The Tiny Garden

Mary Engelbreit–Fun House

2012-01-26T13:41:00.001-08:00

One of my long term projects is going through all of my magazines, scanning the pages I would like to remember into my computer and then passing the magazines along to family or friends. I am getting closer to being done and have recently hooked the scanner back up to my laptop in the kitchen so I can do a little at a time while I am doing other stuff. One of my favorite and most missed magazines is Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. I hope she will be back someday but in the mean time I can still enjoy my “vintage” issues. This particular photo I really love because of the daring color choices made by the homeowner. I think she can really get away with it because of her surrounding gardens. If this house just sat in the middle of a lawn it would perhaps be the neighborhood eyesore.

Color Palette–Winter Window

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

This window was one of my favorite decorations in the tiny garden. It was salvaged from my parents bathroom when my father replaced the windows. Their home is over 100 years old though the bathroom is an add on. The window does have some wonderful old wavy glass in it. Unfortunately this window was already well on its way to falling apart before I hung it outside so I had to find it a new home inside, up on the “plant ledge” in my kitchen/living room. This photo was taken during one of our unusual Pacific Northwest snow storms.

The Colors that Surround Us

2012-01-24T18:30:00.001-08:00

I really admire the palettes created by Jessica at Design Seeds, especially the ones inspired by nature. This is something I would like to try and work into my blog on a regular basis and I hope it is something you may enjoy. I have found a website that will help me out a little with it and combined with some other editing I will bring you nature palettes from The Tiny Garden soon.

A Winter Wonderland

2012-01-21T00:42:00.001-08:00

Right now it is raining and the great melt is underway. I can’t say I am sorry to see it go. I have only left the house to cross the street to the mailbox and have not left the neighborhood since last Saturday. Tomorrow I will be venturing out as I will have my 4-runner back again.

One important thing to remember when it is snowing is to knock the snow off of plants who’s branches may break. We had a thaw/freeze happen so this was especially important with a heavy layer of ice on top of the snow. I think all my plants have made it through unscathed.

The view out my front window

This squirrel ran right in front of me and up the tree

At least the red hat Gnome has a friend this year

New Kids on the Block

2011-09-22T12:27:00.001-07:00

My tiny garden does not have much room so I don’t often bring home new plants but I could not resist buying a couple things on my last visit to Flower World in Maltby.

First, I can’t resist the color and texture of this Silver Mound Artemisia. It is a lovely gray green and feels so soft to the touch and has a light, airy look. This plant is a perennial and prefers sun to partial shade. The spot up on the rockery in my back yard should be perfect. And a little thing I learned about the care of this plant is to not remove the foliage until spring as it acts as winter protectant.

Second, I can never resist a new variety of Hosta. This El Nino variety was introduced in 2002 but just discovered by me last month. It is described as having iron-blue (my favorite color) foliage with ivory edges. In spring the edges emerge yellow and quickly turn to ivory and it sports violet blooms for several weeks. I look forward to being able to split this hosta and sharing it with others in the next year or two.

My Favorite Garden Things

2011-09-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

1. Butterfly Bloom Ring by Liz Hutnick
2. The Enlightened Fireflies by John W. Golden
3. Fat Bird Bird House by Wood Doodle
4. Shark made of recycled fence wood by John Birdsong

A Tiny Garden in Cannon Beach Oregon

2011-09-01T13:43:00.001-07:00

Last month my son and I went on an adventure with my dad and brother to Cannon Beach Oregon. My son and I have been there many times but this time we got to stay in a house right in town. We really enjoyed the quick walk to the beach and being able to walk to either end of town whenever we wanted. I feel like we spend all of our time walking, on the beach or eating and it was great fun.

The rental we stayed in is called Rose Cottage (built in 1924) and it is super cute and has lovely gardens. These gardens are tiny just like mine and actually feature a lot of the same plants, as our climates are similar. If I had a spare $345,000 I would definitely love having this cottage for my own. The house is currently pending sale, I hope the new owners continue to rent it, I would love to stay there again!

The famous Haystack Rock (as seen in the movie Goonies, though it is located in Cannon Beach not Astoria). The sky couldn’t have gotten any bluer and the surf and sand felt wonderful.

The “famous” blue front gate (has been featured in a magazine)

All of Cannon Beach featured huge hanging baskets

Beautiful planter boxes

It’s a Jungle Out There…

2011-08-16T21:22:00.001-07:00

And I had to wade through it all to get back to my blog. No, just kidding but it is quite a jungle and I am working on getting my blogging groove back.

My little maple needs some pruning and thinning here and there. I also plan on moving the insanely quick growing clematis behind it (believe me it is back there) to another, more spacious spot in the yard. I cannot keep it from growing into the tree and up into my neighbors shrubbery so I am thinking about placing it behind the fence, beside my front gate and letting it grow over the arbor. That should give it plenty of space. Here are a couple of views and edits. Some plant ID from left to right: Maple, assorted Hostas (lower), Red Twig Dogwood (back), white Phlox (front tall) and Butterfly Bush.

To see a “before” type photo of this area go to the bottom of the page.

Something for ME

2011-01-25T13:11:00.001-08:00

Before Christmas I purchased some pendants from The Pendant Emporium and was VERY happy with them. They are just lovely. So I noticed she had some new designs in her shop and I just couldn’t help myself. I got 3 more just for me {photos link to listings}.

This is the pendant I gave myself for Christmas…and have received many compliments on.

Antique Owl Collage

Flamingo Garden

Robin Redbreast {my favorite this time}

Songbird and Music Collage

If you need something to hang your pendant from, I suggest the Black Suede Choker, however it is not listed in her shop at the moment.

Have a happy day!

Zoooooom!

2011-01-24T12:20:00.001-08:00

I barely saw these squirrels in my back yard in time to catch a quick photo. Luckily I was already taking pictures of some new items right by the window. The fella in front is carrying the nut.

Snowy Days

2010-11-28T19:56:00.001-08:00

The ice and snow was upon us last Monday and froze up the City of Seattle. We just don’t get enough of it to get good at driving in it or preparing for it. Luckily I work at home and don’t have to go anywhere.

My little gnome spent a couple days trudging across the deck.

Wish you Were Here

2010-10-20T07:53:00.001-07:00

Well, I wish I was sitting here sipping some coffee this morning. But I guess I will have to make due with sitting at the kitchen table today.

{photo from magazine}

A Look Back on August 2010

2010-10-04T09:02:00.001-07:00

As you may have noticed I have been quite absent this summer. I guess my blog enthusiasm has diminished a little bit. But rest assured, I am still around and will continue to blog but perhaps in a more sporadic fashion is all. Here are some garden pics from August.

My Phlox grew taller than me this year and practically taller than my tree. As always, the Red Twig Dogwood in the corner needs a good hacking at.

The insane clematis on my fence. I believe there are three different varieties growing right there. Jasmine is to the left and honeysuckle to the right.

Just for fun

Front of house. Lace Cap Hydrangea grew quite huge this year and my “little” maple needs a pruning.

My summer door wreath. I added some sparkly butterflies to this olive wreath that I have had quite a few years.

Fun with Photos

2010-09-16T09:53:00.001-07:00

Bee on a Butterfly Bush

Bleeding Heart

My nephew “mowing” the lawn

My New Pot Connection

2010-08-28T10:55:00.001-07:00

Nursery pots!

Driving near my house I spied a little fenced area on the side of the road with a big sign saying “free pots.” I had to do a quick turn around and I got three big stacks of 5 gallon pots to use next spring for my Hosta splits I sell. This is wonderful since I used all my saved up pots this last spring.

They are almost ready!

2010-08-19T23:27:00.001-07:00

I am looking forward to trying my first home grown grape tomatoes. Here are a couple pictures of their progress.

It feels like they will be green forever!

Hmm, maybe I can eat them tomorrow…

The cherry tomatoes are FAR from being ready. It is a wee bit cold around these parts at nite time.

Stay tuned for more fun garden photos.

Garden Chickadee

2010-08-12T14:45:00.001-07:00

A brand new ornament design for 2010! The Garden Chickadee is just one of the many ornaments to come in my Nature series. This series, as the title implies, is inspired by nature and created from felt in very natural tones. Check my shop often for new ornaments as well as my plush kitties and bears.

This little birdie could have come straight out of the Tiny Garden!

Lowell and Son

Happy Father’s Day!

2010-06-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-26T11:25:00.001-07:00

Vampires are considered nature, right? Hear the True Blood theme song on my other blog lowellandson.blogspot.com.

Counting down to June 13th!!!

Wordless Wednesday – Naughty Squirrel!

2010-05-12T09:25:00.001-07:00

Sounds of Nature

2010-05-05T12:59:00.001-07:00

I was suddenly inspired today to go in search of some nature sounds I could put on my blog. I first searched the internet for FREE nature sounds but most of the recordings were so short it would not be worth the bother. I then remembered about my Playlist account so I hopped over there and searched “nature sounds” and found some great stuff and they were plenty long. Right now I am listening to Flower Meadow. This recording features bird and insect noise along with a light background of babbling brook. If I close my eyes I I feel like I am lying on a blanket with the sun shining down on my face. Ahhh, a great improvement from the rainy day I can see out the window.

Photo by Mace2000 on Flickr

Wolves – A Poem by Vaughan

2010-05-03T23:56:00.001-07:00

{Photo from National Geographic}

Wolves

Wolves' snowy white fur
Wolves howling at the moon
Wolves watching their prey
Wolf cubs playing in the snow
Wolves lying in a meadow

~ Vaughan

Master Gardener Plant Sale!

