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Birthday Wishes from the Trip to the Nursery!

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:27 pm

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I found many things I'd like to buy, but they were out of my price range for today. However I took a few pics to make a birthday "wish list".

I'd really like this 'Takara' Japanese Tree Peony! But boy, they are expensive. $90


This is called Black Lace Elderberry. It reminds me of a Japanese Maple, but for much less cost. It would be perfect for a berm I have.


And if the tree peony is too expensive, this one's pretty nice too, although certainly not inexpensive either. It's called 'Buckeye Belle'.


Last edited: Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:52 pm

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'Lady Friend' Tall Bearded Iris

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:24 pm

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It's another new one in bloom! Also purchased on eBay, this is 'Lady Friend'. The success I've had with these eBay purchases is encouraging me to buy more this fall.





Today I don't have to work much, so I'm heading off to some nurseries I've never visited. Doubt I'll buy much if anything, but it's still fun to look.

This blog entry has been viewed 437 times

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Leaf Magazine

Category: Online Resources | Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:53 pm

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What could be better? Free, online, and full of interesting ideas. Have a look (and no, I am in no way associated with this website!).

http://www.leafmag.com/site/

Last edited: Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:26 pm

This blog entry has been viewed 425 times

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Taliesin East - Frank Lloyd Wright

Category: Architecture & FLW | Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:45 pm

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I took the Highlights Taliesin tour August 4, 2011 (Spring Green, WI). The fact the house was one big architectural experiment was quite evident in the property's constant need of rehabilitation. They were in the process of jacking up the stone pillars of the home in an effort to level the house, which was a slow, tedious process from what I gathered. The no-seam corner windows are gapping badly as they lift one side of the house at a time. The house is certainly showing it's wear, but great effort is also going into saving it. I'd like to revisit in 10 years to see the progress.

There are so many photos from our trip at Taliesin, that I could not possibly post them all here. If you would like to see them all, they can be found here.

http://flwarchitecture.blogspot.com/search/label/Taliesin%20East


















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Allen-Lambe House, Wichita, KS

Category: Architecture & FLW | Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:00 pm

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We had the pleasure to visit the Allen-Lambe House, 225 N. Roosevelt, Wichita, Kansas in October. Designed in 1915 by Frank Lloyd Wright, the home was occupied by the Allens in 1918. This house is one of Wright's last "prairie" homes. It was built while Wright was in Japan for the Imperial Hotel construction, although he did visit a few times during construction of the house. All the photos from the visit can be found here.

http://s898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/007Pianolady/Allen-Lambe%20House/













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Batik is the next iris to bloom...

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:12 pm

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Been waiting days for this to finally bloom!

Batik








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April 23 Photos & Estimates

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:35 pm

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Wowza...$1400 to cut down the walnut tree! I have a 2nd tree service coming on Wednesday to get another estimate. I'm not surprised, but would like to get more than one estimate.

To calm my nerves, I got my camera out and walked around a bit.















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April 22 Back Yard Walk Around

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:36 pm

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For the first time in a long time, I feel like my gardens are manageable! Taking out the side garden not only improved the looks of the property, but also gave me more time to devote to cleaning up the other garden areas.

I've moved my arch to the shade garden since the back garden is now a vegetable garden.


Shade Garden Pics






The Walkway Garden


And my back garden still sits empty waiting it for it to warm up enough to plant (May).


Last edited: Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:37 pm

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Summer Project Plans

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:46 pm

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Well it looks like it's going to be an expensive summer with home improvements! Here's what we have to get done.

1. Remove old walnut tree that is dying. It is too close to the neighbor's house and needs to go. I'm expecting a $1000 expense there, too big a project for us to do.

2. Remove the old deck from the house before we have it painted. We can do this ourselves, and it will bring us great joy to destroy it. It was poorly built by a contractor, and is now unsafe.

3. Have the house painted. Another big expense, as I'm not up to doing that any more.

That's probably all we'll be able to get done this summer due to running out of $. But the next steps are if we can get to them and/or afford them...

4. Put in a new retaining wall holding up the hill next to the foundation of the house. It's still holding but "leaning". Thankfully it's leaning the correct way and stable, but still an eyesore. This will probably have to be engineered, as it'll be big, another big expense.

5. Build a new deck. This we know how to do, and wouldn't hire a contractor. We were disgusted by the last two decks contractors put on this house when my parents owned it. They got ripped off and we had to fix what wasn't done right just to make it safe.

Far in the future plans:

6. Build a 2 car garage out back and a concrete driveway.

7. Rebuild the garage in the front and a new concrete driveway.

Then we'll be all done! Ha, right! By then we'll need to repaint the house again. It hails badly every 5-10 years here, so the roof gets replaced on a regular basis. Our siding is old cedar siding and it just laughs at the hail, that's why we keep it.

This blog entry has been viewed 408 times

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Acrylic Paint Fun

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:19 pm

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Acrylic paints are a wonderful thing. Not only are they inexpensive, they also hold up to the outdoor elements surprisingly well. I've lost count how many times I've picked up garage sale items others have given up on, just to repaint them for probably less than a dollar. You never know what I might paint!







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