Tree-diddly Fence

Which is “tree fence” for all of you who don’t speak Ned Flanders.

I should start this story by letting you all in on a little secret, which is actually more of a public declaration. We affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call our next-door neighbor Ned, as in Ned Flanders. The similarities are striking: he has two teenage sons, he is forever annoying, he is over-the-top nice, and he is super religious. Not that there is anything wrong with the aforementioned list of personality traits (covering my ass), but he is a little…. um…. shall we say…. “stalkerish”? He sees either one of us outside and he appears out of the blue in under 2.4 seconds with unsolicited advice on how to do whatever we are doing better and/or more efficiently and/or the way he does it. Or just to tell us that he’s doing P90X. Or that he’s planting a garden. Yay, Ned. Thanks for sharing.

I know some of you might think I’m being somewhat harsh. I’m not. You might even think we should just give him another chance. We have.

We do take time to reflect and put the situation in perspective, though. We are grateful that he’s not grumpy and crotchety. That would be terrible. We’d take an overly-nice-yet-annoying neighbor over a mean one any day.

Ned’s house is pretty close to ours, and the not-so-neat side of his house is all we could see out of our dinette window.

As much as we loved gazing at all of his trash cans, his kids soccer goals, and jungle weeds, privacy was something that was begging to happen.

My mom told me that Arborvitae are great for “fences” because they grow fast and they’re low maintenance. Sold. Two of the characteristics I look for when selecting landscaping. “Do I need to do anything to it once it’s planted?” “No.” “Load ‘em up.”

Although we normally hit up Lowes first, Home Depot had healthier, fuller looking plants that were only two bucks more. The bigger the better in this case. Or in any case, amiright? (You hear that? That’s the sound of my parents suddenly feeling very awkward.)

SHA-BAM! Trees! Aren’t they just the most adorable trees you ever did see? Steve may have caught me petting and hugging them on occasion. They’re just so soft. I couldn’t resist.

You know the drill: dig a whole twice the size of the plant base, wriggle some of the roots loose, and then plop ‘er in.

We mixed in a little MOO-NURE (har har har) for fertilizer.

We don’t have the greatest soil in our neighborhood so we thought these guys could use a little food to start their life off on the right root foot.

Once the hole was all filled in we topped it off with a 3″ layer of mulch. The little tag on the trees said that mulch protects the roots when it gets really cold. Since February was 85° and recently it’s been 35° we thought the mulch would definitely be helpful.

Wah-Lah! (That’s how our tour guide in Italy told us to say Voila. So, CHIRO! If you’re reading this… I listened to you!)

It takes serious will power for me to not come home every night from work and give each and every one of these trees a hug and a kiss hello. They’re just so adorable. AND FUNCTIONAL. And that’s really the best kind of adorable.

I’m hoping they grow fast, but I know realistically it’s going to take some years for them to reach their mature size. Even though they’re small, they still provide a nice layer of privacy.

Here’s the view from our dinette now:

They don’t totally cover up Ned’s stash of outdoor accoutrements, but they sure do provide a nice breath of air between the two houses. The stinky kind of morning breath where you’re all STAY AWAY FROM ME. My trees are like morning breath. Aren’t you glad I tied that all together for you?

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday. I’ll just be sitting over here. Watching my trees. Hoping they grow big for mama.

Nice and Slow

I’m back! And I’m going to ease into this nice and slow. Some very exciting things have been happening in my neck of the woods, namely a HUGE office move. I have been in charge of certain parts of the interior decor and design, so my little tushy has been running all over the place. Every night I come home from work and just crash. The dust is starting to settle a bit, so I’m hoping to get back to a more consistent posting schedule. Being a full-time blogger is hard when you’re also a full time creative director! And sadly for all of you, my paying job will always come first. But I’m sure you understand. Mama has to take care of her project babies at work. Although being a blogger doesn’t make me any money, you all sure do make me feel pretty darn good. I have gotten some of the nicest emails and comments recently, and it really does give me hope for humanity. Thank you from the bottom of my stressed out, little heart.

