Mr has made a screen door for the screen porch. It is made from scratch and its pretty impressive. It has an "old tone" to it. There is some trim put into the corners to put some lipstick on it. The fru-fru is influenced by the original gingerbread on the house. That gives it a little more class and sass. A nice touch. Here's some photos of it in its current state. It is not installed yet, but it will be soon. More pix will follow at that time.
The gardens have been coming along. We planted the vegetable garden and then the cold rolled back in. That has put a stop on much of the expected growth. Oh, some things like the cold, but for the most part it put the plants back in a sleepy state.
I have some nice flowering in the perennial gardens. One bright spot is an Iris blooming that I think is an heirloom variety. This house is 140 years old, so anything is possible! Its compact form makes it perfect for this very windy location. I thought that the sand was going to be the biggest challenge to growing here. It seems that the wind is going to trump the sand, hands down. This Iris is a beautiful rich purple, with many tones of purple. Oh this picture does not do it justice, it is significantly darker than this! Its compactness keeps it upright in the wind when all of the tall varieties have crashed to the ground. The detail designs on inside of this iris is what I remember from my youth. There is a white and dark purple zebra like pattern at the base of each lower petal.
It is very strong and powerful against the purple of the petals. The lower petals are a medium violet with a dark center section. The upper petals are the medium purple. It is quite striking, but they had the misfortune of blooming in the heat of a row of upper 80s days. That hindered their bloom, so they are not as showy as they were last year.
I put up a new hummingbird feeder this week. It is very easy to clean compared to my old models. It was christened by some hummers fighting over whose territory the feeder is in. They are so entertaining. I fear that the cold of the last few days has done the hummingbirds in. I haven't seen them since this cold spell rolled in. In the warm days there were several of them using the feeders, now nothing.
I put the hummer feeders out when I saw that the Weigelia bush was blooming this week. Remembering last spring, when the hummers showed up during the bloom of the Weigelia bush. Weigelia has a fabulous sweet smell and tons of deeply formed flowers. The scent can be detected a great distance from the bush. The hummingbirds just love it, I think they also like the pink color.
When they take up residence they move really move in. They choose a territory and defend it with their all. Fighting off other hummers trying to drink from "their" feeder, will consume their day. Hiding in wait, hummers will dive bomb any competitors, and fight like a Japanese zero in WWII...with much the same aeronautical skill. Last year I was working in the garden when I heard a terribly loud noise in my ear, it sounded like a 747 jet engine. As I glanced over to see what the racket was, I noticed a hummingbird hovering next to me to protect the feeder which was over my head. That was my closest encounter with one. I have had many encounters since then and all are guaranteed to bring a smile to my face and a jump to my heart. They are one of the little gifts of living out here "on the end of the earth" as the folks in the nearby city call it. Living on the edge has its benefits.
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