Green Avalon Gardens
Ideas, Info, Tools & Technology to Create Your Dream Garden
Good Deeds in Spring
Feb 6th
Spring cleaning and helping your neighbor can go a long way to making a great weekend.
Thanks to Roman May
The beautiful spring weather was more than welcome after all the cold, dreary weather we have had this winter. And it couldn’t have been timed better for what we ended up doing this weekend. Cleaning out our house and helping our neighbors get moved into their house. While outside working in the garage, my husband saw the U-haul truck pull up in the house next door. He saw several people buzzing around the house and went over to introduce himself. We saw More >
Excitement Dimmed
Feb 2nd
Day before yesterday I finally made arrangements to get a load of clean fill dirt so that we can level the area for the greenhouse. He said if it didn’t rain he’d be able to deliver it on Friday. It rained buckets yesterday!
This is how it goes with people who work outdoors. When you make plans for something you need to allow for the fact that Mother Nature may not cooperate. Even during times of the year when you don’t usually have any problems, a freak storm could cause delays.
Whenever I do an outdoor project I try not to put More >
Harbingers Of Spring
Jan 31st
Not even February 1st and the crocuses are already starting to bloom!
Ack! I was outside yesterday and the first crocuses are already blooming! I’m so far behind. I still have bulbs sitting in the storage room waiting to be put in the ground!
Even the best-laid plans can go haywire when you have to work around weather, work, and other obligations.
It looks like I’m already into the spring madness. Seems every year I get myself into the same pickle. I don’t manage to get all the cleanup and planting done in the fall that I need to, so then in the More >
Early Spring Bloomers
Jan 26th
Right now many of us gardeners are champing at the bit to get back out in the garden. If there is a warm moment, and the ground is clear of snow, we may find ourselves pacing back and forth in front of areas we know contain crocus, daffodil, and tulip bulbs, looking for signs of growth. There are other plants that bloom in very early spring, that you may want to consider including in your landscape.
Everyone knows about Pussy Willows (Salix discolor), the wonderful fuzzy harbingers of spring. Every time I seem them blooming I have to laugh, though. When More >
What Gardening Means To Me
Jan 23rd
What little girl could resist growing a Beauty Bush.
Today is my birthday. So, I thought I’d take time to write about what gardening means to me, why I’m such an avid gardener.
In all honesty I think I’m an avid gardener because my mother was, also. She loved to be outside planting things and started me off at a very early age. I remember helping plant pansies at around the age of five.
Not too long after that, maybe a year or two, I had my first garden. It was a flower garden and had all my favorites: pansies, marigolds, dahlias, snapdragons, More >
Getting Ready To Make Window Seat
Jan 19th
I’m psyched! I got the last piece I need in order to be able to make my window seat this weekend. Yesterday I stopped in at the home improvement center and bought 4 pickets, which are going to be the seat back at the end of the window seat, so I can sit and look out the window and read or study (and once I get a laptop or iPad I’ll be able to work there, too!).
Looking a little rough. My half finished reading nook and window seat.
Here’s a before shot. I got a decent start on the corner piece. More >
Dreams of English Cottages
Jan 16th
Who wouldn't want to walk up to something like this for their next vacation home?
Even though I live in a recently built home I have always believed I was meant to be born in the Baroque period. I just love the beautiful wood carvings and ornate clothing of that era. So when I found Period Living magazine on the Internet I felt right at home. Looking at how carefully space is used in these small cottages always gives me good storage ideas.
I used to read a lot of historical romances. The descriptions of the manors, gowns, artwork, etc., from England and Europe More >
Which Wood Is Right For You?
Jan 12th
Bamboo, cork, oak, pine, know that the woods qualities match your lifestyle before you install.
Wood floors are all the rage right now. However, each type of wood has it strengths and weaknesses. We chose bamboo, because I thought it was beautiful and it is sustainable, since bamboo grows really fast.
I read all the information from the company and was convinced this was a great flooring for us. The guarantee was for 15 years on the finish, everyone was touting it as harder than oak, etc. It’s been in for three years now and it still looks as beautiful as the More >
Etsy Mama
Jan 9th
Posted by Virgil Burks
Maybe you can turn your craft into a home based business.
I started making things in my home years ago but it was more for my own pleasure than for any other reason. I certainly didn’t expect at some point to start making money off all my creations but here I am cashing in on that site Etsy! My husband got us a CLEAR wireless internet package last year and since then I’ve been online a lot more than before. I love that there are so many sites dedicated to crafters now and this all started when I realized I More >
Getting Projects In Order
Jan 6th
OK, here’s the lineup, as it stands today. First, we need to get the temporary storage finished outside, so that we can move some of the boxes cluttering our laundry/pantry room out where they belong and actually be able to use that area for its intended purpose. Second, I need to build the window bench for my office, so that I can make the pillow cushions and get all the bags of foam off the floor in here. Third and fourth are to redecorate the small bedroom and get the greenhouse up.
My plans are to video building the window bench, More >