Do you guys ever get those irrational worries about how your house looks right before hosting a party? Leading up to Clara’s birthday on Saturday I was thinking random stuff like “I really should touch up some of the caulk in the sunroom before everyone comes over” like anyone would notice. And Sherry said “the patio table could use a fresh coat of paint” was running through her head when we were using a tablecloth anyway. But one thing that never crossed our minds was: “The back door is in pretty rough shape. Maybe we should do something about it before IT BECOMES THE PLACE WHERE KIDS PLAY WITH BUBBLES FOR HOURS.” Oh well.
The good news is that this door (it leads to the garage by the way) could have looked worse. Here’s what we were dealing with last summer before we ditched the broken screen door & replaced the old rusted light (which we’ve since swapped out again, but more on that in moment). Ignore the green tint on those bricks – they need some attention.
The screen door removal accentuated the fact that the cream-colored door didn’t match the white trim on the rest of the house while revealing more creaminess (and dirtiness) from where it had been attached. That along with the cracking and flaking paint, ugly meter box, and our inability to keep the hose tamed made for a pretty unkempt look for Saturday’s guests. At least we had gotten around to mulching and adding some fresh stones pre-party (we don’t have gutters, so the rocks keep dirt and mulch from splattering everywhere during storms).
Luckily no one left the party complaining about how our door ruined the event (I think we successfully distracted everyone with bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles), but twenty photos of kids smiling in front of THAT DOOR were enough to finally spur us into action. First I prepped it by wood filling the holes, scraping off any peeling paint, sanding the rough spots, and giving the door and the windows a good cleaning. Then I applied two coats of Sherwin Williams’ Snowbound (leftover from the rest of the house’s trim). I rolled all of the flat parts and used an angled brush to do the window mullions, which then got scraped clean with a straight razor after everything dried.
While I tackled the door, Sherry painted the meter box a color that’s closer to the bricks. It’s a quick update that we broke out in our first house that only calls for a test pot of outdoor paint (she used Behr Premium Plus Interior/Exterior paint in Burnt Russet) and around twenty minutes for two quick coats.
We also picked up a hose pot from Lowe’s in an attempt to keep that hose in order. We’ve never used one before, but hope we have better luck with it than those winding hose storage boxes that we’ve attempted before.
Oh and the light. We made this swap over the winter but it was so sad and brown outside that we never got around to taking after photos. We liked but didn’t love the lights we installed last November, and some of you wisely pointed out that their design wasted a lot of light that was cast upwards. We soon stumbled upon a matching pair of these lights at our favorite local lighting shop (the Decorating Outlet here in RVA). It and its bigger cousin, which we installed above the garage, each had a cracked pane of glass on the side so they were marked down by 50%. To fix them we replaced the broken pane on the side of each one with the mint-condition pane from the back of each one. Since it sits so close to the house you can’t see that it’s missing back there anyway.
When everything was said and done, the space was definitely looking fresher, although it’s not exactly heart-stoppingly-exciting. We’ll eventually plant some stuff in the mulched bed which should help – and we might grab a bright doormat for a little more color. In the meantime we tossed down a spare black-bordered one that we had in the garage.
There’s so much else going on nearby with the deck that we might be over-thinking the whole “more color” thing. The reason we opted to paint the door white was so that it didn’t call too much attention to itself and just kinda blended in with the rest of the house’s white trim (and matched the white french door in the sunroom).
We don’t have any more parties planned for a while, but we hope to host some low-key family BBQs over the summer like we did last year when things were looking more like this…
Something tells me this year’s gatherings will be a little easier on the eyes.
Oh and while we were on the outdoor updates train, we grabbed this three-tiered plant hanger from Home Depot. It’s by Pennington if that helps you hunt it down – and we hung it next to the kitchen window on the deck. Since we were drilling into brick, we needed to break out the hammer drill with a masonry bit, but it just took two screws and anchors (meant for brick) to secure it.
With all the deer that roam our yard we’d be hard-pressed to have any luck with raised beds in the grass, so we thought this solution was an easy way to add some herbs to a place that we hope won’t be infiltrated (we went with basil, parsley, and lemon balm). We’ve never seen them up on our deck (our theory is that they smell Burger and don’t want any part of that) so we’ll have to see how it goes.
