Patio, Porch, Projects and Purchases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

 

 

Today I am going to be sharing what I did last week.....

Hence, the title of this post is Patio, Porch, Projects and Purchases....

 

 

 But first, I want to Thank Barb, over at French Ethereal, for choosing my post, A Little Bit More Red, White and Blue in the Living Room , as one of her features from last week's Share Your Style Link Party!!!

 

Thanks so much, Barb!!

 

  And I also want to Thank Bev, over at Eclectic Red Barn, for choosing my post, Transferware and a "New" Tree Celebrating the Summer Patriotic Holidays in the Den, s one of her features from last week's Thursday Favorite Things Link Party!!!

 

 

Thanks again, Bev!!

Please stop by and link up to these charming parties!!!

 

 

WARNING:  This is a long post so grab a cup of something and have a comfy seat......

 

In my last post, I shared Nelson Crest,, my Victorian Doll House, all decked out in her Patriotic finery for the Summer.....

 

 

 

And these amazing faux desserts that my FB friend Angela hand crafted and gifted to me!!!!

 Click HERE if you missed that post.....

 

 

And now for a few Personal Notes...

 

 

In my last post, I mentioned that we had some rain storms.....

These are a few pictures I took from our front porch as it was beginning to clear after those storms.....

The Sun trying to come out.....

 Finally the sun starting to peek through.....

Sunsets are beautiful but I also feel there is something to be said about clouds too!!!

 

Now you know I have always said that I HATE cooking and I am not one to try different recipes.....

Well, since our son Joey eats dinner here every day anymore ( a wonderful thing that came about because of the Pandemic), I have been more adventurous because with Joey here, I have someone else to actually eat the new things that I try and cook.....

Joe is extremely picky with food and cooking for him is a nightmare.....

This week I made grilled chicken breasts on the Georgie ( George Foreman Grill)

 

 I put a little oil on them and then coated them with a Rub I made using these Seasonings which Joe bought at Ollies , of all places!!!!!

 

He bought a whole bunch of other seasonings along with those for grilling as they were only 99 cents each and he had a 15% off coupon......

They came out pretty good and miracle of miracles, Joe actually liked them!!!!!

On Saturday, I tried something else.....

I had a little boneless ham that Joe bought at Malacari's which is a little locally owned meat market/grocery store only 5 minutes down the road from us

It is a 3 lb. Ham that cost only $4.99!!

 

I saw this recipe for Ham and Cheese Sliders

Click HERE if you want the recipe.....

I ran it past Joey who said "Go for it"

 

I made them and they were delicious!! 

 

Even Joe liked them!!

I forgot to take a picture of them but they looked just like the picture above and were super easy to make which is what I am all about.....

With those storms that I mentioned before, came nice cool weather with low humidity and temps. in the low 70's.....

I took advantage of getting some yard work and outside cleaning and weeding done over the 3 days of nice weather before a heat wave of high humidity ( NEPA has become "tropical" again) and temps. around 90 hit!!!!

I did some planting and transplanting......

I transplanted this Shasta Daisy, that I am proud to say I grew from seed last year, into the ground here....

 

 

And I also transplanted this Missouri Primrose that I was growing in a pot into the ground here as I realized that I did not have any growing in this part of the yard.....

Remember those huge hanging pots that Joe bought at Malacari's for only $1.99?????

 

Well, I had planted one in a larger pot....

And I split the other one which also had 3 plants in it....

And planted one in this pot that I had the Missouri Primrose growing in.....

 

And the 2 other plants into this vintage galvanized bucket which I had the Shasta Daisy growing in.....

I have mentioned my neighbor who insists on feeding peanuts to the squirrels.....

Here is what his yard looked like one morning....

 

The rocks that I placed in my flower pots have prevented them from digging in them..

 

But they are still digging holes in my yard......

And I had to replant some seeds and put these up on the potting stand to keep the chipmunks from digging in them!!!!

Since then, I have had to cover these because chipmunks can climb!!!!!

The little Buggers!!!

On those nice cool mornings, I enjoyed a cup of coffee out in the Patio......

 

 I enjoyed sitting out there in my Secret Garden.......

 

 Where the trees behind us.......

Hide the row of townhouses behind us...

 

 

See that medallion sitting on the chair.....

 

 

A Project.....

The Medallion was hanging on the wall in the Patio but I decided I wanted to hang it somewhere else but before that, I wanted to give it a fresh coat of glass black spray paint.....

So I decided that I was finally going to use something I bought with an Amazon gift card that my son, Joey, gifted me last year....

A Spray Shelter......

I set it up in this area of the back yard.....

 

 

I placed card board in front of the solar light poles so there would not be any over spray on them......

 

  

 

 I placed the medallion inside of it and went to town...

 

  

 

 Done......

I will get back to this medallion in a minute......

 

I must say that trying to put that Spray Tent back in that round bag is never going to happen!!!

 

After a 15 minute struggle of trying to fold it up to fit back in there, which I am sure must have been quite a sight, I folded it up as best as I could and put it in a shopping bag!!!!! 

That same day, I took advantage of the cool weather and cleaned the back Patio.....

 

  

  

 

 

I took everything off the walls and wiped it all down with Pine Sol in water....

 

 I moved everything out and swept the carpet before running the sweeper over it.....

 

 

 

Then I wiped down all the furniture and accessories......

 

 I  spruced up this wreath a bit by adding the butterfly and Bless this Garden sign....

 

 The one thing I like about pots is that you can move them around...... 

So here is a bit of an update on all my planted pots....

 

 

 

3 pots planted with Impatiens and one pot with a Marigold planted in it...

 

 

I put this Coleus plant that Joe bought for $3.99 in the corner.....

