Outside Busybodies

We have been working hard. The past five years we have lived here we have done little with the place. In fact, it has fallen apart more than it has improved. It looked so nice when we moved in. Now there are things that need to be done by the list-full but we are working our way slowly. Living in a modular park is something I am truly thankful for because we are in the thick of humanity and I love having the opportunity to share with people. It has had it's challenges because we REALLY know people and have had many opportunities to turn to Christ for strength to love in the midst of opposition.

The problem is that not everyone keeps it pretty and we don't have much of a view ANYWHERE. There is the spot out my bedroom window where I can see the green lovely hills if I look above the roof tops and carports.

The deck is nearly all peeled off and we took the border boards off nearly a year ago as they were falling off and I don't want to put money into this deck. Someday, we want a deck twice as big with a roof. So, we lined the deck with pots and have flowers and

tomatoes growing as a bit of a border.

Here is what we have been up to though:

The Border

This may look simple to you...IT WAS NOT! Our Fruitless Mulberry tree is a few feet away and the grass use to go right up to the house. All we had out there was the rose bush and the jasmine. I've wanted to make this area for years. The challenge is the these trees have wicked roots and they are high on the surface. It took us all day just to dig a place for this border. The further we got away from the tree, the faster it went. Rick had to get down in the ground and clip the heck out of the roots. We knew it would be worth it but boy, was it tough. I had bought the border on clearance last year and finally, it is in.

Using What-cha Got

We disassembled a book shelf we had had in the house for a few years when we did the flooring. It was made of pretty stones and boards but we did not want the floor to get scratched with these. I made them in to a fo-wall on the front. Caedmon helped me pick out a few dollar tree accessories for topping it.

The pole for the birdhouse (which I intend to shorten a bit, and may sand it to the old wood so it does not melt into the house color) is from our old deck pieces.

My neighbor had this shabby bird feeder hanging unused for years and years and years. I finally asked her if I could use it and she was thrilled it would get used.
Emma added the swing on her own one day and there it has stayed. I may get a real one to replace it soon. Preferably a rope and plank one. I like the old natural look. We gathered all the rocks we had around from what was left when we bought the place, and made a bordered flower garden around the tree.

I really wanted a birdbath (I'm on a bird loving kick). I priced them and just about died! I googled how to make your own and loved how easy this idea was. I found the biggest pot at the thrift store for two bucks which saved me the most. The two other pots cost about 8 total. I all ready had the blue stones for inside and we we thrilled there were birds at the dollar tree too! I love it. I'll talk about the birdhouse in a second.

Never underestimate the power of a simple Terracotta pot with a flower either, I love that too.

The flowers are just getting ready to burst in bloom from their initial planting. Soon there will be color full daisy's and petunias there.

In gathering ideas for Creative SAHM, I found this idea for old wine bottles. My jasmine needed more water so I plunked one in there. I have a prettier Italian bottle Rick is going to dig out for me to replace this one.

The Heart

My dad made us this birdhouse with Scott years ago. It was painted to match the house we were renting. He made one for my mom that matched their house. Unfortunately mine broke a bit before he passed away. I decided I didn't want to fix it because I did not want to mess with what he made. I came up with the idea to have flowers pouring out of it. I also have sweet pea seeds in there that I'm hoping will pop out soon.
This is also one of my favorite things. I've had this mini wagon since the girls were babies. It use to be at my mom's house. I've wanted to put it in landscaping for years. I love the uniformity of the same pansies in it.

The little boy is VERY SPECIAL. It is from the old barn at my grandparents house in Indiana. The property was very old and had a slave quarters on it. This little black boy may have been made by them, it's that old. He is made out of concrete type mix and painted in little blue bibs, a white shirt and a red hat. He is so old that most of the paint has worn off. He spent nearly 30 years at least hanging by the neck in the dairy barn. That is why his neck is cracked. He was used as a door weight to keep the cows from getting out if the door was left open to the barn. I met him when I was about five years old and was enthralled with him. I would open and shut the door to watch him swing (I did not really get that he was hanging by his neck, to me he looked like he was having fun:). Years later I it made more sense to me why my grandpa had used him. Unfortunately back there they still use the N word and had a lack of respect for blacks.

When my grandparents were brought out here to be cared for, things were sold off or trashed back at their place. I figured no one wanted this little boy. Then, dad got sick and he asked me if there was anything from there I would want before the place was sold. He seemed to think I was silly to just want this little concrete boy. He commented that it would be expensive to ship and I really thought he never thought of it again. Nope, he had a friend fetch him and send him out to me.