2010-04-28T12:15:00.001-07:00

Everett, Washington
Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation Website

The primary fund raiser for the Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation is their annual plant sale. This year, the sale will be held on Saturday, May 1st from 9am - 2pm at McCollum Park.

Each year, the plant sale features an extensive selection of perennials, shrubs, trees, berries, and grasses. In addition, the sale is famous for an amazing selection of tomato varieties - old favorites, new varieties, heritage plants and more. This year, there will be 5000 tomato plants in over 150 varieties. In response to the increased interest in vegetable gardening, this year there will be an expanded selection 3,000 herb and vegetable starts to help you get a jump on your kitchen garden. {text adapted from website}

This plant sale sounds like great fun. My Mother-in-Law is a master gardener and is taking part in the sale. I believe that I will brave the crowds and go there in search of a grape tomato plant and I will definitely need to check out the heirloom tomato plants. Maybe there is something interesting that my dad would like to grow at his house in Roslyn, an early Father’s Day gift perhaps. I could also use some basics such as Lobelia and maybe some fresh creeping thyme for my bulkhead. If I remember to bring my camera I will blog a full report next week.

Save your hands with battery power!

2010-04-27T13:15:00.001-07:00

Check out the Cepia half gallon battery tank sprayer. This sprayer is the perfect size for a tiny garden and it saves your hands from having to pump or hold down a spray nozzle for long periods of time. I keep my all-purpose rose spray mixed in my tank and it is ready to go when I am. Rose spray can actually be used on many things besides roses. I sometimes spray clematis, honeysuckle and jasmine with it to rid it of pests and disease before it is too late. It can also be used on Hydrangea and other shrubs. Another great feature is that you can remove the spray nozzle from the tank and attach it to any like sized bottle and spray that product directly from the original bottle. No need to pour out what you have in your tank.

You may notice that there are a couple bad reviews on Amazon for this item. I can imagine with all products that there are a few bad/defective ones in the bunch. I personally have never had a problem with the pump in the sprayer and have only changed the batteries once in two years. I think for those with big jobs it is not for you but is perfect for us little guys. I can’t remember for sure but I think I purchased this at Fred Meyer.

Hosta Splitting Time!

2010-04-22T09:35:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year again when I try and wrangle all the Hosta out of the ground and hack it up. Since I live in a Tiny Garden I need to split my Hosta at least every other year. This year I have quite a large crop and am working on what to do with them. So far I have only split the ones in the front yard. I still have the side and back yard to go. I better get busy this weekend before they grow much more.

1. Dig up the whole Hosta, they are very easy to unearth

2. Use a square shovel, choose where you want to split it and press down firmly (or slam it which is quite fun). Place part of the Hosta back where the original plant came from and put the remainder in temporary pots or elsewhere in the garden.

One Hosta after being split and replanted. Shrub just got quite a pruning as it was hanging over the Hosta and fern too much.

Hosta’s waiting for new homes

I put this Hosta in the pot last year, it is doing well so far

Unfortunately the plant I had in this pot died, I replaced it with a Hosta since I have a ton. The front of my house is not too hot for them since there is only morning sun.

A wider view of the front flower bed. That tree is really filling in. Next season I will have to do some height control on it.

When at Lowes the other day I purchased a couple purple columbine and purple Creeping Phlox. The Columbine will go in a hot spot in the back yard and the Phlox on the bulkhead. Can you tell that purple is my favorite garden color?

A Series of Poems by Vaughan

2010-04-15T23:52:00.001-07:00

My son Vaughan’s 6th grade class has been studying and writing different types of poetry for the last couple days. I thought that it would be fun to post some of his poems here on my garden blog. Today they wrote in the Tanka style. Tanka is a style of Japanese poetry which takes the form of five syllabic units containing 31 syllables. In English and other languages, the poem is usually divided into five lines with the five syllabic units: 5-7-5-7-7. They were given the theme Nature.

The Forest

The forest is full
Of great things to see and hear
Coyotes howling,
Owls are hooting,
Squirrels collecting acorns

Our Newest Spring Plush

2010-04-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

Fun colors and patterns are arriving all this month in our shop LowellandSon. You will see new kitties and owls as well as new critters making their first appearance.

Millie the Kitty – Spring Flowers

Flora the Plush Owl

Kaeti the Plush Owl

Crispin the Plush Owl

Sleepy Flowers – Catnip Toy Mouse

More pictures from my garden coming soon!

Now and Then

2010-03-30T11:29:00.001-07:00

I must say, there is quite a difference between March of this year and March of last year. Brrrrr. These photos were taken at about the same time but a year apart. I hope that white stuff stays away this spring.

2010

2009

Early Spring in The Tiny Garden

2010-03-25T11:52:00.001-07:00

Spring has arrived in the Seattle area a little early this year. We have had un-seasonally warm and mild weather most of the winter which has convinced everything in my yard to go berserk. The Bleeding Heart has gotten especially large for March. Check out the last two photos here comparing the side of my home in 2010 and 2009, there is a huge difference.

Pink Bleeding Heart {back of house by deck} 2010

Pink Bleeding Heart {side of house} 2010

Close up of white Bleeding Heart

White Bleeding Heart {side of house} 2010

March 2009

Next post I will share the results of some of my yard clean-up from Tuesday. Please feel free to let me know if there is anything specific you would like me to post about in the comments area.

Where Does Your Garden Door Go?

2010-03-17T11:56:00.001-07:00

As you may know, if you read my LowellandSon blog, I recently got a new computer. YAY. And with a new computer comes lightning fast speeds and lots of storage. Now my scanner is working so much faster and with my new 1TB hard drive I can store tons of photos. I have gotten back into the groove of scanning my years of torn out magazine pages and below is one of my favorites from the last couple days. I think doors and windows are my absolute favorite garden element.

Where do you suppose this door leads? I think when I step through it will be into a lovely wood. I imagine myself walking along a trail with ferns brushing my ankles and dappled sun shining down upon me. Much as I did when I was a kid, though I would have to replace the dappled sun with overcast skies and rain drops, being from the Pacific Northwest. This picture makes me want to move to Europe and live in an old home with old gardens.

Photo from magazine

The Gardener's Morning

The robin's song at daybreak
Is a clarion call to me.Get up and get out in the garden,
For the morning hours flee.
I cannot resist the summons,
What earnest gardener could?
For the golden hours of morning
Get into the gardener's blood.

The magic spell is upon me,
I'm glad that I did not wait;
For life's at its best in the morning,
As you pass through the garden gate.
- Howard Dolf

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-10T12:44:00.001-08:00

Stop! It is only February.

2010-02-09T00:26:00.001-08:00

{Lacey blowing me off}

{Getting brave}

{Pausing to look cute}

The other day I let my kitty out on the deck for a little fresh air. She proceeded to go down the stairs and sniff around on the patio. Next thing I know she escaped under the deck. Eeek, she has gotten dirt on her paws. I think this is the first time she has ever walked on dirt in her 14 years. While dragging her out from under the deck stairs I noticed something disturbing.

The Bleeding Heart had started to grow and was probably 4-5 inches tall already. Noooo, it is too soon. This weird warmish weather is wreaking havoc on the instincts of my poor plants. I better pay attention to the weather reports, if we are having any freezing, frost or snow I may need to cover these guys up a bit. My husbands mom suggested using fabric if necessary.

The Hostas are peeking their little buds up out of the ground too.

I better get that Clematis pruned back, there are leaf buds all over the vine. I give it a fresh start every year {you do NOT see any weeds, look away}.

Errr, it is time to get the Butterfly Bush chopped. I cut it back to around 2 feet from the ground.

So, all in all, my back yard is obviously in need of some pruning and I am hoping that the tender new growth on everything isn’t murdered by freezing weather.

The Black Eyed Junco

2010-02-05T14:49:00.001-08:00

Junco Hyemalis

The Black Eyed Junco is probably the bird that we see the most of in our yard during the winter. The Junco in the photo below looks like the ones in my region but their color can vary depending on where you live. This variety is called the “Oregon.”

Size: 6.5 inches
Eggs: 3-5 blue white in color
Habitat: Breeds in coniferous and mixed forest. Winters in fields, agricultural land, scrub and urban areas {like mine!}.
Juncos eat insects, seeds and berries. I have been told that they prefer to eat their seed off the ground, basically cleaning up after the other bird species. In my yard they tend to eat both off the ground and out of the feeder.

Photo by waslin on Flickr

Speaking of birds, this reminded me that I should really get out in the yard the next nice day, climb up on the ladder and take down the bird houses for cleaning. Gotta make room for the new batches of babies this spring.

Naughty Blue Jay

2010-01-26T10:54:00.001-08:00

Early this morning my kitty Lacey was making some wacky noises by the sliding door overlooking our back yard. I figured she was “acking” at a bird so went to check it out. I think the bigger the bird the louder she talks to it, this was definitely a loud one.

When I took the photos of this Blue Jay this morning I could swear they looked in focus but obviously not. That darn guy would not hold still. Since the little birdies are not emptying this feeder fast enough and some of the food will probably go bad I don’t mind the Blue Jay taking what he needs. The food I used this last time was sunflower bits and thistle mixed with peanut halves. I don’t usually get this kind but it was much cheaper than the other food at Fred Meyer so I went ahead and got it. I should probably try and remove all the peanuts since they tend to clog up the feeding holes a bit though. I really need to get to Lowe’s and buy a couple bags of my regular sunflower bits and thistle, this is the birds favorite and it does not germinate which is very important. I am still working out how to keep the rain from getting in the bird feeder and creating mold. I am working with a squirrel baffle to try and protect the top of the feeder. I need to make some adjustments today.

