DIY – Page 7 – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

A New Roof for the Chicken Yard

Published on December 28, 2016December 28, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Hi everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Now that we’re through the big holiday I thought I’d catch you up on several projects that happened around the house in the past few months as we prepared for winter. The first was replacing the netting over the chicken yard with something sturdier. The netting had started to tear in several spots and had actually come loose from where it was attached to the wall of the house, leaving our flock vulnerable to attack from above. The Hubs wanted something more permanent that would stand up to snow, so he found these metal fencing panels at a local fence company.

First he removed the old netting (note the large ball of it on the roost to the right in the photo above). Then he cut the panels to fit the space and zip tied them together where there were seams. He also used zip ties to secure the panels to the support beams of the run.

Over by the run door he had to get creative to make enough room for the door to open but still work against the laundry room window. He decided to create an angled panel for this section and it works pretty well.

He had to trim down the hen house doors so they open underneath the support beam on the front of the run. It’s so much nicer being able to open these doors all the way without worrying about the edges catching the netting overhead!

He also added a small metal flashing to act as a gutter along the roof of the run. This keeps the large amount of water that comes off the run’s roof from flooding the chicken yard, which was a constant problem this summer. Now it drains right over the blocks I placed around the yard. This might be too much water for the plants in the blocks next summer, so I’ll have to watch it and decide if I need to set up a water barrel to collect the water and reuse it for the chickens or watering the garden.

We may eventually cover the panels with clear plastic roofing panels, like those used on greenhouses, to help reduce water pooling more but for now the upgrade is the perfect protection for our cluckers and blends in well with the panels we used for the sides of the yard.

And it’s been holding up to the snow very well, even when it gets a bit thick. Looks like another great job by the Hubs! It’s a good thing he found me so he has reasons to use all those mad skills he’s got. 😉

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Last Minute Finishing Touches

Published on December 21, 2016December 21, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

It’s the week of Christmas and I’m still tweaking my holiday decorations. I wanted something above the mantel in the family room and had been looking for a farmhouse style sign that said “There’s no place like home for the holidays” but hadn’t been able to find one locally. I considered DIY’ing one, but knew that wouldn’t happen with my current to-do lists. So I came up with a quick DIY alternative using items I already had and a free printable.

I dug out this large classic frame I’ve used on the mantel several times before including St. Patrick’s and Halloween. I filled it with some light colored burlap material from my fabric stash and used the cardboard baffle inside to keep the fabric tight.

Once it was closed up, I turned it over and added a free printable I found online thanks to fellow blogger Lil Luna to the glass on the front using glue dots. This made placement much easier than trying to attach the print directly to the fabric and center it in the frame under the glass.

Here’s how it looked all put together. Sorry for the late night photos, but daylight is a rare thing when I’m at home working on projects these days. Unfortunately this frame has seen better days and no longer has good hanging options on the backside, so we had to get creative when we went to put it on the wall – especially one made of stone.

The Hubs and I came up with a solution using more items we had on hand and now it completes the fireplace wall – just in time for Christmas!

And while we’re talking Christmas decor, I’ll give you a quick tour around the house of my other displays, since I’ve been meaning to do that with photos I was able to take during our minimal daylight hours.

Next to the fireplace I used my collection of bottle brushes along with another free printable I found on the Little Glass Jar blog. I flanked everything with two of our favorite lanterns filled with pine cones and mini light strings. Please overlook the dust I apparently didn’t notice when taking these photos – because it’s so common in our household, hence the name of this blog!

In the entry way a lighted garland is the perfect base for several woodland style characters, including this super cute driftwood reindeer I just added to the herd this year! I haven’t named him yet, so if you have suggestions I’d love to hear them. I also picked up that cute little stuffed fox this year and think he makes a perfect buddy for Santa – plus he makes a great prop for winter time photos shoots with small children! He’s in need of a name as well so share those ideas too.

Out front there’s a new wreath on the door as Rusty greets visitors. I usually get a live wreath, but the fundraiser I used to buy from is no longer available through a friend, so decided to go faux and get something I can use for several years. The classic combination of silver and gold should fit in with any holiday style I try over the coming years.

I shared my decor on the dining room buffet on Facebook a while back, including the new wall decor I got this year so be sure to get a peek at that. On an adjacent wall I placed another new piece, this barn wood angel. I picked her up at the Colony High School Holiday Bazaar that I attend every year. She was created by the same vendor who made the barn wood star that hung above our nativity set last year and then became part of the gallery wall.

