How to Clean Your Home in 30 Minutes a Day

Do you love a clean house - but feel like you don't have the time to do it consistently?  Well, Yvonne from Stone Gable Blog, put a Tutorial together for us, with all the directions we need, so that we can join her in cleaning our homes in only 30 minutes a day!  She says..."This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Dirt Devil, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia irtDevil360Clean http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV".

Check out her Tutorial Here and get cleaning.  

Faithfulness vs Unfaithfulness

Our Trustworthy God

{from my Every Day With Jesus Bible - Psalm 89:1}

God is utterly trustworthy in all He says and does, and this is the rock-bottom reality on which everything in the universe depends.  In an age when so much unfaithfulness abounds, how good it is to realize that we have One who will never let us down, never have to apologize for failing us and never go back on His Word.  Am I speaking to someone who has just discovered unfaithfulness in a marriage partner, or experienced the break-up of a relationship {marriage) because a person you trusted did...
not keep their word?  It's a sad moment when we get a revelation of the inconsistency of the human heart.  But we need to look into our own hearts also, for none of us can claim complete immunity to the sin of unfaithfulness.  We may not have broken a contract or violated the marriage covenant, but we have been unfaithful to Christ in other ways -- to the light and privileges that God has entrusted to us, perhaps.

How refreshing it is, then, to read today's text and focus our gaze on the One who is faithful at all times and in all things.  We may let Him down, but He will never let us down.

He cannot fail for He is God,
He cannot fail, He pledged His Word,
He cannot fail, He'll see you through,
He cannot fail, He'll answer you.

Prayer
Gracious and loving God, what inspiration it brings to my soul to realize that of all the things You can do, the one thing You can't do is fail.  May the reality of this be the pavement on which I tread this day and every day.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

========== ♥ ==========

Nearly four months ago, my world changed, when my husband moved out of our house...and never looked back.  I haven't heard from him, don't know how he's doing or anything else.  That happened just about 2 months before our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Nothing has changed, except that he no longer lives here...or talks to me or the Pups.

I've struggled with the unfaithfulness in his not keeping his word, as we promised each other on our Wedding Day - to love each other and stay together until death.

So...this devotion was just what I needed today.  We all are guilty of unfaithfulness - whether it be another person our partner gets involved with - or by the breaking of a promise of the wedding vows in leaving a marriage.  We're all guilty of unfaithfulness in other relationships as well...with friends, co-workers and relatives.  It's the inconsistency of the human heart and the fact that we do have free will.

The worst form of unfaithfulness is to God, our Saviour.  If we tread to often, or for too long down that path of unfaithfulness to Him...we will not only let Him down...but let ourselves down, by separating us from Him and His Kingdom!

So, remember, He is the only one that will forever be Faithful to His Word and He will see us through trials and tribulations and always be there to Answer us when we pray.

So, today, as I go about my busy schedule, I will "Sing of the Mercy of the Lord Forever" and pray for His strength to remain faithful to Him.

Add a Zipper to a Pillow

 

Marty at a Stroll Thru Life Did a Wonderful Tutorial on How to Add a Zipper to a Pillow - Plus Other Tricks to Having Designer Pillows - Check Out That Tutorial Here

Part 3 - Spring 2015 How It Looked Then

 To say that going from this Hydrangea filled Garden Wall to almost nothing in the garden wall right now has been easy...wouldn't be the truth.  It's been very hard, heavy and sometimes back-breaking work, but I'm so glad to see it progressing.  The first photo is the back end of my Courtyard Garden.  There is a concrete patio there, surrounded by concrete patio pavers...and the walls are stacked concrete blocks.  This is a huge Courtyard...and at night, when...
I let the Pups outside, they would run everywhere in the courtyard and all the way down to the gate at the sidewalk.  Bad thing was, I couldn't see them.

