spring has sprung!

happy little bushes

For too long now, our front garden area looked like this:

Sad little dried out bushes, pathetic looking mulch and a rickety old cracked border.

We knew we wanted a change, but didn't know exactly where to start.  So a couple of weekends ago, we set off to Blue Mount in search of some ideas.  We knew ripping everything out and starting all over would be a big job, and we probably wouldn't be able to walk for a couple of days.

But lets face it, that garden looked pathetic.  It was time to get to work.

Right away, we gravitated towards the Japanese Barberry bushes.  I loved the deep plum color of the leaves, and it also came in a yellow variety that provided nice contrast.  We found a guy at the nursery to help out sketch out a plan, alternating colors and sizes, and loaded up the car with bushes, stone and lots of mulch.

We got busy and in one weekend, completely changed the look of our front landscaping.  Andrew did most of the hard work, I was there to play DJ and order the pizza. 

I think it looks a million times better, and it actually makes me happy to walk past it everyday.

Yes, that is a ghost hanging on my front door.  The boys are so excited for Halloween already, so I've been busy decorating for fall, too.

h-o-t

Today is a record breaking, ass scorching on your car seat, hotter than hell day. We tried to get out back and do a little yardwork this morning before the stifling heat arrived but we didn't last too long.  It was off to the pool and into the deep end for a cool down.  Today's the kind of day where you can only be one of two places - inside with the A/C at full blast, or in a pool up to your shoulders in cool water. 

Unless you're a sunflower.  If you're a sunflower, this is the kind of day you live for.

locovore living

Yesterday afternoon, we had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at the home of one of Andrew's coworkers. She is a big advocate of eating local food and supporting local agriculture, and writes a couple of great blogs accordingly...Locavore Chronicles, and Linna's Garden Journal.  In addition to working full time, she has a 9 month old, a 4 year old and speaks locally about gardening.  I don't know how she does it all! She gave Andrew tons of advice and ideas on getting our garden started last year.

They live in the country, about 30 minutes from us.  Her garden is incredible, and they have a great pool the kids played around all afternoon while we grilled.   She's a terrific cook and we had chard macaroni and cheese, fresh roasted beets and homemade bread, along with a fresh tart cherry and rhubard tart, all made with ingredients from the garden.

They also gave us a few fish for our new backyard pond.

They have an amazing cherry tree in full glory right now and Dylan and I got busy picking sour cherries.  Dylan had a great time picking and declared he was going to fill the whole bag. Aren't they beautiful?

 I can't wait to find a couple of recipes to turn these into some yummy treats this week. 

pond of tranquility

This is what happens when its a three day weekend, and your name is Andrew, Backyard Gardening Guru, and you decide to get rid of an unsightly plastic blue sandbox that's been hanging out in your backyard for seven years.    Goodbye messy sandbox, hello beautiful zen pond.  Will add fish soon.

helping me not miss the islands so much

I'm slowly re-adjusting to life back on the 'mainland'.  There are laundry piles to attend to, errands to run, meals to make, PTA meetings to attend, homework to do, a broken A/C to get repaired, and grocery shopping to be done.  I can't get enough snuggles with the kids, and I'm still feeling very zen and relaxed.

One of the nice things about the island was the fresh fruit, and I was thrilled today to find some yummy produce at Wegman's to liven up our meals this week.  It would be hard to come home to cold snowy weather in the winter.  At least its now spring and the produce is starting to look and taste impressive.  We also have a ton of salad greens that have sprung up in our garden...more than we can even eat.  Come on over if you want some salad.  My stepsister and her husband also gave us some beautiful healthy tomato plants leftover from the President's garden (Jay is a gardener at the White House).  Can't wait for those to start coming in.

Artichokes were only 50 cents!

Juicy, sweet and $2.99 for 2 pounds!

goodbye winter!

Today has been the first nice day we've had in months.  The last of the snow is gone from the yard, and we could finally get out there and start cleaning up the mess this crazy winter has created.   I scooped a half ton of dog crap out of the yard so the boys could finally get out there and PLAY and RUN and be BOYS.  Its been months, truly.  And ahhhhhhhhhhhh, what a feeling to have the sun shine on my face, music blasting and finally feeling that maybe, just maybe, spring will be here soon.   Because honestly, if it snows again I think I'll just cry.  Goodbye winter, be gone!

Andrew got the garden beds all prepped and ready and has a bazillion seeds starting to sprout in the basement, just ready to go outside once its warm enough.  This will be Year Two of the garden and I'm excited for eating good, healthy, fresh things right from our yard.  All sorts of peppers, tomatoes, spinach, beets, lettuce, sweet potatoes, herbs, broccoli, and who knows what else.