Enough chatter. On to the meat of this post! Or, the flowers, rather.

A few weeks ago (yes, I’ve been admittedly hoarding projects) The Lumberjack and I started some outdoor projects. (I briefly told you about our tree fence… more on that later.) One of the most simple, yet makes-me-so-happy projects was planting some creeping phlox around the mailbox.

They’re not nearly as creepy as they sound. In fact, they’re rather delightful.

Here is what our mailbox looked like before: (Sans address in case there are some lingering creepers.)

I have no idea why those four green plants were planted like that. Strategy, maybe? I am apparently not privy to said strategy. It looks like someone had a few too many cocktails before slipping on the gardening gloves. Don’t drink and garden, people.

I transplanted them, added 4 big bunches of phlox, and some new black mulch. Here’s what it looks like now:

Since this photo they have spruced up and gotten more colorful and full. I’m hoping they creep their little creepy selves all over that bed.

Another before:

And after:

I’ll have to take another set of pictures for you guys right before the blooms fall off for the season. I’m hoping to be charmed by their flowers for another few weeks, but we’ll see. This weather is less than predictable. But at least they’re perennials, so they’ll come back every year to say hello.

Another angle:

Pretty delightful, right? Those creepers sure do make me happy.

Thanks again for being so patient with my sporadic posts (that word will always make me think of the movie Clueless). I hope to reward you with some fun, new projects!

Enjoy the rest of your week, and keep on keepin’ on.

Wine Wednesday

Wine Wednesday, which serendipitously coincides with Hump Day, is something I’ve completely made up. Obviously. But it’s fun all the same, don’t ya think? There’s nothing like crafting with a little alcohol in your system.

Remember my little succulent slash window display in the master bathroom?

After seeing it all together I decided I wanted to remove the screen and the weird mini blind on the octagonal window. Alas, a project is never that easy; I ran into a teeny privacy issue. The issue being our neighbors could see all of our business. Which isn’t good in the bathroom if you catch my drift. Or Whiff. Whatever. Moving on.

I knew I needed to get some frosty windows up in there. After I removed the cross section I was left with a big ole gaping hole that looked directly into our neighbors screened-in porch.

“HI! Whatcha doing? Sipping on a cocktail — nice! Oh, me? I’m just picking my nose. Don’t mind me.”

I’m sure everyone has their own method for the contact paper application process, but I’ve learned the best way for me is to first make a template. I made mine out of magazine pages; I started with one page up top, and taped as I went around the perimeter.

I was left with a very strange-but-kinda-cool stained-glass window effect.

After I had my template made I poured myself a glass of wine (WINE WEDNESDAY!) and rolled out the frosted paper.

Wouldn’t you know it? My contact paper was just a smidge too short. My on-the-fly problem-solving skillz hinted at some sort of splicing method. So instead of cutting one large piece I cut two, and made sure the cut was in a place where the seam could later be hidden behind the cross bars.

And then I took a sip of wine. Because my husband was at work and I was bored. And drinking wine helps me hone in on my problem-solving skillz, so realistically I just helped myself out of a pickle.

My ADD finally kicked in when I glanced out the window and my eyes landed on our bird feeder. I had to take a picture of this. Excuse this conversation I’m about to have with my mom: MOM! A Mourning Dove was on my feeder! Isn’t that just the strangest thing, since they’re ground feeders, and all? I thought he was pretty brave for trying to wedge himself on the feeder. Oh! Also, I had gold finches for the first time yesterday. Big news in Bird Land.

Ok, back to the window frost. After I had my contact paper cut to fit my window, all I had to do next was get that glass squeaky clean. Wasn’t it a beautiful day?

After peeling the backing off of the contact paper, I started from the top of the window and carefully placed the sticky side of the frosted paper on the glass, working my way down.

After it was in place, the next step was to push all of the tiny air bubbles out with a credit card. No fancy tools needed.

Then I followed the same process with the bottom half of the contact paper. Peal, stick, push out bubbles. It really is that simple. I mean, come on. Anything you can do while drinking should be able to be narrowed down into 3 steps.