 

 

 

 

 I swept down the walls, getting rid of any spiders.....

 

 Fluffed up the wreaths on the windows.....

 

 

 The pillow on the vintage milk crate makes a great foot stool......

 

 

 

 

 

Impatiens planted in this pot in the vintage Bistro chair......

 

 The "Bump Out" which I created by bumping out the Patio a bit with pavers to fit a table and the chair on....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I added another piece of flower vine, that I found in my stash, to this wreath and fixed the bird's nest, bird and eggs which apparently was being pulled off by birds or something......

 

 

 

 

The other side of the Patio.....

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

Reflections of the Garden......

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 I moved this pot with Petunias planted in it over here on the stand as slugs were eating it when I had it on the ground....

A large Coleus and more Petunias in this pot on the ground....
 

 

 

 I moved this Martha Washington Geranium here to get more Sun....

The Fairy Garden in the tub with the Missouri Primrose and Rose Campion blooming behind it...........

 

 

 

 

Begonias.....

 

I was exhausted by the end of the day but glad that I accomplished all I did.....

 

The next morning remained nice and cool so I once again enjoyed a cup of coffee out in the Patio.....

 

You can see that my ankles are not too swollen with the cool temps.....

  

 

 

Since it was the last day of the nice and cool weather, I decided to clean the Front Porch like I cleaned the Patio....

 

 Do you see where I put the medallion?????

 

 I hung it on the screw that I hang my large Christmas wreath from.....

 I will also be giving you an update on how the flowers are growing in my pots out front.....

This year's marigolds are off to a slow start......

 

I don't know if it is the cooler nights that we have been having at times or what....

The impatiens are doing well though.....

 

 After I hung the Medallion, I had to rearrange some of the other things hanging from the "Weeping Mortar"

 

I moved the "Welcome to Our Porch" sign above the front door......

And moved the "Welcome Friends" sign underneath the light fixture.....

 

Moved the "Home" sign underneath the garden sign under the flag pole .....

 Again, I moved everything off the porch.....

 

Wiped everything down with Pine Sol and water.....

 

 Swept the porch first.....

And then ran the sweeper.....

 

The Coleus and Impatien are doing okay in these pots in the corner.....

Then swept the sidewalk.....

These marigolds are doing better.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then cleaned up the flower beds by doing a bit of light weeding as the mulch really keeps the weed growth down.....

 

Next year, I will dig out this hosta and move it back further in this flower bed.....

 

 

Again, the impatiens are doing well.....

 

  

 

And the Coleus plants are starting to take off here....

 

 Loving the colors.....

 

 

 

The front flower beds on top of our slope....

 

  

 

 Marigolds in this small pot in the bike planter....

 

 

Impatiens starting to fill in in this vintage watering can....

 

 

 

My Park Bench....

 

 

 Marigolds are okay, Impatiens doing better and I planted a Begonia in one of those hanging pots, taking the hanger off, that the huge Begonias came in......

 

 

So that is a flower update on the newly cleaned Patio and Porch and how my planted pots are doing so far this Summer.....

 

 

 

Another Project....

 

For several years now, Bloggers have been showing the vintage looking Colander Hanging Planter offered by Tractor Supply.....

 

This year, they have a double one for $24.99......

 

Since I have an excess of Colanders or Strainers as we call them here in NEPA.....

 

I decided to take this vintage styled colander that I bought a few years back at our church Flea Market for 25 cents......

 

And attached a chain that I saved from a hanging wire basket that I am using in another way....

Making my own version of that popular Colander Hanging Planter.....

I will first line it with weed fabric and add dirt and see what I will plant in it and where I will hang it.....

I thought of painting it white but I think it will hold up in the elements better if let be.....

 

 

Now on to a few Purchases....

I know that my Goal for this year is to not spend money needlessly and shop my own home but I did "need" a few things....

Ocean State Job Lot had an offer where if you bought $100 in gift cards, you received an additional $30 gift card....

Joe shops there a lot and also gets gift cards by purchasing their Crazy Deals....

SO.......

I have been looking for a cushion for the green chair on the "Bump Out" in our Patio.....

I found a small chair cushion for $8.00 that would fit this chair in Ocean State Job Lot, along with a few other things....

So off I sent Joe  who will drop anything he is doing to run to a store......

 

Using that $30 gift card that he got for free from purchasing a $100 gift card, he bought this chair cushion.....

 

 

Perfect fit, would you say????

 I also wanted a Patriotic vinyl tablecloth for the Dining Room table....

I sent him for the Star one but he came home with not only that one but this cute Dog one....

 

$3.49 each....

The green canvas Market Umbrella that you have seen in the pictures in this post was my neighbor Elly's....

I have used it for several years even though it is 9 foot wide and a tad large for the area especially with the awning....

It has been broke for 2 years now with one spoke broke....

You can see it hanging down in this picture and the "flap" it created with out it....

This has irritated Joe beyond belief......

He also doesn't like it because Bees seem to like the inside of it and in my last post, I mentioned how afraid of Bees he is......

So I finally broke down and told him to donate the umbrella to Salvation Army and go and buy another Beach Umbrella which is what the one I bought last year is.....

Yes, it is a Beach Umbrella.....

 

And the same color as the new cushion!!!

The sun is baking our back yard from 8 am until around 5 pm when it swings around to the front of the house so the umbrellas provide some additional shade.....

And the nice thing about using beach umbrellas is the size, 7 foot, is perfect for this small space....

And you can tilt them!!!!!

 

This umbrella was only $25 so with using a Crazy Deal gift card in addition to the $30 gift card, we basically got these items for FREE!!!!!!

 We LOVE Ocean State Job Lot!!!!

 

 I love the new additions to our Patio......

I hope you all had a great weekend!!!!!

And I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

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