There are a few other decorations around the house, but they are minimal and most have been shared here on the blog before so I won’t rehash them. I hope you enjoyed the project and quick holiday tour!

Updating a Tired Creche

Published on December 13, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Hello lovelies! Did anyone else blink and last week fly right by? It sure did for me! Although it went by fast I was able to enjoy some downtime with the hubs and our fur babies while catching up on editing client photos and several holiday projects I’ve been wanting to do. The first was creating a creche for my Willow Tree nativity set.

I wanted something rustic to compliment the rest of our decor so the creche that Willow Tree sells wasn’t going to fit the bill. I’d pinned several DIY ideas on Pinterest but none had tutorials so I was planning to wing it and see what I came up with. Luckily before I dove in and attempted anything I spotted this creche on one of the local buy/sell pages for just $7! I quickly messaged the seller and arranged to pick it up that evening before someone else could swoop in on my bargain find.

I knew I was going to revamp it a bit so when I got it home I gave it a thorough once over and came up with a game plan. The first thing I did was remove the battered pine cone on the corner. Then I removed the extra pieces of bark on the beam at the top and loft area to simplify the overall look. I set it up on the curio cabinet and filled it with the nativity set to see how everything fit and decide my next step. It sat like this for a few days while life rolled on but this past weekend I enlisted the Hubs help to make the final few changes.

I wanted a star above the roof of the stable because it’s such a huge part of the story. I had an IKEA tree star we used last year that I was replacing and on a whim tested it with the creche. It was the perfect proportion! I had planned to have the Hubs clamp a dowel to the back of the stable but we didn’t have a dowel or clamps that were the right size. The Hubs suggested we use a piece of pipe left over from the foster room bed and gave it a test fit to make sure it would fit in the base of the star and inside the clamp. He had to grind the end of the pipe down a bit but it fit like a glove. When we were test fitting the whole assembly on the back of the creche we discovered that the base of the star itself fit in the clamp and decided to forego the pipe and just use the clamp.

Unfortunately, the back of the creche was very thin and didn’t provide enough grip to hold the screw and soon the weight of the star had spun the clamp out of position.

My crafty Hubby came up with a solution quickly, recommending I hot glue the bracket in place and we put a brace below the bottom of the star to hold it in place. It was such a simple idea and it worked like a charm.

With the star secured, I filled in the open areas of the back wall with the pieces of bark I’d removed from the other areas along with moss from my crafting stash. I attached it all with my new glue gun, which replaced it’s aging predecessor after it started splitting along the seem and oozing glue everywhere.

The screws for the star bracket and brace were visible inside of the creche, but I was able to hide them with strategically placed pieces of bark on the back wall and the cross beam at the top of the roof so they aren’t even noticeable. I also had the Hubs trim the two front corners of the base at an angle to better fit the top of the curio cabinet. (Sorry for the late night photos, but daylight hours are extremely limited around here this time of year so I tend to just let the Christmas tree be our light source, hence the glow to the right.)

I re-positioned my nativity set inside and covered the bottom board with paper shavings from one of the holiday sausage gift sets we’d bought to enjoy together. The brown coloring camouflaged the bottom board and coordinated with the bark perfectly.

Notice that open spot in the shavings on the left? It’s where I plan to place one of the three wise men from the set I just won on eBay! I also scored the ox and goat set for a super deal so now I have a whole set minus the camel, which I’ll look for next year. Until then I’m absolutely giddy with how the whole project turned out and am looking forward to using it for many years to come. 🙂

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Fall Decor & Fireside Chats

Published on November 24, 2016November 23, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re enjoying the day and giving thanks for the blessings in your life. Since I plan to switch all the decor over to Christmas today because I don’t have another chance to do so for quite a while, I thought I’d take this last opportunity to share my fall decorations. If you look really closely, you’ll catch a sneak peek of another decor change I’ll be sharing soon.

I’ve found that using pumpkins and autumn elements can carry me from the first signs of fall in September all the way through to Thanksgiving. This theme starts in the entry way with a collection of pumpkins flanked by lanterns with large pine cones and light strands I found in the dollar zone at Target.

Next to the dresser I have a pumpkin wax warmer. It casts a pretty orange glow near the front door and looks like mercury glass which is a favorite of mine.

