Most of us can barely wait for the first signs of spring. Crocus, snowdrops, dainty violas, pansies—all are welcome...
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Grandson’s Faerie Garden
When we constructed a faerie garden for our granddaughter, our grandson thought he might be interested also. So we...
One Last Glimpse
Before I leave our sidehill gardens, I am giving one last glimpse of the views along our driveway. We have, over the...
Going Downhill From Here Part 4
These photos are still of our hillside, but now above our little patch of woods (see Going Downhill From Here Part 3), and across from the area of our downhill paths (see Going Downhill From Here Part 2). We have a lot of area here to experiment with; some of what we...
Happy 2021
I want to start 2021 by apologizing for being AWOL the last couple of months. My husband has had to deal with health issues that started in late summer and, when finally feeling better, an accident during the Thanksgiving weekend that landed him in the hospital for a...
Going Downhill From Here Part 3
In Going Downhill From Here #2 I promised I would show more of how we are trying to tame the hill that is our side yard. Like most of you, we have more ideas than we have money so our plans have to be implemented a little at a time. Sometimes we feel like we are not...
Going Downhill From Here Part 2
In Going Downhill From Here Part 1 it is clearly evident that our side yard hill is quite steep. (Understatement!) Putting in a retaining wall and a small patio was a good first step toward solving this challenge. But, of course, that left the rest of the hill to be...
Going Downhill From Here Part 1
Did I mention that our home is on a hill?? This photo sort of shows how steep our side yard is. When we first moved here, the neighbor kids used our hill for sledding on the days when we had snow! (Thankfully, it doesn’t snow very often!) But eventually we decided to...
Granddaughter’s Faerie Garden
When we saw that our granddaughter was interested in faerie gardens, and always wanted to help in my faerie garden, we decided to build a garden area just for her. We planted a Rising Sun redbud, a fast growing and pretty tree, in the center of her garden to give it...
My Faerie Garden
While I have been involved in every aspect of our yard and borders, my faerie garden is totally mine. My hubby built the retaining wall (bottom of the page) so I would have a level place for my little garden. Then he planted the Chinese fringe tree (see Beginning at...
Lemons to Lemonade
As I mentioned before, when we moved here, our yard was pretty much a blank slate. There were a few attempts at landscaping, including a small weeping cherry tree planted on the left side of our house, which was probably put in right before the house was listed for...
Past Successes
While going through photos for this blog, I came across some past successes in our front yard, some that were outstanding, and some that didn’t last for one reason or another. I will show more in another blog, but I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy...
Beginning at the Beginning
When my daughter and I restarted this blog, I decided to show first our side and back yard gardens and pathways because they are the latest areas that we have been working on. They have done very well this year but, as every gardener knows all too well, disaster may...
The Luck of the Irish
No, we aren’t Irish but this moss, sometimes called Irish moss (sagina subulata), is really beautiful on this path. I was told by someone “in the know” that it would not grow and thrive here. But I have grown it in my faerie gardens as lawns for the little faeries,...
A Walk On The Other Side
In my last post, I talked about the pathway and flower border along side our house. This post will show you the other side of the path. This side had leyland cypress along it (see August 28, 2016); this made it the perfect border back drop and wind break. But because...
Whimsey Among the Flowers
In this post, I would like to show you more of the garden, whimsey and pathway on the side of our home. Inspiration can come from many sources: other’s gardens, garden centers, and Pinterest to name a few. In this garden all three had a role to play. Our front yard...
Beginning Again!
My daughter and I debated whether to continue this blog; she has been very busy with her career, and I have been—well, just busy since my hubby retired. But our garden has changed so much since my last post, and Jen loves our garden, too—after all, she grew up here,...
Zen Gardens
It has been (quite) awhile since I posted to this site. We have just been busy. Now that the contractors are done (yea!!), I can begin to repair the damage to our faerie garden under the trees. However, since it is raining today, I finally have a chance to put...
Amazing Playhouse Deck
The last part of the playhouse project, that I want to show now, is the deck complete with garage. Doesn’t every playhouse need a deck?? It was a big project and took awhile to complete. But the upside of that is the kids had something fun to look forward to each time...
More Amazing Playhouse
In my last blog post I mentioned that we created some neat stairs for our grandchildren’s playhouse. We decided to make them as functional and as colorful as possible. For function, we built cubbies under the stairs for their special treasures. Blue for boys, pink for...
Amazing Playhouse
It is winter! And cold here. So we aren’t in the gardening mood at the moment. But I would love to share a project with you that we did a few years ago. Our daughter and grandchildren live far enough away that they usually stay overnight when they come. Although we...
Snowmen Galore!
Happy New Year, Faerie Garden Friends! We are finally done taking down all our Christmas “stuff”. Because it is technically winter for at least another month, I rounded up some snowmen to decorate the mantel, probably until Valentine’s Day. As you can see in the first...
Because It’s Christmas
Dear friends, I keep saying I am done posting for Christmas—BUT—as I was cleaning off my computer desk top I came across these photos that I had pulled from iphotos. So I thought one more post?? And I promise it really will be a short post. The first photo is so...
O Christmas Tree(s)
Merry Christmas, Friends! I just have time for one last post before Christmas. I thought I would share some of our trees and how I decorate them. Did I mention that I love decorating?? : ) This tree is our “main” tree in the living room. It is done mostly in glittery...
Christmas Mantels from Days Gone By
I have unearthed a few photos of Christmas mantels from previous years. The first four photos are of an arrangement I did several years ago, and it is still one of my favorites. I collect Department 56 New England Village pieces and I used some of them in this...
Merry Christmas Mantel
It is that time again—time to redo our mantel for Christmas. Because it is a celebration of Christ’s birthday, I always use a nativity somewhere in my decorating. This year I used it on our mantel.As usual, I started with a clean slate. Then I tried several different...
Enchanted Cottage at the Edge of the Woods
This is my last in-house faerie garden for the time being. I am going to concentrate on decorating for Christmas after I finish this post. (You didn’t really think I was going to stop decorating, did you?? 🙂 ) This is another of my favorite containers. While the...
Cozy Cottage
Another day—another faerie garden. As my outdoor faerie garden gets demolished, my indoor faerie gardens take shape. Our contractor (finally) came today. Dave removed all houses, etc. that were in harm’s way (thank you, Hubby) and that little outside garden looks very...
The General Store
Dear Faerie Garden Friends, Sad admission — I have seriously neglected my indoor faerie gardens over the summer! And they seriously needed revitalization!! I finally had the time yesterday to begin working on them. This one still needs a few accessories, but overall I...
A Cozy Hearth
Today I decided to decorate our mantel for fall. I love our fireplace!! Since our house did not come with a fireplace, we built our own. A friend who is a designer suggested the overall design to incorporate an antique carved piece that was given to us. It was one of...
Happy Fall Y’all!
Fall is here, friends. And if you are like me, you want a fall accessory “face lift” for your house. Last year, when we participated in our town’s annual fall festival, I put these little arrangements together to sell in our booth. The adorable little shoe planters...
Fall Festivities
It is now officially fall!! I haven’t spent any time working in my faerie garden since August! I have to turn my head and ignore it in order to deal. I am ready to plant fall flowers and clean up for winter but—can’t... We are having our front porch replaced, as well...
Versatile Container Gardens
Today I want to talk more about the versatility of container faerie gardens. I absolutely love it when someone comes to me and asks for a special garden for a special person. In fact, I have included some examples of faerie gardens that were meant for one purpose, and...