{1-26-10}

A Call for Kitty Names - Contest

2010-01-11T23:25:00.001-08:00

Contest runs from January 11th until Midnight Pacific Time on January 31st.

I know all you gardeners also love kitties so I need your help! I am doing a wee bit of re-vamping in my shop and would like to give each of my kitties a name of it’s own instead of just naming it by it’s color. If you have a kitty that somewhat resembles one of my designs (or even if you don’t) just comment here or on my LowellandSon blog with your kitties name and which plush it most closely resembles. Maybe you will end up with a plush named after your kitty.

My son will choose the most interesting (in his opinion) kitty name and the winner will receive their choice of one LowellandSon kitty for free (including shipping, sorry USA only). Make sure you leave contact information if you cannot be reached via your blog page.

{numbered 1-12 beginning on the top left. My son and Kevin the Monster in the center}

1. Leopard {obviously won’t match any real kitties but I would love some interesting suggestions}.
2. Cafe Mocha kitty
3. White with green eyes
4. Sorry, this kitty is named already
5. Charcoal Gray and Cream w/ green eyes
6. Charcoal Gray with orange/yellow silvery eyes
7. Black kitty with orange/yellow eyes
8. Charcoal kitty with blue eyes
9. Brown kitty (Burmese)
10. Charcoal Gray with green eyes
11. Chocolate Dots Kitty {any suggestions?}
12. White with blue eyes

Not pictured:

13. Charcoal Gray and cream w/ blue eyes
14. Charcoal Gray and cream w/orange/yellow eyes
15. Black kitty with blue eyes
16. Black kitty with green eyes
17. Medium Gray with blue eyes
18. Medium Gray with green eyes

If your kitty color and/or eye color is not mentioned here please feel free to suggest a new kitty design. Sorry to those who have orange/ginger, tortoise shell or kitties with spots or stripes, I do not yet get that into detail on my plush kitties and there is no decent orange colored fleece to be found.

We look forward to getting tons of great kitty names. Please feel free to send us photos of your kitty as well. You can either give us the link to your photo (on Flickr for example) attach it to a convo, or email it to us (lowellandson@comcast.net).

Here is our newest LowellandSon kitty Sika. Sika was a super Siamese kitty we had when I was a kid.

Feltmeup Sweet Tweets

2010-01-08T10:16:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to me!
{Delayed post so my sister did not see her present by accident}

Every Christmas I purchase myself a little something and this year I decided to treat myself to a needle felted bird from Feltmeup Designs. I have had Melanie’s shop in my Etsy favorites for a while, I quite admire her needle felting skills and knew I would eventually get one of my own. At the same time I picked a birdie out for my sister Kathy who also has a love of all things feathered. My favorite bird is the Chickadee and my yard is usually filled with these cute little guys so I asked Melanie if she could make me a custom order. She jumped right on it and here is what she came up with. It’s perfect!

{I chose a Cockatiel for my sister}

Here are some more birds by Feltmeup Designs, make sure you hop over to check her shop for more wonderful items {click photos to see item in shop}. She is also running a Valentine’s give away, click HERE to enter.

{ Love Bird - Real Bird Tweet}

{ Tweet Roberta Sparrow – Real Bird Tree Sparrow Tweet}

{Snowy Yetis – not listed but on Flickr}

Stranger in the Woods

2009-11-17T11:14:00.001-08:00

Something that both my mom and I enjoy doing is buying children’s books for ourselves. We both have quite the collection.

One of my favorite children’s Christmas books is Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick (husband and wife team). The photography in this book is so incredible. I just can’t imagine how much time the photographer had to sit and wait in the snow to get those pictures. So next time you are in your local bookstore, walk on back to the kids section and take a look at the Christmas display, you may find a treasure to take home for yourself, you don’t have to have kids to enjoy kids books!

Dear readers: Please excuse my long absence from blogging. In October I developed some Christmas ornament designs and happily Etsy buyers seem to love them. I have been spending every waking hour that I am not working, sewing them. I do have a plan to keep myself blogging more without taking too much time from my sewing. Keep an eye out for my quick post theme: What’s Out My Window…coming soon.

The Tiny Garden…which needs tons of pruning.

The Last Tree on the Lot

2009-10-23T19:27:00.001-07:00

I am constantly thinking of designs for my Christmas ornaments. So once I started wrapping my mind around Christmas this year I knew I had to do a Charlie Brown Christmas tree inspired ornament.

{The Last Tree on the Lot}

My first design, The Little Red Bird has been doing well. I have sold 4 so far, I feel like I am always working on one of these little guys. Who knows if my family and friends are going to get an ornament this year since I might just sell them all!

{Little Red Bird - Holiday Sparkle in Snowy White}

Puddle Jumping

2009-10-19T15:58:00.001-07:00

Second post in my “Foul Weather” series.

Who could mind stomping about in rain in these fabulous Wellies? Not me! Click on the photo to go to the Wellie websites.

Blue Dash Pond print from FunkeeThingz

Hot Pink Daisy print from FunkeeThingz

Pink Daisy Wellies from The Wellie Shop

Blue Paisley Wellies from The Wellie Shop

A little something for the kids
Aigle Lollypop “Goldfish” Wellies from the Wellie Shop

Tutorial – Chinese Lantern Wreath

2009-10-09T09:49:00.001-07:00

This wreath is perfect for Halloween as well as fall in general. I saw this wreath project in a magazine a few years ago and just loved it, obviously enough to make it for myself. I think it was from Martha Stewart. Here is what you do, it is SUPER easy.

Buy a twig wreath – any size
Spray paint it black, front and back {do this outside}
Buy a couple stems of Chinese Lantern flower from the craft store when you get the wreath. Snip the lanterns off and hot glue them, here and there, to the wreath.
Hang from a 3M removable hook on your door or wherever you want.
I store my wreath in a large plastic bag hanging on the wall in my garage. This prevents breakage.

This project can be changed up for ANY holiday. I have been planning on making one for Christmas. I would spray the wreath silver and place glitzy bits like floral picks or Christmas ornaments and decorations. You can never have too much sparkle during the holidays.

The finished product

Purchase a twig wreath from your local craft store

Chinese Lantern flower
Photo by Ali on Flickr {click photo to see photo stream}

Wee Mushroom Needle Square

2009-10-07T11:04:00.001-07:00

A brand new item for Lowell and Son and quite a divergence from my usual plush cuties, but felt is another of my passions along with fleece. This 3 x 3 needle square is garden inspired with the wee mushroom, grass and cute little butterfly. Every needle square also comes in its own reusable and decorative envelope, perfect for gift giving or travel.

If you can believe it, I have been keeping my needles organized by pinning them to a folded paper napkin for over a year now. Just a few weeks ago I decided that I needed something a little more stylish and attractive to pin my needles to...and the needle square was born. This item will be offered in numerous sizes and designs– 4” x 4”, 3” x 3”, 3” x 4” and 3” x 5”.

Wee Mushroom Needle Square ~ $6.00

Bring on the Rain – Umbrellas

2009-10-04T14:10:00.001-07:00

First in my “Foul Weather” series.

The rain has arrived! Our rainy fall season has begun here in the Pacific Northwest (with a few sunny breaks). Die hard residents of this area will tell you every time, “Real Pacific North Westerners don’t use umbrellas.” Well, I don’t subscribe to that hullabaloo. I have lived here all of my life and if it is truly raining I do not like going out without an umbrella. Who wants to walk around looking like a wet dog? Below are some super stylish and fun examples to carry with you this year. {click photos to go to each website}

Tiffany Peacock Feather Folding Umbrella ~ $40.00
{Metropolitan Museum of Art store}

Galleria Paris Auto Stick Umbrella ~ $27.95 {Amazon.com}

Gerber Daisy Umbrella ~ $27.88 {Amazon.com}

Butterflies Umbrella ~ $21.95 {Amazon.com}

Mary Jane’s Farm

2009-10-01T10:07:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed in the last year that many magazines have disappeared from the shelves. Some of my favorites are now gone, like Mary Engelbreit, Cottage Living and Country Home. Not too long ago I ran into a blog post that mentioned a magazine called Mary Jane’s Farm. This looked like a magazine for me. Coincidentally I purchased a Victoria magazine around the same time and what do I see? An article about Mary Jane! So, if you think you would enjoy reading about the everyday organic lifestyle, covering everything from recipes to green housekeeping to gardening to decorating and more, this might be the magazine for you. And don’t be scared away by the organic aspect of this magazine as it is presented in a very “farmy” manner and not in the “the world is going to end if you don’t do everything in an organic and earth friendly” way.

I have received two issues so far and am really enjoying it. I have already tried one idea I read about in the readers letters, rag curlers! I cannot believe how well they work curling my long, straight hair. I will do a post about the rag curlers soon.

See the article in Victoria magazine

Fall Favorite {Variegated Red Twig Dogwood}

2009-09-29T12:01:00.001-07:00

Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’

Despite me having to prune this shrub a few times a year, it is still one of my favorites in The Tiny Garden. The gray-green and cream variegated foliage is lovely all summer long and come fall even though all the leaves fall off it is still something to behold. All winter the bright red branches of this shrub bring cheer to the garden which is otherwise fairly bare as unfortunately, I don’t consciously plant things that give year-round interest. Come spring though, the garden bursts forth with tonnages of greenery, it always is something to look forward too, hard labor and all. Being as I have to prune this shrub so often I have found that the pruned branches are a great addition to cut flower arrangements and last quite a while.

