I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot
George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Friday, June 9, 2023

A Week of Garden Projects and a Few WEIRD Smoky Days, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!
 
 
I am now posting TWICE  a week !!!
 
 I will be posting on MONDAY and FRIDAY!
 
 
As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....
 
 
 Today, instead of sharing my Back Patio like I promised in my last post, I will be sharing a few garden projects and why I am not sharing the Patio.....

We have been greatly affected the last few days by the smoke from the Canadian Forest Fires....

 BUT....
 
Nothing like those poor people who have had to evacuate their homes and are dealing with the affects of these fires on a daily basis for a prolonged period of time....
 
I pray for rain for Canada so these fires can be contained and the Canadian people can return to their homes and rebuild their lives....
 
Sadly, these type of occurences will become more frequent in the upcoming years as we continue to go through climate change.....
 
 

In my last post, I shared how I decorated the top of the TV Entertainment Center for the Summer Patriotic Holidays....
 
 

 

 


Click HERE if you missed that post!!

 
I want to Thank Dee, over at Grammy's Grid, for choosing my post, Patriotic Tablescape and a Few New Buys, as one of her features from the last Unlimited Link Party!!!



Thanks so much, Dee!
 
Please take some time to stop by and link up to this great party!!

 
And now for a few Personal Notes...
 
 
This is what I wore to Mass last Sunday morning....


3 years ago, I ordered 5 knit tops from Boscov's with fancy necklines and they were too tight....


Now they all fit and are a bit loose which is how I like to wear them....


The denim jacket is about 20 years old!!


We will start this week of Projects with last Sunday....

This is what our Rubbermaid Garden Shed looked like.....

 
Since it is in the back corner of the yard under trees, it seldom gets the Sun and mold and mildew was beginning to discolor it....

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to pour some bleach into a bucket, making a solution of 3/4 bleach to water and began scrubbing the shed down with a Brillo like scrub brush....

I then rinsed it with water and dried it with a towel and after nearly asphyxiating myself with the smell of that bleach....

 
It came out looking brand new!!!

 
You can't even tell that it is around 25 years old!!!!

I then attached 2 Command Strip Hooks to each door...


Now this was my Inspiration photo off of Pinterest....


I bought 2 brightly colored plastic Sand Shovels in Dollar Tree which were exactly the same shape as this shovel.....

I then added flowers I bought in Dollar General and some I had in my stash along with some greenery.....



I simply taped the stems to the handle of the shovel with masking tape and then wrapped the rope I found in our storage room around the handle, gluing it in place!!



And made a bow for the top of each....


 
They brighten up a dark corner of the yard....

 
 
 Next, I gave the red leafed plum tree a good trimming so I would not get bopped in the head when I walked back to the shed.....


About 4 years ago, we thought this tree was killed by an invasion of Gypsy Moth Caterpillars so we cut it way back.....

 
My Dad was right that doing this will always make it grow better....



I am really happy with how clean the shed looks and the addition of the shovels.....


Joe mistakenly bought this children's rake at Dollar Tree....

 
So I did the same thing to it....

 
 
On Monday, I gave both the front porch and the back patio a good cleaning as there was a lot of pollen that was stuck to everything.....


 
After Memorial Day, I decided to keep most of my Patriotic Decor out on the front porch until July 4th....






I did put away all the Patriotic flags until July 4th...

I did put out my new large porch flag.....


 
That matches this smaller one....


I wanted to share these pictures of the flower bed under the Living Room window with my Amish Buggy Wheel and wood star lit up.....





Tuesday's big project was some trimming and weeding in my neighbor Ed's front yard......

I started by trimming the 3 azaleas in his flower bed in front of his house.....

 
I shaped this large azalea.....


I trimmed off all the dead branches on this small one bewteen his house and the one next door.....


I did the same with this one and then fertilized them all using Miracid in water.....

 
This was my late neighbor Elly's house and she had planted this "Silver Dollar" plant....


She used to dry them and use them in floral arrangements....

The seeds are inside....


I hope to try to grow some myself......

This is the flower bed on top of Ed's slope.....


After trimming the azalea's, I then trimmed 3 Rose of Sharon Trees...


There is a smaller one in front of the Burning Bush that I also trimmed....


You may remember that when I originally landscaped this yard in 2021, this looked like it had died as it was loosing all it's leaves so we cut it back....


WAY back!!!

Look at it now!!


After trimming, I then did a bit of weeding and raked up the mulch on top, freshening it up....





 
 
 
 Next, I climbed......

YES, I climbed the slope and did some weeding.....
 
 
 


 
Sedum in bloom with yellow flowers...
 
Loosestrife popping up and the hostas I transplanted last year are doing well...
 


The Cerastium tomentosum or "Snow in Summer" will dry out more then it is already if we do not get some rain...




 
I am glad that the perennials I saved and those that I transplanted last year all came back....

This is what it looked like last year when I initially cleaned it up and sort of re-landscaped it...



The Rose of Sharon trees that I trimmed came from a sprout that was in my yard before they put the slope in front of our row of townhouses in....

I had taken sprouts out of my parent's yard when I bought this house 46 years ago....

