One of my joys in gardening involve just sitting and relaxing and enjoying the garden. It may seem like I don't have enough time to do this, but I do. I make it a point to just sit and relax every day, usually after a hard day in the garden.
Seating areas in the garden make sitting an easy and pleasureable experience. I have several seating areas and find I use them all at different times. The first picture is of a swing in my front yard. This seating area is tucked into a sheltered area under a cedar and oak tree. It is surrounded by gardens on three sides. This seating area provides me a good vantage point to enjoy my house while still being secluded, even though it is in the front yard.
You all have seen the second pictured seating area before. This is one of my favorite pictures and I use it alot. This is a very informal area next to my driveway. I sometimes sit here, but not often due to the openess of it to the adjacent property owner. I envisioned it as a place for my children's friends to hang out while playing basketball and as an area for me to sit among my sunny perennial garden. The fact it is a sunny area will change as the river birch grows in and provides privacy.
The third picture is a very new seating area. I used some leftover bricks from our old fireplace to build a little pad for this arched seat. It is in the backyard tucked into a garden which grows nothing in it but weeds. That will change this upcoming year (the optimist in me).
Seating areas in the garden make sitting an easy and pleasureable experience. I have several seating areas and find I use them all at different times. The first picture is of a swing in my front yard. This seating area is tucked into a sheltered area under a cedar and oak tree. It is surrounded by gardens on three sides. This seating area provides me a good vantage point to enjoy my house while still being secluded, even though it is in the front yard.
You all have seen the second pictured seating area before. This is one of my favorite pictures and I use it alot. This is a very informal area next to my driveway. I sometimes sit here, but not often due to the openess of it to the adjacent property owner. I envisioned it as a place for my children's friends to hang out while playing basketball and as an area for me to sit among my sunny perennial garden. The fact it is a sunny area will change as the river birch grows in and provides privacy.
The third picture is a very new seating area. I used some leftover bricks from our old fireplace to build a little pad for this arched seat. It is in the backyard tucked into a garden which grows nothing in it but weeds. That will change this upcoming year (the optimist in me).
The main seating area my family and I use is a swing right off the back deck. It is such a comfortable swing and I bet I have seen half a dozen of these swings in other yards around town. The swing is from our local Wal-Mart and is a very popular style of swing. The Ramsey family tries to have 'swing time' every day.
I hope you readers have some seating areas in your gardens. Seating areas need not be fancy, just comfortable and accessible. What kind of seating areas do you all enjoy?
for now, I am sitting in the garden....
Tina, Very nice seating areas, my favorite is the second one. Is that a water fountain in the first picture?
ReplyDeleteNice seating areas, even the one in progress looks fairly manicured. I have two garden seatings (and a area for lawn chairs) One is out by the driveway, a park bench for us waiting for the bus. Can't use it all year because at this time, its buried, completely covered with snow. The other is square rocks around a maple, by the wantabee pond. They will end up in the shallow end as a viewing area for feeding the fish. Getting ready for all works this year, now that the house is done. Although I would like a gazebo somewhere. Later :?)
ReplyDeleteWhy bother creating a garden if you dont have a place to sit and enjoy it?
ReplyDeleteWe have a swing by the butterfly island...
A bench in the flower garden...
Table and chairs on the patio...
Two homemade benches made from tree stumps and long plank...
The front porch adorns 3 rocking chairs and a swing to enjoy the plants and flowers on the porch!
We also have a tree house if anyone wants to climb the ladder for a look… LOL
Very nice seating areas --I'm sure it would be fun to look at your gardens. Mine would be pretty boring, lol. You have such a nice setup and put so much time into your gardens. In our yard there is always the possibility of being hit with a flying football or basketball. I can't complain at least they like being outside. I can't wait to get that mulch when it warms up --they are my "hired" help. I pay in homemade cookies and fruit snacks:)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-I am with you. Mine would be very boring also. hat is one reason my husband refuses to part with the grass and transform it into garden space. My daughters play softball and we are always playing catch and running bases in the yard. I also don't have any shade trees so any spot I pick for a sitting area would be in the sun. We are planning on planting trees this year but it will be decades before I have true shade.