We’d eventually like to build and stain a big wooden planter (most likely one that moves so we can find the best spot on the deck to put it) for larger edibles like tomatoes and peppers – so we’ll have to see if we can get that done before planting season is over.
Is anyone else planting stuff like herbs or tomatoes? Or do you get those weird last minute worries about fixing something totally random (like caulk) before a party? In the end does it feel like nobody notices anyway? Although that baby pool/mower/dead grass/slate collection/table combo that we had going on in the backyard last summer might have been hard to miss.
P.S. We took Teddy’s five week picture yesterday, and he looks twice as big as he did in the first one (this morning he weighed in at 11 pounds!).
Wendy says
Is Teddy a ginger?
YoungHouseLove says
His hair is almost exactly John’s color right now (minus the gray, haha!) so it’s more like a dirty blonde/light brown I think. It was a lot darker when he was born so I’m not sure what it’ll end up being!
xo
s
Ann says
The deer try to eat all of our stuff as well! Last year for mothers day my kids got me a greenhouse. its about 6×8 feet and we had great luck. Roll down the sides at night to keep out the deer, roll up in the day to let the bees do some pollinating.
Joanna @Makingmine says
I just found your site and LOVE it! Can’t wait to keep reading
Sarah @ Sarah's Daybook says
Say goodbye to your friends and family! They are THE BEST.
Haha.
Rachel says
My good friend and I both moved into townhouses around the corner from each other – the basic layout is exactly same but we have different finishes. (I went lighter while she went darker.) She hosted book club this mutual and I host the first week of June so I’m sure comparisons will be made!
We’re dealing with the awful expanding/shrinking/SPLITTING of caulk that no one likes to tell new construction homeowners will likely happen. So now all I can think about figuring out how to get rid of the bad caulk and replace it. (Any suggestions?!)
I was talking to my husband on my walk to work about our to-do list and VERY loudly told him “BUT THE CAULK IS A BIG THING!” It got me four really dirty looks and one wink. So there’s that.
YoungHouseLove says
Bahaha! The wink!
xo
s
Kimberley says
Your backyard area is really looking nice guys! I loved your planter so much that I went and got 2 from Home Depot today. Now to figure out what to put in them!
Kate says
I have a lemon balm bush that is 7 years old. It gets huge so you might want to move it out of that pot and into the ground. The deer won’t eat it (we have herds of them through my yard, so much so that our garden is surrounded by a 7-foot tall electric fence) and it will come back every year.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Kate!
xo
s
Lynne says
If you plant lemon balm in the ground it will take over everything! My landlord planted a little patch in the backyard and it has spread across the whole yard and out into the back alley! It is not native and highly, highly invasive!
Erin R says
Hi! I second all the comments about Earthboxes. I have a 3 now that sit on my back deck (which is considerably smaller than yours) and over the years I have grown all sorts of things in them – tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, broccoli, chard, soy beans, peppers….Your options are pretty endless, I just recommend checking out their planting guide first. They are minimal fuss and very easy to maintain. Good luck!
Alice says
When we lived on an island off of Michigan’s UP we had deer everywhere in our yard. One night we were in bed and it sounded like someone was breaking in downstairs. Nope not a person just a deer dancing around on our deck like it belonged there eating my flowers out the planters…
YoungHouseLove says
That visual made me laugh out loud!
xo
s
Momlady says
A handy tip for planting in a deer infested ( don’t get me wrong I love watching them, but, they are the equivalent of Agent Orange on hooves) area: Remember this mantra…stinky, pokey, and poisonous. Don’t freak out…stinky means aromatic. Plants such as thyme, sage, and lavender are “stinky” to deer even if we enjoy the scent. Watching the deer attempt to chomp on your lavender is hilarious…really! Pokey..well that one is obvious…if it has thorns they are less inclined to chomp it to the ground. And poisonous…plants such as daffodils, peonys, bleeding heart, larkspurs, lily of the valley,wisteria, rhododendrons…you get the idea. It is possible to have lovely plants and flowers in your yard it just takes some planning. Oh,the thing with hostas….deer crack…seriously. I’ve watched them chomp them back…let them grow for a bit…chomp them again…then dig the root out and eat that too. I love hostas they are such a beautiful solution to shady bare spots in the yard but if you have deer you might as well spend your plant budget on something other than what amounts to deer treats.