Red Twig Dogwood shown in corner, obviously after a good pruning

Photo taken today, yeah it is a little bigger now…

Photo taken today, rising up above the tree…

Even lovelier under some fluffy snow

Facts:

White flowers in late spring to summer
Grows 6 to 8ft high and 4 to 6ft wide (I have actually seen these MUCH larger than that, just a warning. They are really not hard to prune though.
Hardy in zones 2-8 (Minimum temp –50 to –40 degrees F)
Heat tolerance zones 1-8 (1-120 days a year above 86F)
It says to water regularly on the tag that came with my shrub, but in my yard it does not get tons of water and seems to do just great. It is planted in partial shade however.
Plant in full to partial sun

Let me know if you have any questions about this shrub. It has my seal of approval. Just a quick note, it has never had any kind of disease or infestation here in my garden.

A Taste of Fall

2009-09-24T10:07:00.001-07:00

Here is one of my favorites again, blue doors. And my favorite season is fall, what a great combination of color! I am still planning on painting the back of my gate blue.

{Photo from Mary Engelbreit Magazine Oct/Nov 2008}

Artist Feature – TR Mack Studio

2009-09-20T23:46:00.001-07:00

TR Mack Studio first caught my attention with his bold, original art, with mostly trees as the subject. What a perfect thing to feature on my garden blog. I am in love with all the color and the way he uses circles to form much of the trees and surroundings. I am, as we speak writing up my wish list after looking through all 13 pages of his work - so get on over to his shop and then my shop and buy some stuff so I can buy some of his prints and pendants!

I must say, I hope that someday my son will put paint and canvas to such good use as Tom has done. I already have three of his (my son’s) acrylic on canvas board paintings hanging in my office.

So here are some of my favorites…as you know my features are short and sweet, the photos speak for themselves. Please click on any of the photos to see that item in his shop.

4 8x10 Glossy Prints for $44.00 - Trees
What a great deal!

Playing from Branch to Branch – 18 x 18 Acrylic on Canvas

Il Concerto in Rosa E Verde – 11 X 14 Signed Art Print $23.50

Winter’s Light – 8 x 10 Signed Art Print
I want this one!!!!

La Sinfonia Cerulean – Handmade Glass Pendant $10.00

Enjoy ~ Leslie in The Tiny Garden

HOOT, New Owls

2009-09-17T16:18:00.001-07:00

Come on over to Lowell and Son and see our owls. They are the perfect size for cuddling and carrying around. I even have one in my car that travels with me where ever I go!

1. Asher the Owl {soon to be listed}
2. DeeDee the Disco Owl {in my shop now}
3. NEW fleece pattern. Coming soon on a Tiny Garden Owl
4. DeeDee the Disco Owl close-up

Super Cool Green Beans

2009-09-15T01:29:00.001-07:00

Check out our first harvest! These “Rattle snake” beans are awesome. I better cook them for dinner tonight. The purple ones turn green when they are cooked, what fun for kids.

Sorry I am not blogging as much as I used to, it has been so busy the last month or so. I am crossing my fingers that I have the same huge Christmas explosion in sales this year, so you might possibly hear less from me. Rest assured that I will continue with my blogging though.

Our Newest Items

2009-09-06T19:49:00.001-07:00

Yikes, after running to the fabric store to get two bags of stuffing I have finished some brand new, fresh items for our shop! Our Tiny Garden Owl design is fresh this week. Go to LowellandSon to read each of their stories.

1. Inverno the Snow Owl from the Tiny Garden
2. Penelope the Floral Monster Hamster (one of a kind)
3. Sinistro the Halloween Owl from The Tiny Garden
4. Louise the Owl from The Tiny Garden

Mount Rainier {9-1-09}

2009-09-02T00:47:00.001-07:00

We went on the most fabulous trip to Mount Rainier National Park on Monday. Just in case you don’t know, we are in the great State of Washington. I am sure I have been there before but it was so long ago I don’t remember any of it. I am splitting my posting between this, my garden blog, and my other blog LowellandSon. So if you want to see more photos check back at LowellandSon over the next couple days. To see some lovely professional photos click HERE.

{THE Mount Rainier, well just the top of it.}

{View facing south at Sunrise Ridge, too many peaks and mountains to name.}

{I think this is Sunrise Lake, the color of the water is beautiful}

{Chipmunk at Sunrise Ridge view point}

{Ground Squirrel at Sunrise Visitor Center picnic area}

{Wild flower at Tipsoo Lake}

Sweet Peas and Green Beans

2009-08-27T11:11:00.001-07:00

Yay! We have our first sweet pea blooms of the summer. As usual I got a late start on planting so we will see how the beans turn out coming up this late and all.

{These sweet peas smell divine}

{Royal Burgundy beans – I can’t wait to start harvesting them}

{Shorty vines – but lots of beans}

{Obviously these Rattlesnake beans are a bit of a slower grower than the Royal Burgundy, though the vines are three times as tall}

{I think the sweet peas and green beans are starting to co-mingle}

It’s a Jungle Out There!

2009-08-25T00:24:00.001-07:00

Sunday ended up being a perfect day to work in the yard. I am preparing for a yard/garage sale coming up next month so I decided it was time to clean out the “shed”.

{My “shed” under the deck. The perfect tiny size for our tiny yard}

When I opened the shed doors something shiny and dark plopped down at my feet. Of course I had to screech and do my best not to jump back and knock myself out on the underside of the deck. Whatever it was looked gross but I had to check it out closer. After poking at it I discovered that it was a FROG. My son picked up the little guy and moved him over to the rockery across from the deck, however a little while later he saw him hopping back across and under the hosta. I guess his permanent home is under the deck. I will have to watch out for him.

Soooo, I got the shed emptied out (discovering a bag and a half of wood chip) and pulled it away from the house so I could rake the dirt and then put the shed back on level ground. I lift it up and out and set it down and what do I see but something yellow. What could that be? Hmm, it has a head, a tail and four legs. A LIZARD?? or maybe a SALAMANDER?? Wow, what wildlife we found. I read online that a salamander has 4 toes on its front feet and 5 on the back, but I did not see it close enough and you can’t tell in my photo how many toes it really has so I am not sure what it is (I think it is probably a salamander, I don’t see any ears sticking out which lizards have). If anyone out there knows, leave a comment for us. This is the first time I have seen one of these before. We set him on the rockery in the shade but did not see where he ended up.

Well, the shed is cleaned out and I then put all my pots in there that were crowding my shelf in the garage. Another thing to check off my list P

A Perfect Patio

2009-08-21T11:27:00.001-07:00

During my last visit (in June) to my parent’s house in Roslyn Washington my dad was working on digging out the area for their new patio. Last weekend we paid them another visit and the patio was pretty much done other than a few little details. The weather was just perfect for sitting in the shade and hanging out with my family.

I am already thinking of when I can take another trip over for some more relaxation. I will have to get some more photos of the whole area, I did not realize I only got pictures of bits and pieces and I was bummed I could not find a picture of the area before the patio went in, ARGH. I know my mom has some on her digital camera, I will have to remember to steal them next time.

{My dad, Les. Yes I am named after him}

{My son enjoying the new bistro set}

My dad built the patio out of red “brick” pavers, I was quite impressed with the job he and my brother did. MMM we tried out the little red BBQ for the first time that night. The stove in the background used to be IN the house, now there is a working stove inside and this stove gets to be yard decor.

{A quick picket fence panel for decoration on the side of the neighbors house}

{Hand decorated church birdhouse and a cute chubby kitty. Both past Mother’s Day presents}

Projects and upcoming posts

Repair old window and re-hang on fence
Re-stain deck and front stairs
Lay down new wood chip on garden entry path {post}
First Sweet Pea sighting, yay! {post}
Check it out. I am working on populating a blog list of chicken related blogs. Suburban chickens are the newest hot thing these days. Fresh Eggs!

A Family Visit

2009-08-14T16:06:00.001-07:00

Yes, I am off to Roslyn Washington again to visit my Mom, Dad and brother. I am excited to see the old place as my dad has actually finished the paver patio that he had just started on my last visit. My mom went shopping and got a bistro set for the patio so there will be a nice place to sit out back as long as it is not boiling hot out. Stay tuned for photos on my next post.

It is my niece Chelsea’s 11th birthday on Saturday, so we will be piling into my truck and heading out on second leg of our trip to Yakima Washington to my sister’s house. I am also quite excited about this as I have not seen my sister, nieces or their home in quite a while. I am already thankful for her air conditioning as it is sometimes very hot there and she also has a little pool in the back yard that I am sure my son will enjoy.

Chelsea has picked out Hilde Petal Pockets for me to give her for her birthday. I hope she likes her!

Have a great weekend everyone! I will have no internet while I am gone so “see” you on Monday.

Green Bean Update

2009-08-06T23:52:00.001-07:00

The progress of one pot of green beans over two weeks, I can’t wait until I get some beans!

{7-9-09}

{7-14-09}

{7-22-09}

My indoor cat Lacey enjoying a little “deck” time.

I am Moving to the Mall!

2009-07-30T02:24:00.000-07:00

I have been roasting like a hot dog over a camp fire! It has been in the 90's this week and it is supposed to get from 98 to 100 tomorrow. This weather is just crazy for the Pacific Northwest. The temp in my home office Wednesday reached 98 and there is no way anyone is going to get me to sit in there and do anything, so I am doing a quick, old style, non Windows Live Writer post from my laptop just to let everyone know I am surviving and will be back this weekend with new posts on both of my blogs.