Over in the family room I featured a fancy purple velvet pumpkin in the new cloche I got at Home Goods during our recent trip to Portland along with my favorite woodland creatures, Mr. Fox and the thrifted Whooty Owl.

On the mantel there are, you guessed it, more pumpkins. The velvet one in the center is a rich burgundy so I gave it a bit of prominence on a birch round. The new lanterns I got at the end of season clearance sale for outdoor accessories will work well for several seasons thanks to their neutral classic style. And my favorite little raven is tucked up in front hiding out after he saw Brinley chew his buddy’s beak off after she mistook him for a chew toy and snagged him from the windowsill. He’ll get some reconstruction soon so he can join his buddy again next season.

The tray on the end table got a gold votive and a glittery pumpkin. I thought for sure that little sparkle would make it fall prey to Brinley’s teething chompers but she never showed a bit of interest in it thankfully.

Over on the curio, my favorite little scarecrow is guarding some gourds. He also stays up high because his button legs would be too much temptation for our fur babies.

Over in the office a metal lantern goes autumnal with some mini pine cones and two colorful floral picks.

In the dining room I filled this large glass lantern with moss stones, mini yarn pumpkins and pine cones. These antlers fit perfectly around the curve of the glass give the whole arrangement a more rustic style.

Beyond the centerpiece is this vignette with another velvet pumpkin, my little turkey votive holder and this fun rusty cup I picked up at a new local shop filled with orange mums.

On the next windowsill I added a fun little dollar store pumpkin I snagged on our recent trip to Portland next to the creeping Jenny I brought inside for the winter.

On the sideboard a crock with decorative grass takes center stage with my rusty owl. More velvet pumpkins line the top of the sideboard leading to more lanterns with moss and pine cones.

Outside there are even more pumpkins, including the only REAL one in the entire collection which is being perfectly preserved by the recent low temps.

My wooden pumpkin stakes and the metal spheres from the garden adorn what’s left of the dusty miller in the whiskey barrels out front. Behind them my DIY 4×4 pumpkins decorate the steps next to the metal and burlap planters.

Up on the porch my welcome pumpkin hangs on the front door and a ceramic one joins a metal lantern on the milk can table. In front of the table is the lovely fairytale pumpkin I bought at the local grocery store. It was originally inside but Brinley attempted to make her own pumpkin treats with it so it moved outside before she could really do damage to it.

I’d never seen a real white pumpkin before so I had to have one when I saw them at the store. I’ll be saving the stem from this one for DIY projects next year, but the rest of this large beauty will become compost in the garden.

And while we’re still thinking fall, I had to share this pretty set-up one of my networking groups did for our “Fireside Chats” meeting. This is a group of wedding professionals – event planners, photographers, cake makers, and more so there is usually some sort of decorations but this was the perfect mix of rustic and chic.

The smores themed cupcakes were quite yummy and those who wanted the real deal had the ingredients ready just steps away from the fire.

And if you wanted a snack to go, they had that covered too.

Just shows you don’t have to make things complicated to create something special. I hope the rest of your Thanksgiving holiday is fun and relaxing. I’m gearing up for the big bazaar I have a display at this weekend and then more photography clients in need of Holiday portraits. I’ll be back tomorrow to share our quick trip to Denali with friends, so check back for that after you emerge from your turkey coma! 🙂

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My New Jewelry Rack

Published on August 25, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Today I wanted to share a little change I mentioned when I showed off the new bench I added to our Master Closet. My mother-in-law gifted me this cool rusty rake head after I’d sent her some gardening organization ideas using some.

We used it in the dining room over the summer to hang cut herbs as they dried which worked quite well. But when I was purging my jewelry for an upcoming consignment sale and wanted to rearrange the larger pieces I keep next to the jewelry cabinet I thought using the rake would work much better than the thumb tacks I was currently utilizing.

So the rake head moved from the dining room to the closet, where it gives a much cleaner look. I reused those thumbtacks to hang the rake head, but I might swap them out for smaller finishing nails to make the look even cleaner.

I like that I can hang items using one tine or multiple depending on how heavy and wide each piece is. And it’s easy to grab an item when getting ready and just as simple to put it away at the end of the day. But the best part is that the update didn’t cost me a single dime **cue heavenly music** and took less than 5 minutes to do!

