Liquidation Sale Finds and Roses

On Tuesday, the day before his surgery, Bruce and I went to a liquidation sale held by Utah Corrections Industries, which is affiliated with (and right next door to) the Utah State Prison in Bluffdale.   It opened in the morning but we didn’t go until late afternoon on the first of four days.  The only picture I took was the boring building.....

...but I did find some goodies.

A roll of small elastic (50 cents), a large roll of cotton sewing tape for labels (50 cents), a pack of 100 white metal 7” zippers (to resell for crafts) and a bazillion black metal separating zippers, 27” each.  Hoo-boy! Maureen suggested I look for these, and the idea had occurred to me before, so I took that as a sign.  ;-)  There were pallets and pallets of zippers, but most were small and with plastic teeth.  I know many crafters use the plastic teeth zippers with colored tapes to fashion flowers, but I don`t know how many inches are necessary, and most of them were small. So, I stuck to the basics.

Bruce also found a whole box of rubber feet (used for the bottoms of sports bags, totes, backpacks, etc.). They were sweeping them off the floor and were going to throw them away.  Bruce uses these feet in the radio kits he builds for kids.  They charged him 50 cents for the entire box, which is about what he normally pays for just two of the feet.

Today, Saturday, I hit the motherlode of estate sales.  I found a box of vintage sewing things for $3.00.  Most of the sewing patterns (and there are over 60) are from the Forties and Fifties. OMG.  I had already started listing some of my vintage patterns in my Etsy shop, and this was another “sign” to me that quitting my part-time job as bookkeeper at The Farm in favor of selling on Etsy (and staying home with DH now that he will be retiring in July) is what is in the cards.

And there was the coolest Singer Sewing Course book and materials (fabric and instructions) for six sewing lessons, dated 1954.  All this woman’s samples are there.... oh this is a story in itself for a future post!

Here are some more irises and roses that are blooming in our garden this weekend.  Enjoy!

Happy front rosebush

Front bed

When I first planted the pink rosebush above, I used Miracle Grow and watched it nearly wither away that first spring.  It was sickly, mildew-y and probably in shock.  So, I did what I always do to my roses; just water and ignore them.  The second year it became apparent it would survive, and every year has gotten better.  This is the fourth or fifth year, and it is now a happy camper.  The delphiniums behind it are staked and ready to start blooming soon!

Double Delight - backlit bloom from one of my front rose trees

I love this color!  But they fade as they get older...

Climber along back wall

Another back wall climber.  

Our third back wall climber is a white rose which always blooms AFTER the pink and red roses are done.

The apricot tree (above) has grown so large, that this fall I will need to replant these two miniature rose bushes, a large red tea rose bush, an Asiatic lily, and my hollyhock.  I will leave the chives and (not visible, but in two spots) and perhaps add some small herbs.  Must do some research first.

A couple rose bushes that were here when we moved in

The ground cover in this area has done a terrible job (and so have I) of keeping out the grass, so digging it up is another project for this year. I will probably use a landscape cloth and put rocks around the roses here. I’m thinking lower maintenance is the way to go since I am not getting any younger. Not that I haven’t tried, LOL.

Tomorrow, in honor of Father’s Day, I will have some “manly” vintage images for you.  I am hoping they will be a little different than what you usually see.  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Some Garden Pictures - Finally!

The last several days have been almost summer-like, with temperatures in the high sixties to the low eighties. On Saturday, we joined the neighborhood vegetable garden group and went over to weed at the large donated plot for an hour. About 12-15 families have joined together to plant just about every type of vegetable you can imagine. Since we have cut back our own garden this year (mulching, changing things around and Bruce’s limited arm use), we will only have a few varieties of tomatoes and peppers. The neighborhood garden is a great opportunity for us to get corn, beans, peas, onions, carrots, potatoes, etc. for just a little labor. I’m sure I will have pictures of this neighborhood garden later in the summer.

When we finished at the neighborhood garden, Bruce and I spent most of the rest of the day in our yard weeding, tilling, mulching, trimming, planting, transplanting, etc. What a great feeling it was to get it done, and our yard is already looking WAY better than it has for a couple years.

So, let me share some pictures with you of our yard from last weekend.

Irises in bloom in front window raised bed 

 

These purple irises are huge!

Looking west; front irises and porch

Another iris in front raised bed

In the ground-level bed under the irises, we have a rose tree, clematis, bleeding hearts, salvia, daylilies, hosta, and Asiatic lilies, plus a couple petunias to give more color since only this clematis and bleeding heart are blooming.  Everything here is about 2-3 weeks behind our usual schedule due to our cool, wet spring.  

I love having so many colorful Mexican Talavera pots in which to plant colorful flowers. We pick up one or two every time we visit our family in southern Arizona, and I line our porch and walkway with them. They are really eye-catching!

As always, you can click to “embiggen” these pictures...

Looking west

Yes, we finally had to turn on our sprinklers (and only once so far!)

Wait ’til you see this rose bush in bloom!

Mr. Frog (or is he a toad?) contemplates as he waits for the lilies to bloom.

On the east side yard our snowball bush is blooming. You can also see another iris and the poppies that are starting to bloom.  (and you can also see my Prius in the carport, oops).

That’s lavender beneath the snowballs...

This was Saturday June 4. As of today (June 6), almost two thirds of these are open.

The front perennial bed to the west of the porch. WE STILL HAVE TULIPS!!

Above: more irises about to open, plus this lovely plant. I can’t remember what it is, but it will be full of heavy, blowsy purple blossoms that will need to be staked and tied discreetly.  :-)  

 More irises at the corner, and wrapping around to the west side yard.  

This side yard needs work and will be a project for me this year. We want to keep that one large (laurel?) bush; it is always a beautiful green and easy to keep shaped once I get to it. But everything beyond it - the forsythia, scraggly butterfly bush and the rest are outta here! I will probably transplant more irises there; they are proliferating beyond belief. I’ve got too many of the white and beige ones (called Champagne) and would rather divide and plant some of my more colorful ones. We’ll probably attend the local Iris Society sale in July and pick up some more unusual rhizomes.

Above: our back garden, tilled and ready for more mulch. Only a few tomatoes and peppers are planted.  Along the back wall we have climbing roses and a lilac bush, plus more.... what else? Irises. Hey! If you live in the area and want some irises, just let me know!!

The apricot tree outside our back bedroom window. We’ll have this tree seriously pruned in the fall. As it is, I can take the screen off the bedroom window and reach a couple dozen apricots that should be ready in about a month...

The grape arbor is filling in quickly. The birds nest has been abandoned (the one egg is still in it). I think I’ll take it down and keep it. In another couple weeks this will be one big leafy green mass that will totally shade the patio on the other side. We have already had a couple meals out there ... heavenly!