Patio, part 1

I've been wanting to fix up the patio for some time now. I finally had some inspiration a few weeks ago. Mom called me to tell me about some show she was watching on HGTV. It was a patio make over & the patio was very similar to ours. Turned out the show was Myles for Styles. Click on the link for the specific episode. My goal was to do this budget make over my way & on a smaller budget. I'm almost done, just a few things left to do. Here are a few pictures to hold you over. I'll write more about it later. I recovered the cushions, btw. :)

Anyone else ready for fall?!

Here is a corn update. I think it's time to find an area to replant. I need some where it will get watered but also where the dogs won't trample the corn.

Mother-in-law was up yesterday. I had dentist appointment so she watched the kids for me. While I was gone Tootie & her picked some apples off our over-producing apple tree. I really wish you all could smell how fragrant they are. I really should start picking them off the tree. I'm sure the gardeners are tired of picking them off the ground. I know I am tired of the dogs dragging half-eaten apples into the house. I have a few ideas in mind on what I will do with the apples.

Not too much longer!

The Pilot will be back soon. We're weeks away. So this site should be picking up the pace shortly. Lots planned... finish the master bathroom, closet, finish off the extra room downstairs, hard wood floors downstairs - just a few things off the top of my head.

We have corn!!

Tootie & I planted corn (at his request) about a week and a half ago. I was surprised to see that we have sprouts!! I need to find some where out back to replant them once they out grow that pot. I wanted to start them off in a pot so they had a chance to live with out getting mowed down by a kid or dog.

What to do...

Drawing a blank, but I am sure an idea will come to me during the night. Today Tootie & I moved all the toys out of the living room & put them in the den. Ideally that is where we would like the toys to stay. I also took apart the baby swing. Princess hasn't used it in a while & it just became a toy collector. So now I am left with this good size space that is pretty empty. To give you an idea of it's size you can fit a love seat there. We rearranged the living room so the love seat wouldn't go back there anyways. It's not a good place to put seating of any sort for various reasons. We have a big fluffy chair that we moved into the den so the dogs would stop jumping on it to look out the window. So that's one reason not to place seating there. For those of you who haven't seen our dogs, they are petite humans... 70lbers. It's also not a good area to view the tv from. What ever goes in the corner needs to be dog & child friendly. I'm just not feeling motivated but it's really empty in that room now.

Attempting to have a green thumb

I didn't think I would be updating this blog while the Pilot is off playing in the sun & sand, but here I am...

I received a nice gift certificate to a plant nursery along with a lavender plant for my birthday. This insanely inspired me to get working on our yard. Something I hadn't planned on doing any time soon. I stumbled across the following picture while researching plants & different pictures of garden set up.

I don't necessarily want to copy that look, but it's the "feel" I want.... path way, bench, hardy flower look (versus fru-fru). Plus the area I am working on takes a beating from the sun & not a lot of water makes it back there.



I trotted off to the local nursery with kids in tough. I went plant crazy.



So I spent close to 3 hours this morning out there working on this project. Princess was napping, but I had help from a certain 2 year old. Turns out that the sprinkler head back there has been capped off & the ground is harder then a rock. I don't even think I got a 1/3 of the plants planted. Tootie & I stopped to have lunch & it was time for Princess to awake from her beauty sleep. So we went in & washed up. While we were enjoying some fine dining of left overs (AGAIN! lol) the younger of the two 4 legged family members was un-doing some of my work. He was fine the whole time we were out there... ARG!!!! He tore out 2 plants. Damaged one of them pretty well but I think it might be ok (just no where near as full). Also tore apart a bag of compost & another bag with cactus mix. So off to Home Depot the kids & I went to buy chicken wire to build a fence around my work. So far it's deterred him. I've decided to pot all the plants until the ground becomes soft enough to dig holes. We have a ton of empty pots laying around here & I also posted a want add for more on freecycle. I'll update you all with a picture once get everything potted. I want to put the fountain back together & plant some stuff in it. I'm also going to get various sizes & types of rock to put around that area, but that will be later this summer.

The closet to this point

It's not totally complete, but it is in a usable condition. The Pilot is stopping for now since he will be on a long business trip. Final touches will be completed when he gets back. A few shelves & drawers

need to be put in place, finishing strips need to be put on & staining needs to be done. Here are a few pictures for you all to drool over. The shoe cubbies are my personal fav.! I'll post updated room pictures once I get everything put back together & add a few of my own personal womanly touches. ;)