There’s room to add another if my jewelry collection grows, so I’ll be on the watch for both a second rusty rake head and more pretty large jewelry! Like I said, there’s some big consignment sales coming up! 😉

DIY Plant Stakes

Published on August 24, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Hey everyone! I know it’s been quiet around the blog recently. Life has been a bit more hectic than usual and we had a death in the family last week so I chose to take some time to rest and reflect. Finding time to prep material for the blog is still a bit challenging and we’re currently working on a couple of projects that aren’t ready to share just yet, including one I didn’t plan on tackling this year, but I’m excited about what it means for my garden next season! In the meantime here’s a fun, quick DIY I did earlier this summer.

Back when I had a holiday tree in our entryway I collected an assortment of cute ornaments for each season and holiday. Now that I’ve given up the tree I wanted to reuse the ornaments in a new way so I could continue to enjoy them. I decided they would make great plant stakes for my potted plants on the deck and couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.

This sweet little rusty bee (which ironically is the name of one of my favorite local makers!) was the first I transformed. Although I didn’t document the steps of his transformation, it was fairly simple. I removed the small loop at the top of his head which was attached on the back by bending it back and forth until it popped off. Next I dug out my E6000 glue and applied some to both the back of the bee and a small rusty rod I had in my supplies that matched perfectly. Following the directions on the glue tube I adhered the rod to the bee and let it cure for 24 hours.

Once cured, I tested him out with a couple forceful shakes and he held tight so I found him a home in my vintage crock planter. He turned out so cute that I decided to do the same to the other ornaments I had in my stash. Each had a little different set up as each was unique but they all followed the same process – remove any hanging loops or cords and glue a rod to an appropriate point. Since I didn’t have enough potted plants to keep them all I set aside my favorites to be used in my garden and put the rest up for sale at the recent Urban Junktion show. I sold several and still have a good inventory available for other shows next season. Here’s the current inventory as they were displayed at the show.

There’s a little birdhouse with a heart shaped opening.

Several dragonflies, who may just stay and live in my garden alongside their relatives that I already decided to keep. 🙂

This little beetle has the same patina as the bee, but I already have a lady bug plant stake so I’m helping this guy find his own home.

There’s also a few nautical themed stakes, including these blue and green glittery seahorses.

I had two mermaids but the red head sold at the show, so now this blonde “girl fish” as my nephew used to call them is all alone with the other sea creatures, including this glittery little fish.

I still have a good inventory of ornaments for other holidays including Easter, St. Patrick’s Day and Thanksgiving. I may revamp them for this purpose as well, or I might just find another option since those holidays don’t often correlate with having potted plants to decorate here in Alaska.

Stay tuned for more projects. Posts might be a little few and far between for a while but don’t worry, we’re working on some fun stuff and will share it soon.

Quick & Simple Hanging Lanterns

Published on August 12, 2016 by Jenna2 Comments

Yesterday I promised to share the second little update I did to the brick pillars, and here it is! We originally planned to build an arbor over the pillars but the Hubs started to get concerned that the high wind we occasionally get might require additional support with a post behind the brick column. That didn’t fit with my vision of the original plan so I came up with a simpler option.

I’d been eyeing these cool lanterns at Lowes all season and finally had a spot to use them. I picked up two along with metal Shepard’s hooks and some battery operated outdoor candles, which were on end of season clearance. I knew I wanted one lantern to hang over each of the pillars so the hook needed to be positioned in the middle of the back of the pillar. Unfortunately they have a second support stake that sticks out forward from the main post so I couldn’t just push them in and call it done. I tried turning them sideways so the two support stakes were along the back of the pillar but I couldn’t bend the hook enough to have it hang over the pillar like I wanted. So I finally conceded that I had to take apart the pillars in order to install the hook with the support stake inside the pillar space.

Luckily, I realized I could take off just the back of the pillar by carefully removing the bricks that overlapped every other row. Once I had the stakes in the ground I put the bricks back together over top the connecting bracket for the two supports. It was a little extra effort but it works perfectly and ultimately makes the hooks more stable because they are held down by the stack of bricks and sit flush to the back side of the pillar where they shouldn’t get pushed or moved.

I put the two potted plants on the ground next to the pillars so the tops of each can be used like a side table when relaxing in this spot. I like how they make the columns look more permanent so I might be placing my burlap pots over here next year with some trailing flowers! As for that faux rock we started this whole project with, it found a use covering the leech field pipe nearby. If you look closely in the photo above you’ll see it beyond the fence. From a distance it looks real and keeps the whole area from being cluttered while you’re supposed to be enjoying the view.

