Pond Project....Phase 1

Forgive the silence....vacation was calling. But now it's back to reality. In the previous post, I alluded to the fact that our latest project involved 1,500 lbs of stone. I'm not lying. 

Let me back up for a second...we have this awkward garden bed next to our screened in porch. It's a strange square-ish (I say "square-ish" because it's not to proportion). It was HATE at first sight. It's random, has VERY minimal plants (per the previous owners) and was lined with brick. Yuck, yuck and yuck. 

This was what the garden bed looked like last summer. 

We planted a hydrangea and put some herbs in the large blue pot. What to do with this garden bed.....hhhmmm?

The hubs and I have always wanted to have a small pond in our yard. My family had one growing up and it was fun to feed the fish and was a great focal point in the yard. Problem solved. Our random garden bed was the perfect spot for one.

So we laid out the garden hose in the shape we liked and started digging...

And digging...

Digging this hole was not easy at all. We have A LOT of clay in our soil which is very dense making it near impossible to dig up. We also ran into numerous large roots that we had to chop out. 

 (A perfect project for the hubs to wear his duck boots...duh)

Several hours later, sore backs and a few (bleeps), 
we were finished digging.

A few days later we had an afternoon of heavy rain....
which resulted in this...

Please excuse the poor picture. 
We had a GIANT muddy hole. Not exactly the pond we had in mind :(

Next up was to get some stone for the border of the pond. So off we go to the garden center to purchase a 1/2 pallet of stone. 
Hello 1,500 lbs of stone. 

So how are we supposed to get this home? Delivery was out of the question because that fee was the cost of the stone. We couldn't justify that. Our only option....loading the stone into the back of our car. Not kidding.

Here is the back of our Jeep loaded with stone. It took us 3 trips (a special thanks to my in-laws for helping!) to get all this home. Oh, and don't mind the wiffle bat. The hubs is a kid-at-heart so we are always prepared for an impromptu game of wiffle ball!

Phase 1 of the "Pond Project" complete. Stay tuned for phase 2!

A Case of the Mondays...

Perhaps my case of the Mondays can be attributed
to the latest project that the hubs and I have been slaving over.
It involved 1500 pounds of these.....

I'll take 2 Advil with my morning coffee, thanks.

More to come...stay tuned!

Shutters to Nowhere

I fell in love with these shutters at the Luckett's Spring Market back in May. They were part of Miss Mustard Seed's collection. 

I had shutter envy.

I had no clue what I was going to do with them, and I certainly didn't care about that small detail. 

All I knew was that I just HAD to have them.

2 months later, the the hubs and I decided to put them in our hallway. It was a process trying to hang them...we had to rip out the laser level. Uh oh. Here is the hubs hard at work...I of course, ran to get my camera. DUH.

After much back and forth on the measurements and plan of attack, we finally figured it out...

I just love the worn paint on these shutters...

And adore the old metal latch....

And even the discoloration that resembles bird poop...

Here they are in the hallway!

Stay tuned for updates on the most recent outdoor project 

that the hubs and I have tackled....

Fresh From The Farmers Market

There is nothing better than a fresh cut flower bouquet 

from the farmers market to make your day.

I dragged the hubs with me to the farmers market this morning. We got halfway there and realized that I forgot my camera...boo. I'm kicking myself because they had such great stuff! 

It was a successful trip though. 

Peaches, check. 

Homemade sour cream crumb cake (yummm), check. 

Fresh cut flowers (my favorite), check. 

Happy 4th of July!

 Hope you all had a great holiday weekend. 

The hubs and I started another outdoor DIY project. 

Stay tuned!

Milk Paint

When one of my favorite bloggers revealed another secret paint she used was milk paint, I knew I had to get my hands on some.

 I bought mine from Mister Milk Paint. Believe it or not, this small bag of paint is enough to make 1 pint of liquid paint.

Milk paint has been around forever and was especially popular in Colonial America. It's made from milk protein and other natural ingredients. As you can see it comes in powder form. When mixed with varying amounts of water, you can create different effects depending on how thick you mix the paint. But overall it does not cover as well at latex paint, which is fine by me! It gives more of a soft finish to things which creates an aged look. Just what I like. 

I am hoping to use this on one of the chairs I have that is currently collecting dust in my basement. Note to self - get your act together and start painting!!

Stay tuned for an update on my experience with milk paint!

Take Your Dog To Work Day

 Today is "Take Your Dog To Work Day". I'm not lying. 

Sadly enough, I didn't get to bring Emmit to work with me today. If I did, I would most likely find him sleeping on the job....

Or I could put him to work supervising others. 

He seems to excel at this task...

And after a busy day at the office, I am sure he would look something like this.

Heck, I'd feel like this after a busy day at work too!