ReplyDeleteI did get Lowes fever today and went and bought some bulbs. I am going to try to plant these right side up! I bought 2 packs of the tuberoses,cannas and freesias. I think from the info on the earlier blog I am going to go ahead and start the tubers inside in a pot in my sunroom. Not sure where I am going to put everything...I am one of those "buy it then figure out where to put it" people. I have some border beds that have black-eyed susans...probably end up there.
Boring boring...thats my yard. Maybe if I get enough info from this blog I can eventually have a few spots of bright fragrant flowers in my yard.
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ReplyDeleteHi Everyone, hope all is having a good Sunday.
ReplyDeleteHey Dawn in the Kovel's article today they said Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, muslin body, red mop hair, Averill, 1950's 20 inches are worth (don't faint) $2,510.00.
Anonymous and O'Malley, I bet your yards are not as boring as you say!
We never see our own as good as it really is.
hi all,
ReplyDeletegood morning nina! yes, that is a little concrete fountain a good friend (deb)gave to me. i will post about her soon as she has given me countless things for the garden. i used the fountain for awhile then changed it out. i will probably move it again. the dogs and cat drink from it. i did stain it with concrete stain and that has worked well. i love the color green, surprise!
dawn with peaches, do you still have the treehouse? that would be a cool sitting area too. you see skeeter has a treehouse.:) can't wait to see the house. let us know when the mobile is gone. put the gazebo near where the mobile is and close to the pond. that would be nice.
skeeter, i should've asked for sitting area pictures instead of arbors. i bet more people have more sitting areas. never thought of it.
anonymous, i love looking at all gardens and even the green grass is nice to look at. but really i need the seating areas to relax after all that hard work. sometimes i wonder if it is worth it! maybe just cutting the grass and sitting watching the kids play. you might just have the right idea...
o'malley, those cannas will bring a bright spot in your yard. they are so great! what color did you buy? i like them because they bloom all summer. those would also look great by your pool.
since you are starting to plant trees, think very carefully where and what to plant. the rates of growth may surprise you and you could have shade before you know it. i think if i had some room to plant some trees i would plant and 'October Glory' Red maple, the cherries, crabapples, serviceberry, and for another large shade tree, maybe a red oak or the new elms they are trying to bring back. let us know how it comes! with trees your husband will have no choice but lose the grass at some point. you will be happier but save some room for those kids to play!
hey mom, is it still snowing there? you are going to need a break after this snow aren't you? since you are going to start gardening, you should also get your neighbor to landscape her yard. i know someone who could help :) i tried when i was last up there and she said, not enough time and not a high priority. maybe fit you and terri's houses together? the first i thing i would plant if i lived up there would be delphiniums. they are so gorgeous and do not grow down here (at least not well enough for me).
i didn't know an author could delete comments. what is up with that? that is the first time it has happened. oh well.
update on pups. i couldn't get the pups today but did speak to the vet. as of last night baby and bruiser are fine. we plan to pick them up tomorrow morning. cj has fit right in. she is one of the gang and i hope the other two also fit in and don't overwhelm my poor old doggies. they are getting tired of being chewed on and led around by their collars by the little upstart called cj. hubby loves her. he is quite attached. but he is good with all living things. he is trying to teach her to walk down the stairs as she is somewhat lazy and refuses to traipse down them but can sure run up them. amazing.
Tina,
ReplyDeleteI was the deleter. Yes you can delete your own comments. The reason I did was that I must have hit enter twicw and my comment posted twice so I deleted one of them. I don't know if you have a certain amount of time to do it but immediately after I posted I noticed a trashcan at the bottom of my post. Maybe the trashcan appeears after you sign in to post?
I will check into the trees. We have one corner of the backyard that he will hopefully allow shade. Our yard backs up to the flood plain along the Red River. There is so much wildlife we enjoy watching in the field that we hesitate to do anything that will block our view. Thus another reason we haven't planted any shrubs, plants, etc around our backyard. I need one of those expensive landscape designers to come in and tell me what to do! haha..