It is one of my favorite things and I'm so happy he has a better life now. His little paint job is nearly gone but I love him.

In The Yard

I had wanted to stain the play structure to match the fence but Emma has an artistic side and beat me to it. I decided her graffiti was cute and she can get her juices out on that old thing. Not so sure painting the inside of the canvas top was a good idea. I did not see that till I saw this pic.
The edge of the deck is my seedling potting station (real one from scrap coming soon...be looking for more on that). Here is one of our sugar baby watermelon seedlings.
Sorry about the shadows in a lot of these pics btw. Here is our fig tree! We have wanted one for years and are so excited to have one now. Figs do so well here in this climate. We used the bottom of the pot for some flowers too. Those stepping stones are going for a walk way in the front soon. More root cutting for that, we are putting it off for some reason :*

Using our junk and scraps meant realizing that we could turn this old shelf we have had for 12 years on it's side and plant an herb garden in the shade of the oak tree. So that will go in soon. I will be putting two cinder blocks in front of it on it's side for another layer of herbs there. The shade will protect them in our 100+ summer weather.

Rick did a great job on taking the old steps and making a planter box for me. It all ready had brackets in it and we just used those to hold it together. It's a shabby match to the house too without trying:) We have planted lettuce, salad mix, and arugula here. I can't wait!
The Carport

Some dollar pots and soon these will add some lovely on the other side of the house.
Plans are to put up some white lattice on the back panel and a few large potted citrus. We use this area as a patio in the summer because it's cool. We have our grill out there as well.

The Garden
Saw some stones under the dirt and weeds but did not realize they went this far. Dug it all out and we had a small stone path to the garden! Later on, we will probably add to it.
No one planted these pumpkins. We just throw the kids rotten jack-o-lanterns out and this year they are taking off. We will space them soon.
Green beans and green sugar peas. Caedmon and Victoria love eating these off the vine. It will be great.
We used extra stones we had to make a stepping path for easy watering. I'm watering the garden by hand this year. It also makes it easier to weed.

Reflecting

You know, I don't live in a pretty house. I don't have property or a view, but I'm so thankful. I reflect often on this. Making beauty from what you have, where you are is key. It's like that saying I love from Jim Elliot "Wherever you are, be all there."

This time last year I was so sick. I had just had surgery and I could hardly get through the day depending on my hormones wacking out on me 24/7. I was just trying to survive. It has made me so thankful to be up and doing this spring. The flowers are so much more lovely to me, the birds sing louder, the dirt feels good on my hands. It may be a small piece of heaven, but I love it.

On that note, if you know someone sick this spring. Take them some nature beauty. It may really make their day.

New On The Blog...Make-ahead Monday's!

I really enjoyed making this ahead last week. It really helped our week when it came to food. I'm also going to gym at planned times to be able to watch Food Network since I don't have it at home. Anything I like I'm coming hope and writing down so I remember to try them. I always get ideas that I forget later and I really want to make some new healthy choices around here.

What I'm here to say though is that I'm going to make Make-ahead Monday's a segment here on the blog. It may even be a weekly Vlog if I can Emma to help me. She loves doing camera work but whether she can hold it straight the whole time remains to be seen.

So, this coming Monday it looks like I'll be making the following:

Crunch Baked Spicy Garbanzo Bean snacks

Mediterranean Quinoa salad

Frozen Bean and Cheese Burritos

Celery and Ranch Yogurt Dip

Smoothie Pops

So, if life allows, I look forward to sharing with you each Monday what I come up with to make ahead. I will include recipes or links for them as well.

Makeover Part 2: "Come On-A My House!"

Okay, first you must hear my mood for this post . Click the you tube or you are not allowed to continue (I'm watching you!!! and doing my "Meet the Fockers" Dustin Hoffman gesture ha,ha!)

If you have followed lately you know we have been in project mode. Perhaps you've all ready got to see some of the final product with the dining room. Today I'm here to tell more of the story in pictures and show you some more final pics of the living room.

The line was made with yarn. It had to stretch down the longest part of the flooring so it went from the dining room wall to the laundry room. I did a little under three feet from the wall so I could just trim the wall squares if I needed too but would not have a spot that was too shy of the wall either. Then, you paint the primer on which creates a surface for laying the vinyl. It neutralized the dust that may be left of the floor to keep it from making things stick.
Then, when the primer is dry, the first tile goes down! Sorry the pic is sideways.

