Sixty Years Strong

Another one of the treasures to share from our road trip last week, is this wonderful old garden plow.
Still in usable condition, with the original red wooden handles.
An old advertisement shows this plow cost a whopping 12.75 in the year 1950.

I've been up to my eyes in cardboard boxes for the past two days. The First Sergeant has been organizing his workshop and moving tools and equipment out of the garage and into their new location.

How do we accumalate so much 'stuff' ' ?

More 'Pickin'

There is a noticeable change in the air, the mornings are cooler and have a certain crispness to them, the dew is heavy afoot.

Yesterday, The First Sergeant unloaded the 'pickin' goodies and began placing them around the garden.


Old tractor wheel and new mums, displayed along the spilt rail fence.




I spotted this copper weather vane, and wanted him for the potting shed. It turned out to be a little overbearing, and so it was decided to mount him freestanding next to the fence.



There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.
~ Winston Churchill

The First Sergeant had his sights set on a huge old cast iron pot, which took up most of the room inside the trailer.

He filled it to the top with sand and soil, and planted it with Asters, Chrysanthemums, and Winter Pansies.

The next 'pick' was something I have been keeping an eye out for, an old bicycle....

There she was, in all her glory, propped up alongside the iron pot.

"Picked"

I've still to work on her flower-carrying usefulness, but I'm already loving her.

There a still a couple of treasures to share with you, I'll get busy with the camera today !

Hope your Sunday is a treasured one......

American Pickers

Yesterday The First Sergeant and I decided to enjoy the last of the summer weather, and so we loaded up the trailer and headed East..
We had a mission in mind, we were going 'pickin', just like the American Pickers on the television show.

Instead of randomly stopping to see what we would bargain for, our destination was an old antique/junk store situated within a stones throw of Center Hill Lake in Smithville, TN a reservoir constructed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in 1948.

The lake, which is 64 miles long, and covers an area of 18,220 acres has approximately 415 mi (668 km) of shoreline, with the deepest point at 190 ft and is well-known for water recreation and fishing.

View from atop the Dam entrance

View from Dam onto lake

Traveling down the back roads of nearby Edgar Evins State Park

Abandoned homestead

We returned home with our little trailer full of treasures, mostly for the garden, of which I'll post later, but wanted to share this wonderful old Blue Willow teapot I bought for a fraction of it's worth.

Time for tea !

Simon's Cat " In the Box "

For all of us cat lovers out there, a new Simon's Cat video, for your purrfect enjoyment .

This message approved by Oliver >^..^<

Nobody Left To Love Me

Someone always leaving
and never coming back.
The wooden houses left too long abandoned
to turn old and gray.

Weeds pushing apart . . .
Trees gone wild,
Fields taking over
Shredded curtains blowing in the wind.

Beams of weathered wood . . .

No longer able to hold in
The soft heartbeat of Home.

Summertime: I Bid You Adieu

The wildflowers continue to share their beauty, despite lack of rain, and hotter than normal September days.
It's been a HOT summer, period.
And so, as we transition into the gentler days of autumn I share with you the last few flowers of summer........


The goldenrod is yellow,
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curing in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges haunt their harvest,
In every meadow's nook;
And asters by the brookside
Make asters in the brook.

From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all those lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumn's best of cheer.

September ~ Helen Hunt Jackson 1830-1885

Bouncing Bet, Soapwort

Purple Passionflower

Yarrow

Joe Pye Weed

Blue Lettuce, Aster

Queen Anne's Lace

Black Eyed Susan

Heavenly Blue: Morning Glories

Summer's End

"Spring flowers are long since gone.

Summer's bloom hangs limp on every terrace.

The gardener's feet drag a bit on the dusty path and the hinge in his back is full of creaks."-

~Louise Seymour Jones

View Through My Window

What I'm watching when I should be working.....

Making A Start

There has been copious amounts of huffing and puffing around the garden today.
The First Sergeant's lady found an absolute 'steal' on Craigslist, enough cedar split-rail fencing to
build all of those projects we've talked about lately.
One fifth the cost of new lumber, and all delightfully weathered over the past fifteen years.

Bright and early this morning , The First Sergeant and favorite son-in-law, loaded up the truck and trailer and headed out to collect the 'goods', and before noon this was the result.


The first sections have been installed, and as the days progress, we'll be installing more.

We added a barnwood birdhouse

The Morning Glories are still blooming their little hearts out.

The field is full of wildflowers

An old garden implement wheel a yard sale 'lucky' find

A 'ginger' helper

Wandering Path

The love of field and coppice,

Of green and shaded lanes.

Of ordered woods and gardens

Is running in your veins,

Strong love of grey-blue distance

Brown streams and soft dim skies

I know but cannot share it,

My love is otherwise.

~ Dorothea Mackellar 1904

Sitting On The Fence

Fences are some of my favorite things.
They can be both beautiful and functional, and are most often used to keep pets, children and strangers, in or out.
They protect our gardens, and offer privacy as well as giving our homes a more rustic appeal.

I prefer old fences, time-worn woods, covered in lichen or mosses.

We are preparing to install more fencing around our home, we've yet to decide on the tradition Split-Rail fence, or a Cedar Stack Rail fence, either way they both make my heart skip a beat....

Split Rail fences mimic the look and appearance of fences built in the early settlement days.

Cedar Stack Split Rail fence can be easily disassembled and re-located.

A Moment Of Silence

Together we pause to remember the victims,

to grieve with the families and friends of those who died,

and to honor the heroes of that day and each day since,

who have sacrificed to save lives and serve their country.

A Brief Encounter

We've had spells of wonderful cool evenings.
The kind of weather, that begs you to spend the last few hours of the day, enjoying the outdoors.

The days are noticeably shorter, the flowers are sharing their last blooms, the birds are retiring early to their nests.
Mother Nature's way of slowing down.

The mosquitoes however are in abundance.

The Morning Glories say 'hello', and by late afternoon are waving 'farewell'.