Pine Hollow...

I'm joining Fishtail Cottage for her Garden Party #5 once again this week. Click HERE to view all the other fantastic garden posts (this is one weekly meme, I really enjoy!) For any new readers coming from the party...let me introduce you to the Pine Lady! She is a smiling pine whose wide branches shelter Pine Hollow, the fairy village that has settled in my garden.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! I entertained family all 3 days and lots of little nieces were here so I helped the fairies finish setting up Pine Hollow for the summer season just in time to be visited by enchanted young ones. It seems like each year, Pine Hollow increases in size.

I hope you enjoy looking through these photos to see the little touches the fairies have added! There are stepping stones, gazing balls and bird baths in new little garden areas, lots of new little plants and a cool new roof on the rose cottage. New this year is a swimming pool/hot tub combo which you will see up close at the end of this post. Come enjoy a walk through Pine Hollow with me....

The roof on the Rose Cottage didn't hold up well to all the rain and sprinkler running last year so this winter a new roof was added. See all those shiny blue leaves? Can you guess what they are made of?

While looking for a fun (but cheap) way to shingle the house, I discovered that the inside of coors beer cans are a pretty aqua blue, the aluminum is also very thin and easy to cut with dollar store scissors so leaf shingles were born. Thanks to Jeff's air stapler this was a quick and fun afternoon project.

Here is the new fairy sized pool/hot tub combo :) As soon as I saw this wooden chip/dip bowl at Goodwill, I knew immediately it was a pool :) Surrounded by small tropical trees and relaxing places to sit it has been a hit with the fairies but what I didn't expect was the robin that bathes in it daily. It is hard to keep it filled and clean with all the robin's splashing.

Remember...always leave room in your garden for fairies to dance...as well as work, swim, play piano, ride horses and trikes, nap, birdwatch and bring smiles to young and old alike!

hummingbirds...

My garden is hosting several hummingbirds for the last week and what a joy they are. I love that they are territorial and actually sit near the feeder they stake out to protect it from the others coming for a drink. This leads to lots of fun aerial shows that I sure wish I was fast enough to capture with the camera! I'm very thankful for this male ruby throat that spends most of his day perched in the pine lady. Depending on the lighting his throat appears red, orange & even black.

I'm looking forward to sharing lots of photos this week of birds, blooms and Brooklyn :)

Clematis love...

It's no secret I've become a fan of clematis and have continued to add to my collection again this spring. While my new babies are a foot tall, some of my old favorites are already putting on a show. Top Row, L to R: Bourbon, Elsa Spath, Clair de Lune, The President. Bottom Row, L to R: H.F. Young, Dr. Ruppel and Rebecca. Linking up with the weekly Fishtail Cottage Garden Party, click HERE to see some awesome gardens.

Lost without a camera...

There was a noticeable absence of blogging this week because I forgot my camera up at Jayme's. It's a good thing Grandpa Jeff & I came up to see Scott, Jayme & Brooklyn again this weekend so Grandma can get back to blogging.

It is so much fun to watch Brooklyn play with her grandpa - can you tell how much we both enjoy being grandparents?

eyelashes...

Man, I wish I had Brooklyn's eyelashes...I'd never need mascara again!

a busy week...

I spent the first half of the week getting everything done in the office but at least I have a window over my desk looking out at the crab apple tree which was busy with warblers and a catbird. I hurried through the work at home so I could come up and spend a few days doing grandma daycare for this beautiful little girl...

Brooklyn and I spent this beautiful day playing outside and going for walks with her stroller. She's not sure what she thinks of grass or dandelions but she sure enjoys her new pink chair :)

They're back!

How exciting it was to see my first oriole of the year today...

these guys are one of my favorite birds and always make me think of my dad...oh, how I missed them!