My Front Yard

Okay so this year we finally created a halfway decent front yard.  I had convinced my husband that he did not want to mow any more and we let the grass in the yard die.  Well that was way back in the summer of 2006, unfortunately in the spring of 2007 I got cancer, again, long story, so the yard just sat and grew weeds.  Well we finally got back to it.  And . . . . I love it :)

The brick work was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.  I just modified it to sweep around the rosemary and the bird bath.  And of course I LOVE my bathtub.  A good friend was dumping it and I and got it for FREE :)   Thank you Kris!  I put pots in it so I can change it out at different seasons.  These pictures are from early in the season so I was waiting for Daffodils and Tulips to make their debut.  Later pictures have the Gladiolas and Dahlias.

Better shot.  You can see the raised patio in the back.  This is an early shot - no swing.

Truly my house is not this blue.  But this is the way the shot came out.  So don't you just love the fence.  We designed it ourselves.  Cutting down 1" x 6" x 6' boards into smaller boards to create the slats on the fence and to create dimension we put some on the front and some on the back.  We used a jig to make sure that the spacing stayed the same.  I sprayed the whole thing with clear deck stain when I was done to keep the redwood looking new.  See the patio in the back with the still in process swing (I have to create a sling for it before it will hold anyone).  Plants across the front includes white cloud roses and lantana.  We also planted peter pan agapanthus by removing and old one in another part of our yard and then dividing it up.  Saved some bucks :)

Shot from another direction.  That's an almond tree in the center front of the yard.  At some point it may get too large but at least it will shade the front of the house.  And a small lemon in the blue pot on the left.  Grown from a seed.  No flowers or fruit yet but I'm hoping soon.

We added a pot on the patio and you can see my unfinished swing.  We tore apart the old stuffing on it and I decided to make a sling to string over the old framework, then I will add cushions.   Our ground cover is just bark chips over landscaping cloth.

So we're almost done.  Everyone that stops by tells us that they love it.  Including strangers just driving by.  Woooohooo for us :)

Pippa

I have been super busy for the last couple of weeks. Not only is the local Garden Club coming to my house next week :( but we have a new puppy. A crazy, plant, bark chip, shoes, kleenex and rock eating puppy. My quiet life will never be the same. And no we didn't name her after any famous people - she actually picked her own name (since it was the only thing she would come to).

Showing total attitude in the back yard.  She is such a girl. 

Asleep with her cow.

With Mom at the office.  Look at those legs.

We know she is part Lab and we think she is part hound.  Only time will tell.  Enjoy!

Porch Upgrade . . . In Process

Okay so my front porch was far from welcoming.  Actually it was down right ugly.  It still needs some paint but I moved out the large pot (which left a large stain) and painted an old chair red.  Then I updated the wreath with some cheerful pink.  But the crowning achievement is the fence (place French Horns trumpeting here) and a cute welcome sign (created by my Daughter and her Cricut).  I love it!

I think I will have to paint the concrete porch at some point - I tried bleach and baking soda and it just made it worse.   And the mailbox needs to be more understated (bought spray paint for that job).  And of course I had to take the picture when the sun was not shining.  I will update that on another day.

So do you want to make your own :)
So to create your own awesome fence you need:
1 - 4" x 4" (measure to see how long you need - I wanted ours to start on the step below)
1 - finial top with a screw bottom
1 - wedged shaped top (it goes under the finial and on top of the 4" x 4")
1 - 2" x 4" (again you are going to have to measure and then double it)
And enough fence boards to cover your area
Wood Screws
Mollies and Bolts for the wall
White wash paint and brush
Electric Drill and Electric Screw Driver
Circular Saw or Chop Saw

First you need to cut the 4" x 4" to the right height.  Then chop the back off the wedge shaped top so that when it is on the top of the 4" x 4" it mounts flush with the wall.  Then drill and screw in the finial top. Creating your 4" x 4" post.

Then cut the 2" x 4"s to match the necessary length to go from the 4 x 4 post to the wall.  Mount the 2" x 4"s to the 4" x 4".  We just eyeballed exactly where we wanted the horizontals to go on our 'fence' and drilled pre holes and then screwed it in with wood screws. 

Then we mounted it onto the wall with Mollies and bolts.  It went into the mortar in our brick wall.  We made sure that the bolts would be accessible after the fence boards were attached so that I could take it down and paint the wall (and the fence) later.

Then we put on the fence boards.  We created our own pattern.  If you really want to do this on the cheap and have a table saw then you can do what we did.  Buy the 1" x 6" x 6' redwood fence boards at your local home improvement store for about $2.00 per board and cut the board long wise in half and then cut them in half the other way.  You will end up with 4 - 3' fence boards,  2 with flat ends on both ends and 2 with a flat end and a diagonal cut end for about 50 cents each.   Hence the pattern in our 'fence'. 

I leave it to you to figure out where to mount your fence boards.  The trick is keeping them even.  And trust me it was a trick :)  And keeping the bottom edge straight.  We did have to do a bit of chopping here to make everything work.

Once everything is put together then take the fence down and white wash it.  I did it with exterior paint mixed with a lot of water.  Came out awesome.  Then remount when it is dry.

What do you think?  

Enjoy!

Keeping The Glass Population Down

Does anyone else struggle with having way to many glasses to wash by the end of the day.  Hands up here :)  I can't believe how many glasses 4 people can go through in just one day.  We have tried assigning glasses or cups to individuals but they always seem to be dirty when they want them or they hoard them and never wash them.  Ooooo Gross.  So I was thinking when I go to parties everyone has those cute rings that they put on fancy stem ware so that everyone knows what glass is theirs.  So translate that into real life.  Bingo.

Binder Mini Clips!  In Colors!  Everyone gets assigned a color and there you go.  Just make sure that you fold the clippy part down or you will stick someone in the eye.  Working wonderfully in my house.  Enjoy!