If you have not already, check out my SALE section on Etsy, I have been adding to it everyday. Here is your chance to get one of my items at a discount price!

Coming up: Halloween plush will be listed in August. Check my shop next week for some spooky stuff. Well, more cute than spooky but definitely Halloweenish.

My beans and sweet peas are going nuts with this hot weather. I will post updated photos soon!

Chickadee Family Home

2009-07-23T17:45:00.001-07:00

Chirrrrrrrp. Finally I am posting about our little Chickadee family. At the end of my post I will list some Chickadee facts for you. As you can see I noticed when the parents were starting to move in by the nesting material hanging out the hole. I also knew when the eggs hatched by all the peeping. I don’t know exactly when the babies left their home but there are quite a few little Chickadees flitting about in the back yard on the fence and around my feeders.

{Hmm, looks like someone is moving in}

{Feeding the kids}

{Mom or Dad cussing me out for being too close to the nest}

{2007 – Since this decorative church bird house cannot be cleaned out I had to remove it from the yard to keep the Chickadees out of it. I plan on covering the hole, giving it a scrub and putting it back out soon. There were 5 babies crammed into this house}

{One of the babies from the 2007 batch}

Chickadee Facts:

Size: 5 1/4 inches
Black-capped Chickadees' can be found in parts of Alaska, Southern Canada and Central to North United States.
They lay 4-8 eggs
The eggs are incubated for 10-12 days
The young birds leave the nest 2 weeks later (WOW)

Before & After {Entry to the Garden}

2009-07-15T00:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I hung out with my friend Stacy for the evening, we had a bite to eat and went out for coffee. When she dropped me off at home I took her on a night tour of the yard, you can see things pretty good with all the patio lights on. She enjoys gardening as well and we enjoy looking at each others yards and swapping plants on occasion. I was told that I need to post more photos of the yard in general (for a friend of hers) so here you go! If you are reading this Stacy, I think we need to put together a little patio luncheon soon.

{2005} I don’t have a true “before” photo. The grass had actually gotten so soggy over the first winter we lived in our new home that it turned into sludge and then turned into rock hard clay. That was fun to dig up, especially with that plastic webbing they have under the new sod. Here I have prepared the ground for wood chip and my husband had installed a board divider for the flower bed. {view from the back to the front gate}

{view from the front gate to the back}

{2005, later in the spring} I planted mostly Hosta and Bleeding Heart though I see a fern there that I think I moved later. There are also some Coral Bells and I just realized that I have not seen them for a while, I think they are now buried under the Hosta. This is before I put in the cedar woodchip for the path.

{Same day, view from the front gate}

{August 2005} Yay, the woodchip is finally in and the plants are starting to fill in the flower bed.

{June 2009} Fast forward to the present…I can’t seem to locate any photos from the years between. Here you see the beginnings of our annual re-seeding of parts of the back yard grass. It always gets a bit mushy and sparse over the winter. You can see that the Hosta’s are larger and also more plentiful. I had some extras a couple years ago and just “threw them in”. The Hosta harvest next spring is going to be a whopper.

{Closer view of the area by the front gate} The white Bleeding Heart is taking over the path. I did find some nice coated, fold up fencing panels that will hold the plant back. It will look best when the Bleeding Heart grows up through it in the spring. It was a little too late to use it this year without breaking too much of the poor plant. I must also remember to get out some wood chip and put on a fresh layer (this is shredded cedar not bark).

{July 15th 2009, today} Just this last one I promise! I took this photo today since I had not taken a fresh one in a while. The grass obviously filled in, yay!

{Coming up: ok I promise I will do the Chickadee post next!}

Plush in the Garden

2009-07-10T17:43:00.001-07:00

After running into these super cute plush peas the other day I decided I just had to do a feature on garden related plush items. Please take a look at all these great Etsy finds and check out their shops and blogs.

{frolicdesign} Ginger and Estelle - check out these adorable fleece peas that come with their own zippered pod. It looks just like a real pea pod!

{squirrelmomma} Well, I fell in love with this little seedling but it went and sold before I got my feature posted. We can only hope that squirrelmomma will have some more coming our way. Also check out her great birds, they are a perfect touch of whimsical nature to any decor. {Check out her blog too}

{whileshenaps} You can find lots of great stuff using the Etsy search. I typed in plush garden and found these great birds, I can imagine this Spring Time Bird perched on my kitchen windowsill. {check out her blog too}

{seapinks} One of my favorite things is felt and I love how felt and linen look together. This needle book would be a perfect gift for ME. Can you believe that I keep my needles on a napkin? The lovely gingham pumpkin below would be a great pin and needle keeper too. Next time you visit a family member or friend that likes to sew take a look at what they use, they may need one of these too.

Have a great weekend everyone, get out in those gardens, patios, decks or lanais and enjoy the day.

The Super Strength of Green Beans

2009-07-07T19:30:00.001-07:00

I could not resist posting a few photos of our green beans that I took today. Quite the difference from the last photo.

I love the purple veins on the leaves

I can almost hear them growing!

Garden Happenings

2009-07-06T22:50:00.001-07:00

Yay! I have stuff to blog about and it is about my garden, not Etsy or the 4th of July holiday.

I planted my second round of green beans on June 25th and two varieties of the green beans already began to sprout last week. It seems so quick. I think the pot with no sprouts is the Burpee Tenderpod Garden Bean. I hope they have not rotted out again, I will have to dig around a little and see. My first batch of beans were involved in a torrential downpour their first day and my pots were not draining well so they just went to bits. Here is what they looked like a couple days ago. I will get a new photo tomorrow, they are really heaving up the dirt now.

My sweet peas are up and running, I just put a cage around them this weekend for them to climb on. I could not find anything pre-made that would work so I had to make my own from wire fencing, all you need is a pair of wire cutters and a pair of needle nose pliers. My son and I went to Lowe’s and picked up a small bundle of wire fencing and I put it together in no time. He did make the comment “boy that is really attractive,” he was being sarcastic. Oh well, once the sweet peas grow up it will look wonderful and if need be I can shorten the cage.

Here are the varieties that I planted…

Royal Burgundy turns green when you cook it!

I love the stripes on Rattlesnake

This is a basic bean “Burpee’s Tenderpod”

My next post: Chickadee News!

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T00:36:00.001-07:00

In celebration of the Grand Ole 4th I am posting some of my favorite fireworks photos from our vacation in 2008. Arch Cape puts on an awesome show down at the beach. Renters and residents light off enough fireworks to rival some of the professional shows in Seattle. So hop on over to my other blog LowellandSon and take a look.

Gretta Cotton Candy

2009-07-03T00:16:00.001-07:00

Gretta is our newest LowellandSon Monster. Gretta Cotton Candy's favorite place to be is a county fair and she loves to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl. Her favorite flower is a viola and she is afraid of bees. Check out these great photos of Violas all from different Flickr users.

“Viola” by tactus on Flickr

“Bunnies Love Violas Too” by moorepics4u2c on Flickr

“Viola” by zig on Flickr

Enjoy the lovely weather (here in the Northwest anyway). I will post some of my garden happenings soon. My sweet peas are coming up, yay! I have to make a trip to Lowe’s too, you never know what I will come home with.

Alchemic Muse Soaps

2009-06-29T22:44:00.001-07:00

I don’t do too many Etsy related things on my garden blog but I just have to do a little feature on Alchemic Muse and their fabulous soap. I was originally browsing on Etsy looking for beer soap for Father’s day gifts. I immediately noticed Alchemic Muse’s superb photos. That was the grabber and it caused me to “click” on her listing. So yes, photos are important, especially when browsing something like soap where there are so many sellers and items to choose from. I am always trying to make mine better, I think they have improved since I first started on Etsy. So here are some photos of the different soaps I purchased both as gifts and for myself.

Beowulf for Men – This soap is what I purchased for a Father’s Day gift. I gave one to my husband and one to his dad. It contains Corona beer and clover honey plus lots more great ingredients.

Biscayne Bay Spa – My bathroom smells so wonderful with this soap sitting in my soap dish. The soap literally looks like an ocean wave with the swirls and salt on the top.

Gardener – Just as the title says…any gardener would love to use this soap after a hard day pulling weeds. Just today I put this in my laundry room soap dish. My hands felt pampered and soft after using it and the scent is wonderful.

Carousel – This is one of the soaps I want to try when I place my next order. The description of Carousel says it is sweet pink grapefruit with a Madagascar vanilla base, yum! Yes I will be a repeat customer, these soaps are high quality, wonderfully scented and have awesome lather.

Garden Happenings

2009-06-16T19:08:00.001-07:00

Lovely Goldfinches, what a bunch of little piggies.

My favorite rose Cherry Parfait. Pretty, smells wonderful and disease resistant.

Meet Hilde Petal Pockets

2009-06-07T23:36:00.001-07:00

Hilde Petal Pockets is the newest member of the LowellandSon monster family. Her favorite flower is a daisy, so in celebration of Hilde I will post some daisy photos I found on Flickr.

This beautiful photo is by gardawind

Look at that brilliant blue sky. by law_kevin

“Mountain Daisies” by palomino (patsy)

If you would like to see more daisy photos, go to Flickr and search “daisy”. There were 450,253 results so there are plenty of daisies to fill up your day!

Garden Goings On

2009-06-06T02:11:00.001-07:00

Hmm, what has my garden been up to lately?

Nelly Mosier Clematis, yay it is blooming!

