The annuals in my pots this year

The annuals in my pots were planted two weeks ago. The photographs were taken a week ago. My plan is to post progress photos once a month to show the growth.

Yes, I planted early. Let’s blame it on global warming. Our weather has been very mild. I keep a close eye on the forecast. I will cover everything if needed.

And yes, plants are shockingly expensive this year. I have cut way back in my plants. I put less variety in each pot than in the past. 

I water every day. Pots are a commitment.

The front window box - 6 pots at 12” each.
Shade.

The kitchen window box - 3 pots at 26”x10”

each. 

Shade.

The hanging baskets - 4 measuring 20” x 7” 

Sun.

The bench planter - 3 square pots measuring 13”x13” each.

Sun. 

Side planter - 5 square pots measuring 13”x13”  each.

Sun.

Metal chair planter - one 9” pot.

Sun.

New! Corner by little garage door - 3 pots measuring 18” each. 

Late afternoon sun only.

Bottom of driveway - 2 pots measuring 18” each. 

Sun.

Jacob’s Ladder is in bloom

I purchased 8 or starts of Jacob’s Ladder in 2019 or 2020. It loves this spot. It is blooming now.

Clematis is growing on the trellis. There is a fence wrapped around the trellis to keep the bunnies at bay. Two years in a row (2022 and 2023) the bunnies let the clematis grow, and just start to bloom, and then chomped it off at the ground. They didn’t eat it, they just chomped it.

The hedge is boxwood.

Between the boxwood hedge and the clematis is Jacob’s Ladder. 

Yes, so many weeds low to the ground in this bed. 

It is complicated. This on my list and should be solved in the next couple months.

A tile (drainage tile, underground) needs to go under the sidewalk to reduce the volume of water in this bed. 

That involves digging a very deep hole to find the old tile. Then the downspout will be hooked up to that tile or a new tile will be fed through the old one. 

Once that is done, the bed will be weeded within an inch of its life, and hosta will move from the backyard to create a lush border on the front edge of this bed.

My lilac is in full bloom

 

Wordle

 I added a game to my repertoire. Wordle.

Yes, I realize this is not new or exciting news. 

A lot of people play Wordle.

I mention Wordle only because I might play it slightly different than the average person. I play for speed and efficiency. I do not care if I use all six tries to get the word. 

I think many people always start with the same word. They have one favorite word they try first. 

Many people chose a word with the most vowels possible. 

This site lists suggestions -

https://capitalizemytitle.com/5-letter-words-with-the-most-vowels/

I googled “what is the smartest method to play Wordle?”.

My search history no longer has the link listed. It might have been a video. 

But I have a screen shot of the suggestion -

The idea is to have five standard words, not one. And those five words utilize most of the alphabet. Four letters are missing from those five words (above) Q, V, X, Z.

My red dashes (above) indicate the duplicates. 

I liked the concept, but I fine tuned the words to include one more letter. 

I use DERBY, FLANK, WITCH first, every time I play. Those three words cover 15 of the 26 letters of the alphabet. They cover some very common letters. 

Sometimes, those three words are enough. 

If those three words are not enough, I add JUMPS. 

If that is still not enough, I add VOGUE.

My five words are only missing Q, Z, X from the alphabet. The letter U usually tips me off if there is a Q hiding.

If I only reveal four letters and there is not a U, then there is either a duplicate letter or a X or a Z.

Here is a screen shot showing all five of my words with the duplicate letters marked. Q, X, Z are missing. Again, if there is a U, I suspect Q.

New couches

We ordered new couches in December 2023. They were delivered in early March 2024.

Our living room is set up movie theater style, so both couches are on the same wall, opposite the TV and fireplace. 

I bought a king size white quilt and made seat covers so I do not have to worry about dog nails on the leather. 

I simply cut the quilt in half, folded the halves in half again and bound the raw edges in wide bias tape I had on hand. 

The skinny table was a vintage find on Facebook Marketplace. I had a piece of glass cut for the top so I can set my Kleen Kanteen thermos there without a moisture or heat worry. The white cord is my phone charger. 

The table lamp is from Target. The floor lamp is a vintage family piece. 

The white circle on the floor is an easy access outlet. I never use it. The kids all use it when they are home (gaming systems, laptops).

Apples

 

First, thank you to casting for being diverse. I could tell all the players apart easily. Sometimes I really struggle with this. 

We recognized Annette Benning and Sam Neill immediately. That was the hook for starting this seven episode limited series. 

I like that length. It is much more time than a movie would provide, but it is limited. Win. Win. 

We liked the writing, directing, acting. We enjoyed this series. 

I did not know one thing about the story line before I started. We did not know where it was going. And I am not spoiling it. 

I would encourage you not to look up anything, there are spoilers out there. 

I will say, one has to watch the screen. “Then” and “now” are used to define time jumps. As someone who usually plays Wordle or Candy Crush when I watch TV, I had to watch more closely than my usual. 

I subscribed to Peacock in order to watch the current season of The Voice and Law and Order. Any additional items I find/found to watch are/were a great bonus. 

The jonquils and grape hyacinths are in bloom

 

Milk glass

Note - if the term Milk Glass is foreign to you -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_glass

https://www.marthastewart.com/8118499/collecting-milk-glass

Did you wonder about the shelves at the foot of our bed in last week’s post? 

There was a hint of white in the photos. 

Here is a better angle -

Here is a close up -

That is a vintage Milk Glass Collection. (There is also a modern egg plate.)

What to do with these shelves was an issue. 

Working on the pantry, a lone/large piece of milk glass put this idea in my head. 

I collected the rest, very purposely, on Facebook Marketplace for very little money. 

These are beautiful vintage pieces. 

Here is each milk glass in detail -

This is my original/inspirational piece from the pantry - 

This is a modern deviled egg plate from Target. It blends. It is a good way to store this oversized piece. 

Originally this larger space held a box TV. I am having a shelf added to make this space disappear. I will add two pieces of milk glass to the new shelves. 

I find the vintage Milk Glass very restful. 

I love small collections, groupings like this are art to me. 

The milk glass is the perfect use of this space. The white pops nicely. It is easy to dust. 

The white Milk Glass is also the reason I did not chose white quilts when I redid the bed linen. Gray linen works so much better. 

Long ago this space was a clutter/mess (below). It was not restful. It was a terrible dust problem. 

Our bedroom linen, simplified

I forgot to take a before photo. I laid the old quilts on the bed and used the drawing function to reinstate the glare of the white plastic covers on the box springs. 

Changing bed linen one day, I realized how unifying and simple all gray bedding looked. I have a gray weighted blanket and a gray Beddy on my bed. 

I was not about to waste time, money and my thumbs making two all gray quilts. 

I ordered four sets of gray bedding from Target. 

I ordered two gray quilts from Kohls. 

Everything was returnable if the grays clashed. 

Why four sheet sets? Two fitted sheets to cover the box springs, one set for my husband’s bed, one extra set for my husband’s bed. My bed utilizes a Beddy. I made extra pillow cases with one of the extra flat sheets. 

Luckily the quilts were not available in xl twin. So I was forced to order full/queen which then gave me the width to tuck in these quilts. Since both beds are propped on cement blocks, the wider width works well for us. 

It might seem odd for a quilter to purchase solid gray quilts. 

First, it is hard on quilts to tuck them under a mattress. It causes threads to break. I have no concerns about tucking an inexpensive store bought quilt. 

Second, tucking the bottom of the quilts keeps the beds tidy. Vacuuming is easy, there is nothing on the floor.

Third, the all gray is very restful and unifying. I crave simpler these days.