An Unexpected Obstacle

Most of the projects here are long term, with no real beginning or end.  Yesterday, I needed the feeling of accomplishment that comes with FINISHING something, so I chose to work on the new bed on the south side of the house.  I showed it to you originally in THIS post.

Here's the bed, outlined in Richmond cobblestones.

I want to soften this view.

The roses I decided to use to climb the wall are Reve d'Or, Marechal Niel, and Alister Stella Gray ... all are yellow Tea Noisettes that should love the warm brick and bright sunshine on this side of the house.  Earlier, I sprayed the grass and weeds inside the bed with herbicide, waited a week for it to do its thing, and added a few tractor-bucketloads of topsoil to raise the bed a bit.  All I had to do yesterday was lay out the roses and peonies, dig holes and plant them, and spread mulch.

There was a surprise waiting for me with my first attempted shovel-full of dirt.

Concrete!

Under about 6 inches of soil next to the driveway, was the remains of a concrete pad.

The husband went to the garage to get the sledge hammer to see if he could break it up. 

He succeeded in chipping off a bit of the corner, only to find that the slab was at least 5 inches thick.  We agreed that it was not going to come out without the encouragement of a jackhammer.

He and I stared at the slab, brain-stormed a bit, and worked out what we think is a pretty good Plan B. 

We decided that this is the perfect place for a half whiskey barrel planter filled with trailing roses.  I dug the soil off the top of the slab, and he laid concrete blocks on top of it to raise it up to the level of the surrounding soil.  I'll go to the store in a few days and buy some tumbled pavers to cover the concrete blocks, and I think we'll have a nice feature. 

I have to straighten the cobblestones out a bit.

While he was laying out the concrete blocks, I planted 6 pots of peonies on the far end of the bed by the light post.  That's all we had time for, so I never did get the roses planted. 

Still no finished projects ... sigh.

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In honor of the first flower of the year, be sure to check in here on Friday for "Friday Flowers" and the first Give Away of the season.

(written by Hartwood roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

The Weeds are Winning.

The weather these past few days has been perfect for working in the garden ... and there's so much to do.

This is what many of the roses on the east end of the Rose Field looked like a few days ago.  The winter annual weeds are thick and lush and EVERYWHERE.  Look at the variety of weeds in such a small area!  In the photo below, I see lamium, dandelion, chickweed, onions, and who-knows-what-else.

Some of the rows were a disgrace.

Gruss an Teplitz and Ducher, with Belle Vichysoise in the background on the fence.

I think this is the Noisette row.

The husband and I scooted along the paths on the seat of our pants, pulling weeds and pruning dead wood off the roses, and we are gradually made progress.

A detail of Bengal Fire, before.

Same spot, after.

This is what I saw as I looked up at the end of the day on Sunday, as I sat at the far end of the row of Chinas and Noisette climbers ... blue sky, green roses, and very few weeds.  This had been one of the worst rows, and it felt really good to finish it.

The Damask and Gallica section looks fabulous now!  Before we started, it was almost impossible to get down these rows.  The roses were overgrowing the paths, and the weeds filled in every available space.

All of the roses are budding out nicely.  Some of the buds are even showing color.  It won't be long before I can show you flowers!!

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Traveling on the Greyhound Underground Railroad

I'm taking a break from our usual Friday Flowers feature this week, to tell you about a trip my husband and I took on Wednesday afternoon.  We had the pleasure of sharing our vehicle with six very polite retired racing greyhounds as they traveled from Winter Park, Florida, to their new homes in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

This is called the Greyhound Underground Railroad, "GUR" for short, a term coined in the 1990's by some ladies in the midwest.  We have a network of volunteers who take the dogs from Point A to Point B, handing them off to the next vehicle along the route a lot like the old Pony Express. 


We picked up these dogs at Cracker Barrel in Ashland, Virginia, from Phyllis who started her portion of the trip in Benson, NC.  I'd like to show you photos of us taking them out of Phyllis's van, but it's requires all hands to safely unload six dogs.  No hands were available for photos.  The dogs got a quick walk for a potty break and a drink of water, and we loaded them into our Expedition for our portion of the trip.

The dogs are a little uneasy in the car at first ...

But they quickly settle down.

All of the dogs wear muzzles for their protection.  By the time we get them, they've already been on the road for 12 hours in close quarters.  The muzzles are there to make sure that anyone who may be tired and cranky doesn't do any damage if they snap at one of the other dogs.  We had none of that on this trip.

Let me introduce you.

Jackie

Cathy

Cat

Hailey

Oxford - the only boy on this trip

and Zoie.

The dogs spend most of their time with us sleeping ... just like greyhounds do at home.

Sometimes, they sit and look around.

and, sometimes, they try to want to drive 'shotgun'.  Jackie and Hailey took turns on this trip.

Six big dogs are not as cramped as you think they should be in the back of an Expedition.  No matter how many dogs we transport, there always seems to be room for one more.  (We have hauled seven on more than one occasion)  We lay old comforters and blankets down to pad the floor so everyone is as comfy as possible.

It was about 7:30pm when we pulled into the commuter parking lot in Warrenton, Virginia, to hand the dogs to the next set of volunteers for the final leg of their journey.  

We made our first GUR run in the fall of 2002, and more then 300 lucky greyhounds have traveled with us since then.  If your group would like to know more about the Greyhound Underground Railroad, send me an email.  I have a PowerPoint presentation that I give, with details, tips, and lots (and lots) of photos.

Friday Flowers will return next week.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog

More Progress in the Basement Bathroom

This weekend was a a very productive one.  The basement bathroom is now completely framed, insulated, vacuumed, and ready for drywall. 

(If you're not familiar with our basement bathroom project, you can come up to speed with these links:  Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3.)

Framing finished, and insulation well under way.

We test-fitted the vanity and sink, and found that it was 37 inches tall!!  The thing looked like it was standing on its tippy-toes, and it completely overpowered the small space.  (forgot to take a picture of this ... here's the one I took in the store.)

(Why didn't we notice this before?)

The only answer, because we both love the style of the sink, was to take a saw to our brand new vanity and cut 5 inches off the legs.  To make sure the cuts on those fluted, round feet were straight and perfectly level, we built a jig out of scrap 2 x 4's.

Clamped it onto the vanity with LONG pipe clamps ...

... and did the deed (very carefully) with a hand saw.  I was unbelievably nervous about doing this ... no turning back now.

Ta Da!!

This looks much better now.  It has almost the same proportions as an antique wash stand, which fits perfectly with the mood I'm aiming for in here.

Big finial feet are now cute little fluted bun feet.

The drywall is being delivered this afternoon, and the guys will get started hanging and finishing it in a day or two.  It should be ready for primer by early next week.

My goal for this project is to have a pretty bathroom with a functioning toilet by the time of the first private garden party here on May 23.  It's looking like I may make it, with plenty of time to spare. 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)

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8.  Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on 'Save Profile'.

That's all there is to it.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Today's Color is ... Red.

With everything popping in the garden right now, I bet ya thought I was going to say 'green'.

This is project #3 for C & C Photography's spring photography workshop.

I chose red for my subject, to show the wonderful variation in the colors of spring ... all you have to do is look carefully.

Enjoy!

As you can see, red and green aren't just for Christmas anymore.

All of this beautiful spring growth promises armloads of flowers in a few weeks. 

Be sure to visit C & C Photography to see which colors the other participants chose.  They're a very creative bunch, and I'm always in awe of what their work.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)