Serenity Garden for Skeeter Kitty

By Skeeter

We lost our beloved Skeeter kitty shortly after we moved into our Georgia home. Skeeter was our fur baby for 16 years going everywhere we did but outside. He was an indoor only kitty for his own protection. He did enjoy the outdoor of our patio and front porch at times when we could sit and keep an eye on him. He was a perfect cat and did not go where not allowed. When Skeeter left us to cross over the Rainbow Bridge, I picked the perfect spot for him under some shade trees. We planted a Nandina Royal Princess that my parents gave us as a memorial to him. In time we have added more to the area making it a Serenity Garden type area.

The Saints parents gave us 3 Confederate Jasmine plants which are currently blooming and giving off a wonderful scent that can be smelled from all over the yard!

Lola gave us this adorable Santa, I know it looks like a Gnome but remember the Saint does not like Gnomes so this is a year round Santa on the tree. Thanks again for this little treat Lola, and we will not tell the Saint it is a Gnome. tee hee... The Jasmine is creeping towards the face as it winds up the tree trunk. This plant is the only thing saving this Sweet Gum from the chainsaw!

My two fur babies, Sheba and Cheetah insisted that daddy Saint give mommy (that would be me) these two retro chairs for Mothers Day. Ah, what a perfect way to remember the good ole days of sitting in this type chair on the front porch while growing up on Commerce Street in Clarksville. Surrounded by my grandmothers, phlox, moss, roses, iris, marigolds, petunias, peony and all the other traditional southern plants.

I put a fresh coat of gravel in the area this spring covering up the once white gravel for a more natural look of River Pebbles. Don't ask how many bags as I do not want to relive that back pain! I like this look more so then the other gravel look. The two azaleas that the Saint parents gave us are really starting to get large now. I wonder how much longer before I have to extend the island planter? Hum...

A yellow kitty sits on the stone above Skeeter grave to give me something to talk to when I feel the need to chat with my Yellow Fellow.

Tina, gave me this wonderful handmade marker with Skeeter's name on it the first time we met. She had no idea about the name Skeeter when I started to chat with her on the Blog. She kind of wondered if I were a man or a woman as I did not have a picture with my profile at the time. This marker reminds me of the wonderful friendship that Tina and I have formed though this blog as well as my little fur boy...

I see a lot of my little furry girl Cheetah in Skeeter. He was shy, so is she. She hides under the covers, so did he. Skeeter lives on through memories and I am reminded of him with each passing day from my current fur babies to my blogging name to the marker and this serene area in my yard.

I was sitting in this chair a few days ago gazing throughout the yard and gardens. As I viewed the place from a different perspective, I was taking in the scents of the Jasmine and it was such a relaxing spot for me. The Saint joined me for a bit and we chatted as to how this yard has changed since we moved into this house. I don't get to sit back and enjoy all the work as much as I wish I could because like any gardener, I am always looking at a weed which will get me up and moving again.

I guess I am a bit blue today as it was May 10 (Mothers Day this year) that our Skeeter kitty left us. I cannot help but wonder how I will react when the day comes that I will have to remove that "Skeeter" marker and take it with me while leaving my baby behind. I cannot take my Skeeter with me but I can take the marker as a reminder of the SERENITY GARDEN FOR SKEETER, In the Garden...

Do any you have a special spot in your garden dedicated to a pet? Creating this one was and continues to be great therapy for me in my grieving for him, even after all these years without him, I still grieve his leaving this world....

Tina, Thank you again for that marker! As you can see it is priceless to me...

Naughty Squirrels

Skeeter has posted more than once about her very naughty squirrels stealing all of her decorations and using them to pad their nests. I found it kind of amusing, until the durned ole squirrels struck here at Tiger Gardens too!

I noticed the cushioned arms on the swing were all shredded and chewed up. I could not figure out how it could have happened. Even though I knew Skeeter had had a problem with the squirrels stealing her fake snow, I did not expect this here. The swing has been in the garden for five years now with nary a problem until this year.

I guess karma works, because do you know where I found all the stuffing? Yup, the wind blew the squirrel's nest down to the ground! I hope they had a safe landing-okay-not really!

Skeeter-do your squirrels have relatives here in Tennessee? Or did they start a secret squirrel blog letting all their buddies know about the fake snow, aka the white stuff? What's up with these pesky critters....

in the garden....

Today is Sidekick's birthday. We all wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday!

Tulip Chairs, aka Motel Chairs, aka Candybouncers

Tulip chairs, aka candy bouncers, aka motel chairs are a piece of America' s history. I think most can remember seeing these chairs at some point in their lives. I really like my two. They don't look like much here, but oh are they ever comfortable.

I am always on the lookout for nice sturdy chairs for sitting in after a long day working in the garden. I spotted these two in a neighbor's front yard with a for sale sign on them. Mr. Fix-it (the great barter man that he is) acquired them for me for the small sum of $17 for the pair.

I wanted some chairs like this because I am a nostalgic person and they seemed to remind me of times past. But since I have had them, I have really come to rely on them. These two chairs are seated in my front yard, no pun intended. They are easy to move around when I mow the lawn, and they don't harm the grass. They are lightweight, comfortable and sturdy. My little cat and I usually sit here each evening for some quality time. That is her cuddled up on another comfortable chair in my garden. Orkin lives on the front porch with occasional forays into the garden on hunting or potty trips. She is a spoiled cat who gets her way with all the seating areas in the garden. This little redwood chair is also a bit of an antique, and I haven't seen any in stores in a long time. Has anyone else?

Lola sent me some great information about the tulip chairs. I warn you they can be rather pricey. Even before we got ours at a good bargain, I had been pricing them in flea markets and antique stores and found they are very expensive. The man who sold Mr. Fix-it these two initially wanted $20 per chair. Mr. Fix-it said no way. The man did protest telling Mr. Fix-it his friend sells them for twice what he was asking for in his antique store. Mr. Fix-it was not impressed and stuck to his guns. Bargain landed.

These chairs are considered retro. Like all things retro, they come in and out of style frequently. If you are interested in learning more about Tulip chairs, aka motel chairs and candy bouncers, you can find further information at candybouncer.com. This website has the whole story of the tulip chair and it is quite interesting. The story takes me back to when things were a bit different than they are now, a simpler time.

in the garden....sitting on a candybouncer chair.

Seating Areas in the Garden

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).

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....