The first rose of the year “Pat Austin”

White Star Creeper – Flowers are actually blue, what cheerful little things though they are taking over my garden.

Hosta and Astilbe under the deck filling in nicely

More later! Have a great sunny weekend!

Our Trip to Roslyn

2009-05-30T11:22:00.001-07:00

Happy weekend everyone! For other photos of my trip go to my LowellandSon blog. We kept ourselves busy on our visit hanging out in the back yard and lounging on the front porch in rocking chairs. It was very pleasant with the breeze coming through. Vaughan entertained himself with his Nintendo DS and ICK, homework as well as rambling about outside playing with a broom (lots of things to do with a broom and your imagination) and he even walked down to the Roslyn hardware store with his Grandpa. Inside I read magazines and worked on sewing some kitties that were just ordered. We watch way less TV there and there is NO internet so it is actually a nice getaway.

Vaughan is supervising the digging of the tree hole by my dad. I went to Farm and Home with my mom and she found a flowering plum tree at a great price.

It was quite windy so Vaughan was holding up the little tree.

Close up of hosta leaf

My next post will be all about what my garden has been up to so come on back!

Roslyn Cemetery

2009-05-22T16:48:00.001-07:00

Well, my son and I are off to visit my parents in Roslyn, Washington tonight. Since we won’t be back until Sunday night this blog post is for the whole weekend. I hope you don’t miss me too much! My parents house is just down the road from a very old cemetery. The original City Cemetery was founded in 1896 according to a sign I saw but I do see markers with the year of death back to 1892 (maybe the sign was for a different section). There are actually many ethnic groups and Lodges that had their own burial areas and those signs are very interesting to read. It seems as though each of those areas are considered their own cemetery.

Just an interesting note, Roslyn had the first black mayor in the state of Washington, Willie Craven. Willie’s father was the official grave digger. Willie’s son Tom Craven died in the 30 Mile fire disaster on July 10, 2001 in Okanogan County Washington. There is a very nice grave site dedicated to the fire fighters in one of the Roslyn Cemetery areas. Coincidentally I was in Roslyn visiting my parents the day that Tom Craven was buried. That was the most impressive and moving processions that I had ever seen. His casket was carried on a fire truck in front and his family and all the funeral attendees walked up the street behind it past my parents house. They were all singing as they walked.

I like to take pictures when we go walk amongst the graves. Maybe that sounds creepy but there are some very old and interesting stones and cemetery decor there. It is quite sad though how many children died in the mid to late 1800’s. Every year for memorial day my mom goes there and puts pinwheels in the children’s section, I think this is quite a sweet thing. To read a little more about Roslyn cemeteries go HERE. Maggie Rail of www.mrail.net has some very interesting information.

So I guess this is my Memorial Day post so to speak, in memory of the children of the coal miners in Roslyn.

This one is quite sad, they lost two of their children when they were just babies. Mary and May.

All the graves are dispersed throughout the woods in the old parts of the cemetery. The “modern” graves are on a grassy hillside in a different area. These graves really only get what attention the residents of the area are kind enough to provide. Some groups volunteer to come and clean certain areas of brush and debris and right any stones that have been moved or knocked over. As you can see in the other photos, some people place flowers on the graves whether real or artificial.

I thought this was quite interesting combination of things, the huge boulder, all the trees, the pile of bricks and the grave stone all in one place. Man, looking at this photo makes me want to haul out my rake and start cleaning up.

Well, that is it for me until I come back…You all have a great weekend and Memorial Day!

What is Good About Rain?

2009-05-20T09:58:00.001-07:00

Rainbows!

After a half a day of downpour this beautiful rainbow came out. This was a full rainbow, we could see it from one end to the other.

The grass really appreciated the rain too, we had a couple of dry days there.

Beautiful Purples

2009-05-11T18:19:00.001-07:00

Here is another magazine page tear-out from my collection. As you can see the door is my favorite garden accent color, blue. The flowers are my favorite flower color, purple! I also happen to have some of that blue/gray ornamental grass in my own yard. It is called Elijah Blue Fescue and it is very draught tolerant. I have it planted in one of the hottest spots in the yard. The French Lavender* I had planted next to it did not survive the winter this year (too cold and too much snow) but that Fescue is looking great.

*note to self, buy more lavender.

The only things I don’t like in the photo are the red/orange flowers on the climber, as I don’t like to mix colors in my garden like that, and the 1/2 pot hanging on the door with the succulents in it. Something about it just turns me off but I am not sure what.

Photo from Better Homes & Gardens or Country Gardens

I didn’t make it into the yard today as I did not have time and it was VERY windy. I am SO behind in weeding and it is supposed to rain all week. Some Seattleites like to say that they will garden in the rain and go out without an umbrella, I don’t and I do and I grew up here. I don’t like to get wet.

Happy Mother’s Day!

2009-05-10T01:11:00.001-07:00

Here is my Mom on her wedding day. I can tell you that there are not many photos of her out there as she was always the one taking the pictures.

Here is my mom with her sisters, Sherry is on the left and Penny is on the right and my mom Judy is in the middle. They are all so cute. Check out my Personalized Glass Ball Photo Ornament featuring the sisters.

Well, I got my cupcake planters finished Saturday and here they are. I think they turned out pretty good. Now we just have to wait for the flowers to fill in a little bit and it will look more like a cupcake. I made three of them so one is for my Mother In Law, one for her sister and the other is either for me or for my mom if it is still looking good when I go visit her in a couple weeks.

To see how to make your own see the next post for details.

Mother’s Day Project

2009-05-05T21:07:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite blogs to browse is WhiMSy love. She has such a great sense of humor and wonderful craft projects which she shares with everyone. This last weekend I discovered her Cupcake Planter Tutorial and decided to do this for our Mother’s day project this year. Who doesn’t like cupcakes and flowers? My son and I are going to have to do most of this project inside, so I don’t know if I will get any good photos or not, but I am hoping that ours will look like the ones pictured below. These ones are super pretty. The “cherry” on the top is definitely the cherry on the top!

Photo from WhiMSy love

After you check out her blog, check out her shop WHIMSYlove on Etsy. She has some great rings, the pinwheels are super cool, the outlet covers are awesome and she has just lots of neat things.

Have a happy day, the rain here has stopped and the sun is peeking through!

Creeping Thyme – One of my Favorites

2009-05-04T00:58:00.001-07:00

If you have an area in your garden where your soil washes away when it rains or when you water then Creeping Thyme may be just the thing for you. To see Creeping Thyme on my rockery go to this post.

My new Thyme, waiting to be planted

This time I bought four different varieties:

“Elfin” Thymus serpyllum
“Woolly Thyme” Thymus pseudolanuginosus
“Red Thyme” Thymus serpyllum Coccineus
“Pink Chintz” Thymus praecox

Elfin – a miniature Thyme that forms a tight, solid mat of foliage

Woolly Thyme – forms a dense evergreen mat of fuzzy foliage

Red Thyme – forms a dense green mat with red/magenta flowers

Well, Monday I am off to Lowe’s again to buy the supplies for my Mother’s day gift project and a birthday present. I will post a photo and the link to the tutorial tomorrow. I found it on one of the blogs I like to read.

Happy Gardening!

I’m a Bark Hater

2009-04-29T01:03:00.001-07:00

Yep, I just don’t like bark. I guess it has it’s uses…they are just not in my garden. Bark is more suited to a business park or common area of some kind. I like the look of smooth, dark topsoil. Doesn’t that sound sexy? Take a look at how I use topsoil in my garden. Every year I put a new layer over the old in all the beds and it always looks so fresh and new.

Before on the right and after on the left

A hosta I split, replacing whatever dead thing I had in this pot, quite the improvement!

What Do I Look Like, A Girly Girl?

2009-04-23T15:06:00.001-07:00

Nah, I am just kidding, but two different guys that work at Lowe’s asked it I needed help slinging the bags of top soil onto my flat bed cart. I always say no, I can handle it with my little noodly arm muscles. I gotta pull the cart across the lot and toss the bags into the back of my 4-runner on my own, right? As you know now I took a little trip to Lowe’s on Monday, mainly to get some dirt and a bag of steer manure. Mmm good (for the garden anyway). I got 6 bags of top soil and one of the manure. I also got a bag of my special bird feed which I can only get at Lowes (sunflower seed bits and thistle seed only).

Not my usual brand, but it will work – I will show what I am using it for in a later post

Sunday my son had a thought, he wanted to try and grow some of our own food (if he is actually going to eat it is another story). Now this was not an “earth day” inspired thought but just a “it would be fun” thought. Not to turn any of my readers off but we think Earth Day is a bit of a crock, we do our best to conserve etc… everyday and don’t need a special day of propaganda to encourage us. Don’t get me started on light bulbs (I am beginning to stock up on standard bulbs before they are outlawed), I prefer NOT to use the ones filled with mercury that have to be imported from China. Anyhow, my true political beliefs are shining through. Here are the seeds that I picked for us to try. We will be planting them in large pots with wood frames that I will build for the vines to climb on. I have done this before so I know it will work. I will post pictures after I get them built and the seeds planted.

Burpee Sequoia purple garden bean – the package says it turns green when you cook it. How cool is that!

Burpee Tenderpod garden bean

Burpee Mr. Big Pea – Hmmm makes me think of Sex in the City…”Mr. Big “

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Surprising Recyclables

2009-04-22T19:43:00.001-07:00

Yay, I got a new bird house the other day at Wights! My three nesting boxes were getting too much moisture inside them so I put them in the garage to dry out. Soon I will put them back outside, but will find spots under the eaves so they will not be rained on. A bit of a flaw in their design.