I knew that I had to make some changes.  They certainly didn't need the entire courtyard to potty in...so that made it simple to think I could shrink the area they used to a portion that I could see from the front door and porch - using only the porch light.  Difficult thing was trying to figure out how to cordon it off, since everything was concrete...no place for fences or gates or anything like that.  So, here, I just dragged their old crates out and stuck a gate up against them, using a zip tie to keep it up and against the crates.  I certainly didn't like the looks of it...but it worked.

So on to figuring out other possibilities. 

This is the other end of my courtyard.  

***NOTE*** If you look close, you will see that the wall is 4 blocks high, plus the cap block.  I'll tell you in a bit exactly what happened to that entire wall.

You can read the other posts I've done about it and the garden HERE...you'll see measurements and square footage and many other photos too.

Here you can see the changes taking place.  I chopped all of the 17 lush and pretty hydrangeas down and bagged them up for lawn waste pick-up.  Then I got rid of other stuff in the garden.

 I did replace the cap block that you see missing here on the front wall...after I dug out ONE of the hydrangeas myself.  That is the only one I will be digging out.  My lawn guy, Josh, is sending out 2 guys later next week to dig the other 16 out and haul the waste away!  Yeah!!

Remember a couple of photos up...my ***NOTE***?  

The wall all around the courtyard used to be 4 blocks + a cap block high.  I removed each one of those blocks.  Why?  Look a the next photo!

 This is the "Pup's Pen".

I moved 70 concrete blocks that weighed 38# each...some from the near wall...and a bunch from the far end of the wall...to build this enclosure, complete with a gate.  The concrete patio drains nicely and never has standing water.  With the blocks set down so you see the "windows" of the blocks, there is good air circulation too.

 The "Pups Pen" measure about 18x13 feet.  It's wonderful.  It's located just off the porch, under the living room windows and porch light and the hose - just outside the back gate.  I'll be replacing the plastic grey gate on the porch with a black wrought iron one...soon.

 The new wall of the pen will be a handy place for container gardening of herbs next year.

 I sprayed to get rid of ants on this end of the wall, so there are still a few things there that need to be removed.

 The rest of the wall is rid of all plant material and pretty things (except the glow ball laying there) and the hydrangeas will be gone by next weekend, weather cooperating.

 Those few blocks on the patio will be going in the garage and will be used to keep a few things off the floor.

 These hydrangeas...Endless Summer are my oldest hydranges (about 8 years old.  They aren't blooming like they used to...but I'm going to give them another try next year.

 Next year the wall garden will have much lower plantings...and will look much airier.  I'll also be able to see out of my courtyard.

More to come on the Courtyard and Wall Garden!

Part 2 Changes Coming Soon

The first 4 photos of my Courtyard Wall Garden were taken on June 12, 2015...just this spring/summer.  This photo is the front view of the Garden...from the street.  Those are Invincibelle Hydrangeas.  The photo below is taken from the very back edge of my courtyard garden, looking toward the street.  The front wall has Little Lamb Hydrangeas...a step up from the Invincibelle Hydrangeas street-side.  Along the side wall, are...

Annabelle Hydrangeas - a total of 6 of them there.  In between the Annabelles are a few newer and small plants from last year...including Spanish Lavender.

 Here is a Close-up of the Little Lambs before they bloom in mid-July.

  This is the front-side corner of the garden.

If you missed my last post about the Work I was going to be doing in the Garden, you can read it and see additional "Blooming" photos of it Here.

Now for some BIG CHANGES to the Garden!

Are You Ready?

As you can see, I've been busy!  I began by chopping back the Invincibelle Hydrangeas on the lower level of the street-side section of the wall garden.  Then I chopped down the Little Lamb Hydrangeas on the inside of the front wall.

No, I'm not crazy!  I didn't just wake up one morning - walk out and get my hedge trimmers and chop away at these plants.  I planned to do this job.  I was tired of the height {some of my hydrangeas towered at 4 1/2 feet tall in an already 3 1/2 foot tall garden wall.  Yes, the privacy was nice...but I was ready for a change.  I decided to get rid of the Hydrangeas in the wall garden after we had 6 1/2 inches of rain, high winds and hail - all in less than a week.  I couldn't bear to take any photos of the bent over, destroyed, twisted, awful looking mess that was left of the hydrangeas.  Just let me say, it was devastating.  

