Our Spring Yard ~ Making the most of what we've got!

We live in a subdivision in the country. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, right?
But it's true.
Don't ask!

So, to make up for a lack of wide open space, we've maximized what space we have.

I re-stained our porch bench recently, because it was looking kinda shabby. It's actually an all-in-one, with two seats and a center table, all connected.  

We won it at a charity auction. :)

Here's how it looked earlier this spring:

The previous stain is almost completely worn off.

 While Scott finished the sides of our new raised garden bed, I put a fresh coat of stain on the bench.  Now it looks like this:

I added some thrift store throw pillows and a few accessories.

  

 We brought the chiminea around from the back yard...it never got used there. 

We also brought in these folding directors chairs we found for $5 each at GW last fall.
What a steal at $5 each! 
They can easily be moved closer to the chiminea to roast marshmallows.

We set up the Hammock under our little tree ~ in the hopes that it would inspire plenty of sunny naps.

It definitely works!

AND ~ we even have baby radishes, carrots and green onions sprouting!

 With all of these cheery additions to the porch I just couldn't resist adding a fresh welcome mat.

Now I just need to paint a faux rug onto the patio, refresh the white paint on the railing, hang a bird feeder and a couple of bird houses.

Oh, did I mention we have tons of baby strawberries???

YUM!!!

Almost forgot, here's the before shot:

And again, the After:

 Much better.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Sherry 

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Returning to it's Roots - In the Garden

I was going through my stockpile of photos looking for a shot or two of our old "stage" for the kids, when I happened upon these photos.  These just touch my heart.  This is almost a year ago and you can see that the stage was showing some wear and tear (notice the tape on one side) but it was still a great platform for performing and pretend play. 

Alex came up with a brilliant idea to put flour on the drums (drums created in a previous project) and do a concert, a la Blue Men Group!

 The photos really tell the story:

These two drum tops were a little floppy...perfect for Alex's plan.

Enter Miss G!

Testing out the process.

This would be great in a dark room with a black light on, wouldn't it?

Miss G couldn't resist a little taste test before they were finished.

SOME GREAT MEMORIES FROM THE REPURPOSED STAGE!

Before this became a stage it was the base support for a bed...instead of tossing it out, we just added a piece of plywood, some carpeting and trim to create a platform "stage" for the children to play on.

And now it returns to it's roots!  

Here it is being repurposed as our new raised-bed vegetable garden :

We flipped it upside down and added some more 2x6 boards to build up the sides.

We threw some river rock down to cover up some of the bare earth.

Once the sides were built up we filled it with dirt from the local landscape supply, added some 2x4's to create a frame for our plant net, and finally added some starter plants:

I thought about staining the wood to make it all "pretty" but the hubby pooh-poohed that idea quickly.  Apparently a raised garden bed does not need to look "pretty".  I don't know what his problem is ~ it's not like I wanted him to stain it !! 

It only gets sun from noon to about 7pm...I hope that's enough for the plants to thrive. 

We will soon find out.

*** SEPTEMBER UPDATE***

Um, I think the answer to that question about getting enough sun is YES!  It get's just the right amount of sun.  That must have been some good dirt too because I've never had a single tomato plant produce as much as the one in this garden bed did!

String beans daily and a few Jalapeno peppers

Crates and crates of tomatoes!

This garden produced a phenomenal amount of tomatoes (2 varieties), zuchini squash, string beans, radishes and carrots.  I got a couple of jalapenos, but the bell pepper only managed to pop out one mini bell.  The onions were crowded out and the lemon cucumber (replanted 3x) just could not coexist in this small of a space.  

Very successful first year with our raised garden bed!!!

It was definitely worth the effort and space.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sherry

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A Lift

Have you ever felt like you needed a little lift?

Like you'd fallen down and just need that extra hand up? 

Or maybe you've been feeling the stresses of every day life and a touch of kindness would go a long way in making you smile? 