From there it's pretty fast progression, stopping to paint more primer though and let it dry before proceeding. Cutting around the vent is the only tough part here.


From here I had to make a decision. We had linoleum in the hallway and we had originally thought we would have our friend puddy the edge smooth and lay the new vinyl right on top and do the same in the kitchen and laundry room. I decided to use the hall linoleum as a trial run to see if I could get it up well enough to just lay it on the floor. It was not easy, the process was to cut and peel it up with the help of a hair drier to warm the glue a bit. The thing about this that convinced me to put the extra work in was one, that the floor would look more smooth, and two that the old glue would help me more with keeping the new stuff secure.


At this point I took a break before heading into the kitchen. I knew that once I started that I'd need convenience foods and mental preparation to have major crazy even more than we had been living with. A kitchen cannot be closed for business for too long! So, I went to paint the laundry room.


I learned a lot about painting red. It's hard to cover light colors with it. I think it took three coats.

Very important to move the heavy stuff on the OLD floor before putting down the new. It was also a great chance to clean out 5 years of dust, goop, toys, dirt off the floor and vacuum out the dryer tube.


I finally got enough coats on to call it good. I chose this color off of a set of red mugs I loved. It's a great Tuscan red. I'm glad I only did the laundry room in this though because it's not a good contrast with the cabinets and it's pretty dark. I like my little punch room though:)

The floor was going to be tricky. You cannot move the appliances out and do the floor under there and work your way back. You have to work from the room back to the wall in order to follow your lines coming down the kitchen. So, the plan was to do the floor under the first part of the appliances and leave the rest in the old linoleum. Someday when we get new stuff, I'll use the vinyl I've saved and lay the rest. Our solution to help me get under there was to pull the appliances forward and lean them back, propping them up with a brick.

Now, it was time to back up and start that kitchen floor. This all took place over days of work btw. I had to prepare to tackle a LOT more peeling up of the old stuff. I won't lie, it was hard. My strategy became peel a row and lay a row. That way, I used the old glue while it was still clean and sticky and I kept the exposed floor covered on both ends as we lived our lives around the project.


The next day I started the harder side. Working around the appliances was tricky and I had to make clean lines at the base of the dishwasher and fridge because there was not propping we could do there.

This is a look back from where I was working. I was all ready thrilled with the stone colors with the stainless steel in the kitchen.

Life going on around us somewhat "normal".

THen came the moment that gave me the most anxiety. The tiles had to go around the island and then come RIGHT BACK TOGETHER STRAIGHT. I was not sure it would, or what I would do if it didn't.
This above is my last process picture. It did come together, it came together perfectly. I was so relieved!!! We propped the stove as we had the laundry appliances and laid tiles as far back as we could.

SO, drum roll, you now get to see the final pics!!!



THEN, on Saturday, while I did a garage sale, Rick and our friend Jake (who knows what he's doing where we don't) laid the living room laminate!! So, here are the final pics of that. I don't have any process ones but if you go back to the links I gave earlier, you will see the crazy we were living with before.







I'm loving the light reflecting!
A lot of trim had to be removed and has to be put back on, floor boards need to be added, the chairs need to be done, and the curtains put up. Then, we are hoping to have a party to thank those who have helped us and who want to just hang out and celebrate it being done. We used money from family for Christmas and birthdays to do this, friends who gave Rick gift cards for his 40th birthday as well, and we finished it off with a little of our tax return. The vinyl cost us about $250 but we have extra to do both bathrooms and replace damages later. That also includes Caedmon's room. The laminate cost $220, the transition border $90 (the VERY expensive part), and the sound barrier for under the laminate was $75. So, doing it all our selves and getting a good deal we really did it very low budget.

Thanks for coming by to see!:)

Makeover Step 2 Complete!!!!

I know I should show you more of the process but I don't have much time and I'm really excited to have ONE clean room in my house!!! So, you get to jump to the end of the story and see the last page for the dining room anyway. I still have to get candles for the ironwork on the wall (great goodwill find for my Tuscan theme) and the chairs are going to get sanded and stained a dark antique walnut stain. OH, and the valances are not up yet!



The flooring makes the the floorspace HUGE! The kids love sliding around.

So, the kitchen and laundry room floors are done too but I have some cleaning still to do before those pics come. The living room is still crazy but we have the flooring (wood laminate) and it goes in this Saturday!!! SOOO excited!