i. am. so. old.

And do you know why that is? Well, one reason is that I went to bed at 8pm a couple of nights ago...and I loved it. :) The other reason is that I am SO excited about grass. So very excited.

This is our backyard...or was our backyard. We have been trying forever to figure out what to do with this patch of earth back here...mulch just makes it dirty...stones seem very un-kid friendly and for some reason we couldn't get past those two options.

Then I asked Doug if we could just try sod...it ended up being only $24 to do this back patio area. I also added an edge around more of the garden area around the bbq.

And here is the finished product. I. Love. It!!!! It completely transformed the whole area and provided a nice finishing touch to all of the work we have put into this backyard over the past three years...grass, fence repair, fence staining, planting, edging and more. Now it provides the perfect place to play and hang out. I love it all!

And just for good measure...this is what the backyard looked like when we moved in...see how the fence is all uneven and messy looking? It literally looked like five different people built it at different times...none of which knew what they were doing. :) It had weird garden boxes...that ugly white stone walk, a vine that attracted beetles and spiders and no plants. (Sorry the photo is terrible...I scanned it in from the brochure we got when we looked at the house the first time).
I love what it looks like now! :)

And just one more shot of my sweet little dumpling. The first photo and this one above are a couple of good shots I got of him in the yard today. I swear...sometimes he is so sweet I could just nibble on him! :)

xo

Getting things done...

Let's start off with some shop talk...above is the only crafty thing I did all weekend! :) It is a custom order for a sweet customer...I may have to make more...it is such a sweet little brag book don't you think? I'm switching things up a little in the shop...I may start carrying some supplies and such as I go through some of my stash...

AND I have white house towels again! Let me know if I can make some just for you! :)

Everything seems to be blooming in the yard...LOVE these Canterbury bells. :)

And these sweet pink hydrangea...

Nothing says warm weather like watermelon, right? Gettin' ready for some of our BEST friends in the world to come visit tomorrow. :) They don't make people much better than the Selents
They are more than friends to us...they are family. Shoot, Michelle was there when Moses was born...front and center (I have blocked that from my mind) and still loves me. :) We can't wait to see them...tomorrow will be a great day!

And this is what we did all weekend...this is our poor fence before. We have no idea what the previous owners were trying to do...unless they were both blind, there was no reason for this fence to look like it did...different heights, sizes, etc. It was a mess.

Here is the during. Getting the lattice up. Foreman on the project, front and center.

All finished...minus a new stain job that will happen some time in the future...all the same height...cute little copper caps on the posts, lattice...we also found some HUGE perennials 75% off...and a sweet Wisteria that I am hoping will take over the other side of the fence. :)

Hope you all are well and blessed!
I'm thinking about doing another goody bag giveaway in the next few days...stay tuned!

My other love...

is in the garden. I could spend hours out there, pulling weeds, planting, watering, digging, arranging...making it all just right. I have worked really hard on our garden here in C'ville. It hasn't been easy, I didn't have much to start with but today for the first time, I saw the start of where I wanted our yard to be...I still have some work to do....three more hostas and a few loads more of rock and stones but it will be beautiful this summer.
Here are some of my favorite spots...

I LOVE nasturtium. I plant packets and packets of them every year. They are hardy, viney and downright lovely. They are impossible to kill. I love that.

Here is the window box under my kitchen window. :) It just seems happy to be there.

My mini-boxwood. I LOVE boxwood. This is by our back door, welcoming the back door visitors.

I love viney, spreading things. I think that has to do with my lack of patience. I want things to grow. NOW.

This goes to our back door. We have added spreading plants and stones for a cottagey like look. We have a lot of work to do on the fence.

I do this every day after I blog. :)

I built this wall. It's not done yet but it has already transformed how the back looks. I moved the day lilies to this spot last fall.

And here is what has been on my heart lately. Being a Titus 2 woman. And all that encompasses. Hand in hand with that I have been wondering if those that have fought so hard for feminism have realized that for as much as it has done good for women, hasn't it hurt just as many? I feel like the race to be "equal" to men has made hard for those of us who are ok with being submissive. The push for women to be equal in the workplace makes it harder for women to stay home in the first place. The strive to "be independent" makes being taken care of by our husbands unattractive. Does anyone understand any of that? I would love to hear some feedback on this. Am I the only one who feels this way?

EDITED TO ADD: I am not anti-feminism in that I agree with Sara in that the feminist movement has done a lot to improve the way women are treated. I just want the right to stay home or to be anti-feminist to be fought for just as hard as the right to be paid the same as a man. I know that in my college experience, I was endlessly railed for knowing then that I wanted to be a SAHM mom. I was told that I would be wasting my degree, why was I even in college in the first place if I wasn't going to use my degree, why would I want to let a man take care of me, etc. You get the picture. That is my experience with feminism. :) Sorry if I offended anyone. That was not my intention. :)

And. I have a dilemma for you. We live on a loop. The street is pretty busy, cars speed through on a regular basis. There are ALWAYS young (2 and up)children playing IN THE STREET. Their parents are never watching them. The kids often refuse to move out of the way when people come through--like the cars have some nerve being in the street. I am terrified that a child is going to be hit by a car but I am certain that these are not the kind of neighbors that I can walk up to and discuss this with...I am sure I would get a "mind your own" business kind of response from them not to mention dirty looks. What would you do to help ensure that these unsupervised kids don't get hurt?