It was back to gardening this week. I transferred some more plants, and now I’m looking for a few low cost perennials to fill in some areas. I’ll probably try the local farm stand. They sell flowers at the beginning of the season and then switch to vegetables at the end of July.

I even transplanted some sod. I dug some up to put landscape fabric around one of the bird feeders. It’s half grass; half weeds and I can never seem to cut the grass around it without pulling out large chunks of the stuff. So I’ve decided to throw some mulch around it. I was going to toss the sod away, but being budget minded I decided to use it to fill in areas where the grass isn’t that great. If it takes, that’s fine, if it doesn’t, no money wasted.

I was looking through a gardening catalog and found these paintings you can hang outside. I thought how nice they’d look at back of the house right by the herb garden. Then I saw the price $150. Now my plan is to find material that’s weatherproof and either copy of a photo onto it, or even paint my own! I’ve been thinking about taking an art class for ages. I’ll let you know if I find anything and how that project’s going in future blogs.

I was researching this week’s Budget Smart Girl about Father’s Day gifts and discovered that JC Penney’s has an online outlet store. There are some really good buys in all departments. The site might be ideal for visiting when the holidays come around. It got me thinking about other places that might have online outlet stores. I’m going to do some searching and will let you know what I find.


For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm