Saturday, March 31, 2012

Our Saturday

Today was the unofficial first day of Spring Break.

Usually this time of year we go to Florida, but this year we're at home and enjoying discovering fun family activities close to home.

I'm going to try to post every evening. It will be fun to look back one day and see all that we have done.


Today we went to a little airport for lunch. This sweet older couple serve lunch every weekend from their hanger. It's fun to hang out with all the older pilots. (And their dogs. There are a dachsund and a german shepherd that always have a bit of a competition going on!)

The pilot took each of the children up in the "Bluebird" for short rides - they loved it, of course!

(Little Brother's camera smile.)









 (Cute wheel chocks!)






After that, we stopped by Grandma's for a while, and then went home to end the day with a bonfire.



Little smokies, cheese, pretzels and apples.
(And Mr. Ed to tell crazy jokes!)

Why does food always taste better in the open air?







Friday, March 30, 2012

Ice Cream Time!




With the warm weather comes trips to the ice cream shop!

Big Sister really loves this ice cream truck shirt handed down from a cousin!

Have a happy, blessed weekend everyone!

Progress?

I have been planning to show you all an update on my flower bed progress, there is progress in spite of an unexpected setback.

This is how my front yard looked last Friday when I went to bed.



This is what my porch looked like early Saturday morning!


No, it wasn't a natural disaster, just some poor soul whose car left the road and barreled right through our front yard and into our porch.


It was 6:30 in the morning, The Pilot was on a week long trip to California, and  I was sleeping upstairs with my windows open.

At first I thought a tree had fallen on our house, but as I went to the window, the loud banging noises continued as the car backed up and left our front yard. It was so dark I could only see the taillights as it drove off. 


I highly suspect that it was a drunk driver, I mean, who else would just leave like that?

I'm just so glad that I hadn't planted anything in the front flower bed. 

Then I really would have been upset!

Oh, and the car pushed our big stone slab that you can see in the first picture, pushed it about four feet.

Now we get to do more front porch/yard work than we intended.


So, anything bizarre, crazy or exciting happening to you?

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

One of my favorite blogs!!

I would like to invite you all to check out my sweet niece's blog, Life Is A Canvas.

She has an amazing way with words. Reading her fun, happy posts makes me want to be 16 again!

Here is a little bit of her "about me" description,


"I live in a pretty house that faces exactly north in the middle of the woods. Not in a place so woodsy as to be very adventuresome, but adventures seem to come to be nonetheless. I've learned that if you love life, it will generally love you back. So I try to love it. I love how big the sky is over me. I love the feeling of a sudden inspiration. I love English witticisms, nice people, breakfast, happy endings, and I especially love art." 



She also works on some pretty neat projects, I love the chandelier transformation!


So go and say hi if you like, I know you will enjoy it!














Sunday, March 11, 2012

Front Yard Progress

Oh yes!! We are makin' some real progress!

I decided it was time to landscape the front area. 

Here are a few pictures from way back - I love to compare and see how far we've come!


Wow! The house was practically sinking down into the ground. We removed so much dirt from the front yard.


Here you can see the new porch and much lower yard. We also installed a french drain.

The crawl space has gotten wet a few times and so we haven't wanted to do much landscaping for fear of directing the rain water right under the house.

But I have hated to leave it so bare. 

Here's how it looked last summer.


White paint on the band boards made a huge difference, and I even experimented with filling in the gaps under the porch with stones. I loved how it looked, but it wasn't sturdy and we didn't want to completely close off underneath the porch.

( We did install lattice as you'll see.)

I decided to "very carefully" make some flower bed borders. The plan was not to change the height or slope of the area.

My husband really wasn't too happy with me messing with it and decided to pull out the big equipment.


First, the area was tilled.

(Isn't that one cute little tractor?)



Next, more dirt was removed to make a low area for the water to drain away from the house.



I get excited whenever I realize that something big is happening!




We spent a lot of time smoothing dirt.



You know the children's song, "Don't build your house on sandy land, don't build it too near the shore...) I would also add, " Don't build it on right on top of the dirt either! 


Here is how our front yard is looking right now,

out the front door to the left,


and to the right,



the area above has seen the most improvement, with lattice and now, the prospect of flowers!

I really want to plant a border of hydrangeas - I need advice to help me decide! Like, which kind, and will I be happy with only one type of plant. (when they're done blooming that's it.)

On around to the side of the house,





I would like to make a screen to hide the heat pump.
This side gets the most sun - I've already bought two knockout rose bushes and I have peonies to transplant.


If the grass will grow, and the flowers will bloom, by next year this time it should be even better!

This is so much fun - I love the progress!


The sweet peas on the left are dated 1933, I'm excited to see if they will do anything!

And the sugar snap peas are from my niece - I can hardly wait!


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Corbels

Yesterday, we took a stroll through the Belmont area of our town.

I found myself taking lots of pictures of porch corbels and fancy trim work.


























They just don't make them like they used to, do they?

So I had fun, getting glimpses into peoples yards and lives.

I told The Pilot that I could definitely enjoy living in this part of town. And that's saying a lot, since I consider myself from the country.










I love the church pew!