Watch out for garden fires!

Still decorating with pumpkins!

The weather over the weekend was dreary, hot, humid. . . . . . . thanks to the latest

 hurricane which, although far away from here, still sent signs in the clouds and a

 few rain showers. We do need rain, especially for the trees and gardens.

We are wondering if the brilliant autumn colors will come this year, all seems

 stagnant, almost lifeless after such a long dry spell.

Did you know that garden mulch can catch fire?

We had a scary incident on the last day of painting on Thursday - when the 

painter was working on the front porch posts. For an hour or so we could

smell burning in the air but couldn't pinpoint it. When the painter, kneeling on

 the flower bed noticed his drop cloth was scorched along one edge, he pulled

 it back and saw smoke coming from the ground close to the foundation of the house! 

He pulled back the mulch which was smoldering and very hot!  We immediately

 saturated the entire bed with the garden hose, also the second bed in front of our

 bedroom window, just in case.

Both these areas are where we had all the shrubs and ground cover, other

 than the hydrangeas, removed to do the work on the house. The soil/mulch

 is now exposed to the sun which has been constant and very hot every day.

With no rain for several weeks, the intense sunshine on the thick layer of 

built up mulch - ours is mainly shredded pine bark mulch and nuggets which

 break down into a rich soil - caused spontaneous combustion and underground

 burning as it turned into fertilizer.

I was online in no time flat looking up what was happening in my garden, as

 nobody seemed familiar with such a situation. What I read about houses/buildings

 actually catching fire from similar situations was really frightening.

I'm writing this as a brief heads up if you also have a build up of old

 mulch in your garden beds. If exposed to sun and there has been little rain,

you may want to get out there with your hose and do some watering.

We are planning on restoring our front beds - will have the old mulch 

dug out and removed, perhaps changing to decorative stones for 

ground cover. Any tips regarding the best way to mulch garden beds will

 be appreciated. 

~ Thanks ~

Hurry Up Autumn!

House painting is underway. . . . . and yes, it will remain 

yellow with white trim and olive green shutters for those 

of you who asked.

We continue to be blessed with dry weather so it should be completed

 no later than Thursday morning. 

Still hot by noon but evenings and early morning are delightful,

 there is a definite freshness in the air.

October is such a lovely month and my favorite.

HOME refresh - Part I -

This house - which I usually call "the cottage" due to it's compact size and my

 struggles to enclose it within an English-style garden (difficult here in this much too

 hot climate), is showing it's age, just like its occupants! Now thirty years old, the

exterior is looking somewhat dismal despite painting and fixing every 7 years or so.

Always something requiring attention with a house.

Moving to one-level condos, townhouses, smaller garden/no garden, even

 apartment living with no upkeep by us required, bring heated discussions.

For now we are staying here!

After spending the past several weeks getting estimates for wood repairs and

 repainting, we were somewhat shocked at the bottom line from

 individuals/companies who expected us to fork out money way 

beyond our budget, especially those who wanted a big percentage up

 front, yet would not provide proof of good work, insurance etc. 

Then along came a contractor acquaintance, Mr. B., actually a long time

 friend of our daughter and her partner.

After meeting with him and knowing we would be well taken care of - we

 decided to completely re-side the cottage in Hardiplank thus getting rid of all

 damaged/aging siding, then follow with a lovely new paint job.

Our contractor had just completed similar work on this house above - lower two
 pix - we were able to go take a look. Just happens the owners sold another home
 to our daughter last year so we knew they would not steer us wrong regarding
 the work done by Mr. B.  

We love the Hardiplank siding they used, it has a light woodgrain rather 

than smooth, and no dirt catching bead along the bottom edge of the board. 
Another plus when using this now very popular brand of siding, is that there
are no visible nails/holes as the boards are installed from the bottom up and
 nailed under the overlap. 
I believe it has a 50 year warranty - repainting probably only every 15 years.

I think it will suit our style of house which is similar to the white house

 above with the same dentil molding and similar roof lines.

I hesitate in sharing these pix of the front beds - so sad looking!
The English garden, or whatever garden it was, has been cut down and dug out 
for the most part. Necessary to allow access to the house where wood repairs
are required, and of course making the painting much easier when the time comes.
I do think the hydrangeas will survive, and the climbing jasmines, but it will take a few
 years before they are lush and full again, and I will need to add some new shrubs later.

Well another week begins and I hear the workmen coming up the driveway.
More hammering, drilling and sawing ahead. Thankfully the weather is holding 
up but still very warm - so more chug-a-lugging bottled water by the guys -
my 'frig is well-stocked for the week ahead!
 We look forward to being back to normal by next week perhaps - and are
hoping Hurricane Maria stays away from here as she makes her way now
along North Carolina's coast and the Outer Banks.

The week is almost over. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . and although still very warm here, autumn is in the air.

Early morning coffee in the gazebo yesterday.
 Time to put the summer decor away and bring out some autumn color.

This was one of those weeks. 

You know, THOSE weeks. 

The ones when you have a lot of crazy stuff going on, stuff you don't have much

 control over. For me, almost five hours (spread over three visits) in the dentist's chair 
was certainly exhausting. Meeting with four house painters for estimates
 was such a chore. Estimates are now in and the spread is so huge
it's going to take us all weekend to make a decision on whom we should hire 
for the job. 

At the end of the day you plop down in your favorite chair, with a glass of wine,
 hit the television ON button and just want to be taken away, somewhere, 
anywhere, to a place where things are calm and beautiful and you don't have to
 think about bad stuff. Best to stay away from any news channels, and instead look
 for cooking, decorating, history, and my favorites. . . . . . .nature/travel shows
 on PBS, all of which are comforting but interesting in times of stress and strife!

I bought some chrysanthemums to brighten the now bare front entry.

Around the cottage things are a mess as we had everything cut down
 in the front beds in readiness for the upcoming house painting.

  It looks desolate and sad but perhaps rejuvenation is required anyway.
Shrubs and vines were overgrown! Soil needs replenishing and new plants
 will go in later.    

Meanwhile another weekend is upon us. Whatever you have planned
I hope you have a great time.