Window Boxes

On the 20th day of March we celebrated the first day of spring with beautiful weather. A light rain has the grass starting to turn green and the trees are in full bud...Love it!! The stores are prepping their greenhouses in anticipation of trucks soon arriving loaded with potted plants for flower beds, planters and vegtable gardens. Cant wait....and window boxes are on my mind, what can I do just a bit different this year.

 Pretty...but where's the Bam!!

 Oh.....There it is. I like.

 All green. Well it is my favorite color.

 Succulents...may keep the cats from napping in boxes.

 Like the picket fence box and the plants.

 Tulips and Ivy. Perfect on elongated windows.

Kale....interesting.

 How pretty.

 Geraniums and petunias.

I'm not sure what all is in there....but they certainly are healthy.

 Lush and lovely.

Windowless Box.

Cute little box. 

 I'm sure this is a window box on a little cottage in Nantucket.

 Very nice mix of greens with a smidgen of color.

While this is not a box it does have what I'm looking for...The Thrill [talls],

The Fill and the Spill.

I'll take two to go, in a box, Thank You!!!

Pics via:gardensquirrel.com, homestilo.com, georgiabackyard.com, smittendesignblogspot, houseplantsguru.com

apartmenttheraphy.com, southernliving.com, ntsguru.com

A Man and his Tires!

My brother Matt and his lovely wife Maria own and operate a full service station in our town of  Hecla. While Matt has the ability to fix anything, and I mean anything, a large part of his business is selling tires at Zastrow Service.  On any given day he will sell small riding lawn mower tires to super jumbo tractor tires and everything in between. With business being brisk he has amassed a bit of a pile of old worn out tires. Now being a thoughtful sister I like to find & email pics of "repurposed" tires to him....does he appreciate my effort...I highly doubt it. That of course does not detour me from my quest. Below is the "Tire Story" via pics from the net.

A small pile...

quickly grows to a huge pile.

Repurposed as planters.

How about these cute little living seats.

Or a tire basket.

Rubber roof.

Tire yard furniture.

The old staple...tire swing.

Or its more modern cousin, the tire horse.

Stack em, paint em and put in flowers.

A creative L.A. woman constructed this tire garden.

Tire Tree art.

Tire and rope sandals.

The tire wall planter.

We have all had a tire sanbox....right?

Turn them inside out, cut a fancy edge and add a bright color.

Some day you"ll thank me Bro!!

Bringing "the barn" in the house.

I know, it doesn't sound very tempting, but just wait....look at the pictures I have posted and I think you will agree, a little barn design in the house can be a good thing.

And to think..it all started with this!!

And you thought a sponge was just for cleaning.

In my kitchen junk drawer is a new package of sponges that are nearing "old age". For some reason I just never have gotten into the habit of using them, until now. This Old House mag always has a section, Home Solutions, and one that particularly caught my eye was... 10 Uses for sponges. OK...here we go.

1. Sprout Seeds

Embed flax, radish or other fast growing seeds in a damp sponge and place it under an inverted glass bowl in a sunny location. Once you notice seedling, transfer to soil.

2. Catch oil leaks.

Place a sponge on a plastic bag under any leaking piece of motorized equipment to absorb the oil until the item can be repaired.

3.Pad your grip

Make a shovel or rake more comfortable to hold by wrapping it with a flexibe sponge secured with rubber bands.

4.Cradle valuables for storage

Cut damp sponges into small squares and place between breakables. As they dry, they'll conform to the contours of whatever they surround.

5.Dry the inside of a vase.

Affix a small sponge to a ruler and use it to mop up moisture inside a narrow-neck container.

6.Save your soap.

Make a bar of soap last longer between uses by allowing it to dry out on a sponge next to the sink or shower.

7.Deodorize the refrigerator.

Sprinkle a damp sponge with baking soda and set in a fridge drawer to absorb odor between cleanings.

8.Protect scratchable surfaces.

Adhere small sponge squares to the underside of vases, bottom of chair feet, or the back of picture frames so that they dont make scuff marks.

9.Loosen wallpaper.

In a pinch, soak a sponge in fabric softner diluted with hot water and wipe over wallpaper to break down the adhesive and make it easier to remove.

10.Keep water loving plants moist.

Place a sponge in the bottom of a planter before adding soil, to keep water in reserve.

Time to dig out those sponges and put them to work!