Every now and then we are touched by someone unexpected.  It could be a long lost friend that decides to reconnect just when you need them the most.  Or a casual acquaintance who is observant enough to notice that you aren't feeling 100%, and offers words of encouragement...just because they care.  Or maybe a cyber-friend who picked up on something being off, and was thoughtful enough to ask.

I'm guessing I'm not the only one whose had times in my life where I could use a little gesture, someone to care, a shoulder, a nudge.   I'll get to the point...

I've just travelled down a bit of rough road...  I don't know how important it is to share the nitty gritty details, but I feel like I'm finally getting back to my self.  What's most important about this "rough patch" is that people noticed something was wrong and they were caring enough to ask if I was okay, to encourage me, and to listen to me when I needed to work through things. 

It just so happens that Natalie of Northshore Days, an amazing blogger friend, was taking part in the "Pass It On Project", initiated by Karah at The Space Between.  Nat has been one of those cherished "encouragers" that have helped me through my "blog learning curve".  THANKS NAT!  And she created this gorgeous little bracelet for me and mailed it all the way from Auckland, New Zealand !!!  What a sweet surprise to receive right before Mother's Day and in a time when I needed a lift:

And that wasn't all that was inside this darling little package that she so thoughtfully embellished:

It also contained this adorable zip charm!

Isn't it fun?  I clipped it onto my handbug for a touch of bright color.

I hope Natalie knows how much it means to me to be thought of and included in this project.  I can't wait to make something and Pass It On to others! 

Hmmm, what to make???

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"Egg-static" about Easter

Today, I ran the Shamrock 5k Run in downtown Portland, Oregon.  It was a cold, cold day.  The weather could only be described as fickle.  We saw some light rain, some hail, some slushy snow, and some blue skies sneaking through occasionally.  IT WAS AMAZING!  (Well, me running three miles, all at once, and by choice is amazing!)  But I was talking about the weather.  :)

This is the beautiful city of Portland,OR, where I ran the Shamrock Run this morning with my sister and over 30 thousand others!  What a glorious day.  Plus, we crossed the finish line together.  Yay for us!!!

When we got back home my mind turned to other things I'm looking forward to...
Like Easter!

Easter is, by far, my favorite holiday of all.

Number one, because it signifies the resurrection of Christ.

It has also become a symbol of leaving behind a long and dreary winter and looking forward to the fresh new life, which is Spring.

And there is pretty much guaranteed to be a chocolate bunny or two around. ;)

After I got home from running, and coffee, and sushi with my sister :)  :)  :)   ~ I chilled on the couch and perused Pinterest.  It's like creating your very own online magazine and filling the pages with things you adore.
Or want to try.
Or just what inspires you. 
It is by far my most favorite time waster! 

Once I'd satisfied my Pinterest Addiction, I grabbed the glue gun and some miscellaneous scraps and went to work trying to create some Easter decorations for our home. 

Hmmmm, what to do with all of these Styrofoam eggs that Mom (In-law) gave to me....

Well...

I hot glued some ivory twine around one of the smaller eggs.

Not bad???

Looks kinda cute all by itself.

Then I hot glued some strips of ivory burlap to one of the larger eggs...

We will dub this one "The Mummy".  No pun intended.

Next I covered one with moss (and hot glued a good portion of my fingertips in the process, yowsa!)

I really like how this one turned out.

And because I don't know when to quit, and to offset "The Mummy", I did another egg in chocolate brown burlap strips...

NOT AT ALL what I was hoping for.  That's okay...it can act as "filler" for the rest.
I'm hoping to find my roll of jute tomorrow, when I have renewed my energy, and create a couple more.  In the meantime, maybe I will be struck with inspiration as to what else I can use to cover them.  I've seen some cute mod podge eggs, done with pretty paper napkins, music sheets, and book pages too.  We'll just have to wait and see.  I've got quite a few Styrofoam eggs to play with.

I think I'll have the preschoolers mod podge some too.  That should be fun!

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