Blogs I love

I love blogs.  I love reading blogs.  DIY blogs, home improvement blogs, decorating blogs, food blogs... I love them all.  Writing my own blog?  Wasn't as easy as I thought it would be!  I have not given up hope, I will try again.  But until I master it all, I still love reading blogs.  My family knows how much I love reading the ones that I follow, and my daughter even calls it my blog love.  And sometimes I feel kinda stocker-ish, you know?  Reading my blog loves, and learning about their lives, and not even introducing myself to say hi.  So this is me saying hi..."Hi y'all, I love your blog."

So I would like to give a shout out to you, my blog loves.  You are the ones that inspire me, motivate me, and make me believe I can do anything. 

Young House Love - I first found YHL when planning my own DIY wedding, and stumbled upon their beautiful backyard wedding archive. At the time that I found them, they were just having a baby!  A new beautiful baby, and DIY home improvement?  I was hooked.
DIY Diva - Have you met this bad ass tool wielding chica?  I mean hello?  Get a contractors license and build a house?  Yes please.  Buy a 150 year old farm house and make it your own?  Why not?  She literally made me believe I really could remodel my own kitchen all by myself with this one post.
The Flipping Couple - They are just about the most adorable DIY couple you could ever read about, and their furbabies are the most precious things ever!
For The Love Of A House - Her decor is pure eye-candy!  I just get lost in the beauty of her home.  People, my house will never get 1/10th as gorgeous as this, and that's ok.  But oh my goodness, it is stunning to look at!
A Country Farmhouse - Again, absolute home eye-candy!  And babies!  She posts the prettiest flowers photos, and occassional recipes, and adorable babies.  Awwwws at every turn.
Beth's Journey - Beth is truly an inspiration on healthy eating and exercise.  Both of which I hope to one day do.  Haha.  She introduced me to eating 'whole foods' and her quest and passion for being healthy is an inspiration.
The Pioneer Woman - What's not to love?  Food, cute kids, ranch living, more food, a husband in chaps, and more food.  What can I say?  She knows my weaknesses...

The Kitchen Construction Post 1

It has been a while since a post has been up. But one makes plans and then life gets in the way. So we are redoing the kitchen. Some modifications have already been done, but lets look at it. The pantry had more shelves that have been removed. We plan on making the cabinets white to open up the room since its so small.

Introducing....(drum roll)

This is my future hubby...well not officially...he hasn't popped the question, and I haven't popped the question yet either, as he made me aware of last night that it is the 21st century and women can pop the question too...was that a hint? Prolly not, women read way too much into statements sometimes. But I love him and I plan on keeping him either way ;o)

Coffee Time

My daughter made this mug for me when we went to King's Dominion this summer. On a rainy dreary day like today, it is my cup of warmth and sunshine, cheesy but true.

Planning Ahead

I have not posted in quite a while. I really cannot do anything that I had wanted until I can get the inside fence put up because the pups are just to menacing and will destroy whatever I put out. So I am at a stand still. I could attempt to do something with the front yard, but my heart is not in it, I don't spend much time in the front yard. I suppose I would spend more time in the front yard if I actually did something with it, you agree? vicious circle I suppose. Here are some photos that have inspired me and how I envision the back yard to one day look. What a slow agonizing painful waiting process...

So this is how I am imagining my Shasta Daisy Bed, packed full o'daisies. Hundreds just all overflowing and spilling out all over the place. I am thinking about maybe a small white picket fence.

On the Sunflower side of the shed I plan on planting lots of mammoth sunflowers, that area is in full sun almost all day long and I am hoping the Sunflowers will enjoy that. I plan on mammoths in the back, autumn sunflowers in front of them, and edging with adorable teddybear sunflowers.

These asters would go wonderfully with the blue of the house and the garden shed. I am drawn to colors that will compliment my blue house on Pine Avenue (hence my blog title) I do not want to many colors that will contrast too much, like yellows and oranges, the sunflowers will prolly be the only privileged sunny colors allowed...

Clearing The Daisy Bed

This is my rain barrel. Just one of those light weight "wooden" but really plastic planter barrels from Lowe's with a wooden plank screwed to the top. The plank has a hole drilled into it and the pump is bolted to it. Then a PVC pipe from the pump hanging straight down into the barrel. I have a mesh net over the top to keep debris and pups out of the water, but as you can see, the big pup Edison has pushed the net down in the back, rotten pup. You have to "prime" the pump first so I always leave a little water left in the watering can to use to prime with the next time I water. It has worked pretty well, but after doing some reading on GardenWeb, they have some great ideas on rain barrels, I think I will modify.
















I spent the afternoon a couple of days ago clearing out this section that will become the Daisy bed, I picture this full of hundreds of Shasta Daisies. First I had to clear out all of this darn black landscaping fabric. I had planted a few Iris bulbs, about 25 I think, last fall. I had to poke holes into the fabric and push the bulbs into the ground through the holes. Then of course the next day Edison had to dig in the bed and find out what cool things I was planting. So, only about 6 or 7 iris came up through the fabric. This guy in the pic had his poor roots all interwoven in the fabric, but he made it!

The landscape timbers are just there right now to define the space, so I could visualize how big I wanted it. I will lay down cardboard and cover with mulch to get rid of the grass over the winter. Winter sowing will be used to start the Shasta Diasies, and a little white picket fence is going to enclose them, so they can spill over the fence, and use the fence as support. I can hardly wait for spring. I may move the rain barrel to the front yard since it is kind of a cute feature, and use it to water the roses in the front. I am considering using a larger barrel and putting a spigot and running a irrigation hose into the daisy bed, and around the side of the garden shed where I will plant Sunflowers.

Diabolical Fiends!

Don't let the cuteness fool you, they are diabolical fiends! The cuteness is just a defense mechanisim. See the pitiful looking stubs of wood sticking up out of the ground? That was a young river birch, before these two got a hold of it. I have also tried planting a pin oak tree, some english ivy, iris, and hostas. The iris may come back in the spring I am hoping. In a week or two the dog fence will be installed and their days of botanical terror will come to an end.