House Project #9: The Front Yard

Last weekend I finally decided that something, anything, needed to be done to the small front yard. When we moved in almost a year ago the yard looked neat, though I didn't necessarily like the plant choices it wasn't overgrown with grasses and weeds. Now after the spring rains and the warmer weather our front yard, while delightfully green is rapidly becoming "That Yard" of the block. It was time to do something about it. After a couple hours of weeding a small patch was ready to be transformed. Behold the power of petunias!



Everything just looks neater with the cedar shavings. And the orange tree finally has blossoms so we might get some fruit from it this years after all!



Kiwi basking in her helper glory

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House Project #8: One can't have too many shoes

One can, however, have not enough shoe shelf space! A couple weeks ago I finally finished painting and installing another set of shoe shelves in my closet. The shelving makes the closet a little darker but I'm hoping at some point to redo the lighting so it comes more evenly from the center of the ceiling rather than from above the door. But that's a different project for a different day...

Now all my shoes have a home!

Now onto figuring out the opposite wall...

House Project #9: Gardening cont

I have full faith that this project will never be completed. At least not to my satisfaction. I'm realistic enough to know that some plantings will work great and other will die. Needs will change as well as time to spend gardening. That being said, here are a few of the highlights of gardening that have been accomplished in the last few months:

Made a stone pad for the BBQ. Next we'd like to build some shelving onto the deck so while Ben is BBQing the plates of food will have a place to be and Kiwi can't get to them!

I added stepping stones both sides of the deck and planting a ground cover that will hopefully grow in and won't get out competed by the weeds & grasses that are loving all the spring air!

We figured that the things that will take the longest get grow in our yard should be planted as soon as possible. Therefore trees were the first thing on the list as it will take at least a couple of years for them to get established and provide some fruit!

Yes, it looks exactly like a stick planted in the ground, but really it's an Asian Pear tree.

This lime tree is flowering well and has already provided delicious, delicious limes which have been made into delicious, delicious cocktails.

Unfortunately this nectarine will have a couple years more growth and then will get dramatically pruned and then after a couple more years of growth will maybe give fruit. It's a complete experiment as it was given to us by a friend who grew it from seed.

Hopefully this mandarin orange tree will flower at some point and give us tasty mandarins, though at this point I'm just hoping it doesn't die.

The two citrus trees have been safe from Kiwi however she's taken an increased liking to the pear and nectarine as she has easy access to them. She's twice tried to dig them up and now they will need to be surrounded by chicken wire until they are strong and large enough to support her digging habit. Hopefully by then she will realize that they will provide her ample shade in the summer and more opportunities to catch squirrels leaping through the air between them.

This concludes all of the garden projects that I had hoped to complete in 2011. Now on to the projects for 2012 which may include that piece of grass and some prettying up the front garden to keep up with the neighbors...

House Project #8: A girl's dream closet

So the day we moved in I decided that I wanted to completely redo my closet design. There is still a lot left to do but at least I'm now at the point where I am using it for stuff and actually going into the closet to get clothes are an everyday basis!

Original closet set up



Shelving removed and ready for patching




Ceiling painted!



Walls painted!

Shoe shelves, dresser and long hanging space up!

Soon there will be even more shoe shelves (because really who doesn't like shoes???) and I still need to figure out exactly how I'm going to work the other wall for more hanging space. Oh, and a space for hats & scarves. And handbags... I may need a bigger closet...

Catching up from 2011...

Wow, so I can't believe that it's been since July that I've posted. It's not like we've been slacking off in the house projects, but I guess I've just been slacking off in the blogging about it...

Briefly, in the last 6 months:
We had a very successful house warming party in July. Many of our new neighbors stopped by to introduce themselves.
More work has been done to the garden (longer post later).
Kiwi has her own dog house courtesy of Ben and my mom (hopefully Ben will post on that).
Many trick or treaters loved my all out Halloween decs in the front windows.
Thanksgiving found us hosting it for the first time in our new place. The kitchen performed wonderfully and I got to break out my grandmother's china for the 9 person dinner party.
All in all our lives appear to be slowing down enough to be able to accomplish/finish some projects that have been on the list for awhile.

House Project #9: Gardening

This house project might never be done but there is a plan for the garden I promise! The first thing accomplished was to use the existing stepping stones that were scattered around the garden and make a washing pad for Kiwi that still looked respectable and would someday tie in with other areas of the garden. Amazingly we had enough stones already so it only took a few hours to puzzle them together and then a couple more hours to get them level. Planted among the stones (with the hope of growing between them and creating a nice ground cover) are Corsica Mint. They're supposed to have nice small purple flowers in the spring and has a strong peppermint smell when the leaves are crushed. Hopefully they will eventually fill in between the stones someday!

Kiwi giving her paw of approval