And...I was looking for a new "look" for my garden.  After all the happenings of the past 3 1/2 months - with my husband suddenly and unexpectedly moved out on me...I was definitely in need of of my own changes.  Now, I really am liking the open area...being able to see out when sitting on the patio.

Front Side Corner

 Side Wall with chopped down Annabelle Hydrangeas

I chopped off about 3 feet of hydrangeas...next step will be digging them out.  I have inquired from my lawn guy as to what he would charge to dig them out for me.  I can't wait to have them gone.

All in all, I have chopped down ALL 19 Hydrangeas.  You may have noticed, I didn't include any photos of the back wall of my garden, because I just finished chopping chopped those 5 plants down yesterday!  .

It took 18 of these Lawn Waste Bags to dispose of the materials from my  garden properly.

Yes, 18 of these bags...and they were very heavy.  To get them to the curb for pick-up, I had to get them up on a lawn chair, then lift them to my shoulder.  I didn't want to hurt my back or hips trying to carry them in front of me.

Now...for the BEST news...I have lost {update} 46# doing all of this and more - and have increased my stamina in doing strenuous jobs.  I guess I'll have to have one of the Pups take a picture of the new me!  I wish that was possible.

With highs in the in the low 80's, dew points near 60...it's been much more comfortable working outside.

I still have several more things I will be doing in my Courtyard, including building a "potty" area for the Pups and staining the Porch.   Keep an eye out for further updateson all that stuff.
Have a wonderful Summer!

Part 1 - Spring 2015 Hydrangeas

June 12, 2015

Take a Good Look Around, I've loved my Hydrangea Garden...It's been this way for 7 years now.  But, there are alot of changes coming.

These plants have just gotten too big for the wall garden, The wall itself is over 3' tall...and the plants are at the very least...4' tall.  In the rain and the wind of the late spring/early summer have taken a toll on the plants...all of them!  Leaves are turning yellow...Plants look awful {I didn't even want to take any pictures...
AFTER the storms, the plants looked so bad}...The hydrangeas split down the center of the plants, with hydrangeas touching the patio floor inside the patio and the ground on the outside of the wall.  Stems were broken and twisted.  And the weight of the plants hanging over could even destroy the "block stacked wall" of the garden.

June 22, 2015

So...I have begun the task of cutting down and bagging up the hydrangeas.  Then the big task of removing the plants will begin.  For the rest of 2015, I won't have much of a garden at all.  Hopefully, in 2016 things will begin looking better.

This courtyard roughly measures 53' x 15'.  That's 795 square feet of patio space that's enclosed for the Pups...and me!  The Garden wall outside measurements are 66' by 20'.   Each plant measures about 4' x 3' by 4' tall.

To give you an idea of just how big these hydrangea plants are, each plant, when chopped down to about a foot high, fills a compostable paper bag that is 30 gallons in size.  I will need 18 bags!  Each one of the Hydrangea flowers is bigger than my hand!  They are huge.  I have to cut the stems or bend and break the stems in order to be able to squash the cut plants into each bag.  It's alot of work!  Especially for a girl like me who isn't an outdoors-kind-of-gal!

When it comes to digging the plants out, I may have to call in the Big Guns...my yard maintenance guys.  I'm sure 2 big, strong young guys could make quick work out of removing those plants.  OR...let's just put it this way...They could do it a heck of alot faster than I could!!

I haven't fully decided what I will plant in my wall garden beginning next year...but whatever I plant will be smaller than these hydrangeas!!  And, they will take alot let work!

So, if you don't see me around blogland alot this summer, this is where I'll be!

I will always remember my Hydrangea Garden...

4th of July

National Anthem...

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