BADA BOOM BADA BING

And just like that, I was done. I hung the cross bars back into place, and they lovingly covered up my exposed seam.

Much better, don’t you think?

Now that the screen is gone, light floods the room and sprinkles a little sugar on my succulents.

Our bathroom is lacking decor but I’m okay with that for right now. I’d eventually like to get something up behind the tub, but I am immensely enjoying the light and bright, zen-like bathroom each morning. I love starting off my day in an open, airy, and uncluttered room.

The mini space heater doesn’t hurt, either.

And now I don’t have to worry about turning the corner into the bathroom and immediately regretting deciding to de-robe in the bedroom. I’m sure the teenage neighbor boys are disappointed with our new frosted windows.

Happy Wine Wednesday and Hump Day. I hope you use the both of those to the best of your abilities.

Crazytown, USA

Life has been rather crazy these last few weeks. I realize I’m not an emergency room surgeon, so when I say I’ve been busy I mean it in a much less dramatic way.

I have a handful of pretty spicy projects to share with you but my normal writing time (evenings) has been replaced with sleep. Yes, sleep. I have been choosing the back of my eyelids over my keyboard, computer monitor, and you all. I’m so very sorry but those were some much needed Zs.

Please take my sincerest apologizes and this picture of me sleeping with Olive on the family room floor. And this is exactly why we’re “carpet people” and haven’t yet ripped it out to install wood floors.

I love you all and will return you to your regularly scheduled programming soon.

xo

 

It’s Come to This

Do you know what this is?

This is my pathetic inability to kill living creatures. There is an approximately 2.5″ silverfish under that cup. I’m pretty sure that my willingness to try and keep it alive has in turn just forced it into a slow and painful death. That cup has been pathetically sitting there for 2 days. I keep meaning to ask Steve to move the little fella outside, but we are on opposite schedules and this bug’s life hasn’t been a priority. I feel abnormally upset about it.

So instead of thinking there is probably a dead bug under there, let’s pretend that this is actually just a book shrine. I wonder if we should let the author know that he has won the high honor of the book-on-a-cup award. Congratulations! Your writing is so inspiring that we’ve gingerly placed it atop a plastic cup! Huzzah!

I hope everyone has a weekend filled to the brim with hugs & kisses, sunshine, dog licks, and big-spoon snuggles. Keep Bug in your thoughts. RIP, Bug. It wasn’t your fault that you were terrifying looking.

Low. Ride. Er.

All

My

Friends

Know The Low Rider…

Da da da dadadadada

Good luck mentally escaping that song for the remainder of the day. And a good morning to you, too! I am aware that was a rather strange segue into today’s post, but you’ll see why it makes sense here in 3… 2… 1…

Steve made the fire pit! He went from idea, to sketch, to supplies, to built in less than 48 hours. He’s a stud, what can I say?

Here’s the full, fire pit How-To:

First item of business was to visit Lowe’s and pick up all of the supplies.

Low … ri … der … drives a little slower. Ba da ba dadadadadada.

He had to make two – count ‘em — TWO TRIPS because of how heavy the stones and gravel were. He said he felt like a pimp driving home in his lowrider. Did he really say that? No, no he didn’t. But I assume he was at least thinking it.

After picking the perfect spot in the yard for the fire pit,

he marked off exactly where it needed to go. The ole stick-in-the-ground-acting-as-your-pivot-point trick. Only the most high-tech tools for us here at The Harpster Home.

While Steve was busy working, Olive sternly guarded All The Things.

She gets paid hourly. One water break. We run a tight ship.

The next series of steps moved smoothly since all of the prep work was done. If you’re following along at home, make sure between all of these steps you take time to place a level on each possible stone combination. The rule of thumb is if the first layer of stones is even, you shall move forward to the next level. Sorta like Super Mario 3, but without having to beat Bowser first.

Isn’t it pretty awesome? I can’t believe I ever doubted the beautifulness of the fire pit. Lesson learned. I’m so proud of Steve and our new backyard attraction, and I can’t wait to have our first marshmallow-roasting session.

