The East Garden Project

Amos and I (mostly Amos) have been working on two new hardscape areas in the east garden. The idea is to minimize maintenance. I think it is working out well. I wanted to do an 'afterthought' and put it all in one place, since I have been posting here and there on different social media sites.

The highlighted links below are to some short videos of the work in progress.

What once was Old, made New!

I bought a porch swing for my mother about fifteen years ago. The manufacturer pointed out that you did not have to put a finish on it. They assured the buyer the wood would acquire a lovely gray patina.

I think those instructions were meant for a swing that was really residing on a porch. Our was under the eves of the storage shed. The wood took on a life all its own in the Pacific Northwest rains. It got a finish on it that looked very much like 'scabs' on an apple.

Over the years we power washed it. We finished it with deck finish. Eventually, this year, its right arm began to buckle and I did not feel it was safe any longer for us to depend on it not breaking with a load and dumping its occupants on the mosaic gravel-work below.

This is a picture of it off in the distance.

Dull Fences, Bright Metal Art!

Over the years I have acquired some metal art pieces and hung them on our dull brown fence. 

This past month I took them all down, primed them and painted them with bright acrylic paint. 

To preserve them over the winter and through our rainy season I added two coats of gloss sealer.

Primed and ready to paint

The largest piece being painted
I did it on the glass topped dining room table

Clean-up was a snap, just used a razor blade

Painted one color at a time, waited for it to dry, then painted the next color

The same piece finished and hung on the fence

Nice thing is when the garden is not blooming the piece still will be

Here is the YouTube Video of the Garden Tour with the art hung.

July Update

Well, the month of June just slipped through my fingers. Do you feel the same way? I spent a lot of time in the garden.

I cleaned up and spiffed up the Moroccan Room so I could do a little entertaining in those lazy days of summer when it is too hot to do anything in the garden beyond 10:00 am.

Click on the link below to take the monthly tours of the garden, the Moroccan Room, or if you just want to sit and listen, the audio book of "James & the Dragon" is there too.

Our Quiet Corner - Garden & Moroccan Room Tours


I did a lot of writing, editing and formatting too! I hope to have all The Farloft Chronicles in paperback by the 1st of August. 1-3 are up already. The Farloft Chronicles in Paperback 4 and 5 coming soon. If you haven't read the Chronicles yet, perhaps now is the time. If you have read them, I must tell you I am very excited about the way they look in print.

Yogoloth

Yogoloth got his first two and sent me this cute picture with his dragon and gryphon 'softies.'

 


As soon as The Farloft Chronicles are all in paper, I will have a surprise for all of you. Farloft has been dictating his latest Chronicles #6 to me and it will be out sometime in late August or early September. Sarah is working on another great cover portrait for it. It will be the story of how we met, way-back-when.

Then, I will be back to writing about our friend Cody, the shape-shifter in The Realms. Shifting in The Realms He still has a lot of adventures to tell us about. Not least of which is the realization that Simone might be in love with someone else. Life can reach out and bite a wolf, no matter how strong he is.



The Society of Enlightened Dragonologist site will be up and running August the 1st. Until then, here is the blog site with a few little teasers to whet you appetite. The Society of Enlightened Dragonologists

Lot of fun things going on. I hope you will drop in and visit sometime this summer. Have a glass of iced tea in the Moroccan Room and catch up.