Whenever I got up to get a drink, stretch or whatever, I noticed they’d swoop in on the area I’d just cleared. When I’d come back they’d move away, but still keep a close eye on me. So I started tossing them any little grubs or worms that I came across.
They LOVED that and started coming closer.
At one point, one them was probably only a foot from me.
And while they waited for any scraps I sent their way, they did their own hunting in the areas I’d already cleared. Let me tell you – those robins can eat!!!
Bonus content:
I was walking through the livingroom back up to my office the other day when I noticed something strange out the front window…
There was a female Red Bellied Woodpecker walking down the sidewalk out front. Can you guess what she was doing???
Looking for a snack in the cracks of the sidewalk! Now that’s something I’d never seen before!
How is it the last day of May already? It doesn’t quite feel like it to me, but it sure looks like it in the garden.
The driveway garden is awash in pinks and whites. The first two pics up top are Spanish Thrift, also known as Armeria. I bought several more for the driveway garden as they thrive there. They like really good drainage, and that patch of garden (nestled between the driveway and walkway) is full of gravel – perfect for them.
The dianthans and carnations also love those conditions (both right pics).
My swan planter gives me a chance to plant things that like a little more moisture because I can control those conditions. You can see the bacopa are loving it there.
This amazing iris is called Presby’s Crown Jewel. I planted it in Fall 2023 (I think) and this is it’s first time blooming. As you can tell by the allium behind it, it’s in the walkway garden and is the star right now. Proof that good things come to those who wait.
Most of my Irises are Bearded Irises, but I have one Siberian. It’s called Shakers Prayer and its definitely one of my favourite flowers. It came with me from the Townhouse, and last year I split it up and spread it around throughout the yard. So far, only one clump has bloomed, but I look forward to see it pop up elsewhere this summer
Speaking of allium, we have a new one blooming. This one is a touch lighter and smaller than the ones taking over the walkway garden. But unless they are side-by-side you can’t really tell the difference. I bought several mixes of alliums over the last couple of years, so I don’t know the names of any buy my drumstick alliums (which are usually the last to bloom). Alliums are a favorte of the pollinators, so I’m happy to have a good selection in my garden.
The Lupins are starting to bloom. These two are both out back. I have some out front too, but they are much smaller so I’m not sure if they will bloom this year. The ones I started by winter sowing are also now out front, but I definitely won’t see blooms on them until next year.
This little bell flower is a Harebell. And it is in fact, a bit of a pain in the butt. It’s a native, but it’s a good reminder that not every native flower is suitable for every garden. This one just runs completely rampant! In fact, it was so bad, I ripped it all out last year… but as you can see.. it’s still coming up. I will let it grow, but I will have to be ruthless with it to keep it in check.
And the first of my poppies has finally popped. This one is in the island garden out front where it gets lots of beautiful morning sun. The only problem… I don’t remember buying this colour… I thought it as going to be a white one. I have white and a deep red out back, and a beautiful pink in the walkway garden…. and I guess now I have this orangey coral one too! I just wish I knew its name.
The Columbine are just blooming their little hearts out. The bottom ones are very well established, and the upper ones are newer. I hope they will eventually get as prolific as the bottom ones.
This pretty little pink thing is a Hardy Geranium – a non-native version of the one I have in the woodland garden which is still blooming.
And while were are talking about the Woodland garden, I’ve got a gorgeous white phlox there that is just loving life right now! It really brightens up the space.
Back out front the Widows Tears are blooming – (AKA Spider Wort). I have three colours and they bloom on and off all year.
I have quite a collection of yarrow but for some reason, this yellow is always the first to bloom. The others won’t be far behind though.
The purple Verbascum out back is blooming and it’s just as pretty as the pink one out front.
Out front I’ve got a beautiful Dark blue/purple Delphinium just starting to bloom. It really makes a statement in the island garden.
Unlike these pretty False Indigo flowers. You almost miss them if you don’t look at the plant closely!
The catio is pretty quite in terms of blooms right now, with the exception of these perennial bachelor buttons.
There’s lots more just waiting to burst forth! Let’s see what beauty June brings!
Of course, while I was off last week, we found time to do a little thrifting. And remember the ceramic cat I found month ago? And how the internet told me that all the black ones out there had been repainted… well the internet lied.
We found one that has the original ceramic glaze and it’s blacker than black! Of course, it’s not the same pose as my other one (which is still waiting to be repainted) but I was thrilled to find it. I love it’s derpy little expression.
Another of my Holy Grail items (the term internet thrifters use to items they are hunting for but just can’t find) is a cat on nest. You know… just like those hen-on-nest dishes but with a cat.
I’ve seen a few on Facebook marketplace, but never anywhere close to use. I had a lady who said she’d ship one to me – but then she flaked and I never heard from her again (thankfully I hadn’t paid yet). But I’d never actually seen one in the flesh. Until I did.
It was one of my pricier thrifts ($40) but it was worth it!
While we are on the theme of cats…
We found this awesome little cast iron sign at Value Village. I got Dave to put it up just outside the driveway door to the catio/sun porch. A nice little reminder to watch for lurking escape attempts.
And this cool cat carving was found at the ReStore. I’ve discovered it was made by an artist from Nova Scotia. They had several of her pieces so someone must have been a collector. I almost came home with a couple fish too… but in the end decided just to stick with the cat. Dave put several coat of clear on it so we could hang it outside in the catio. It’s currently gracing the plywood we had to put up last year to thwart Lemmy’s escape attempts.
I hope one day to take the plywood down (it’s covering two windows on the porch), but Lemmy is still an active climber. So if I can’t take it down, I might as well decorate it!
