Progress at the Farm

I've been hard at work on the flowerbeds - along the driveway, around the house.

Leaves had to be raked and briars dug up. Good grief. Those things have huge tubers...no wonder you can't kill them!

I kept finding more and more until I had a huge pile of potato looking tubers.  The plant is Smilax. It grows all over the place.

They fought me leaving me scratched up but I won! The bed is cleaned out. 

 There were several creeping lantanas in front of the garage. They take over the sidewalk every Summer so I dug them up - all sixteen of them. I transplanted them to the driveway bed which should be the perfect spot for them. They can spread out and bloom away. A big bonus - butterflies love them!

I know it doesn't look like much now, but soon the slope will be covered in yellow blooms.

My oldest sister gave me 4 native lantana bushes. They got planted along the driveway too in the back of the bed.

Oh! While digging the briars out, I kept finding these concrete edger pieces buried under the dirt. Once upon a time, I think there were some really pretty flowerbeds here. #thankyouformerowners! 

I used them to edge the back flowerbed behind the garage. It should help keep the dirt and plants where they belong. :o)

Jay and Bruce got all the leaves raked up in the front wooded area where the little dogwood tree is budding out. I see a flower peeking out at me!

I'm excited about getting this area cleaned up! I can't wait to plant a woodland garden!

Random bulbs that were half buried in the leaves!

I can just picture a pretty bench in this area facing the house with pretty plants. With the years of leaf accumulation gone, I can finally see my vision coming to life!

Plus, I started weeding the front flowerbed. Can I just say it's going to take time? #neglectedforwhoknowshowmanyyears and full of weeds.

Spring is showing up early in all sorts of ways - tiny wild violets

With several of the trees sporting a hint of green and the redbuds blooming.

The bees were buzzing all over the redbuds! #buzzbuzz

And all the outside trim on the studio is up and painted! Woohoo! It looks so good!

Next time the door will get its new red coat. Then the outside will officially be done and it's onto the interior!

Definitely making progress! It sure helps that the weather has been so mild. I just hope we can get most of the outside stuff done before the heat hits. All in all, it was a very productive couple of weekends.

Farmhouse Christmas Decor

Welcome! It's Christmas at the B Farm. This year again I'm using my woodland/rustic theme with my Nutcracker collection thrown in for fun!

On the front porch, the bench got a simple wreath and I put large ornaments nestled among greenery in the urns:

There is always joy to greet you when you walk in the front door:

My metal basket is filled with a wintery, woodsy look complete with burlap, of course:

The entry table also has on its Winter finery:

Place card chickens

And the funky chickens are ready to p-a-r-t-y in their Santa hats:

Here's the tree with its woodland/rustic theme:

The angel Gail from Purple Hues and Me sent me

Sweet ornament I made to remind us of "The Reason For The Season"

My ornament last year from Vicky's Annual Ornament Exchange

One of my tin can lid ornaments

This year we used a bucket as part of the tree skirt then swirled some red burlap around that:

The fireplace has a snowy pine garland, burlap snowflakes, and several nutcrackers flanking my Christmas chalkboard:

And my small round chalkboard sits on the hearth with a bottle brush mouse:

The Uncle Sam Nutcracker is in the dining room:

In the kitchen, my Baker Nutcracker stands in the window:

Along with the egg basket filled with ornaments, and a cheery "ho ho ho":

For the kitchen door going out into the garage, I made a raggy wreath in reds and neutrals. I tied on some of my cookie cutters and a couple of metal mittens I found at Michaels:

The wreath was easy to make - I tore and cut strips from three different red materials and unbleached muslin, then tied them to a metal wreath frame until it was full. Love it!

heh, you can see the trash cans and barbecue pit out the window

The nice thing about this wreath is I can remove the mittens after Winter and it can then

stay up all year.

Even the bathroom has some Christmas cheer:

I really enjoy decorating my sweet little farmhouse. Now if it would just get cold enough for a fire in the fireplace...