Showing posts with label backyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label backyard. Show all posts

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Two for Two

Projects, projects! I have had two projects in the last two days. One small, one bigger. I love projects!! They make me feel useful.So, without further delay...here they are!

Project #1: Small lanterns
I bought two small size tea light candle lanterns for the front yard out of the dollar bin at Target a couple years ago. You can imagine what the weather had done to them!



BEFORE:
 A bit rusty, huh?

AFTER:
Nothing a can of spray paint can't fix!!

Project #2: Raised Garden Bed
I was VERY nervous about this one. I found plans on Ana White.com, my new favorite website, but they look kind of hard to do. Especially, if your forte is NOT handyman!!! I figured if I can sew something than I can build something. I will not be quiting my day job though!

BEFORE:

 A barren waste land, well kind of...

AFTER:
 Fresh veggies will be here before ya know it!!!!

My newest and most favorite hobby, I'm taking on a green thumb!!!

Having the vegetable garden done brings me one step closer to being finished making over the backyard. It's been a long process, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end!!!


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Spring Cleaner

Like most of the furniture in our home, we inherited a weathered wooden deep seated bench from Mark's mom some time ago. You may even remember the bench looking so lonely in the pictures of my barren backyard from last summer. I FINALLY caught the spring cleaning bug, and decided that this spring/summer I was going to enhance our backyard to be family friendly...even if it killed me. So, I put together some soap, water, and elbow grease and got to work. I must have scrubbed that bench for an hour!!! My efforts were not in vain. I discovered that under a thick layer of dirt and crusted on grass, was a very lovely smelling red pine!!! I added a coat of outdoor spray paint to protect the wood from rotting, and new cushions that were a bit pricey for my liking, but necessary. They will be stored indoors to assure a long lifespan!

So, for your delight, I present the beginning of a new oasis:
Before, sorry it's kind of blurry! 

After, looks so comfy!

Goes perfectly with the chimnea Mark gave me for Christmas!!!

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Rundown

So, I have been dreaming up ways to incorporate my projects into our one income family...and the results have not been pretty! My latest project that I have wanted to work on is making our backyard usable! As you can tell from the pictures, BORING doesn't do it justice. There is nothing interesting about it, and quite frankly, our family pretty much avoids it at all times. I want to change that. I want it to be another living space. This project is not going to be a cheap or easy fix- I see a lot of manual labor in my future! After visiting one of my favorite websites, I came up with a pretty cool idea. I am going to try to redo our backyard without spending any money! I want to see if I can get everything I need from bartering or through recycling. Two of the websites I will probably use the most is freecycle.com or craigslist.com I am positive that it will be a long process. I will let you know when something new comes along.     
The kids had a great visit with Grammy. They were there for five days total, and swam at least four of them! While they were there, they got to meet their new cousin, Jacalyn, for the very first time. Abi said she thinks Jacalyn is just so cute and just wanted to kiss her all day! Austin said he didn't want to hold her because he didn't want to stop playing. Austin also described how he was much better at shooting his BB gun than Uncle Jimbo. Grammy later informed me that the can they used for target practice had been used before, but Uncle Jimbo just didn't have the heart to tell Austin!!! I was very glad for them to be home, I missed them very much!
This week we have Vacation Bible School. Naomi and I are working in the preschool area again this year. I have to say, I am not match for their energy, but I really love getting to know each kid! If I make another post, then you will know that I survived the week!

Some funny quotes from the kids this month:
While pulling out of a parking lot, another lady tried to pull in the same lot but on the wrong side of my car. I instinctively start yelling, "what are you doing, you crazy driver!" Abi in the backseat says, "that lady is kind of like a bird, she thinks she can just poop where ever she wants to".
While shopping for a shirt for Mark for father's day, I found what I thought to be a very nice short-sleeve button up in the popular colors of blue and chocolate brown. I picked it up and asked the kids, "what about this one?" Austin says, "Yeah, sure, then we can go find him a shirt with hearts all over it!!!"
Those silly kids keep me laughing!!!