The Praying Spot - aka - Rachel's sukkah

Sukkot begins at sundown on 9/30.  When we bought this house, it came with a dilapidated pergola in the back corner of the back yard with a pond that was buried in dead leaves and rubbish.  My niece, Rachel, said, "Aunt Jenny, you have a sukkah!"  So, we have decided to keep it and name it Rachel's Sukkah....but it has become my praying spot.

I know the view at night isn't great, but it's about 16' x 13', so pretty large.

I've added 2 strands of blanket lights and plan to put up 6 more sections.  And can you see the pollyanna type prisms hanging along the south end? (click to enlarge)   We planted 2 wisteria trees, one on each end, shortly after moving in and in 3 months, they have twined and wound their way up over the top boards.  I'm hoping to have wonderful flowers next spring!

Big enough for a table, 4 chairs, the grill, and the pond is over where that black corner is.

OK, it's a tiny pond - we cleaned it out and put a small waterfall feature in there.  It sounds amazing.  And just over the top, I can see the foothills/hogbacks on the west edge of town.  Such a peaceful spot. Such a perfect spot for prayer.  Such a perfect sukkah that I can enjoy all year long!

More art in the yard

I have certainly had my share of fun this summer!  My garden is filling up with "P" named spots.  This is the painting spot.  Over in a corner, I've started preserving some of mom's paintings.  Mind you, these are paintings that she gave me to cut up and use in scrapbook projects!  

Picked the easel up at goodwill for $5 and covered it with Thompson's sealer.  Then sealed the painting and decoupaged it to plywood with layers of clear sealer over it.  Hopefully they will last for the next 20 or so years!

(click for a larger view)

My friend, Linda Peterson, has been playing with chicken wire lately.  I saw some photos online of wedding gowns formed out of chicken wire and decided to give it a try.  Not the easiest thing in the world!  But hey, Linda, don't you need one of these in your front yard???

I've decided that most gardens have Scare Crows.  Well, my garden has a Mrs. Crow....or perhaps this is the ghost of the artist past?  How about the "invisible artist???"

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Two new aspen trees were planted in the corner. Next spring, I plan to transplant day-lillies to match the painting and I think sweet peas would look great winding up and down the dress.  There are more paintings to be sealed to plywood and hung on the fence.  Eventually I want to paint the fence white and paint flowers up and down it.

When you come to visit my garden (eventually) you will be able to walk along paths and look for hidden objects, find the "P" spots and hopefully, enjoy yourself!  I've shared the "Potting spot" and now the "painting spot".  Wonder what I'll work on next?

Notting Hill gardening

In the movie, Notting Hill, Julia Roberts wants a bench. My sister, April, made these benches out of old gun boxes and sold them at a garage sale. I bought them! And now, they are in my back yard.



We have nearly 2/3 acre for our yard - way too big, but this year, I'm working at cleaning out flower beds and making it prettier out there. These benches really aren't suitable to sit on, but the do look nice

Sort of fun to say I have "Notting Hill" in my own back yard! And yes, I dug out about 2' of dirt to plant the aspens. Hopefully they will survive in our 98 degree temps. Next week - I need to do something to the area where I took the ponds out. Hmmm....wonder what else I could steal from a movie?