Whim-sy

May 1st, 2008

Summer is coming! Summer is coming! Do you know how I can tell? Target has all their fun, summertime accoutrement on display in the front of the store. This year’s collection is designed by Cynthia Rowley, and the line is called Whim. Bright, bold colors are everywhere, but my favorites are the blue and green.

It makes me want to have a party, or at the very least tote my stuff to the beach. Except… I don’t live anywhere remotely near a beach. Does the canal walk count?

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Walls

April 20th, 2008

I’ve lived in my house now for just over six years, and I have yet to really do any landscaping. It’s freakin’ expensive to hire someone to do it, and I’m not an outdoorswoman by any means. I’ve also had a hard time figuring out exactly what it is I want to do out there, too… there are just so many options.

Mine is the type of house that comes with six shrubs and two trees when it’s built… usually some kind of evergreens and a flowering plum or pear. I was lucky enough to get plum trees; every single house in the neighborhood besides mine has Bradford pears. I’m happy to be a nonconformist, even if I had no choice in the matter. Anyway, about a year or so after I moved in I had a landscape guy come and tear out one of the two flowering plums in my front yard. It was a nice little tree, but since the front of my house faces north AND I only have one window on that side of the house, I was afraid it would be a little too dark. I also had him tear out the six little evergreen shrubs, mostly because I wanted a bigger flower bed across the porch, and also because they were stunting my creativity. I just couldn’t figure out what else to plant around them, and they were pretty puny.

In addition to pulling out the tree and shrubs, I had the landscape guy create a giant 5′ deep flowerbed that stretches all the way across the front porch (20′), down the length of the sidewalk (15′), and over to the driveway (5′). That’s 200 square feet of flowerbed, give or take. Here we are, 4 years later, and all I’ve managed to plant is three puny hostas, a Virgina Sweetspire, and an Andromeda bush. The hostas have done great, but they look lonely. The Andromeda hasn’t done well; the soil where it’s planted is terribly wet, and it hasn’t grown at all. The Sweetspire looks great, and sends up new shoots every year.

This year, I’ve decided, is the year I’m going to DO SOMETHING with the outside of the house. I’m going to rip out the steel edging around the giant flowerbed and let the part that goes down the sidewalk and to the driveway go back to being lawn. Then, I’m going to dig up the plants, build a big raised bed/retaining wall thingy across the front porch, fill it with good dirt, and start over. I can’t wait to get started. I need help figuring out which type of retaining wall bricks to buy, though. I went to Lowe’s and Menard’s to price different styles, and I think my favorite is the one from Lowe’s, which is (of course) the most expensive.

This is the one from Lowe’s. I like the color; it’s a little pinkish and so matches the brick a little better.

This one is really a paver, to be used for patios and walkways, but I think it would work for a wall, too.

This one is similar to what I found at Lowe’s, but it only comes in a tan or gray and I’m just not sure about either of those colors. I suppose I could buy a sample and bring it home to see how it looks…

Any thoughts? Suggestions? I’m hoping to get this done by the end of May so I can enjoy it all summer.

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Feelings, nothing more than feelings

April 19th, 2008

I spend a lot of time browsing Etsy. I love it, and could spend a fortune. Everything is so reasonably priced, for artisan-quality work, and I feel like I’m contributing to “the arts”.

One of my favorite searches is for felted wool. I’m so intrigued by what happens when you wash wool sweaters! And people create such fabulous stuff… I’m so in awe.