My Dad had a "fence" of Rose of Sharon Trees along the entire side of his yard...

I lost mine when they put the slope in but my late neighbor Elly took one and planted it in her yard...

These trees came from that sprout so I now took a few young sprouts, after digging them out, and transplanted them in containers in my back yard....


I planted this larger one in this pot but I will transplant it into a larger one soon....

 
I will finally once again, I have Rose of Sharon Trees from my Dad's yard....


After I was finished working in Ed's yard, I sat on the front porch awhile...

By then, the Sun had disappeared behind clouds and a stiff wind picked up....

I noticed these two in my neighbor's window across our Court....


A rather unlikely pair, don't you think????

 
The bird was actually talking to the cat but we could not make out what it was saying!!!!


 
It was then that I noticed the view of the VA Hospital at the top of our hill.....
 
 
 
 It was disappearing in the smokey haze from the forest fires up in Canada!!
 
 The Sun, which popped back out, looked like this!!


We then started to smell the smoke and I got a headache and Joe's eyes were burning so we went in the house and closed everything up.....

At that time, we were in the Very Unhealthy category of Air Quality....

This is the sunrise the next morning on Wednesday....
 
 

 
The VA Hospital was barely visible.....

 
Air Quality levels for our area quickly went to being categorized as Hazardous with warnings for everyone to stay inside and most outdoor events were cancelled...

A strange orange glow decended over our area....

These are pictures of my back yard looking rather orange........







Pictures don't really do it justice....

These were taken in my Den, looking out the windows....


 
And in the Living Room....



There was a strong smell of smoke outside that burned your eyes and your throat....

The VA Hospital had almost disappeared in the smoke....


So you see why I had to postpone doing a post on my back Patio as I was uncertain when all of this would clear up....
 
 
Hazardous Air Quality meant that I was confined inside the house all day on Wednesday....

So I decided to do a bit of painting....

I gathered up my Gnomes and a few other garden pieces and gave them all a fresh coat of paint...

 

 

 

 
 
 
 This bird was all white.....



Yes, I was quite busy......


By Thursday morning, things were improving......

The VA Hospital was reappearing.....


And clouds could be seen....


Air Quality was downgraded to Unhealthy, which meant that people should still stay inside as much as possible.........

I did manage to get my morning exercise walk in but I did wear a KN95 mask as I could still smell smoke....

I also painted this angel ......
 

I then sprayed the angel and all the other pieces I painted with Rustoleum Crystal Clear Sealer.....



My Gnome Garden......




The Gnome Garden in the Tub.....







And the bird which was originally white.....



A bit more colorful now.......

We are now down to 71 which puts us in the Moderate Air Quality Category.....

So all is good....


I will tell you that it was pretty unsettling and even creepy....

I thought when the smoke cleared and the orange haze disappeared that we would all be seeing Mother Ships up in the sky as part of the Alien Invasion......
 

 LOL!
 
 
These are a few pics from our local TV stations....
 
 Normally how our Susquehanna River looks at Wilkes Barre City........

 
In the orange smoke...


Montage Ski Resort which is only 15 minutes away from me, normally.....

 
Smoke obliterating the view of the Mountain......


I am sure this will not be the last time something like this happens as Global Warming and Climate Change are very real contrary to what certain Politicians claim.....
 

 Hopefully, more World Leaders will start to take this all a bit more seriously and enact legislature that imposes restrictions against the causes of Climate Change....

Right now, we are in desperate need of rain as we are now in what is classified as Moderate Drought conditions.....

All Camp fires in our area have been banned until further notice....

And the Saga Continues....

Did you experience the smoke from the Canadian Fires?????
 
I have a whole new appreciation for my Blogger friends in California and other areas that go through something like this almost yearly....
 

In my next post, I plan on sharing my back Patio....

Barring any unforeseen circumstances....


So I hope you will stop by to visit again on MONDAY! 
 
 
 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......


I am linking up to these parties:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
 


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17 comments:

  1. LindaJune 9, 2023 at 11:50 AM

    Some of the fires in Ontario are about an hour north of us, so our air quality has been dreadful, and I have stayed inside some of the days. If we are bad, I hate to think what those in the actual fire zone are experiencing. Praise to all the fire fighters that are battling these relentless fires. Your shed looks lovely now it is all cleaned up. How lovely to have a rose of sharon bush that came from your dad's garden. Hope the air quality improves for you, seems smoke can cross the border without any visa or passports!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Miss MerryJune 9, 2023 at 7:47 PM

    Gosh your shed makeover is super! It does look brand new! What a great transformation! I got some starts of a Rose of Sharon from my brother's first wife. I wasn't sure what it was and planted it like a border plant. Of course I had to dig them up and I have a "fence" along the sidewalk to my door. I am always digging up babies for anyone I can pawn them off on. When I had a 4-H club, we dug up lots of babies that year and tried to make a hedge row by an abandoned cemetery we were taking care of. The soil really influences the color of the flowers. Mine are a white with a little pink in the center. The babies we moved to the cemetery are a deep, rich purple.