The Hubs had already purchased materials to build the arbor we originally planned so we’ll re-purpose that idea and supplies to a similar project over the back gate or perhaps for a new special project he’s been talking about recently. I won’t spill the beans on that just yet, but it will be a big project for sure if it does happen this season and of course I’ll share it here once it’s done.

Urban Junktion

Published on July 27, 2016July 27, 2016 by Jenna1 Comment

I recently attended another local pop-up “junk show” and thought I’d share a quick recap. This one was called Urban Junktion and was held at a sports complex which was much larger than the fairgrounds building where the Alaska Chick’s Vintage Market was hosted. Several of the same vendors from that event were here, but had different items for the summer season.

Although I wasn’t able to commit a whole weekend to have a booth at the show, Anne-tiques who has done several furniture projects for us did and offered to let me put some of my smaller pieces at her booth to accessorize her furniture. That arrangement worked out pretty well since I still made more than I spent at the show and I was able to get in before the doors opened to the public to help her set up. Once we had things pretty set I made a quick lap of the other booths to earmark which items I was interested in checking out since I had limited shopping time due to photographing a wedding that afternoon.

There were lots of rustic home decor vendors with a variety of items from furniture, to signs and vintage or re-purposed items. The host of the show had an amazing booth that I was so busy shopping I didn’t take any photos of the set up, although I did snap a few of the cool display on the backside of her booth with this wonderfully styled mannequin and little soldiers with a great message.

I also spotted a basket of shoe horns at her booth that look quite similar to the ones I just inherited from my grand father! I’m not sure what I’ll do with mine just yet but it was cool to see someone else appreciate these types of items.

This jerry can bench also caught my interest since we have one jerry can already from my unplanned picking adventure earlier this summer. I’d considered making mine a lamp but if I could find a matching one this would be a fun option.

One of my favorite vendors, The Alaska Picker was there with awesome unique builds and vintage finds. I love the truck beds they have been making and wanted this awesome cart for my deck so bad, but just couldn’t justify the $200+ price tag on my current budget.

Another piece I was lusting after was this metal John Deere tractor and trailer. I could just envision it in a garden with flowers hanging over the sides of the little trailer, but at $300 it was out of my “garden art” price range.

I almost bought this fun pendant light made from an old funnel neck can. It was priced right at $35, but I couldn’t think of where I’d use it in our house so I decided to leave it for someone else to treasure.

But here’s what I did buy. A cool wooden wheel, a metal scroll piece and a fun birdhouse garden stake. I’m still not sure where I’ll use the wheel and scroll piece but the birdhouse has already found a spot in the garden, which I’ll reveal once that area is finished.

It was a great experience for both the shoppers and the vendors, even though it was hard to compete with Alaska’s summer time activities. It’s definitely a perfect showcase of the talent and creativity in our region and it’s makes you realize it’s a community all it’s own. Check out the Urban Junktion Facebook page to see more photos of the event and all the cool little details I wasn’t able to capture in my quick visit. Hopefully, there will be more events like this in our area so I can shop and photograph more great set-ups!

Hiding Those Ugly Septic Pipes

Published on July 13, 2016January 5, 2017 by Jenna3 Comments

It’s been another crazy busy week here at the DB&DT household. Tequila went in for surgery on her torn ACL yesterday so we’ve been out of our normal routines to make arrangements for that which hasn’t left much time for editing photos. So although I planned to share my experience at this weekend’s Palmer Garden & Art Faire today, I haven’t had a chance to prep all the photos. Don’t worry the Garden Faire recap will still be coming, along with all the fun art I found, so stay tuned for that but today I’m sharing a quick project we did in the yard this weekend!

Remember those two ugly septic tank pipes near the chicken run? Well, they’re looking much better now. Check out how we disguised them!

We started with some reclaimed bricks that we got for free on a local buy/sell page. I leveled the ground around the pipe and stacked the bricks to create a column.

Here’s how it was looking once I got them stacked all the way to the top. That huge rock in front of the bricks is one I discovered while leveling the ground and had to take out!

I originally planned to have a stack of bricks around one pipe topped with a large paver stone and a pretty bird house, the place a faux rock shell over the other pipe, but when the plastic rock arrived I didn’t love it. It works fine from a distance but since this is an area that we are IN daily and is near the deck it wasn’t realistic enough. That’s when the hubs suggested we stack bricks around the second pipe as well and create an arch from the two bases then place a bench below!

