All the King's Horses and all the King's Men...

... couldn't put the birdhouse together again. 

But we did!!!

When planning our little backyard garden, I wanted the three gravel paths to lead to a focal point; in this case, a decorative birdhouse on a pole.

And although we had a fairy mild winter here in New England,

we had one particularly windy storm that blew the birdhouse off the pole.

This is what we were left with in the center of the garden.

Not a pretty sight.

And when the old, distressed wood birdhouse hit the rock solid frozen ground below,

it broke in almost every place it could, and then some. It looked like a goner.

I salvaged what I could of the pieces and after staring at the bare pole for six months, 

hubby and I finally decided to tackle this project last weekend.

Now this was a VERY inexpensive birdhouse to start with, but I just loved the look of it

with the windows and door on all four sides and the decorative cupola.

Hubby wasn't so sure it was worth saving, but I assured him that the rustic,

distressed look would be just fine with me!

And so here it is, in all its weathered glory.

With L brackets, screws, a nail gun and glue holding it together from the inside.

Once again standing proud in the center of the garden, just in time for the blooming salvia that I planted around its base several years ago. I also tucked a little vinca vine pot inside each window and door. By summer's end, it will be touching the ground for sure.

Maybe next year we'll have a bit of extra money for the additional bark mulch

the garden sorely needs!

But that minor detail isn't stopping us from enjoying our little garden!

Hubby and I enjoyed feeding our little Chips last week and I'll share photos 

and a short video of that very soon!

 Summer 2007

 I still can't get over the transformation in our little backyard over the past 5 years. Our above ground pool once sat in this section of the yard, right off the deck so I could easily watch the girls when they were young. But by 2007 they had outgrown the pool. It was hardly ever used, so we took it down. It was at that point that I dubbed our backyard "Roswell" because it looked like a flying saucer had paid us a visit!

Summer 2012

Fast forward five years, and here's a pic of old Roswell as it looks now, taken from the same vantage point up on the deck. What a difference!

I hope you're all enjoying summer in your neck of the woods!

This week I'm linking up to:
 White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage

Donna

Always and forever...

...you will be my hero.

Two pocket plaid shirts, t-shirt, dress pants, brown frame glasses, Ford truck, scapula (or 2), religious cards in pocket and attached to truck visor, fastest typist ever (on an old manual), trucker, driver, green eyes ("so I can see in the dark like a cat" - your exact words), made in America (which got harder and harder to find), WWII Veteran (104th Infantry, Timberwolves), Purple Heart recipient, strong work ethic, entrepreneur, never complained (about anything), loved animals (especially cats and dogs), loyal, forgiving, optimistic, ready smile, teacher, friend, dad, grampa.

Missed. Oh, so missed.

I love you, Dad.

Happy Father's Day.

Donna Doo

Under the shade of the cherry tree...

...you'll find my two favorite garden statues.

Without a doubt, this old cement Mary statuary is my favorite. 

She is chippy, rustic, and distressed to perfection.

Mary stands under the shade of our (non fruit-bearing) cherry tree, watching over 

all the little creatures and feathered friends who visit our small yard.

Having grown up Catholic, how could I not love Mary? I've talked before about one of my favorite movies, Under the Tuscan Sun, and a certain piece of dialogue that I thought was beautiful. At one point, after moving to Italy, Frances (Diane Lane) talks about her relationship with Mary. 

"Signor Martini wants me to have faith. Something I've never been good at, and now I'm even worse at. Not that I don't want faith. I'm jealous of the believers. But as a fallen-away Methodist, I do not expect to emerge from all of this a Catholic, although I admit some interior juggling is going on. To my surprise, I have become friendly with Mary. It started the night she stood by me through the storm, knowing full well I'm not a Catholic. Yet, somehow, she seems more like Mary, my favorite aunt, than Santa Maria. Aunt Mary is everywhere here, her calm presence assuring us that all things will go on as they have before."

I'm so happy that four years ago I was in the right place (Fairground Antiques),

at the right time (during a 50% off sale), to have found her!

My little backyard garden just wouldn't be the same without Mary.

My other favorite garden statue sits across the bird bath from Mary.

He's quite a whimsical fellow, and I've known him for a long time

 even though he's lived with us for just a couple of years now.

For as long as I can remember, he stood at the front steps of my aunt's beautiful 

Cape Cod home, cheerfully greeting all who came to visit.

