Lillie Ellen Callaham Hendrix, my Grandmother.  The person I respect and admire most in my life. 

January 16, 2014 – October 8, 2009 (95)

She is the “Ellen” in Minnie Ellen’s Buddy Garden.  She taught me to cook, crochet, to be hospitable and showed me the love of family.  She tried her best to teach me to sew but I was never as good as she was.  She was a very strong and loyal person who many loved and cherished.  I was very lucky to have been chosen as her Grand-Daughter.  I wanted to share this with you in honor of her and to remember her on her birthday today.  I will share more with you later, on the other two names of this garden and my plan to expand other areas as a remembrance of those in my life who have passed.

God Bless and Love to all!  Remember:  If you see a butterfly, think of me.

~Tammy

01/12/2020 Shiplap

Sunday, 1/12/2020

Shiplap is going up!  We got a full wall done yesterday.  I’m very grateful for our boys who came and helped start the top row during the Christmas break.  They got everything level so the rest of the job goes up so much easier.  Thank you Shayne & Shawn!!!

We have done so much research on shiplap and the various opinions on how to do it, reason’s not to do it, and issues that you can run into.  We remind ourselves each time we read something, this is our project and it’s a shed.  I’m not saying this to diminish this project, it’s just a different perspective.  The joy of working together to accomplish this project is first and foremost for me personally.  I like rustic and I like pretty.  The end result will be just right. 

Here are a few pictures of day 1 Shiplap.

Trim will be placed around this AC/Heating unit.

Day 1 complete

Small floor sample we are going to use.  Lifeproof Vinyl Flooring from The Home Depot.

Color: Seasoned Wood  Link below:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/LifeProof-Seasoned-Wood-Multi-Width-x-47-6-in-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-19-53-sq-ft-case-I114813L/300461633

Sink Area

View from outside the large window.  (My Favorite spot is going to be this window)

I’m looking forward to getting some of my Grandmother’s furniture in here. 😊

If you see a butterfly, think of me.

~Tammy

Working on Shiplap this weekend for the inside of the garden shed.  I hope to have pictures for you soon.  It's storming today and tomorrow we are expected to have cold weather - highs about 45 degrees.  Brrrrr  My Sweety and I will be working hard to finish this garden shed.  I'll be starting a few of my seeds this month so I'll keep you up to date on what I've done and how things are going.  Thank you for following and I look forward to sharing with you everything SPRING.   Please note this is my first year to really start gardening so I'm expecting failures for sure.  I'll keep you posted on my experiences.  LOL

Garden Shed Pictures

Compost Bin location

 Inside looking out the large window and showing the skylights.

 Outside looking in.  There is a storage building that we have had forever in the background.

New Year, New Decade

Happy New Year everyone!  This is my first official post.  I have made it a priority in 2020 to get started and keep it going.  Today marks a beginning so I feel it is a perfect time to start. 

Here are a few things I am working on this coming year:

  Finishing the gardening shed
  Getting seeds organized and started
  Learning to compost
  Butterfly habitats cleaned and ready
  Staying on top of my blog
  Try adding video's about status updates

There are a few of these that I have been working on for a little while and others that are brand new to me.  I'm not expecting perfection in any of these areas.  I just want to try and see what happens.  One of the things I have been working on for a few months now is my compost pile.  I found a bin that turns at Aldi grocery store on sale for $25 so I thought - why not.  Well, the first few months went great.  I had the ratios down and things were great.  I had worms and it was actually working the way it was supposed to.  Then we prepared my butterfly garden for the winter.  This is a new area around the garden shed which was just grass.  We pulled up grass and tilled in manure and commercial compost to prepare the area.  We then added cardboard and mulch to bed it down for winter.  The old grass clippings were laid out in the sun to dry out for a few days.  It was all brown and dead.  I filled my compost bin up with this stuff.  It was so full.  I have no idea why I thought that was a good idea.  I suppose the little success I had previously made me think bigger.  This bin isn't that big so needless to say it hasn't broken down the way I have wanted.  I'm afraid I have made a mess now.  I'm trying to decide a way to fix it if possible.  I am probably going to just have to start over.  This soil was supposed to help me get my butterfly garden going.  I'll keep you posted.

The garden shed is a project my husband and I started last summer.  We had contractors custom build it for the purpose of part shed and part greenhouse to start my seeds.  I have a huge 6ft by 6ft window on the southwest side which faces my butterfly garden.  I have two skylights on that side as well.  We wanted to finish out the inside.  We had someone come in and put foam insulation and my husband and I are adding shiplap to the walls.  This part of the process has been on hold during the holiday.  I'm very anxious to get back to it.  I have so many plans and ideas.  I'll add pictures in my next post.

The seed starting project is well underway.  I am creating an annual calendar for my collections.  Mainly flowers but I have bought some vegetable seeds as well.  Tomato's, peppers and herbs.  You know, everything for salsa.  :)  I love salsa.  I'll keep you posted on this project.  I should be starting my first seeds here in a few weeks.

Happy New Year and I hope you invest some time in your passions and hobbies in this new year.  Do something different and incredible!  If you see a butterfly, think of me.