I was definitely on board with that idea, but wanted to make sure we could have something that looked good but was still easy to remove for when we do need to service the tank. He assures me his plan will work, so I’m now on the hunt for a bench.

He removed the existing caps and replaced them with these removable ones. They tighten on with a metal clamp band. I placed the bricks on the edge of the pipe so we could get the widest area possible between the two stacks for the bench.

The hubs also had the brilliant idea to use a board across the entire space while stacking to make sure we had the two stacks parallel to each other so things will line up when we build the arch.

And here’s how the spot is looking today! Since the bricks and wheelbarrow were all free the only cost so far is the new pipe caps, two top pavers, flowers in the wheelbarrow and my fun new garden art sticking up out of them. But we’re still less than $50 for everything so far.

I’ll find a new spot for the wheelbarrow once we have a bench, but for now it brings much needed color to this corner of the yard. I plan to relocate two lilac bushes to the wheel bed next season so when they bloom this will be a fabulous spot to sit and enjoy their fragrance, while visiting the chickens. Plus it will be just off the gravel pathway we plan to put around the chicken yard next season so it flows nicely too.

Since everything is dry stacked, it’s easy to move out of the way when we need to access the tank pipes and it can then be reassembled quickly when we’re done. I’ll share how we create the arch over top when we get that part done. Even if it takes a while I’d be happy to put some pretty lanterns or potted plants on top of the pillars once we get a bench and call it good for this season!

I’d love to hear what you think about our septic tank pipe disguise, so please leave a comment below.

Shared on Knick of Time’s Talk of the Town #29.

Shared on Stone Gable’s Scoop.

Appreciating Progress

Published on July 8, 2016July 13, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Summer is flying by and my list of projects is still pretty long. I’ve been super busy with photography clients recently thanks to wedding season, which is a good thing but it doesn’t leave much time to work on my gardens and I was getting frustrated by the slow progress of things. But then I realized I need to remember we’ve only been in the house three years and have made some big improvements in that time. So today I thought we’d take a look back at just how far we’ve come!

The biggest change is the back yard. This is what it looked like during the final stages of construction before we moved in after winter had hit. It was a completely blank slate.

And here’s what it was looking like about a week ago. Some of this is just temporary as we add other features in stages, but it’s filled in pretty well for our weekend and evening DIY efforts.

This was the main area of the back yard the first spring we were in the house. A big field of bare dirt and gravel with the hideous chain link dog run we patched together until we could get the fence in and the yard hydroseeded.

Now it’s functional and pretty. Eventually the grass will grow back in where we tilled to do the rock garden, and it will look seamless.

And just look at how many of the projects I had planned that have already been done! The gravel patio, fire pit, egg table, raised garden box and deck landscaping are all done or in progress. And a few of these ideas ended up being changed in favor of a better idea, like putting the strawberries in the gutters around the corner and switching the sectional seating on the deck for a dining table. There’s definitely some fine tuning and clean up to do, but it’s a space we can enjoy now rather than a bare patch of dirt.

The raised garden box used to be surrounded by dirt and had a few measly little plants in it that eventually drowned from the rain off the roof. Now it’s surrounded by pea gravel for a finished look and has a healthy crop growing thanks to the new gutter we had installed.

The biggest change is the landscaping around the deck. It looked like a wild patch of weeds at the beginning of this season. Now its something you actually want to look at! And it will only get better and better as the seasons continue and the plants fill in more.

Last season we had the new sectional seating on the deck which was nice, but the change to a dining table works so much better for this spot and has gotten a lot more use. Plus the dogs appreciate being able to “look out” from the edge of the deck this season and the Hubs and I enjoy the shorter walk to the chicken coop from that side of the deck thanks to the stairs he put in.

I had planted these two bushes on the side of the deck at the end of last season and was extremely frustrated when the dogs ripped out the bush on the right before it could establish new roots. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise because it made a spot for the new steps and rain barrel for the gutter.

Around the corner we’ve gone from an awkward cubby to a defined planting space and chicken run. I had planned for a large garden in this space but soon realized that the exposure wasn’t right for that plan so it became the chicken space instead and it’s perfect for that.

