edmonds garden calamity

well I've been putting this off because its such a travesty.... the garden survived beautifully and produced abundantly. So whats the problem?? Well..... we had two lawn treatments over the course of 2 months and about a week after the second one, we started noticing some issues with the plants. After further research and a visit from Pete's sister (who has a degree in this stuff ;) we unfortunately had to chalk it all up to a fun family project...an inedible family project. the lawn chemicals saturated the plants through the soil and we decided it just wasn't safe to eat. The many, gorgeous tomatoes were deformed, some looking more like peppers. Even though we couldn't eat any of it, we let the girls pick and dig to at least have "the experience." The last pic below is just a portion of our "first fruits." It was truly a shame, but we did get reimbursed for our losses and we're definitely up for the challenge again next year.

(I just hope this doesn't count against me in the green thumb department - after all I did keep them mostly alive and prospering till the bitter end ;)



mantle makeover

Another home project checked off the list! Originally we planned to sand down and repaint our mantle, but the dental and ribbed molding just loomed over us and it remained on the "to-do." I believe it probably would have stayed there until I had a VERY brave and VERY free day :)

BUT pete and my dad went to this Habitat for Humanity sale and they happened to have boxes upon boxes of beautiful mantles... lets just say it was quite worth the low price. So out with the old and in with the new! :)

oh and p.s. the "old" one is in perfect shape if anyone wants to buy it :) http://columbus.craigslist.org/hsh/3145679839.html

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

gotta say.... I really enjoy these 1-evening projects :)

Patio project reveal

Patio project is now complete!!! :)

We all agreed afterwards that out of alll the home projects we've done in the last 7 years of marriage, this was by far the most work we've done, in the shortest period of time, making such a big difference.... and boy was it hard work or what!

I was supposed to be training for my first 5k over the last 2 months and that was put on hold for evening upon evening upon weekend upon weekend of what felt like running a marathon but was merely manual labor in the brutal heat! we hauled away close to 14 truck loads of dirt & rocks, hauled in about 10 loads of gravel and 3 loads of sand, and that was just the half of it. we added the arch at the top to have a good view of the sunset... and that's just what we have. the biggest change was probably the stairs & hand railing. We are so happy with the results and especially happy with the $ saved having done all the work ourselves (definitely worth all those sore muscles and completely-out-of-running-shape-with-1-week-before-race fitness slump)

So as usual... this isn't really much of a before & after, but more of a during & after reveal :)

Here goes..... DURING:

Drumroll please.......................AFTER:

Taa da! :)

heres to many enjoyable family and friend times on this new space!

p.s. don't think this means its time for a break on the house project front - next up & coming soon.... new family room mantle! :)

edmonds garden update

so far...so good! my little backyard veggies seem to be really happy :) I've surprised myself (and even my mother) at so far being able to keep up with watering and caring for them. Check out the latest growth in the edmonds garden :)

 happy tomatoes & potatoes:

 first little tomato:

 potatoes are gettin huge!

 string beans goin crazy:

 huge broccoli and lots of onion

Forest Green

so what do you get when you mix black and green??? my thumb.

Its alway been black as night...but im on my way to green, so were currently somewhere in the "forest green" spectrum ;) We are starting small this year to see how we do. Found these awesome raised beds at costco and added our own fencing...finally got it all done! 

On the Edmonds crop menu this season:

Tomatoes, Red Potatoes, Broccolli, White Onions, String Beans, Basil, Thyme and Oregano

Here's hopin I don't kill it all like I've been known to do with...every other plant! At least I've got two very eager little waterers runnin around to help me.  :)



Our Vegetable & Herb Garden:

next up on the home project list: patio!

garage sale!

This weekend we hosted our first garage sale! Let me just say, I have the fondest memories of garage sales at ours and neighbors homes growing up. Us kids always did some sort of stand and it was such a fun couple days. So I was really excited to now be at the point in life to have my own and have kiddos old enough to enjoy it too...it feels like a little life milestone :-)
My mom and aunt both added their stuff too... and it was H.U.G.E. It look us a whole week, working everyday, almost all day to get everything cleaned, organized and priced. Then we had the sale on Friday and Saturday. The highlight of the whole thing was Ellia & Remae's lemonade and cookie stand. They were adorable and Ellia is quite the little business woman! ;) she earned $20 on quarter lemonades and cookies! the sign she made was adorable...definitely a keeper.
All in all, not sure it was financially worth all the work, but we had a lot of fun together AND I have a much emptier, cleaner house (thanks to the hubby's rule: once it goes out, it doesn't come back in). All the remaining items were donated on Monday. As much of a sentimental horder as I can be, sometimes it feels really good to purge!

 making cookies with ellia for her stand...she was so excited!

 check out the adorable sign she made.

eatin their profits :)