Weekend Update

Hi!

Has it been another week already? 

Here's what I've been working on.

I decided to get some herbs for the backyard.  Instead of putting them in the previous herb garden, which has gotten overgrown with grass (and oregano), I put them right outside the back door.

On the right side of the door is lemon balm (far right) and thyme (in the middle). The plant on the left is a day lily.  There's nothing growing in the pot.  C discovered a snake in the area when we cut the grass on the side of the house!  I think now he's moved away since we haven't seen him (her?) in a while.

On the other side is (from left to right) cilantro, basil, dill, summer savory, parsley.  All of these are annuals.

 Here's a larger shot, where you can see I used to have an old lobster trap, that my mom had bought, in that corner (to the right of the red, yellow, and blue milk crates).  You can also see in the foreground where the herbs used to be.

I moved the trap on top of the old grassy part.

When I moved it, guess who went inside?  Our cat, Lilly!  See her white paws sticking out? 

Which reminds me, when N was about 2, he had a sandbox with some sand shaping toys.  One of them was a lobster.  When we told him what it was, he put it in the trap, because that's where lobsters go! :-)

I've also been working on the drywall in the front room. 

There's an angled wall, that needed a bit of figuring out in order to put the drywall up.

K got the drywall up, but as I began to mud the corners, I came to understand the importance of clean cuts. I had to use the mesh tape to fill in the gaps with mud and then cover that with the metal/paper tape. I tried the plastic edging stuff, but it was only 90 degrees and wouldn't fit the corner.  I read online you could get different angles, but I think my solution will work... We'll see!

I'm hoping to paint in the next couple of days! Yay!

The Lockers are pretty much done on the inside.  (Except C's, who instead of a grey bottom wants white).  I've still got all the outside to do.

I worked 4 times since the 4th, and there's no word on when (if?) the Alberton Library will open.  Right now I've got nothing on my work schedule...

Speaking of work, N has been working picking strawberries in town.  He picks from 7:00am till whenever they finish- usually around 9 or 10.  He gets $.50 per box.  (They sell the boxes for $4!) The first day, he made $4 for 2 hours.  There are about 30 people who pick.  The strawberries need rain so they are not ripening up as they should and this means there are not as many strawberries to pick.  There's no rain in the forecast for the next week.

Besides all this work, K and I got to relax in the pool. 

It's finally warmed up so we don't need our wetsuits!

Next week, K's sister and her man arrive on Sunday and my parents get here on Wednesday so it will be a busy week with visitors!

Have a great week! :-)

How does your Garden grow?

Aah, the weekend's over.

It's the last full week of summer before school starts.  Last Thursday, the kids and I went with my MIL to Charlottetown to be tourists for the afternoon.  We took the Harbour Hippo for a tour.

After, we got apple fries at The Chip Shack.

Meanwhile, back here at the cottage, our gardens have been growing!

Here are the front flower beds.

Here's how they used to look at the beginning of June.

Left side now.

At the beginning of June.

Right side now.

At the beginning of June.

  The hydrangea on the right has way more blooms on it. I'm not sure if it's because I planted it about 2 weeks earlier than the left one or because it gets more sun in the afternoon.  I hope the little one will catch up soon! Also, the plants in front of the hydrangeas send out creepers- not sure what it's called.  I got that plant (along with the bleeding heart plant in the corner below) from my FIL.  I thought he'd be pleased to see them finally planted.  But one day he came up with a friend who told him to tell me I should get rid of those plants because they'll overtake the hydrangeas! He also told me he had some in his yard.  So, I reminded him that he's the one who gave them to me! Funny!  Anyway I think I'll split the green plant that turns red in the fall and put that where the creeping plants are.  I don't know where I'll put them...

Update: The flowers aren't sending out creepers, the creepers are separate plants- perhaps called Four o'clocks, because they have flowers that bloom at that time. I'll try to get rid of them and keep the other plant!

Here's the corner flower bed now.

Here's how it looked at the beginning of June!

Here's the herb/veggie garden by the back patio.

Before:

We even have (green) tomatoes!

As usual, I'm always amazed at how fast things grow!

Enjoy your week! :-)

Library Book Inspiration

Hi!

I checked out a bunch of decorating books from the library and got some inspiration.

Here's the first book.

I've been thinking of taking the top part of the wardrobe pantry doors out

and replacing it with chicken wire, like this.

Here's a picture of a trunk like the one I re-did. 

Here's how we'd like our back porch to look!

Here's a cute nook...

And here's a dresser, kinda like the desk I re-did for DS.

Here's another good decorating book.

I like this table outside.

I think this picture is for the light swagged over.

Here's a ceiling fan with a chandelier under it.  

We have a ceiling fan in the kitchen, but I'd like to hang another light there. Maybe we could combine them?

Another cabinet with chicken wire!

This is a super low window.

I liked pretty much everything in this book.

Here is a master bedroom shower inspiration!

That's all for now! :-)

Window Boxes

Hope everyone in the States had a good Thanksgiving yesterday.  We celebrated by taking our annual family picture which we started back in 2003 when DS was just a baby.  We also had cornbread dressing (which the kids didn't like :-( ) and sweet potatoes for dinner.  Along with the un-traditional kidney beans!

So, while I was cleaning up the yard last week, I discovered the old window boxes I'd made out of the cedar siding we had on the front of the cottage and some leftover wood.  Here's a pic of one in its summer glory back in 2004.  (This is where our front master bedroom window is.) 

These pics must be later in the year, but look how little the spruces are! (And how overgrown the yard is :-))

 

Here's a more recent pic of the spruces! They've grown so much!  (Which gives me hope that I can plant a couple little round bushes in front of the porch and they'll grown to fill in the space.)

Anyway, back to this week, when I found the old window boxes out by the front shed I thought they'd be perfect to go on the rail of the front porch.  So, I went around the yard and cut a bunch of evergreens- spruce, pine and cedar- and some red sticks. I laid it all out on the back patio table where it's the warmest.

 And here's what I came up with.

Here are the boxes up on the front porch.

Here's a closeup of the left side.

And the one on the right.

Nothing too fancy, but a nice touch for some winter decorations.

I hadn't planned on doing the back window boxes, but I had a bit of leftover greenery so I said I might as well!

It looks a bit sparse so I may add some more greenery.  HH cut a bunch of branches out front so I may gather up some of those.

Here it is again with a bit of pretty snow!

Here's a funny cat face DD drew on the car! :-)

I didn't do much else this week!  Thinking of Christmas and crafts and gifts and stuff! :-)