The only minor tweak that Steve mentioned wanting to do in the future was to extend the pebble rim. He thinks it would be slightly more functional if it had a larger gravel edge to it. I suppose for easier mowing. I could go either way. I think it looks pretty super just how it is.

The natural progression was to ponder what Olive would look like inside of the fire pit.

Ask and you shall receive. Oh, you didn’t ask? TOO BAD.

She seemed perfectly content in there. Almost too content. I wouldn’t be surprised if all my neighbors had their index fingers on the last “1″ in “911″ as they saw me slowly lower my dog inside a fire receptacle.

Oh, silly neighbors. When will you learn that our mascot is simply just modeling our newest project, like always? Oh! That reminds me. I’m planting a tree fence this weekend between our yard, and Ned Flanders’. More on that later.

“Olive! Wanna go inside and drink water out of the toilet?”

Good luck to you if you’re going to give this build a try! Steve found lots of you tube videos that helped him along with the process, and there are tons of other resources out there. Don’t hesitate to holler if you have any questions, though.

Enjoy the rest of your week and think of us fondly next time you eat s’mores.

Psst! Will you take my two second survey?

Ok, One More

One more blog post about plants. I promise this is it for a while. After this post, I have no new recent plant acquisitions to share with you. (That is a lie. When we were at Lowe’s over the weekend I definitely snatched up a $2.99 fern. What? Let me have my fun.)

Now that that’s off my chest.

Look at the hanging succulents I get to see every time I walk into the master bathroom:

Aren’t they kind of magical? I scored that awesome hanging planter thingy-majig at Midland when my mom was in town. I thought it was perfect in this little bathroom nook that is currently lacking any artwork.

I followed the same planting process as my other succulent display. It was really simple.

1. Dig up succulents in front yard
2. Layer rocks in bottom of planter
3. Add dirt
4. Add succulents
5. Place decorative rocks on top
6. Install ceiling hook
7. Check out Steve’s tushie while he hangs planter
8. (Optional) Give it a pinch (tushie, not planter)

In the morning light this whole thing is just magical. It gleams. I don’t use that word loosely.

Here is what it looks like from the corner where the toilet is. Haven’t you always wondered what I look at while I’m on the toilet? WELL NOW YOU KNOW! This just got a little too personal.

Ahh. Love.

Plants sure do make me happy.

Adventures in Fire Pitting

HAPPY MONDAY! And why am I yelling, you ask? Why because I had a pretty darn awesome weekend with my lumberjack. We got to spend a few glorious hours on a patio drinking some brewskies with a few friends, and in the middle of all that fun we managed to get a lot of work done in the yard. All in all it was a pretty successful two days.

A fun, new tidbit that emerged from the weekend was a plan for our new fire pit. I had envisioned us getting something somewhat mobile like this:

Steve said no way, josé. That’s the lamest. The lamest of them all.

So maybe I’m paraphrasing but the important thing to gain from this is the understanding that Steve wanted a more manly fire pit. Like one constructed with his own bare hands, using power tools and dirt. Arrrr arrrr arrrrrrrrr. (That’s Steve grunting like Tim the Tool Man, Taylor.)

I wasn’t sold. I didn’t want some random fire-looking structure sitting in the middle of our backyard. We already have enough dandelions to embarrass us right now. Alas, I succumbed to my very persuasive husband. All he had to do to get me to buckle was present these adorable, and very well drawn plans to me:

How’s a girl supposed to say no to a plan that includes a Step 1 like that? I trust his handy-work, and blah blah blah all of that. So, he can have his fun. Go forth my husband. And build the best damn fire pit the world has ever known.

We found a pretty good place in the yard for it so it should look fairly non-obtrusive when it’s all said and done. He’s going to start working on it today and I’m actually pretty excited to see how it turns out! I’ve asked him to take pictures of his process, so of course, we’ll share the whole DIY on here.

In the meantime enjoy your Monday! I hope everyone had a delightful, little weekend.