This is Gay Gardens

10/08/2021

Summer seeing is bee-lieving of the Pollinator favorite: Wild Thistle.

This_is_Gay_Gardens () has created a short video on TikTok with music Little Black Rain Cloud. | Here at Gay Gardens, there's always a Honey Bee or a Bumble Bee buzzin' around. Be kind to our pollinators. | 🐝 | HONEY BEE!

10/07/2021

Some flowers from yesterday's walk through the backyard gardens... Being attacked by mosquitos.

Most of our wildflowers are volunteers, and where they sprout, is where they shine!

08/06/2021

A walk through our minimal thicket area...

08/06/2021

Happy Pride Month!

16/01/2021

New home goodies for Gay Gardens! Stained Glass Ceiling fixture for 50% off, plus checking in with my Clover App, earning an additional $5 off (think: similar to Kohl's Cash) for however much we spend. I'm loving it!

We go this little beauty for under $10 when we were done.

It will now adorn the stairs landing leading upstairs. It's those little finishing touches that make the room.

19/12/2020

We did something...

Chef Dave is launching his catering company, and Michigan is about to clutch their pearls.

11/12/2020

Some photos from the first year at Gay Gardens

(Just perusing these, is a big shock as to how it 2019 was to 2020)

08/12/2020

Well, here it is...

The RESULTS of our naming poll.

07/12/2020

Take the survey and name our newest mber of Gay Gardens.

We asked for name suggestions, and chose the top 3 suggestions. Help us name her.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/66G5DFJ

02/12/2020

"Baby (undecided name)" has arrived into the arms of its loving Chef Poppa, Dave.

Help us name the Stove. When asked since cars have nicknames, and most times, we've named our cars with a masculine or feminine name, was the stove a HIM or a HER, Chef Dave replied, "well... They'll let us know."

So give us some suggestions to see if the name sticks. Gay Gardens is a safehaven, and all are welcome. ☺️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧

Our newest addition comes to us from Greater Jackson Habitat ReStore, as has the Dining Room set in the background. Shop your local Restore, because you never know what you'll find. We love them, and we're loyal!

23/11/2020

🎵🎶 (earworm warning) 🎶🎵
I'm just mad about Saffron Saffron's mad about me
I'm just mad about Saffron
She's just mad about me
They call me mellow yellow
(Quite rightly)
Okay, okay, I'll set down my hippie caftan and sandals for a sec to share something I learned today...
I am BONKERS for Saffron! I never quite connected where it came from or how to cultivate it... A happy accident happened.
I happened upon an end cap in our local grocery chain that had some odds and ends just buried on it.

Oh my Great Universe and Cthulu's arrival (just kidding... kinda), 80% off what was left over. I'll share in later posts what was purchased, but I found Saffron Crocus (Crocus Sativus) bulbs. I wasn't paying attention to type, but more along a variety of colors and types of bulbs were on my mind.
I got multiple packets of 7 bulbs each for $1.24 ea. 😯
Upon researching all sorts of facts about them to insert into a worksheet, I learned these particular Crocus bulbs not only broke my train of thought being Autumn bloomers, but they produce Saffron, one of my favorite Middle Eastern spices, now being introduced to Gay Gardens!
How do you harvest those three-part red-orange stigma that becomes the Saffron strands. To harvest, you cut off the open flowers at midmorning on a Sunny Day... Okay.. Removing the stigma requires tweezers and storing to dry. Noiiiice!
The second thing I learned today, AFTER I developed my Saffron earworm, I just had to know the meaning of the lyrics of Mellow Yellow and Saffron's involvement.
Written and performed by Donovan, with some cheeky help from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was revealed in a June 8, 2011 interview in NME, that "Mellow Yellow" was about being mellow, laid back, and chilled out.
"... 'They call me Mellow Yellow, I'm the guy who can calm you down.' [John] Lennon & I used to look in the back of newspapers and pull out funny things and they'd end up in songs. So it's about being cool, laid back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene - which were ladies vibratory. "
I. JUST. DIED.
🤭😁🤣😂😅
💫

For more craziness and fun informationals at Gay Gardens, follow us riiiiiight here:
Instagram.com/LifeAtGayGardens

17/08/2020

Well..... THAT was interesting.

Go to uncover stepping stones, and locate a long lost 8 x 8 x 12 Cistern.

On Sunday morning on August 17, 2020, we were in our back yard in Jackson, Michigan and we noticed some buried bricks. We dug and cleared the top, revealing ...