I am so glad your other 2 babies will be coming home. How exciting for them to all be together again. I wish I could see the wags at the happy homecoming. Makes me a bit teary in a happy way!
Hi Guys,
ReplyDeleteYes, I still have the treehouse, we built it for the kids but they never really used it, Zack stomped his feet hard in it and Nikki refused to even go in it cause of the bugs/spiders it housed. I'm thinking about doing more of levels of platforms over there, bike parking underneath.
Yes, it is still snowing and plans to do it for the next few days, seven days straight of this stuff, and it look like another snow day tommorow. That will make the last day of school on June 19th. We keep telling the kids the school district might take away feb vacation! They have taken days off before and stranger things have happened.
Mom, I'm not surprised about raggedy ann and andy, Georgine Averill bought the rights from the Gruelle family, in the 40's. Johnny Gruelle invented ann for his sick daughter who could not go outside, that why ann wore a apron and most all of the books are based on outside adventures. Ann is 80+years old, she'll never go away.
Tina, I'm glad the pups are healthly and coming home, I think bruiser might be the overly hyper one, either way, pups keep you pleasantly young. :p
Tina, We got probably about 6, maybe 7 inches of snow a couple of days ago but then it warmed up and there was melting everywhere so it was down to a couple of inches. Now it is snowing again but is not susposed to amount to much but there have been wires down all over town, mostly on the other side (only one on our side). We were lucky and did'nt lose power. Quiet now as the wind has died down. Sure love the scanner so I know what is going on! But now the wind has died down. I was susposed to go to Brian and Sarah's for supper but did'nt go as was not sure about the weather.
ReplyDeleteDid'nt you have the green fountain in the front border garden? Nana also love Delphiniums also. I don't have any on my list right now but almost put some on it. It will change 100 times before I make the final one.
I understand CJ going up the staris but not down. When you don't get around like you used to or I suspose when you are young, it is much harder and scarier to go down the stairs. Good luck with them all tomorrow!
O'Malley that sure is good to know as I have posted the same comment twice before so will pay more attention to find the trash can next time. Thanks for that info.
Dawn, can you imagine what a Gruelle doll is worth? OMG!!! Another thing that is of value (but not that much) now is old costume jewerly from the 50 and 60's. I suscribe to the Kovell's news weekly email letter and they talked about that last week. I have all of Nana's and am thinking of having them looked at. They are no good to me and just taking up space in a drawer. Only problem is, I packed the Christmas jewerly away with the Christmas stuff and would not have a clue as to which box. I know they are in a tin can somewhere. Never had them with the Christmas stuff before but used some for Mary last year, among other Christmas stuff so when she died I put everything together.
Tina, glad to hear the pups are coming home. I like my yard but you know the grass always looks greener in your yard:0) I still can't believe how cold it was today --I took the kids up to see the daffodils that are bloomed --I only found one today. But, there are a ton more just waiting to open --we will walk up there to check every day --we get all excited. Have a good night!
ReplyDeleteLove your seating areas. #l is my favorite. You must have a large yard with trees & still have sun areas. I have one large oak tree that shades most of the back yard--depending what time of day it is. I have my glider swing under the roof along side my shed-planned that way. I have a seating in se corner that is half of pic nic table. I like to sit there when sun is too much on swing. Trees from neighbors are nice. Can't do too much in ground as roots interfere too much. That's why I had to give up a 16 x 24 area around arbor that young'un built. Used it mainly for veggies as most sun there.
ReplyDeleteGlad babies are getting to come home. Thank God.
Mom, Want me to tell you about mr. claus, mrs. claus and the angel. Guess who? Greorgine Averill.