We didn't quite finish raking leaves last fall before the harsh cold set in, so Andrew tackled that today, too.  But not before Logan took residence in them, rolling around like a wet dog.

i heart yard sales

So I'm a little late with this photo, but better late than never right? This past July, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Bobbie paid us a visit and we had a little cookout action. Uncle Chris, Aunt Jessica and Josh and Maya came over for some grub (if I recall, I believe Andrew smoked some meat that day) backyard play and cold beers (okay, juice boxes for the kids). Anyway, we mananged to wrangle all the kids together and snap this photo of us all, which rarely happens. Bella even snuck into the photo and I got to hold my favorite (and only!) niece.

We're expecting Grandpa Joe again this afternoon for the next few days, and we'll be heading to Dylan's school Fall Fair this afternoon (my awesome spouse is there pre-making cotton candy and inhaling spun sugar right now). The fair was postponed from yesterday's torrential downpour and it appears the sun might be starting to peek out.

However, many good things came from yesterday despite the monsoon. We harvested our second garden cantalope this morning, along with some awesome looking Heirloom tomatoes and beans.

Shopping our huge community yard sale yielded me a awesome new kitchen table and chairs (straight from Arhaus, it looks like it was hardly used, and its totally so comfortable and I got the whole set for a steal can you tell I'm excited?!), Andrew scored a Big Green Egg (BGE) - the Cadillac of ceramic smoker grills (retail price new $750, we got it for $75!), the boys got a (loud and obnoxious) table top air hockey/pinball game, and we also found a great, huge over the fireplace mirror for $5. Love it! Oh, and Andrew and I actually watched a movie last night for the first time in months. Not bad for a rainy Saturday.

hello, summer

Fantastic Memorial Day weekend weather led to many, many bbq's, a concert, a Wii Guitar Hero party, two trips to the pool, and some gardening. Despite some less than desirable behavior out of Mr. Logan a few times over the long weekend, we got in some fun and smiles with friends.

Dylan is right in front of the singer of Black Sheep:

The kids, chillin' like rock stars:

Fun Dip!

Our first sprout of broccoli. We'll have fresh stir fry someday!

how does your garden grow?

When we were house hunting over six years ago, we were having a heck of a time. The market was red hot back then, and you almost had to hear of a lead before it went on the market because by the time you got there, you'd have to beat out ten other offers. Such was the case with our house. We probably looked at 25 houses in a variety of locations, and we were growing frustrated. Either they weren't in the school district we wanted, or they didn't have a finished basement like we wanted, or the yard sucked, or they needed way more work than we could put in with having a one year old in tow...the list went on and on and we searched for months.


When our realtor called and told us to drive by this house one night after work, I knew we had to see it. The first thing I noticed was the front porch and envisioned rocking chairs and tall glasses of iced tea, watching the kids play in the hose. Then I saw a glimpse of the big, flat fenced-in backyard and saw Dylan running and playing throughout his childhood (back then there was just Dylan, no Logan). The icing on the cake was the screen porch on the back of the house. Its an extension of our family room and we've spent many an afternoon, evening and family gathering out there sharing drinks and stories. It fell within a fantastic school district, and was within walking distance to the local library and pool. We quickly put forth our best offer, beating out all the other offers already on the table.

Six years later, we still love it here. Great neighbors, great community, great schools and a house we'll never grow out of.

Our yard is big enough for a nice big playset the boys enjoy everyday:

And we recently landed a free trampoline, thus adding another level to the backyard recreational fun:

But perhaps the most exciting addition to our backyard is the garden Andrew put in this spring. I've had nothing to do it, its been his baby, and we're all excited to see how it does. He followed the Square Foot Method (as recommended by many of our experienced gardening friends), and he's created both a homemade composter and rainbarrel. We're excited about being green at our house these days, and we hope to be enjoying the gardens' bounty all summer and fall. Getting the kids to try some of these veggies will prove challenging, I'm sure, but maybe some good motivation to earn Wii points.

Here are some photos of Andrew's totally-from-scratch labor of love:

The upside down buckets contain different types of tomatoes: cherry's, Mr. Stripey heirloom, and cascading grape tomatoes. In the top of buckets are various herbs. The bottom part of this garden patch contains cabbage (red and white), eggplant, peppers, arugula, and yellow pear tomatoes.

In this bed, he planted broccoli, cauliflower, hot and sweet peppers.

In this middle bed, he has collard greens, sugar snap peas, wild onions, stevia and sunflowers.

Logan helping the sunflowers along...

This last plot contains green beans, cantaloupe, roma tomatoes and more sunflowers. In the background you can see Andrew's homemade rain barrel, which has been getting a work out with all our rain lately.

We may decide to change some veggies and fruits out throughout the summer depending on what's doing well and what isn't. I think its a great learning experience for the kids on so many levels, and I know Andrew is really enjoying learning a whole new hobby.