From the category archives:

house

Gardening at the End of February

1 March 2010

It was a busy garden weekend here at Black Dog Farm. We started with a trip to Molbaks to take advantage of their 30% off bare-root and b&b trees and shrubs.
We started with something to go in front of the three cedars. The early white blooms of this magnolia shrub will lighten up the dark [...]

Tagged as: hellebore, iris, lenten rose, magnolia, mint, peony, redbud, reticulated iris, spirea, tulips

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First Garden Report

25 February 2010

Last fall we dug up and divided a lot of overgrown plants. Among them a patch of iris so thick that it took a tree saw to hack it apart.
All eight sections have begun to grown nicely. I’m not sure how much bloom we’ll get this year. They’re going to look great at the back [...]

Tagged as: garden, irises

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Garden Report – October 10

11 October 2009

I took advantage of one last day of fine weather to do a bunch of clean up and some late season planting.
This is what happens if you forget and leave the felcos on the wall of the garden bed. Damn. That’ll take a couple of hours to put right.
We had a lot of damage from [...]

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Garden Report – Sept 1

1 September 2009

A couple more notes from the garden.
The nicotiana in the bird bath bed continues to thrive. This dark purple variety can really soak up the sun.
The last man standing in the library bed has been moved to a new home on the other side of the front door. Once the roundup has done it’s job [...]

Tagged as: cypress, nicotiana

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Garden Report – August 30

30 August 2009

It’s been hot and dry for much of the summer. That’s hard on the plants and I know that I’m going to have to move some things that haven’t handled the heat well come fall.
Meanwhile I’ve been replacing some of the things that we lost in last winter’s deep freeze.
Rosemary is something that I regard [...]

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Finished Upholstry

3 July 2009

The porch furniture cushions are finished.
(Forgive the grumpy looking guy – he was waiting impatiently to find out whether or not his elbow was broken. He’s better now.)
Someday I’ll get around to making chair pads for the dining set. Not just yet though.

Tagged as: sewing, upholstery

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New Tools, Continuing Upholstry and No More Room

22 June 2009

I got tools from Rio Grande this afternoon.
Clockwise from the top. Ring mandrel – very pleased with the quality and heft. Parallel pliers – thank you Sarah L. for getting me addicted to those expensive little dears. Raw hide mallet for banging on metal. Ring clamp for holding onto things and not sanding my fingers, [...]

Tagged as: bench, parallel pliers, rawhide mallet, ring clamp, ring mandrel, snips, upholstery

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Garden Report

14 June 2009

The peonies are almost ready to bloom. How odd that I saw my sister’s peonies in full bloom in Pittsburgh more than 2 weeks ago.

Tagged as: peonies

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Feeling Nesty – Part I

14 June 2009

Today we declared a scavenger hunt day. We have a list of things we’d like to have for the house but haven’t found just the right one yet.
We were wildly successful.
Our last gazebo was destroyed by the snow last winter. We finally found a gazebo/screen house that was small enough for the spot between [...]

Tagged as: gazebo, screen house

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Garden Report

10 May 2009

Happy Mother’s Day weekend. Gardening season now begins in earnest in Pugetopolis.
We did our part to add to the mayhem.
Beginning with some additions to the kitchen garden. A couple of serrano chiles, four basils and an even dozen random lettuce plants. If we cut only a couple of salads a week this will last most [...]

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