Monday, April 16, 2012

The Deck and the SBA(Super Blog Assistant)

This afternoon has been a real gift! All the weather reports had today as one dark gray blob! Rain all day! Temps only in the 50's. Shortly after noon, the sun came out and it turned into a lovely afternoon. It was probably in the 60's in the sun. Last week, the SBA cleaned the deck and got it ready for summer. Our summers are so temperate(70's-80's) that we practically live on this deck. The SBA doubled the size of the deck several years ago. I haven't added flowers yet as we are still very cool at night. I do several pots of annuals. This adds color. The trees stay all year. In the coldest part of the winter, we wrap them in bubble wrap. This has worked so well. We have never lost a pot.

Here's the SBA enjoying the sunshine. (By the way, his birthday week-end was great! We had a great time with family.)

On the far left, is my potting bench. Originally the deck was only as wide as the post you see by the yellow pot.

This is a great piece of work done by Tom Jones, a talented potter from Fairhope , Alabama.

The heuchera have put out new leaves.

I have several Japanese Maples on the deck. I'm not sure of the variety. I love the shape of this one.

Here's my garden before the plants are up.

The SBA got the fountain going this week-end.



I picked these to brighten the kitchen window. I have collected these little bottles for just this purpose.
I have had a problem the last few days. As you know if you read this blog that I LOVE!!!! doing cross stitch. I'm in the middle of a fairly big sampler. I have started having big problems with my hand. Possibly carpel tunnel. It's not bad during the day time but it has kept me up at night. I'm trying exercises. Several people have suggested that my 2-3 hours of stitching each night are part of the problem. This has me very distressed. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. I'm trying to do some stitching during the day and take more breaks at night! Wish me luck!
Thanks for taking a look! Have a great week!

8 comments:

  1. Hope your hand gets better soon...I love muscari they are so pretty. Am also a HUGE fan of Acers and I think your fountain is gorgious! Perfect style for the Pac NW.

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  2. I love your pictures and LOVE your garden...it reminds me of my sister-in-law's lavender garden except she doesn't have a fence around it but now you got me thinking...hmmm...that might be a good project for my brother! Now I can totally relate to your hand situation. I am a medical transcriptionist and I have the beginnings of carpal tunnel. It feels full-blown to me but the tests proved otherwise. I tried massage therapy and that helped a little. Since you are not using them all day for work, that might work really well for you. I wear splints to bed and if I don't wear them, I can really tell the difference. My sister and the quilt shop owner went to the chiropractor and swear they haven't had any problems since. I truly am sorry. Sometimes my fingers go numb when I stitch and then start getting better as I go along (not sure why) and then other times they are terrible. I hope you find something that works for you. I even tried the magnetic bracelets but that did nothing.

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  3. What beautiful pics. I love the fountain in your garden. I can see why you live on the deck. It gets too hot here to spend lots of time outside.I hope this summer isn't too hot.
    I hope the hand issue resolves itself. It stinks that you are having problems.
    Happy Tuesday!

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  4. Try rubbing the inside of your wrist where all the veins meet , it is the pressure point , and keeping it warm will help too.
    They do arthritis support gloves , which are fingerless so can be worn whilst stitching , and they help me a lot when CT is playing up .X

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  5. Your deck looks like a wonderful place to spend some time! Your garden looks like another great spot to spend time. :) Hope you find the answer to your hand problem.

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  6. The garden is beautiful! Look forward to hanging out on you lovely deck this summer, too!

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  7. Love all your Japanese maples.........I have triedgrowing them here in Wisconsin but they might live for a year or two then they die out! Good luck with your hand. I have a friend who wears some kind of brace that has given her some relief.

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