Despite not doing any tiny stitching, I did finish up the first Sanderson sock
I do wish I had yarn for heels/toes that perfectly matched one of the stripes, but I can live with the solid black. That’s one thing about Felici – I find the colours are always a bit muted or muddy – they are very hard to match closely
Nothing really fancy for this sock – just a 1-1 rib for cuff, and a 3-1 for leg and top of foot. Basic sock math and all that jazz for heels/toes.
I’ve got the second one started and I’d like to think I’ll get it done quicker than the first one – but there’s still so much to do in the garden so probably not. These are going in the gift box anyway so we are no where near a deadline for them. They get done when they get done.
There’s no Tiny Needle Tuesday today. Saturday and Sunday were pretty decent (well Saturday was damp, but workable) so I spent the majority of both days finishing up the front yard.
The front garden got more plants added and the whole thing finished off with black mulch. It will look even better once those new plants fill in, but I’m pretty pleased with it as is. The bleeding hearts got new spots up front where they can really show off, and several existing plants got more space, and I added a few newbies, including this gorgeous new Geum.
With that done, I turned my attention to the Island garden, which also meant digging up more sod as it needed expansion too… mostly because I lost my mind at the garden centre again and got another rose bush…
This one is called Koko Loko and it’s been on my rose wishlist for a very long time! Mine isn’t blooming yet but I can’t wait! But to make room for it, it meant digging up some more sod.
The garden was originally a bit of an ellipse shape, so I just dug out the corners and turned it into a tidy rectangle (this will make mowing a bit easier too!) Once the rose was in, it too got some annuals added, and then dressed with mulch.
But all that ripping up sod, digging and mulching meant my hands just weren’t up to plying the tiny needle this weekend.
But hey.. the front yard looks pretty darn spectacular
Vacation is sadly over. And because of cold/rainy weather (2.5 days of it) I didn’t accomplish everything in the garden I had hoped to. But it did give me some time in the studio.
I made the new sewing room curtains as you saw last week. And then the next day, Burton and I started a project just for us!
It took a couple of hours on that rainy afternoon, but Burton snoozed in his bassinet below my machine…
and sewed us up a kitten in a cup.
Isn’t is cute! And the perfect way to show off that wild and wonderful Tula fabric! The blocks are big – 20 inches square (though the pattern has a 10 inch version too)
Burton decided we should do a ginger cat first, to make Lemmy happy, but word is we have to make a black cat next… I just need another rainy day!
We’re still in that some-what in-between time where the blooms are limited. It’s also been rainy and cool for the last couple of days which has slowed things down a bit too.
But still… the lilacs have bloomed!!!
On the left is Bloomerang – it will bloom again in the fall (though not as spectacular as the spring show). The right is Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell is a dwarf version so she will only get to six feet max.
Both are gorgeous and fragrant are among of my favourite shrubs. I have a third one – a double bloom white called Madame Lemoine. I’ve actually had it longer than either of the other two, but I had it in a bad spot. Last fall I moved it to a better one, and now it seems to be thriving. I have high hopes of finally getting flowers on it next year!
These two pincushion plants are blooming beautifully – though they are a bit of a cheat. They were both bought new this year. I had both previously – brought from the town house. The purple one was in the catio, but didn’t make it through our first winter. The pink one was also in the catio, survived, and then was moved to the walkway garden when I first dug it. It did great there for two years, but then didn’t come back this year. I actually have a white one too – bought last year – but now that I think of it, I don’t recall seeing it. It’s in the woodland garden, so I guess I better see if it came back or not.
I have several different Columbine (and continue to add more), and currently, these two are showing off. Both are in the walkway garden.
The strawberries are blooming so I expect to be munching on berries in the next few weeks. And yeah – that flower on the right is pink! Isn’t that fun – pink flowering strawberries! Those are the new ones I bought for the fence planters. Another bit of fun… when I was picking them out at the garden centre, Dave said “Strawberries are a good idea – I’m surprised you don’t have some already.” When I replied that I do – I have a whole box full of them. He said “I’ve never seen any strawberries from the garden in the house…”
Ummm.. yeah… they never make it in the house. They always get eaten in the garden. I guess I’ll have to share this year….
The masses of Allium in the walkway garden have finally started to bloom. There’s a couple different types planted there, but the ones blooming now are a big, dark purple, open allium.
And there’s so much more in bud. With a few days of sun and warmth, this place is going to explode with flower power!
Before the rain moved in, I set about a job I was not looking forward to but was desperate needed. An expansion of the front garden. While I never really have a problem with bigger gardens, the work getting there is the hard part, as it involves removing sod.
And I hate removing sod…. but I sucked it up and set to it. I started by marking out where I would expand to with some spray paint.
The idea was to more or less line the edge of the garden up with the bottom of the front porch stairs… but as you can see, I have trouble painting a straight line. Still it was close enough so I got on my knees and got to work…
It took ages, but finally I had it done! Then came the fun part. The reason for the expansion was to give some of the plants already in the front garden some breathing room. Many, like the bleeding hearts, needed more space to truly shine. So I got to digging and moving things around.
It was almost 9 pm by the time I finally stopped.
I still have to put some annuals in there, and then mulch both the old and the new areas so it once again looks like one cohesive garden. But the rain moved in and I haven’t been able to back out there to finish yet.
And I will still need to split a few of the plants I didn’t move up – mostly irises, so I’ll have to wait until they are done blooming.
I can’t wait to take pics of this later in the season to show you all how it’s filled in.
Wandering Cat Studio 