Yes, he holds wonderful memories of time spent on Cape Cod 

when my girls were younger and when my parents were still with us. 

When my aunt downsized, she asked if there was anything that I wanted. 

I chose him.

I think I made a great choice!

This week I'm joining Tracie's Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage
and Cindy's Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Be sure to visit their beautiful homes and gardens!

Donna

Garden Gate Arbor and Clematis

The clematis that covers our garden gate arbor is in full bloom now!

This has been such a rainy week here in Massachusetts that it took some doing to get photos!

 But I was able to run out in between rainfalls and snap some photos before these beauties are but a memory.

 I love this simple arbor that my husband built over the garden gate. I'm hoping we can salvage it when we replace the fence and gate later this year. After 26 years, they are beyond repairing and mending, which is what we've been doing for years.

 Two weeks ago, when I shared photos of the screen feeder flower box, the black 6-pack pots were still very visible and the clematis was a mass of buds, just waiting to burst forth.

 What a difference two weeks make! The lavender is thriving, the impatiens is growing leaps and bounds, completely covering the sides of the 6-pack pots now, and the clematis is putting on a show behind them!

 Back on May 25th...

 And from the same angle on June 8th.

May 24th, from the deck, looking toward the backyard gate. 

Again, no clematis and the flowers had just been plunked down on the screen feeder.

 The same view, photo taken on June 8th.

 This photo was taken 2 weeks ago. The lavender was just starting to open.

But just look at it now, 2 weeks later. Heavenly!

  Late May, the lavender and impatiens were starting to take off.

 June 8. They're continuing to thrive.

 I think it's going to be another successful year of 'non-planting' on the screen feeder! 

Click here to see my original DIY post on using just the 6-pack pots without doing any planting.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!!

Donna

When Children Grow Up...

Some of you might remember when I posted about our Swingset Deck project here,

complete with [hideous] before & [much better] after photos.

Our two girls, now in their 20's, outgrew their swing set many years ago...

But because of memories like these, and me being the overly sentimental fool that I am,
I couldn't bear to part with their old wood swing set...

... so it became the inspiration and framework for a backyard sitting area where
climbing hydrangea and clematis will be crossing the monkey bars rather than two little girls.

The story isn't too different for the Gnome Home  
(so called because of its current lone inhabitant).

Once upon a time, long before Mr. Gnome
called this place home...

... two wonderful, silly little girls inhabited this magical place,
built by their daddy just for them.

 They spent countless hours laughing and giggling
in this magical little place...

... so magical that they were even able to entice our old Mr. O'Malley
to climb the ladder stairs and join in on the fun!

But children have a way of growing up (much too fast) and
leaving swing sets, tree houses, and all their sweet memories behind...

And no matter how much we'd like childhood to hang on
for just a wee bit longer...

...it's not part of nature's plan.

And so these days, it is little bunnies who frolic by the base of the tree house...

...and a family of birds who wind their way from the birdbath to the ladder steps
to pay Mr. Gnome a visit.

But sometimes when it's very quiet, while I'm out watering flowers or filling bird baths,
just sometimes an enchanted breeze will gently blow through the treehouse...

... and stir up memories so real that I swear I can still hear
two little girls laughing and giggling from inside.

Wishing you all the loveliest memories in your own enchanted gardens.

Donna

This week I'm joining

Tracie's Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage

and  Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Forecast... W-E-T

I'm so blessed to work from home. We had gorgeous weather all week long and I've so enjoyed our little yard this week. Sadly, for those who are stuck in offices Monday through Friday, this is the weather they'll be 'enjoying' this weekend.

(Don't mind me - I clearly don't even know what day it is as I mention that it's "June 3rd" in the video when in fact I took it today, June 2nd!)

The rains were coming down so hard at times, I ran to get my camera. Of course by the time I got back, it had let up a little, but it was still coming down at a good rate. My mother would have said, "It was raining cats and dogs."

There were no Sammy's or Chip's out during the downpour..

 ...but they did come out a bit later for their peanuts.

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that we had some new visitors to the yard. The berries on the mulberry tree are coming into season and we had several cedar waxwings feasting on them! Very exciting as we've never had them in our yard before!

So if this rain ever lets up, maybe I'll get some photos of them!

Enjoy your weekend, whatever the weather!

Donna