For some reason last week I pulled out this old wooden spoon from my utensil jar. It is one of those real wood ones but has a warped handle and there are a couple chunks out of the spoon part (Probably from the garbage disposal). I don’t use this spoon anymore and inspiration suddenly hit me. I could put it in the garden as a bird perch.

I had my son paint it blue and I drilled a hole in the fence post, added a little hot glue and pounded it in a bit. Now the birds have a bright spoon perch and I threw away one less thing.

Vaughan painting the “perch”

What's Up?

2009-04-20T00:29:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe that I have not posted since Tuesday. Since I am running two blogs I of course don’t have time to post on both everyday, but I have not posted on my other blog since Wednesday, I guess I am slacking off. I do spent way too much time here in my cozy little office. I work all day in here doing my two jobs and I run my Etsy shop and blogs. I am trying to spend more time on my other interests and projects such as gardening (duh), scrap booking (for myself and family/friends), my family album scanning project an other misc. crafts as well as keeping up with house hold chores (yuck) and I was just thinking I need to re-organize my office.

So, what have I been doing that has kept me away? Well, my mom and brother came to visit on Thursday and stayed until Saturday. They live in Roslyn Washington (the home of Northern Exposure) along with my dad. My dad has to stay home though to take care of the two cats and to go feed the horses. My mom has one miniature horse which she keeps at a friends farm and he is kept company by a pony which belongs to her friend as well. Roslyn is about an hour and a half from the Seattle area.

“The Brick” one of Roslyn’s main attractions and oldest running saloon in Washington (so I have heard). I had a great plate of spaghetti here once when my sister gave me the grand tour. She worked there for a little while.

They usually come to visit every couple months and stay for a few days. There is no where good to shop over there so we usually spend some time out shopping. Friday we went to Half Price Books (we both read a lot), Joann Fabric, Cost Plus and Storables and then we brought dinner home from Burger Master Drive In…Yum! Saturday we went to Michaels and then to Wight’s Nursery one of my absolute favorite places. Wight’s at Christmas time is an awesome sight, they have tons of decorated trees and any item you could ever think of for the holidays. This last year they even had a cute little tear drop trailer in one of their displays. This visit I bought a new bird house with a copper roof (will post pic later) and a flat of different types of Creeping Thyme. Some of my Creeping Thyme on my rockery has died off a bit and does not look like it is coming back so I am going to plant some fresh to jazz it up a bit. I am also going to integrate some into my spring project.

Three varieties of Creeping Thyme, Thymus “Pink Chintz”, Thymus “Highland Cream” (variegated) and the grayish green thyme on the upper right is Wooly Thyme. The bright green Thyme will have lovely pink flowers in late spring.

The time with my mom went by quickly as usual and they headed home in the early evening on Saturday. My son and I will be heading over to visit them near Mother’s day as we usually do every year. I did get a little bit of yard time in after they left Saturday, I got the Star Jasmine (evergreen) and one of my Clematis pruned back finally.

Future postings: my new bird house, all about Creeping Thyme and more about Roslyn, WA.

The Primary Door

2009-04-14T23:33:00.001-07:00

Here is another one of my magazine tear-outs that I just love. See how this is just a plain old regular everyday door, and with the addition of some bright paint and knobs of your choice it can become the gateway into your garden.

I can imagine that just about anyone with a teeny bit of handiness to them could install this door. The hardest part would probably be installing the posts for the arbor. Then you just add some boards to the sides and one across the top to create your doorway. Pop on some hinges and Bob’s-your-uncle! I have a feeling from the bit of blue that I spy around the edge of the door that perhaps the outward facing side is my favorite, you guessed it, blue.

Hmmm, now what if you did not have anywhere to put a door/doorway but you found a cool door. Maybe you could attach it to one of your fence posts with hinges and just have it there for decoration. You could lean it against your fence or the side of your shed (if you are lucky enough to have a shed) or even the side of your house. I have not yet come across a door to put in my garden, but believe you me, if I came across one at the right price I would drag it home. My neighbors would probably think I was nuts.

This photo is NOT by me, I believe it came out of a Better Homes and Gardens publication.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T20:16:00.001-07:00

I have lots to do so this will be a short one. My son and I went to Country Village in Bothell today to have a walk around and see if we could spy some bunnies. Well, there were no bunnies to be found this time but there were lots of ducks.

My Odd Obsession

2009-04-08T15:38:00.001-07:00

I have this large project I have been working on. I go through my old magazines and pull out pages with photos I like or information I would like to keep, but then what do I do with it? Like I am ever going to look through that file of ripped out pages again. So last year I began to scan them into my computer so that I could look at them any time I want and also use them online if I wish. I have recently gotten back to this project.

My obsession is actually with fun, interesting or unusual gates or garden doors. Well, with just about any type of gate or garden door to tell the truth. The door below is painted in one of my favorite garden accent colors, blue. Now I in no way encourage anyone to actually paint their whole house in this color, but I just LOVE it on a door or gate. I have used this color myself to paint one of my nesting boxes and have been considering painting the back of my own gate in a watered down version. The effect seems so European to me, though this particular example is “all American” with the American flag there.

So from time to time I will be posting pictures of doors and gates I have found as well as other favorite things I have torn from my magazines. What would really be SUPER is a coffee table book of just gates, doors and windows perhaps. If anyone is aware of this existing please let me know. Or maybe I need to get into the book business? something to think about.

Photo from a Better Homes and Gardens special publication

Another Lovely Weekend

2009-04-06T22:37:00.001-07:00

The Pacific Northwest has allowed some sun to shine through this weekend, I think it got up into the 70’s if you can believe it (today too). Saturday afternoon I headed out to do some yard work, I started out by going over and chatting with my neighbor Julia (of DozenFlours blog fame) who was out working in her yard as well. She had some extra plants and asked it I wanted them. Of course! Even if I can’t use them I have a friend with a big yard and a birthday coming up that could. After petting her super cute kitty I went and got to work.

Before

The front was just looking a bit sloppy so I pruned back the Lace Cap Hydrangea and the Pieris (green shrub w/white flowers) and also the Variegated Boxwood (other shrub). I am afraid that the Boxwood might be headed to the great nursery in the sky as its leaves are falling off and they really shouldn’t be. I will have to just wait and see once again, this stinking snowy winter was hard on some of my plants. I really don’t want to have to find a replacement for that shrub. The Japanese Maple was pruned pretty good last year so I left it alone. After I was finished pruning and cleaning up the ground I was done for the day.

After

Sunday: Off to Lowes.

I had to zip over to Lowes and get some topsoil (for mulch and filler) and I picked up some paver slabs for a future project. My main goal for the weekend was to split my Hostas. One of them I split in half and the other in fourths. I think the last time I did this was a couple years ago. I began by digging up the whole plant (the shovel and I triumphed) then I got out my OLD pruning saw and cut partially through the mass, I finished up with the square shovel, slamming it through with my foot. Those buggers are tough! I put one portion back into each hole and filled them in, two other portions I planted directly in my neighbor Cindy’s side yard as she told me she wanted some more shade plants when I asked her. The rest I put into pots to hand out to my mom and my friend to put in their gardens. Whew, after a little bit of cleaning up in the back yard the yard waste bin was just about full, I must leave room for my husband to put the grass clippings in when he mows Monday. Now I hope that it is nice weather next Saturday and I might just get the whole yard cleaned up.

The Hosta culprit – this variety gets huge

Be sure to let me know if you have posted anything about your garden and I will check it out. Thanks for stopping by today!

Leslie

Size Doesn’t Matter

2009-04-02T23:14:00.001-07:00

Well, when it comes to the size of my yard anyway.
The title of my blog is fitting…

Before we moved here to the land of zero lot lines we lived in a house on a 1/3 acre lot (14,520 square feet). I can tell you as someone that was a new, inexperienced gardener who then had a baby, that the yard never lived up to its potential. I could barely keep up with the weeds. The home was also located at the bottom of a hill on a busy road so you can imagine the noise from all the cars and trucks hitting the gas to go up the hill – both ways! When we were outside we had to yell to each other. It was quite entertaining to watch cars when it snowed though and see if they could make it up the hill.

So here we are, I feel very fortunate that the home we ended up with was available when we were looking for a new place back in 2002 (it was only one of two left). Our home faces a little grassy park with two picnic benches and then beyond the park is a green belt, so even though I am surrounded by homes on the other three sides I still don’t feel closed in (see April 1st post to see how close the houses are, though builders are putting them even closer together now if you can believe it). Here my son can run around in the street without danger of being run over and has many friends around the neighborhood.

(Here is our view of the little park from upstairs)

Boring technical information ahead…

My particular lot is only 52’ x 74.92’ or approximately 3898 square feet. Now most of that area is taken up by our actual house and a large bit of the front yard is grass, the remainder I have been attempting to fill up with as much as possible, up and out. If I remember correctly, in the back yard there is about 10 feet between the patio/deck and the fence which includes a bulkhead at about two feet from the patio which runs the length of the back yard. I actually really like the bulkhead as it allows me to garden with minimal bending over (no I am NOT old, I just like not having to garden on my hands and knees all the time) and gives the garden more dimension. If you look at my March 30th post you will see this area and if you look beyond the deck the yard is a bit deeper.

The photo above is of my Violas, I thought we all might like a little pick-me-up. I especially do after the day of rain and drizzle we had. Violas pop up in my yard every year. You really only need to put seeds out once as they pretty much behave as a weed, re-seeding themselves everywhere (such as my wood chip path). So make sure you really want them before planting or seeding or be sure to pull them out before they go to seed.