The revised plan for this side cubby has mostly come to pass. We did add a storage shed, although it’s more for the chicken equipment than the yard tools I’d imagined but again it works for our needs. And I’ve decided that I won’t ever use a potting bench so I don’t need one, although I’m sure the Hubs would still love to find a spot to install a smoker! I’ve started on a plan to disguise those not so lovely septic pipes which are inconveniently in the middle of this space so watch for that update soon.

Even the chicken space itself has seen improvement. Going from the original run to a full on chicken yard that’s super secure. Plus it gave me another little spot to plant. The lobelia I planted along the side met destruction thanks to Brinley’s rapt interest in the chickens so I pulled them out and put in grass seed so I can pull up the curtains and let the chickens enjoy sections a little at a time.

The new strawberry gutters are doing well too. It seemed like the strawberries had a slow start, but pretty much all of them now have buds, which should soon be yummy desserts or garnishes for my sangrias!

Along the fence the giant wheel the Hubs brought home for me has finally found a purpose with the new planting bed. I think next year I’ll just have flowers in this spot so I’m not worrying about the dogs getting into edible crops, which will all be raised and together over by the garden box. I’ll probably need to do some weed control in this spot come fall since I was in a hurry to install the bed and didn’t kill the grass underneath before hand, but some newspaper and another layer of dirt should do the trick.

On the other side of the house the gifted garden is starting to fill in. It looked pretty full when we put it in that first summer, but adding the grass next to the rock border became tedious to maintain so I’ve appropriated all of those rocks for the deck landscaping and have begun the switch to the same block edgers we used over by the wheel bed. I need to figure out what I’ll do around the deck we plan to add on the back corner of the house next year since I’ll need to tie that into this bed somehow so I’m moving slowly on changes over here for now.

This is how the bed looked at the beginning of last season. Just a few things coming back and lots of holes to fill in. Now I’ve got a good base of plants to create the cottage style garden I want over here.

Out front we’ve went from construction city to looking like a home. It still isn’t where I want it to be but at least there’s landscaping to welcome guests and dirt isn’t splattered against the house every time it rains. I’m working through several ideas to change things up out here next season so I can decide on one and start some of the prep work this fall.

The front bed was the first space I planted around the house and I was so excited to have any kind of landscaping that I didn’t plan much ahead when selecting or placing the plants. Several didn’t survive the first winter, and those that did took a while to come back in the second season. This season I’ve fill in some of the holes and am starting to figure out what works best out here. I’m planning to revamp this whole area next season but need to finalize the plan before I do anything else. For now I’m just enjoying the colors the different flowers bring.

This little cubby in the front has been an awkward spot since the beginning. It at least gave the house a bit of finishing when we first set up the space, but it had the same issue as the other side where several of the plants didn’t survive the first winter and the rest didn’t show much last season. This season I’ve filled in a few spots and called it good until I can figure out the best way to make this spot function better.

Our freebie raspberries looked quite spindly when they first went in last year, but produced a fantastic harvest well into the fall. This year they’ve come back even fuller and are budding like crazy. We added a haskap bush in front of them and moved the water tank over by the shed so the hose can gravity feed when we need to water.

Even the view from the driveway has improved. The Hubs massive shed hides the ugly meters on the side of the house and the rain garden has become a nice focal point as you approach. I’m still waiting for my clematis to grow in over the tire wall but when it does I will be amazing. I’m hoping to get fireweed to fill in behind the tires and dwarf dogwood to cover the ground in front, but those are both low priority projects.

This garden has become my home for “lost” plants who need to winter over or no longer have a spot when I change things elsewhere. This casual approach has created a nice variety and the foundation of what will one day be a very lush space.

And lastly, the spirea bush I planted just outside the fence when I got the ones on the side of the deck was looking quite dead earlier this season. I was planning to tear it out, but luckily hadn’t gotten around to doing it because a few weeks ago I noticed green on it’s branches. I pruned it back to encourage the new growth and that seemed to work because now it has one stalk of blooms! Hopefully next season it comes in even more full and completely fills this spot, blocking the view of the leech field pipe just out of the photo from the laundry room window.

As you can see there’s been some pretty good progress since we started this little adventure. I’m trying my best to appreciate how things are now and enjoy the little bits of joy I find when out in the yard. If I hadn’t been so busy I would have ripped that spirea out weeks ago and wouldn’t be blessed with these pretty little blooms now. So I’ll continue to tinker and tweak, which is what every gardener will tell you they are always doing. 🙂