"Free" is Fun!

This is always a pretty "slow" time of year for me as far as decorating and crafting. My spring decor has been out for awhile and, as much as I do love spring, it is not one of my busiest decorating and crafting seasons. I keep it pretty much just lots of greens with small pops of purples through lilacs, violets, etc. And, there really isn't a "big" decorating holiday in the mix either.

Since I like to have my decor up for at least a month, the 4th of July usually goes up the end of May...and, we're not quite there yet!

And so, I am finding myself roaming around inventing things to do...and that is exactly what happened yesterday.

The first thing I looked for was how I wanted to display those beautiful arches that I got for Mother's Day. There are three and they are each a different size so any sort of symmetrical hang wouldn't work for me. I thought about breaking them up and using them in different rooms but that wouldn't be my first choice. I do a lot of my decorating kind of hit and miss and, when I try something out, if I get any kind of "serendipity" that it looks right, it's a "go"!

And so, that is exactly what happened with the arches. I started by finding one of the only bare spots in my house big enough to pull this off - lol. And, since I didn't have an extra pair of hands around to hold them up for me to see, I just went with it. A simple matter of three nails and voila!

And then...wait for it...serendipity was there hitting me in the face! First of all, look how closely the arches mimic the shape of the lanterns which now stay on the mantle for every holiday and season.

And from this angle, look at how nicely the wood of the arches matches the wood of the lamp. Serendipity I'm telling you...just meant to be here - until one of my decorator daughters walks in and asks me what in the world I was thinking. I know they - especially daughter #3 - don't like clutter. But, she is the one who gave them to me so, what's a mom to do? In any case, I think I like them there - until I'm walking around looking for another project. Then, all bets are off.

 And, since this little project really didn't take very long, I needed something else. Once the garbage men emptied the cans, I knew I could do some more raking so off I went. And while doing that, I saw one of my brick walks in the backyard with "new eyes". There is definitely some moving going on under my house. I know my house sits high at the end of our circle and has water running under it to the area that in so much lower a few streets away. I don't really think it is a serious problem except that it is causing cracks in my driveways and walkways. The brick path up to the pool was moving so much that the concrete on the edges was breaking off and I figured then the bricks wouldn't be far behind.

And so, I needed a cheap - well, since I'm not leaving my house or having anyone else in - free answer for the moment. And then my mind decided that a border grass border would get so thick and tight that it would probably help hold in the concrete edges.

I am not a border grass fan because of its tendency to send out offshoots wherever it wants but, in this case that might be my friend. As much as I dislike the stuff and as much of it as I have pulled up and out over the years, there are always patches of it where I least want them. And so, with that in mind, I set out to transplant as much as I could.

I will say that once that stuff gets a foot hold, it is hard to get it up with roots intact. My back might never be the same, but I got it done. It took until almost dark last night and a bit more this morning.

I'm hoping that if I keep this wet enough, it will get some root growth before it gets scorching hot. I'm still not a fan, but it looks a lot better than just the raw edges of the bricks.

Now I am off to look for today's project. Since my back still hasn't recovered, I think I will look for something inside that doesn't require shovels and dirt! Stay safe and stay tuned.