Have a spectacular Friday!

Leslie

Allow Myself to Introduce Myself

2009-04-01T12:42:00.001-07:00

Hee Hee, I had Austin Powers on the brain…Anyhow, I have done a few posts but I thought I should perhaps rewind back to the beginning of my humble garden. Allow me to introduce Leslie Manor.

Here we are in 2003. You may notice the sickly yellow color of the grass, courtesy of the builder. When many builders clear land for new homes they remove all the soil and send it off to be “sorted”. It goes through a tumbler and rocks and such are separated out from the good topsoil. I don’t believe that they ever really bring any of that topsoil back to lay the grass on. The grass goes right down on top of the clay and really does not have a chance to be healthy from the start. You can see a couple shrubs and a rock, today that is all that remains of ANYTHING that the builder had planted, other than that maple in the foreground. I didn’t waste any time yanking out the two rhododendrons. Ick, I consider them the blight of the Pacific Northwest garden (sorry to all of you that like them). Along with Azaleas they are used just WAY too often around here and just do not perform enough for my taste.

I believe that this next photo is from the following summer in 2004. See how the grass has greened up (from sprinkling topsoil on it, seeding and having it fertilized). My little maple by the stairs is doing well and there are some new plants beginning to grow in the front bed.

Here is a close up view below of the flower bed in 2004, the two green leafy hostas (in front of the two shrubs) are a donation from my Mother in Law’s garden. See how great just dark topsoil can look as mulch. I really prefer it to bark, especially that reddish bark they have now.

Below is the front flower bed in 2008. Quite the difference from 2004. If you can believe it I have already split those hostas and the lady fern that is squished in between them once, and have to do it again this spring. Even though this area gets morning sun the Hostas still love it there and do not get overheated. On the left is a Lace Cap Hydrangea and there is a clematis climbing up the railing.

Well, I suppose that is enough for one day. I am always amazed by the difference there can be when I look at before and after photos. When you live with a garden everyday you don’t notice the changes quite as much until you take a look back at your pictures. I am again hoping for a nice day next weekend so I can fill up the yard waste bin yet again. Today we have been treated to a wee bit of snow, nothing to worry about just interesting weather for April Fool’s day.

Leslie

Woohoo, It Was a Sunny Sunday!

2009-03-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

Yep, I did YARD WORK on Sunday. Now I don’t actually enjoy the YARD WORK part of it all, like the pruning and cleaning up bit. What I do like are the results. My hands now hurt from squeezing the pruners and my knees hurt from squatting but at least some of the yard looks lovely and presentable.

I concentrated on making the best use of the yard waste bin. I began with dismantling the three Christmas Wreaths, “GASP” from the blog readers. Yes, my wreaths have been sitting on the path on the side of the house since the beginning of January. Now I do have a gate and the general public was completely unaware that they were there. So I got finished wrestling with those and then just grabbed the most obvious bits of junk lying about on the wood chip pathway. Then off to the back!

There I pruned the stuff in the few pots I have on the patio. The mum from fall still looks alive so I let it stay. The Gulf Stream Nandina aka Heavenly Bamboo (a small shrub that looks kind of like faux bamboo) looks like it could have died but I will give it a chance. Most of the leaves fell off and it is an evergreen so it might be toast. I have had it for a few years now so I am kind of bummed out. I will have to wait and see I guess. The bamboo my friend Stacy gave me actually weathered the snow really well and I am hoping it will have some good vertical growth this year.

Now for the BIG job, the Butterfly Bushes. I have two, one is Pink Delight Buddleia that I have had for around 7 years and the other is a purple colored dwarf variety that I got about 2 years ago. I can’t find the tag for that one at the moment so I am not sure what its name is. I keep all my tags in a notebook but I think I have left some floating around in the laundry room and garage. Yet another thing to add to my list of things to do, organize the garden journal (this is something for another post…) The dwarf butterfly bush is not actually small however, the term dwarf only applies to the size of the flowers with this plant, so the bush itself is just as tall as the other. In my yard it looks HUGE. I have to use the big loppers to cut back these big guys. I start out by cutting everything off down to about 4-5 ft from the ground. Then I use the small pruners to remove all the little branches off the main branches. I save the thick hefty branches to toss later or to use as stakes throughout the garden. Check out the before and after photos below. After pruning both of these bushes the yard waste bin is mostly full. I have room to prune the roses as they have already been pruned once in the fall and there isn’t too much more to remove this time. Just some cleanup.

I then grab up some more bits off the ground from the astible, fern and hostas under the deck area so it looks a little tidier there. Whilst doing this I am trampling what is left of the horrid, mushy patchy grass into oblivion (as seen in the above photos). Luckily this section of the lawn is part of my “spring/summer project” and I don’t really care what condition it ends up in. Just one more thing to do, I must rescue my poor wind chime from the clutches of one of the clematis vines. This clematis grew up so fast last summer that it wound itself through my wind chime before I knew what was happening. Now that it is all “dead” I can hack it away and pull the thing out. I now have it in the house and plan on refinishing the wood parts so it will look as good as new. I really should put the thing in the garage for the winter from now on.

So, that was my day. I only took one Advil and my hands are just a little sore still. I will have my husband “of the magic fingers” give them a little massage.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Leslie

Interactive Zone Chart and Artist Feature

2009-03-27T20:31:00.001-07:00

Hello all, today was yet another day filled with drizzle. I am hoping for no rain tomorrow so I can work in the yard but the forecast does call for some. Perhaps there will be breaks in between. I know, you can garden in the rain, but I am a wimp and don’t like it.

A new feature I added to my blog today is an interactive planting zone chart from the National Arboretum. Just click on the zone chart at the very bottom of my blog page and you will be taken to their website. You may even find other things of interest there.

My Saturday feature on my LowellandSon blog will be on Nothin’ But Wood Wooden Creations by Kerry. Just for fun I did a search on Etsy for Gnomes. After going through a few pages I came upon his incredibly cute and original Fairy doors (aka Gnome, Hobbit or Elf doors). He also has a chimney and windows plus some other bits and pieces. Pop over and take a look. I think I will HAVE to get one of these to either put at the bottom of my gate or against my fence. Around these parts we don’t have trees big enough to put a door on. He also has a blog A Wooden World.

Have a great weekend and I will be back tomorrow with something or other…

Leslie

Wait, I’m Not Ready!

2009-03-26T23:35:00.001-07:00

Yep, I went out today to put the yard waste bin away and what do I see???? My bleeding heart has already sprouted up about 4-6 inches. Yikes, I am not ready for stuff to grow yet.

Bleeding heart is a perennial shade plant that just LOVES it on the super shady side of my house. This plant gets huge and I have to make sure I stake it up plenty early to keep it off the path and to avoid breakage. Bleeding heart is very sensitive to breaking so I try and be careful with it, the shoots are actually hollow and snap easily. I have probably planted it in an area that is to small for it, but since I have such a tiny yard I commonly cram things in.

The photos below were taken just today of two types of bleeding heart that I have. White Old Fashioned (which obviously is white) and the other is Pink Old Fashioned. The foliage coloring is quite different between the two.

This next set of photos are of my bleeding heart in bloom. This plant definitely puts on a show, but always remember to water it well, because after spring time when it fully matures it goes dormant and once it dries out it is gone for good.

Dicentra
Zones: 3-10

I hope you enjoyed my first “real” posting on my garden blog. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding Bleeding Heart.

Leslie

My Blogs Intended Purpose

2009-03-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to straightening this blog out. Being as it is named The Tiny Garden, I have always wanted to turn it into a blog all about my garden and perhaps a little about my home as well. I already post regularly on my other blog LowellandSon so I am hoping that I can actually split my time and still keep up both blogs to my satisfaction. So if there is anyone out there that has yet to look at this blog, there are some things coming your way all about my garden and all things to do with gardening. I have lots of pictures of the local "wildlife" I plan on posting along with some before and after photos of some of my projects.

So check back and see what is going on in The Tiny Garden!

Leslie

Craigslist – Rodent cages and accessories

2008-11-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

$35.00: 10 gallon aquarium, metal/wire lid, water bottle, water bottle holder, metal exercise wheel and wood house. An aquarium type cage is perfect for one or two gerbils or dwarf hamsters, one larger hamster, small mice, a couple small rats or one medium rat.

$35.00: 10 gallon aquarium, metal/wire lid, water bottle, water bottle holder, food dish, plastic exercise wheel and plastic TV (this accessory is perfect for dwarf hamsters). An aquarium type cage is perfect for one or two gerbils or dwarf hamsters, one larger hamster, small mice, a couple small rats or one medium rat.
Link: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/grd/1706967523.html

$10.00: Small plastic cage, water bottle and wheel. I recommend this cage for only the smallest rodents such as dwarf hamster or mouse. Or to be used as a travel cage.
Link: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/grd/1708271701.html

$10.00: Penn Plax SAM Toob-A-Top, will fit any 10 gallon tank. For use with the tubes for sale separately below.

$10.00: 11 tubes (curved and straight), 1 cage hole cover, 2 cage hole blockers (plastic), and 3 metal<br> chew stops.
Link: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/grd/1707076273.html

$4.00 Medium carriers

$2.00 mini carrier

Exercise balls: $3.00 for small (dwarf hamster or small mouse) ~~and $4.00 for larger size (gerbil, hamster)~~ SOLD
Link: http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/grd/1707084937.html