Random Tuesday

Hi Friends!

I just have some random things I want to discuss with you today. Maybe get your thoughts and ideas.
Definitely share what's going on.

Here's a view of our driveway from about half way up looking down toward the road:

This is one of the areas I want to make pretty for the wedding! It needs a lot of work.

A zoomed in view of the flowerbed that needs to be cleaned out:

There's landscape timbers at the top that probably need to be replaced, I need to dig out all the weeds, and then plant flowers. But whatever I plant needs to be deer proof and butterfly friendly would be a big plus. I have several lantanas that need to be moved so they will probably be planted along here for starters. I open to suggestions but they need to be tough. And I'd love to have a low fence too - maybe split rail?

 And when I turn around, the top of the driveway. The house is to the right:

There's a small strip of woods on the right where I spent a long time raking up leaves. (Pretty sure it caused my allergies to flare up from all the damp leaf mold.) I want to clean that up and plant it with pretty woodland plants since it's a view we see from the front porch. Again any suggestions on pretty deer proof or resistant plants? I'm in zone 8.

Then there's these beauties. They're confused by the warm weather we had up to the end of December:

 Pretty - we don't usually see them until February.

On the front porch is my large lantern turned gnome home:

 I need to work on it. The house is a birdhouse I repainted (it was a schoolhouse and ugly) and added some bits of whimsy to but it still needs work (I don't really like the color I painted it). Plus I need to secure the pieces down - they keep falling over.

Doesn't this look like a fairy door in the tree trunk? I might have to dress that up as well if I can figure out how to get the dogs to leave it alone.

And remember this guy? I finally named him! I figured he needed an English name so I decided on Wyndham. It's really fun watching him change directions as the weather changes. I love that I can see him not only from the back porch of the house but also the art studio. I think we're going to have a lot of adventures through my artwork. He's a friendly dragon after all. 😊

Lastly, I'm in the process of purging the studio at the city house. I have so many bits and pieces from old hobbies that I no longer need plus just the accumulation of stuff that needs to go. I'm making room for my new toy I got for Christmas too - a Cameo Silhouette! I'm not letting myself play with it until I'm done with this purging project because I know once I start, I'll be hooked and not want to do the cleaning I need to do. So, I'm forcing myself to stay on task.
What that means is you might not hear from me much in the next couple of weeks. But don't worry. I'll be back to share more progress on the studio and other things.

Until then, stay warm and well!