August 8, 2018    Status – bit of this and that

         First the Nellie Holly shrubs that had overstayed their welcome.

         Rethinking my gardens recently, I came to the conclusion that trimming my Nellie Holly bushes along the front of the house was getting to be more than any mere mortal should do.  Just about every 4 or 5 weeks from February through December, I had to climb on a ladder, trim out the top portion, and trim around the bottom.

         Several years ago, I made lollipop shapes out of the shrubs when they had gotten too tall and I cut all the lower growth two-thirds of the way up from the ground and exposed the trunks at the base.  I tried my best to keep the tops trimmed down, but honestly . . . all this rain and the nonsense of having to climb a ladder to cut them was getting too dangerous.  I honestly think my cutting them into lollipop shape caused the tops to shoot up to the sky with more strength.

         It has been wet, my husband hasn’t felt well enough to wield the electric chain saw, and of course, the light weight, battery operated chain saw decided to go on the fritz.  So, I got my trusty garden stool and sat down and went to work with my trusty loppers and a hand saw.  Four hours later – 3 shrubs with just a stem/stump and one that still needs the foliage carved off.  But, I made serious progress.

         Picture below.  TA DAH – I have now reclaimed at least six woman-hours times ten outings on just cutting back the Holly shrubs.    That is 60 hours I reclaimed that I can use elsewhere in the future.  I have a handy man coming to cut the stumps to the ground for me.

It is just one of those facts that shrubs at foundations can just get too big and you have to take them out.  I planted these twenty years ago.  So, this fall I will do some planning and sketching and figure out what to replant along the front of the house.

         The traditional theory is every 7 years you need to re-work your landscape gardens.  That is what I have been doing since last fall.

         Next, status report on the refinished kitchen table. 

What a labor of love that was.  I enjoyed it immensely. I took my time.  I allotted a few hours with my morning coffee and hand sanded the surface to take the varnish off, then I sanded to take all the little nicks out of it and then more sanding to get that awful groove out of it.  I wiped the table down with a tack cloth to catch the sanding dust and covered it with a cheap plastic tablecloth.  “Where do you find these things?”  My husband asked about the round cheap plastic table cloth.

         “At the dollar store.”  I had one laid on the floor under the table to pick up the dust and any polyurethane drippings and I had another one to toss over the in-progress work so that the table wouldn’t be accidentally marked.

It took two mornings to sand, and then the next day I applied the first coat of polyurethane and allowed it to dry for four hours [directions say will dry in two hours – so I was being extra cautious]. 

I tossed the plastic table cloth over it. Next morning I did a light sand with very fine sandpaper, wiped the table top down with a tack cloth, and applied another coat.  This process went on for a total of five coats [Five mornings] to get the high gloss I wanted. Then I did the legs and underpart.  Again, TA DAH – drum roll please – looks pretty good, doesn’t it?  Yes, that is my trusty coffee cup with the permanent chip in it.[See Blog October 9, 2016 regarding that chipped cup.]

Next item to refinish will be the antique school desk.  That shouldn’t take much time.  And, it has a cute story behind it.  [Look for it in a future blog.]

         Finally, a picture to share the delightful country critters we have here.  If you look carefully, you will see three little masked bandits.  When I reached for my camera, the fourth one ran into the bushes. 

         The fern in the foreground to the left has been the surprise of my flower gardening season.  I bought a little 2-inch by 2-inch square pot of a little fern [no name, no tag] from an elderly couple at the Landrum Fresh Market one Saturday this spring.  I only paid a couple of dollars and I thought it would look cute peeking out of a potted plant filled with different colors and textures.  The elderly man said he just saw the little fern in his yard in a place it didn’t belong and he decided to pot it up and sell it. 

         It is rather stunning for a fern to grow from about 3 inches to three feet since early May.

         Until tomorrow – good gardening to you all.