Monday, April 22, 2024

T Stands for In The Garden

      Hi everyone.  It is once again time for T Day over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog. I hope everyone had a nice week since our last T day.

      I  want to wish everyone who celebrates Passover a happy holiday week. And  Monday was  Earth Day, which means it was our hostess Elizabeth's big day. I never made it to the post office, but I thought this image was perfect for an Earth Day/ T Day birthday.


I hope it was a great day my friend.

      Last week was a busy one for me, and to top it off, I came down with a head cold that developed into a wheezie cough. Luckily except for one day when I was actually down and out, the cold wasn't bad enough to stop me.  I have been  excited to get back outside and work in my yard, which I know some of you don't get excited about, but I love getting the gardens ready for another season.


I like this photo I took off my back deck. 

      I  managed to get a few areas of the yard cleaned out. My property is most wooded with a lot of oak trees, and their leaves don't decay quickly. That means I get some good exercise cleaning them out. Plus there were a lot of acorns last year, and I've been chucking them back into the woods where new little oak trees can grow without getting in the way.

     I know they say don't rake until May (at least in my area) so the burrowing insects don't get disturbed, but with all the land around me that I don't rake or even do anything to, I think me raking out my flower beds is not a huge overall issue. 


I didn't get as many crocuses (at least so far) as I usually get. Perhaps they were buried under all the oak leaves. Grin. 😏


I raked and then straightened out the granite blocks around this stretch of garden. The blocks were pushed willy-nilly out of place as the ground froze and then thawed over the winter. I decided to tighten them up a bit too, which meant I needed a few more blocks. I went out to buy them, and when I came home I realized I was still 1 block short. 😞 It's a good thing my husband stopped to get fertilizer later that day because he picked up the block I needed. ❤


I should have daffodils this week too.  And hopefully my bees will arrive because they were supposed to have shipped over a week ago, and still the tracking has them at their point of origin. Hmmm.

This past weekend's garden project was to move an arbor that I've had for at least 20 years. It's been in one garden and not really doing much there, so I wanted to move where my grape vine can grow onto it.   I had to move it out of the other garden before all the plants grow up because I didn't want them to get stepped on as we carried it out. 😏


I still need to get some fresh stone for the walkway, but I'm excited to have this moved.
I also need to share a drink to finish off this post. For T this week I have  garden drink related photos.


     I saw someplace online where someone was clever and hung old teapots for bird houses. I ordered this first teapot a few years ago online, and when it came, the top was broken. The company sent me a new teapot and told me not to bother returning the topless one. This teapot has been sitting waiting for me to do something with it. 

     I  have a second teapot to use as a birdhouse also. This one has a little chip, and it isn't as pretty as the other one, but it had a plant in it that I gave my mother for Mother's Day several years  ago. When we cleaned out her apartment, the plant was dead but I took the teapot home. Like the other teapot, it's just been sitting waiting for me to do something with it.


     Let's see if the birds actually like this potential nest site. If not, it still looks pretty. In fact, if I can find a few more topless pots I may end up making a teapot tree. 

That's all for me today. Thanks for visiting. I hope everyone has a great rest of their week.









23 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

Here's to you feeling 100 percent soon. I love all the flowers and fun of your outdoors. Can't wait until we move and get that too! Feel better. Cheers, Ivy.

hels said...

Great idea but I personally have never seen old teapots for bird houses. Has anyone written it up, saying whether the birds use the teapots for their families?

Mae Travels said...

Tackling a huge job like that raking sounds impressive, especially when you have a cold. I hope the work goes quickly and painlessly.

best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Angie's Recipes said...

You sure had a busy week! The Earth Day page looks absolutely lovely, Erika.

Iris Flavia said...

Great card! And I hope you are much better by now!
I admit... I am glad we have but a balcony and I´m not sure if I will buy flowers from the nursery cause my strawberries took over!
Also... all the work! ;-)
I have my Dad´s genes and still remember how my Mom had to mow the garden!
Hope your bees have arrived safely.
And if my teapot gives in for good, I´ll find a place to hang it for birds - please keep us updated if or when yours have turned into homes indeed! Do you put something inside?
With the pots - happy T-Day, hugs

Anonymous said...

