The Shade Garden, Part 1

 Last year at this time there was nothing here but an old, warped, wooden barrel flower pot and two undernourished shrubs. I tore out the barrel and transplanted the shrubs. Friends from church gave me shoots, baby plants and extra bulbs to create what I call the shade garden. the photos below are of whats' in bloom right now.

 Perry-winkle blue ground cover

 Bleeding heart (pink variety)

Young Japanese maple

gizzmo: Excalibur dehyrator

 This is a five tray food dehydrator from Excalibur. It can be found at Amazon for around $160.00 to $200.00. It is really simple to use and I have never had ANY problems with it or the turn out of the food. Right now I'm drying bananas and mangos. The secret to a great dried snack is ripe produce. Make sure it's at the peak of its flavor before putting it in the dehydrator.

My feet Love this mat!

 Do you find yourself standing in the same places in the kitchen or work shop? I highly recamend these rubber mats. They really save your feet and knee joints from unnessisary pain! Hint: Makes a great Mothers day gift!

                    I attached extra lining to help keep it in place. It can't move an inch now! I love it! I have three. Yeah, I know maybe a bit excessive but I've got happy feet! I have two in the kitchen. One in front of the cutting board and the other in front of the sink. My third mat is down in the laundry room. You see, we have front loaders and I have to get down on my knees alot. These mats can be very expensive (up over a hundred dollars) but I was given one and  I bought two at Walmart on sale for ten dollars a piece! My advice is not to exceed forty dollars for one, it can be done. Keep your eyes pealed.