our house
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our weekend.
David. Is recovering from hernia surgery, and his dad brought over the best get well gift ever: a rescued baby squirrel. David has adopted the squirrel, who Amie named Pip, feeds him from a dropper, and the two are now inseparable. Jules. I spent a happy couple of hours sitting on the back steps, cleaning my houseplants leaf by leaf. I’ve never done that before, but when I noticed literal cobwebs growing on a couple of them, I decided that the time had come. They all look much happier now. Judah. Is officially taller than his Mum-Mum, who feels like it was just yesterday that…
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january.
Remember, the time of the year when the future appears like a blank sheet of paper a clean calendar, a new chance. On thick white snow you vow fresh footprints then watch them go with the wind’s hearty gust. Fill your glass. Here’s tae us. Promises made to be broken, made to last. – Jackie Kay
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front yard garden tour.
Yes, we are the neighbors with a vegetable garden in our front yard. It may be a little un-orthodox here in the south, but people generally seem intrigued, and sometimes downright inspired. It’s definitely a conversation starter. We still have garden beds in the back with lettuce, radishes and onions currently growing, but they’ll need to go away for the kitchen/back porch renovation, so David’s gradually migrating to the front. Plus we’re thinking of making the back yard more of a place for parties and kids to run free and play (i.e. not consider our raised beds sandboxes), and using this front space for the garden. He started everything from…
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master bedroom 2019.
Two years ago today we were neck-deep in our master bedroom addition. We were preparing for a church New Member’s class and I was shedding tears because there was a giant hole in our living room wall, our front yard was a mud pit, and there was a good possibility that the roofers would not be finished in time for us to welcome 25 people into our home. Well, guess what. We survived that season and that New Member’s class. I’ve learned so much since then. I’ve learned that a brand new toilet and crisp white subway tile still get dirty in the regular disgusting ways that any bathroom gets…
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the workshop, 2019.
I’ve got a couple of house update posts for you, which make me very happy. First off, the backyard. David dismantled and gave away our kids’ play house a year ago, and built a workshop in its place, which I shared with you here. He painted the workshop, but then it sat for a year while we saved up money to finish it, and he focused his outdoor efforts on smaller yard projects. We’ve composted for several years, but David has always wanted to build a system with several bins to make it more efficient. His secret to quick turnaround with compost is using lots and lots of dry matter,…
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poetry teatime.
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the master bedroom is finished and reflections on our house addition.
I’m very, very thankful to report that our master bedroom is finished! The addition itself was completed a year ago in May. Actually we moved in on our 13th anniversary! We furnished our room with the bare essentials and called it a day. I was itching to have it feel finished but also completely exhausted and experiencing major decision fatigue from the entire project. We needed to just be in our new space and rest for awhile. Here’s a little trip down memory lane: February, 2017: March, 2017: April, 2017: May, 2017: End of May,…
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home-from-vacation gratitude.
For dropping the suitcases and bags of sandy swimsuits at the door, and choosing to waste time roaming in the backyard first. For the sunflowers our next-door neighbor gave us. For the teeming garden and salads with lettuce, kale, carrots, cucumbers and radishes, all grown by my husband, who works outside every day in order to create something useful and lovely. For learning to use a sprinkler to keep everything watered. For butterfly bushes, which I pruned down to two-feet in February, now nearly as tall as I am. For butterflies in our backyard. For slugs and cockroaches and mosquitoes. For a living yard, even with…
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front yard garden.
It’s good for me to discipline myself to show you photos of the front of our house, because then, when I post pictures of other parts, like the boys’ room and our bedroom, you’ll know that there are spaces that need plenty of work. Case in point: Currently we don’t have any sort of a driveway or a front lawn. Our addition was finished in May 1017, so basically we’ve lived with a big sand pit for an entire year (well longer if you count the building process). I’m very thankful to live in a neighborhood where no one much cares what we do or don’t do to our front…
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the magical rug (a lesson in patience)
A home is like people in this way, always evolving, waiting. The best details tend to unfold with time. – Bethany Douglass This spring David and I split a sum of money we received to use for our own personal house projects. I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that I wanted to spend my half on the inside of our home, while David’s is for the yard, specifically his gardening schemes. I love decorating our house and always have ideas swirling in my head. But like I’ve told you before, I really do try to steer clear of Pinterest and design blogs and Homegoods until the time comes for…
