Hey cyber buddies! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?  There’s a very good reason for that. We’ve been very busy as you will see. 🙂

This is my 24th blog. Can you believe that? I’ve pretty much gotten down a system. I take tons of photographs until I feel I’m at a point I have enough to share. Then, before I even write the first word, I start to think of a song to use for a title. This time, it was easy as pie. Today, it’s all about “Lookin’ Out My Backdoor”.

It’s been 10 long years since I’ve gotten to garden the way I want and I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. When we lived out on Seabrook Island, I learned quickly that gardening the way I was accustomed, was a thing of the past. Between the deer and the shade, my gardening was whittled down to green plants on the screen porch. Anything planted in the yard was a constant battle. One time we had deer climb 15 steps, in broad daylight to eat my plants!

Having my own yard with plenty of sunshine and a fence was almost as exciting to me as the renovation of the house itself. The seasons worked well to balance both projects; the house AND the yard. Winter is the time you spend on inside projects. With spring, the focus turns to the outdoors.  Moving into the house this past December made that schedule work out perfectly. Even though there are still projects in the house, spring is the season to focus on the yard. Let me tell you folks, we are extremely focused!

If you remember in my last blog, I left you with the question, “What is she going to do with that tub?” Well, that question has been answered with the cover photo. I’d love to share a few photos of the process.

This is how she started out. The tub is original to the house. It just would not have been right to get rid of it. Even though we decided to install a new tub inside the house, we knew we had to find a way to incorporate the old one somehow.. The decision was easy. The process was not.

First she needed scraping and sanding…

The baby bathtub makes a great bench, don’t you think?

The next step was priming.

And finally paint…

I decided to use the Ocean Storm color which is the same as the front door and the gate.

Next came the placement and planting. We decided to put it in the corner of the yard because there is a concrete slab underneath from a garage that stood there years ago. Nothing of any size can be planted there so it seemed like the best solution to that problem.

Let me take a moment to introduce you to Dave of Engelke Homes! He was glad to come over and help my Dave place the tub. Marc, our contractor, even drilled holes for drainage in the tub for me. (They’re never getting rid of us!) I was surprised to see just how thick that old cast iron tub actually is. That thing weighs a ton!

We layered the bottom with a couple inches of gravel and covered that with screen. It took about 5 large bags of potting soil to fill the old girl. But then came the fun part: the plants!

I filled her with lots of sun-loving, drought tolerant color blasters such as lantana, portulaca, and zinnias. I then placed a mandeville in the center where it will soon be crawling all over the window frame we hung in back of the tub.

As I contemplated where to get that window, it didn’t take me long to realize I had the very best source just one text away. I knew my friend Beth McConnell, owner of Charleston Views, would fix me up in two shakes of a stick. A day or two later I woke up to a text, “I left you a surprise beside your gate”. Thanks girlfriend! Charleston Farmers Market friends are the very best friends in the world!

Thank you for indulging me with that trip down memory lane!

There actually have been a few other projects going on outside our backdoor. David is staining the fence. Good job, Davey boy!

He also came up with a handy little way to store the wood for our fire pit. Pretty cool, huh?

And I’ve gotten my garden bench and the shed all organized.

But let’s get back to the flowers. It’s all about the flowers, right? 🙂

I recall when we lived in Ohio, our next door neighbor’s 17 year old daughter came over one day to thank me for planting the beautiful flower garden beside our house. She went on to say how much she enjoyed waking up every morning looking out her window and seeing all the beautiful flowers. Wasn’t that so sweet of her?

But it got me to thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could see my own flowers when I look out my window? One of the advantages of having a fenced yard is you can do just that!

In the front yard, we decided to replant the shrubs on the front of the house as they seemed to need more sun than they were getting. It was not an easy decision but it had to be done.

We sure hated to get rid of 4 perfectly good plants. But, that’s where the “I Live in Wagener Terrace” Facebook page came in handy. If you are a member of the group and you have something that is useful that you no longer need, just post it on the page and put it out by the curb! Thus the name, “Curb Alert”. Chances are in a few minutes someone will stop by and pick it up.

Like for instance, Melissa. She saw our post, needed plants just like these, and waalaa! She was at our house in 5 minutes! We were so glad to find a good home for them and gained a new friend to boot!

I’m sure this blog is starting to remind you of when you call your grandma who hasn’t talked to anyone in awhile and she just keeps talking and talking. I guess I just wait too long in between our talks and have too much ground to cover (pardon the pun!). 🙂 I haven’t even showed you the screen porch or told you about the volunteer flowers that are popping up from years gone by.  I’ll try to wrap her up for now though and save those tidbits for another day,

Before I sign off, I just can’t resist sharing a few more fun photos.

Stay tuned when next time we answer the question: “What is going to replace the newspaper??” It’s going to be fabulous! I’ll give you a little hint. It’s really hard to “Imagine”.

Until then, take care friends. And as always, don’t forget to listen to the song!