Lovely spring blooms! Happy Earth Day. -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com

Violetta said...

Seems that spring is coming. Nice pics, especially the teapot-bird feeding station.
Have a good day and all the best
Violetta

Valerie-Jael said...

LOVE those teapots, great idea! Glad you got all of your blocks in a row in the end! You have done a huge amount of work, and I think it's not over yet! Take care of yourself. Hugs, Valerie

David M. Gascoigne, said...

You have been busy despite having a cold. I hope that a pair of songbirds will accept the offer of your teapot home. I haven’t seen much of this practice here but in England people locate all manner of objects for birds to use and they seem to be readily accepted. On visits there I have seen European Robins and Wrens making use of old teapots, a coat pocket in a garden shed, a discarded boot and atop an old saddle hanging in a barn. Lots of scope, Erika. All the best - David

CJ Kennedy said...

You have been busy. The teapots are cute and a clever way to reuse them. I like the idea of a teapot tree. A chilly start this morning, but it's sunny so you should have another great day in your garden.

Let's Art Journal said...

Looks like spring is here - yay 😁 . Loved the pretty white crocus and wow, your teapot tree is amazing! I hope the birds nest there, it's such a lovely idea - perfect ❤️. Happy T Tuesday! Hugs, Jo x

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Despite having a cold, you got a lot accomplished outside. I like the shape of the area with blocks. I need to do something similar, I think. Yours looks so very neat and tidy.

Those teapots are awesome and great recycled art and functional bird houses. Thanks for the lovely tea party card, your garden makeover, and the amazing teapots turned into bird houses you share for T this Tuesday, dear Erika.

DVArtist said...

I'm so sorry about the head cold. I hope you are feeling much better by now. Your yard off the deck and all of the other photos look fabulous. I really like the tea pots. Have a nice day.

Carola Bartz said...

I can totally understand you wanting to get outside and work in the garden. I feel that itch all year and in our climate there is always something to do in the garden. I'm not sure though that I would have done so much work with a head cold like you did - I hope that the cold is completely gone by now. Our native oak leaves are much smaller than yours, but they also don't break down easily. Thankfully I don't have that many in my garden since the huge oak is on my neighbor's property and there is only one small border on the side of the driveway where most of the leaves on my side land. That border can take it and I don't bother with it so much. I like the teapot idea and hope that some birds will move in. A neighbor down the street has glued a tea cup to the saucer and uses it as a bird feeder in her tree. I like that idea as well. Enjoy your work in the garden!

Lisca said...

It's spring and that brings with it a lot of work in the garden. You sure have been working hard.
Have you found out where your bees are yet? It is worrying that they haven't left their point of origin.
Those teapots are something else! What a great idea to hang them. Let's hope the birds like them too.
Happy T-Day,
Lisca

MELODY JACOB said...


It sounds like you've been quite busy despite dealing with a head cold! Working in the yard and getting the gardens ready for the new season can be so rewarding. I love the photo you took off your back deck – it's beautiful!

Jeanie said...

that's what I should have done with the broken teapot I tossed in the trash this week (I'd broken the top a long while ago and it had too narrow an opening at the top to turn it into a vase.) Great idea. I need to rake out too -- I'm glad you reminded me. (I shut my eyes when I walk by.)

Linda said...

I love the teapot birdhouses.

Aimeslee Winans said...

Lots of hard work that paid off well and I love your pergola and tea pots. Hope you are feeling better now, xoxo

Sharon Madson said...

Teapots for birdhouses! What a fabulous idea; especially for chipped or broken ones. Happy T Day.

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love the idea of teapots in trees - I hope you get a nester! Once again I have had to give TSFT a miss as I still have comments to catch up with on AJJ, hugs, Chrisx

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love the idea of teapots in trees - I hope you get a nester! Once again I have had to give TSFT a miss as I still have comments to catch up with on AJJ, hugs, Chrisx

Mia said...

You live in paradise, Erika. I love the photo of your back yard. The teapots as birdhouses is a great idea. I use a topless teapot as a vase. Kisses, my friend.