Ginger snaps make good pillows

Well, I never thought of using a bag of Ginger Snaps for a pillow but Strawberry looks pretty comfy with them!

Since I've been home I've had a spring cleaning bug! I have a long list (I love to make lists) of things to do around the house before I get back to working on my studio and my art. I'll still do my computer work and have plenty of stuff I can put on my site anyway. I think Frazier has one more week before he can be free to roam so I will just wait until he is ready to leave before I start back to work on the studio.

My husband tilled the garden yesterday and the day before I started some seeds in peat pots. I should have already done that but at least they will get a little of a head start until we are ready to plant the garden. I wish these were cabbages we grew, but my Daddy grew these. He always has a great garden! We're excited because we have a big garden behind my studio. And we won't have to squeeze it in our little back yard! I walked around the outside of my studio yesterday to see what plants are starting to sprout. I think I'll just take notes of what's there this year and plan what to keep, what to move and what to get rid of. Knowing me, I will keep it all. There are some little trees that need to go. And there is a big forsythia that is really pretty, but I need to find out how to prune it because it is in the walkway. There is a huge bush about to bloom that is almost as tall as the house. I'm anxious for it to bloom and see what it is! I counted four nice size hydrangeas. I'm happy about that because I'm not having much luck with mine so far.....I've been trying to get some started in my yard for years! There are several rose bushes and a big patch of flowers that surround a bird bath that I've always loved! And there's a magnolia tree in the back--it's right against the shed, so I hope it can stay without getting damaged when we tear down the shed.

I walked around my house to see what is growing too--lots of hostas, lillies and spiderwort. This picture is beside my front porch....I love the way ivy fills in all the spaces where nothing else will grow! We dug that nandina in the woods where (I think) there used to be a house. I had no idea what it was, but it was pretty and there were lots of smaller ones growing around it. It has taken a few years to get this big, so that one we saw must have been really old because it was huge!!

One of my favorite things in my garden is my chocolate mint. I spreads a lot, but isn't as invasive as most mints....and the smell is wonderful. I've had this hanging around for several years and have moved it around a lot, so its pretty tough. I have growing around my roses--I love the pink blooms with this green & reddish brown foliage around the bottom. My pink roses are growing like crazy, but my red rose that I moved a few years ago looks like it has died. I hate that--it was growing under some trees when I moved here and it was tiny, a little bush no more than a foot tall that barely had any blooms. I moved it to the back yard in the sun  and gave it some support and it grew way over my head. The pink one was the same, but it is bad to get eaten by bugs--the red one didn't seem to be affected by that. I don't know what happened to it. I guess I'll just cut it way back and see what happens. Below are a few more pictures of some of my plants and a rare picture of Cricket. LOL!

Below--a rusty suitcase I found on the side of the road. I plan to fill it with flowers when I figure out a way to keep it from slamming shut on my flowers when the wind blows! The 2nd picture is a planter my husband made for me when we first started dating. He made several that I painted & distressed.