Backyard Livin'
Dining al fresco
May 23, 2012
With the warmer days of spring finally upon us, I’ve taken it on as a personal mission to get our back deck freshened up. It’s a small space, so it shouldn’t be too hard. We eat out back every chance we get from April-November and the dining area (a gorgeous little bistro set in jet black with stunning rust undertones) was in need of a facelift. We installed a new storm door which you can read about here, and that made a huge difference from the start.
Everything Is Bigger In Texas! (Part One)
October 14, 2012
I wanted to take a break from our guest room overhaul to write a post about our fun time away this month! Even though the fall projects are lining themselves up, Matt and I took a semi-spontaneous trip to Texas! Does planning it a few weeks before the fly date qualify it for semi-spontaneous status? I’m a bit of a planner, so it qualifies in my book. Lately, we’ve had more than our fair share of police activity in our quiet, quaint lake town.
Fall Helper
October 14, 2012
Fall is for lovers leaf picker-uppers and boy, did we do a lot of that this weekend. Matt’s mom came over to help us (what a blessing!) and with three people, it still took three hours. Phew. Good thing Griffin’s cousin Cindy was on hand to help out!
Griffin vs. (Deflated) Volleyball
September 8, 2012
We had some of Matt’s family over last night to celebrate (my sister-in-law) Erin’s last night home. She’s moving out to Denver to live and we had some very minor set-up to attend to before 30+ people strolled in for a bonfire. It was very low key with the exception of our psycho dog. Every time we set up for parties, Griffin goes bat sh*t crazy. He runs around – whimpering, tearing circles around the picnic table – trying to draw our attention away from the task at hand and onto him by any means necessary.
Heeeyyyy Buddy!
April 17, 2012
I received a sweet bird feeder from my mother-in-law for Christmas that I adore. I’ve become quite the avid bird watcher. Maybe the term ‘bird watcher’ is a bit strong. I’m not that girl roaming nature trails sporting the matching taupe vest and oversized hat with sweet clip on binoculars but nonetheless, they fly in hot and heavy and I get all bothered. It makes me so happy when a little one flies in to feast, but I can rarely name the type of bird.
How To Rip Out Vines (While Keeping Your Sanity Intact)
April 23, 2015
I haven’t posted in nearly a month and it’s driving me crazy. Have you missed me? I have so much to say and so much to share. I haven’t been sitting on my bottom around here, I assure you of that. After moving on from the non-alcohol related hangover of Harrison’s birthday week, Matt and I started to really enjoy some of the gorgeous weather Connecticut has been afforded of late.
I spy ___________
March 28, 2012
You’ve already heard my whole spiel here about how I love spring. “Blah blah” you’re saying… “we get it, move on to your next house project…” BUT FIRST (dun dun dun) a game of I Spy… Matt and I were running Griff around the backyard tonight after work and during a yard lap, Matt asked me if I saw what he saw in the back woods. Do you see it?
Our first harvest!
July 18, 2012
Matt and I both have vegetable gardening in our blood. That is, to say, that folks on both sides of our families enjoy tending a garden and reaping the rewards of a harvest. My dad has been really into it over the last few years. Maybe it’s his less taxing schedule. (Hello summers off and shorter hours!) Maybe it’s his somewhat newfound solitude. (Hello all three daughters out of the house!
School House Road Trip: Cape Cod Edition
September 24, 2012
After my trip in February to make my sweet tablecloth, I’d been trying to get back up to the Cape to help my nana (you know - the one that sews me curtains and things) with some things around the house. We’ll call it a school house road trip - where we do school house rehab-esque things for others. She mentioned needing some help in the garden as well as some odds and ends.
State of the Garden (Late June 2013)
June 25, 2013
Nearly three weeks ago, I posted a series of (very amateur) photographic shots of some plants around the yard. We had so much rain in May that I titled the post, “May Showers Bring June Flowers,” because “April Showers Bring May Flowers” didn’t really fit. That was three weeks ago, so here we are now, with some new blooms that have popped up around the ol’ school house. Three weeks ago, I had one calla lily bloom.
Stormy Switcheroo
May 15, 2012
I’m not going to do a big foreword on this post. You’re welcome! ;) I’m just going to tell you that we replaced the back storm door and it was a top priority of ours… I think you’re all bright enough to see why… Refer to the picture below for hints… Wow, right? So gross. I haaaate that door. Once we had a nice day late last fall and a couple of hours free, we went at it.
The show down...
June 2, 2012
While I was hustling and bustling around the house this rainy Saturday, I paused to take this shot of Griff giving the ol’ stare down to an intruder in his space. This deer is actually in the neighbor’s yard (note the overgrown weeds along the stream…yikes) but Griff is protective of anything within eye and earshot. Classic.
Weekend Recap: Bonfires, Brews and Ball(s)
September 9, 2012
I hope everyone had an awesome weekend! We had some crazy weather come through on Saturday but today seems to be the start of a string of nice days. I’ll take 75 and sunny all year long, please. Order up! We kicked off the weekend using our little homemade fire pit which is comprised of alternating bricks stacked in a square shape. It boasts the awesome price tag of $0 - the previous owners left a pallet of bricks for which we had no use.
You are what you drink... and other weekend updates
June 10, 2012
There were a few loose projects lined up for this weekend. I wanted to paint a couple of interior doors, do a brake job on my car, and tend to some yard maintenance. Before we tackled any of the above, we took a ride to the Thomas Hooker Brewing Company in Bloomfield, CT (a suburb of Hartford) on what was mostly a dreary, wet Saturday here in CT. It really put the kibosh on any productivity that might have happened on Saturday because we had way too much fun.