ReplyDeleteo'malley, it is ok. i just didn't know you could do that otherwise i would maybe delete one or two of mine. lol
ReplyDeletewould you like me to send you some seeds? just email me your address at ramseytina5@gmail.com
definitely don't block your view. i too have a view and it is so hard not to block it because my love for plants sometimes takes over! don't let it!
dawn with peaches, make a sitting area under or near your treehouse. i still love that treehouse. the best i have ever seen. you should send me a picture. skeeter, would you like to see a picture of yours on here? send me one and i can post it.
dawn, do tell about out little collectibles. are they worth anything more than sentimental value?
mom, yes the green fountain was in the front border. i move stuff all the time and out it came last year. gardens are like that-changing all the time. it keeps things fresh and new i think-and keeps me tired of the moving! it is almost like i am still moving with the army. enjoy your snow, i don't miss it either just like anonymous. we get just enough to satisfy my need for snow.
we hope cj will start going down the stairs. she can get around no problem, she is just a scaredy cat. hopefully once bruiser and baby come home they will show her the way. as it is now i have to let her out on the front porch so she can walk down. also so she can eat her food before the big dogs eat it all!
anonymous, are the daffys blooming in your yard? or the farmers field? oftentimes you can find sites of old homesteads by finding daffys and daylillies. on the back side of ft campbell there are tons of both in the woods. it always makes me wonder what kind of house was there. ft. campbell used to be farmland with houses so you can only imagine what kind of community was there prior to the base and training areas.
lola, seating areas are nice and you definitely need some shade down there. i have one acre with about 50 hardwood trees. only one pine tree and a few cedars. most of my trees are oak. i absolutely love them. i have a battle with growing sun loving plants but i adjust. i plan to post on that at some point.
since you have a big tree with lots of roots, you could put some of your containers around the tree. i know you do with containers. i love them with caladiums and begonias in them under trees. but, sadly i don't do containers well. (so what am i talking about) honestly, i enjoy others.
Dawn, I knew the Mr and Mrs Santa Clause and the angel was made by Averill. But only because you told me last year when I gave them to you kids.
ReplyDeleteTina, The Clauses and the angel probably are worth a little but not as much as if they were all there. When I bought them back in the late 60's or maybe 1970 they had a metal base that they screwed onto and when wound up they spun around and played music. However where they screwed in got striped over the years, probably from you kids playing with them. I eventually threw the bottom out. Big mistake!! But it might be worth researching.
Next time I go on the Kovell's web site I will see if they have them on there. But because of the bottom being missing they now would no doubt have more sentimental value than monetary. But in another 100 years it won't matter so save em for your great grandkids. Just be sure and let your kids know not to get rid of em.
Oh, Nikki has already bugged me for mine!!! Over and over and over....I'll more than likely look on the net for replacement stands but for me it is sentiment. I looked for the sew plate for the antique singer, (kids played with it and all was lost) found it right away and had it here in a week, used it this weekend. There must be help for this trio.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Tina, I will take a picture of the playhouse tom. and send it to you, cost=6pk for the log slab we used for siding, I like it too.
good morning.
ReplyDeletemom, of course dawn and i remember the bases of the santa, mrs. clause and angel. didn't we have them before terri was born or was she around then? very, very good memories of christmas. yes indeedy.
dawn with peaches, hope the bank meeting went well and you are now are on a full mortgage and not a construction mortgage or whatever. i will look for the pictures. skeeter sent me hers so i will post the two and talk about treehouses. include a story if you will. skeeter did and i will put it in. skeeter-you getting all this?
Tina, When I said yesterday that I had bought them in the late 60's or 1970, later in the day I tought about it and knew it was before 1968 as Terri-Lynn did'nt have one.
ReplyDeleteI spent the day researching and could not find a thing on them. Dawn are you sure they were made by Averill and how do you know?
All I could find at all was dolls and I know the first owner at least made other things and wrote children books, but could not find one darn thing other than the dolls and I can tell you there are a lot of them on ebay and yahoo. Ofcourse the raggedy's are in the largest amount but Nurse Jane, Lulu and Uncle Wiggily, amoung others out there also.
Alles Klar Tina....
ReplyDeleteMom, You have to know the kind of base then look at metal works sites, I know you can get the winding keys to them and yes I'm sure it is Averill, its tagged but I will look again
ReplyDelete