Oh So Many Things to Tell!

Here I am, back this evening as promised ... & do I have a lot to share with you!  You might want to get yourself a cup of tea before you start reading   : )

First of all, John & I went back to the nursery/landscaping/gifts/antique place I told you about earlier today.  Yesterday we had purchased 5 variegated Japanese willow bushes but couldn't fit them in the van with the other things we purchased so had to go back ... & here's a little side story concerning these bushes.  As you can probably see by the photo of our farmhouse, we have a very tall & very "blah" foundation in front.  I have been wanting to find something big to plant there ever since we moved in.  Well, last week we went to a nursery & there was this huge bush that I fell in love with & I thought having a few of them along that blah foundation area would be perfect!  I asked one of the workers what it was & she told me it was a variegated Japanese willow bush.  They had small ones available ... maybe 12"-14" tall ... for $30 each.  I wanted 5 of them but just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on such small plants.  I thought I'd try to find them online ... & I did!  I found a mail-order nursery that had them, 18" bare root, for $15.00 each.  I thought about ordering them but hesitated because the term "bare root" kind of worries me.  I did sign up for that nursery's email offers though.  A few days later I got an email advertising a big sale on selected items.  You guessed it ... they had the variegated Japanese willow bushes half off ... $7.50!  Once again I was tempted but once again hesitated because of the "bare root" thing.  Then yesterday we went to that Lowes store out of town & lo & behold, they had them there ... small ones (maybe 16" or so), very scraggly, for $6.98.  They were all piled together & difficult to get at so I decided not to bother with them figuring that if they have them this year, they'll probably have them next year.  I also thought that maybe if I was lucky, the first nursery that had the nice-looking small ones for $30 might put them on sale at some point.  Okay ... as you know, we stopped at the nursery off the beaten path yesterday on the way home from Lowes & what did they have but a bunch of these variegated Japanese willow bushes!  They were all about 4' high & about 3' wide & they were $20.00!!!!!  I couldn't pick out 5 fast enough ... lol!  Anyway, we went to pick those up this morning & also ended up getting a maple tree to replace one that was planted last summer but died.

Here are a couple photos of the trees we've purchased recently along with the bushes.  You can't really see much of anything since they are all piled together but I thought I'd share anyway   : )

  

And here are a couple photos of some of the plants we've been buying recently.  Just like they trees & bushes, the plants are all bunched together so you really can't see much of anything but it will give you an idea   : )   What you see there in the background of the first photo is my perennial garden.  I REALLY need to do something to give it some personality!  I don't much care for the old railroad ties but they were there when we moved in.  Needless to say, I need to enlarge the garden in order to accommodate the new plants & I'm planning on extending it along that second railroad tie, but ???  Does anyone have any ideas to make this area look "spectacular" instead of "blah?"

Okay ... on to the primitive stuff!  I did talk with the owner of the nursery regarding what she told me yesterday about needing to move to a smaller place because of her husband's illness & getting rid of a lot of her 40-year collection of prims.  I told her how I was REALLY interested in what she might be selling & when could I see it?  I'm usually not so bold, but hey ... it's a 40-year collection of prims!  She & I got along very well yesterday which was great because what she did was she immediately got a notepad & asked me for my name & phone number.  She said that when she gets everything ready for her yard sale, she will call me & I can come the day before & have first pick!!!  I CANNOT believe this!  Like I said this morning, I just don't GET this lucky!  While we were there today I took a look at what she was selling there at the nursery.  I found a few items to bring home with me today & she gave me a great deal on them!  

These first 2 photos are of some hearth brooms I bought.  I forgot to include 2 of the brooms in the first photo so that's why they aren't all together ... lol!  They are SO COOL!  I just love old brooms!  The third photo shows you how I'm displaying them right now.  Since I don't have a fireplace ... sigh! ... I just stuck them in a crock   : )

   

The next photo shows an old graniteware bucket (I love old buckets) & a mystery item.  She didn't know what this mystery item is but bought it long ago because it was old ... lol!  There is a heavy wooden long handle & at the end is a little half-circle shaped piece of metal with "teeth" on the end.  Does anyone know what this might be?  I'm wondering if it might be an old implement to dig weeds out of the garden?  It's an awfully nice handle though.

This final photo shows the final 3 items I bought today ... an old sewing rocker, a wooden coaster wagon in very good condition (I have wanted an old wooden wagon for SO long), & a "horse tree."  I have no idea what a "horse tree" is but it's really neat ... & heavy!  I can't hang it on the wall because of the rings on each side but was thinking about maybe hanging it from the ceiling between my kitchen & gathering room?  

  

And that's it for my "show & tell" this evening ... lol!  I did get half of the front yard mowed today & John & I planted a white fringe tree, a sugar maple, & a big forsythia.  More planting tomorrow along with mowing the other half of the front yard.  

Thanks for stopping by to visit!  Sorry I rambled on so much   : )