    We can smell smoke during the day and night, but it is not thick enough to cause breathing issues. It is very hazy over Lake Erie, but no so much inland during the day. We do notice it more in the evening. It is so dry here. I cannot remember the last time it rained. The farmers are getting very nervous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PJJune 9, 2023 at 8:29 PM

    Ugh, I was thinking the smoke was affecting you. We live in the mtns in eastern CA where fires seem to be the way summers are now and it's usually very hot. A lot of us cool our houses with an evaporative cooler which can't be used because it sucks the smoke inside. In addition to this, the power company somtimes turns power off. We had one come within 16' of our house. Those poor people have my sympathy, it's scary and dangerous for everyone. It's always nice to have a plant that had belonged to a love one. Wish the deer hadn't eaten my Rose of Sharon. They're beautiful. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble ChristmasJune 10, 2023 at 7:30 AM

    PJ,
    Thanks so much for visiting...When things like this happen, We learn to appreciate what we have like clean air and seeing blue sky and the Sun....We also learn what it is like for people who deal with this frequently as yourself and those who live in California and in other places where fires like this are becoming the norm...I can only imagine how scary it is to have to deal with this for a prolonged period of time and my heart goes out to all that hae to endure that...I pray that you will not have to deal with things like this this coming Summer...I hope you have a great weekend!
    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Crowned GoatJune 10, 2023 at 10:42 AM

    Those images are wild, Deb! I hope they're able to get the fires under control soon. It seems like such a scary thing to have to go through. In other news, our flower beds are in desperate need of your touch. I wish we lived closer because I would take you to the garden center with me. Your plants and flowers inspire me all the time! Hugs and stay safe, CoCo

    ReplyDelete
  6. SlabsJune 11, 2023 at 11:38 AM

    Another Canadian here, although from the Valley, in BC but we did also have the some here in our area and I am sorry to hear that you were also affected.
    You have done a marvelous job with the garden. Gorgeous.
    I visited you via Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop 64
    If interested feel free to visit my entries for this week: #9+10 as I would love to invite you to come and share your posts and you will have an opportunity to get featured.
    We're open Monday through Saturday every week.
    You will find the linkup information (1) In the Top bar under Blogging: Weekly Senior Salon Pit Stop OR 2nd image In the sidebar
    We hope to meet you there virtually.

    ReplyDelete
  7. BetsyJune 11, 2023 at 9:13 PM

    Your gardens look so nice. Lots of work put into them. I see where I would be every morning with coffee. Right out the back door in that chair. Nice place to read or think about what I have to do next. I want to get some of that lattice, but it is 60 bucks a panel made of plastic. Wow things have gone up. Love the birdie in the window with the cat. Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  8. handmade by amaliaJune 12, 2023 at 3:47 AM

    Your garden is such a happy place, dear Debbie, and so YOU. Wonderful.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sum of their StoriesJune 12, 2023 at 12:52 PM

    I love how beautifully your shed came up after it's clean up and makeover. It's also lovely to see you in a photo now and again too :-) I hope the air quality improves for you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. JeanieJune 12, 2023 at 1:22 PM

    Your garden is looking great, Debbie. That's such hard work! And yes, we had smoke issues here too -- not so bad as in the east, though. I'm glad it is easing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The Antiqued JourneyJune 13, 2023 at 2:36 PM

    We have had such smoky air here in Minnesota as well, Deb. Even though it is affecting our daily lives, I can't imagine what the people and the wildlife are experiencing in Canada as you stated. Your backyard looks beautiful!! thanks so much for linking at Home Imagined this week!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. MaryJo MaterazoJune 14, 2023 at 12:47 PM

    Stay safe Deb. The air quality is no joke. We have had a horrific few years here in CA 'cuz of the wildfires. This year I'm hoping it won't be bad since we had so much rain this winter. Praying for Canada and all those affected. Thanks for joining us at the Home Imagined link party. XO- MaryJo

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dee | GrammysGrid.comJune 15, 2023 at 2:35 PM

    The gnome garden is cute. Thanks so much for linking up at the #UnlimitedLinkParty 116. Pinned.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Joanne June 16, 2023 at 9:10 AM

    Everything looks wonderful with a fresh coat of paint on it; what a great way to fill the day being stuck inside. We lucked out that while we had some hazy skies our air quality never really got quite that bad. I love the idea of using command hooks to decorate the front of your "new" garden shed! We have a few of those sheds on our patio to hold lake/summer supplies.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Coastal BohemianJune 19, 2023 at 2:36 PM

    Glad to hear your tree came back!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Vintage Style GalJune 20, 2023 at 10:03 AM

    Looking good Debbie! Love the shed makeover, it looks great! You have to be careful with bleach though. It takes my breath away too. Those shovels are too cute too. The smoke was affecting Ohio too, I stayed in. All of your garden gnomes, etc look great! I like to paint too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. PaulaShort June 21, 2023 at 7:49 PM

    Debbie, your garden projects look fantastic. You sure were busy. We had a few smokey days here in Western Pa too. Nothing like what you guys had, though.
    Thank you so much for sharing your garden projects with Sweet Tea & Friends This month.

    ReplyDelete

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