Another Diaper Cake

My niece Marissa gave birth to her second child in April.  Her nursery theme was yellow with bees.  I found some cute yellow bee things (including a few little Gymboree outfits on eBay!).

One idea that I incorporated - and I'll freely admit I got this idea from a seller on etsy.com who had a bee diaper cake for sale - was adding Burt's Bees baby products to the inside of the cake.

I also tried draping a baby blanket over the middle tier, which nicely covered the top and sides of the middle tier as well as the top of the bottom tier.

I decided to keep the "icing" decorations on this one  pretty plain.  I put bee theme ribbon around each tier, mostly as a way to keep the baby blankets in place (and on the top tier, the burb cloths).  Two pairs of bee-themed socks are diaper-pinned to the middle tier.  Some scrapbooking bee punchies are zotted to the top tier.  And the whole thing is topped off with a bee toy and some yellow facecloth rosettes.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.  It looks a little lumpy, frankly, but that's to be expected I guess.  Probably with more frou-frou for icing, the lumpiness is less noticeable.

For more detailed instructions on creating a diaper cake, see my post about the monkey cake.

Room with a View

Looking out from my bedroom window.  Thanks Mom for creating this beautiful space!

Inspiration Station

Friends, I have a problem.  I have no idea what to do with this area of the yard.  It's rather large - I'm going to guess about 12' wide x 20' deep?  Some of the plants in this area were established by Mom.  When she was alive, there was a large strawberry patch in the foreground.  The summer she was sick, one of my aunts and her daughter-in-law came and took a lot of the strawberry plants (I am sure that was done with my mom's blessing, but it left a large hole in the garden).  There were a few stragglers left, and I gave them to friends the next summer.  I'm not sure strawberries would have done well with Gabe and Archie tromping through them anyway.

Since then, it's basically just a weed haven.  I have no landscape designer abilities whatsoever.  I really don't need more growing space.  I was thinking of making cement blocks and putting them down here.  I envision weeds still growing between the blocks, and it's not a vision I'm keen to see to fruition.

Does anyone have any ideas for me?

Jacki and the Beanstalk

Kentucky Wonder pole beans are starting to climb.

Water Barrels

The City of Saskatoon has been experiencing problems at its water treatment plant since early June.   A mandatory ban on outdoor water usage was put into place for a few weeks, with a $300 fine to be levied on anyone breaking the ban.  Now, we are allowed to use sprinklers for a few hours a week (or we can fill a pail or watering can at any time and water that way).  The City has been encouraging people to use water barrels.

At the School of Yard Knocks, water barrels are a way of life.  The ones I use were cheap to buy and no-frills (no screen, no tap).  My parents always stressed that rain water was better for plants than the chlorinated water from the sprinklers.  It's "free" too - other than the cost of setting things up.  I have four 60-gallon water barrels - two off one downspout at the garage and two off one downspout off the back of the house.  I am currently down to about 30 gallons.  It's been hot and dry for a couple of weeks.

Usually, when all four barrels are bone dry, I will fill one each at the house and the garage with water from the hose, and let that sit for a few days.  My parents said the chlorine would evaporate (is that true?  I don't know).  I'm hoping we might get an unexpected rain shower before the weekend.

Do you use rain barrels?  How many do you have in your garden?  I'm considering getting a few more.

Laundry Day

Who else out there line dries their laundry?  No bottled detergent or fabric softener can beat that scent.

I found my clematis!

Okay, I found it a few weeks ago while weeding, but I did find it.  I totally forgot it was out there, and frankly I never expected it to survive the winter.  Tootsie over in Red Deer has a beautiful Jackmanii clematis; and I read an article last year in Gardens West magazine about clematis on the prairies as well.  The Gardens West article suggested planting the clematis root at an angle, so that spring melt doesn't pool around it.  Between the two of them, I figured I might as well give it a try - it's a beautiful plant.  It's still pretty small, but it seems to be putting out buds.  Fingers are crossed.