YoungHouseLove says
Love the tips!
xo
s
K. says
The deer we get are the same ones that come to you and I’ve got lots of herbs ~ lemon balm, mint, lavender, thyme, lemon thyme, basil etc that are all fine. In fact, they get huge! They don’t however deter the deer from reaching around them to eat one of my other plants or flowers! (argggh deer!)
They’re not supposed to eat spiny or poisonous things, but these deer do! They’ve decapitated plenty of my daffodils and I even saw them munch on my oleander (which is poisonous even to humans!) with wild abandon. They also have no problem chewing through prickly thorns to eat my beautiful roses like candy.
Odd creatures they are, these deer! I swear it seems that the variety we have here are bolder and more reckless than others! …. and so the battle goes on…. :)
:)K.
K. says
p.s. I later saw the deer that had ripped at my oleander to tear and chew the poisonous leaves heaving and gagging in the back woods! I assume he ended up ok, as far as I know … but there you have it, even a deadly, poisonous plant did not stop or even deter these scoundrels!
(Sometimes I think of them as gangs of miscreants up to no good!)
K. says
*roving
(…roving miscreants)! Ha ha.
Erin {Home Everyday} says
Yes to the worries and yes to the planting. I have been known to switch out cafe curtains in my kitchen (really just cloth napkins) as people are walking through my front door for a brunch). WHY? Because I am insane! As for the planting, we just started our 4th vegetable garden from seed and it is going well so far (as long as the bunnies stay away). I love this time of year. Have a happy Memorial Day weekend!
Lauren says
It’s pretty funny to think that the smell of Burger would scare the deer away. I guess big scary guard dogs and sassy little dogs all smell the same to a deer :)
Carla says
I’ve been aching to paint our electrical/utility box that sits on the front of our house. I thought I’d have to prime first, but you’re saying outdoor paint is enough? That would be awesome.
Have you ever painted a metal exterior door before? I used Benjamin Moore’s Advance Paint to paint the interior of a metal door. The paint is super strong, but the odor was unbearable. Just horrible, and two months later it still smells like oil paint, even though it isn’t.
So I used primer and Natura for the interior of our other metal door. The adhesion seems to be fine. But the primer that overlapped onto the front of the door scrapes off easily.
I’m not sure how to handle this, now that I’m ready to paint the exterior of the two doors. I was told Aura exterior is great for doors. But I’m not sure what to use for a primer. I sanded the door and am not getting good adhesion.
Ugh. :o)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man that sounds frustrating! I think your instinct to prime the door first is smart (we haven’t had an issue with not priming utility boxes but they’re not used/touched a lot like doors). Maybe get Aura and whatever primer they recommend there with it? Good luck!
xo
s
Linda G says
I love how you keep finding ways to improve your home at little or no cost. You’re inspiring. Off the subject, I immediately thought of Clara and her brightly colored bedroom when I came across this blog post for another inexpensive (cheap) project, easy to do with great results. Maybe an idea for Teddy’s room, too. Thanks for sharing with us. http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2014/01/diy-foam-frames-of-awesomeness.html
YoungHouseLove says
Fun!
xo
s
Julie says
Hi John & Sherry,
First off, the house looks great outside! I LOVE the 3-tiered hanger.
My main question – how do you guys plan to clean up the brick? My husband and I own a brick foursquare style home built in 1900. We are in upstate NY (Rochester, NY) so we deal with some winter extremes but beautiful off seasons. Our brick could use a little help, as well. I was just wondering if you guys had a post on cleaning up brick (I know previous homes of yours had brick) or different approaches that may have been used.
Thanks guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Someone said just scrubbing it should get it off so I’m going to give it a shot and report back!
xo
s
Steph Nelson says
A little bleach and water and a light scrubbing should get rid of the green. My house grows green in areas, in face I’ve been working a side a day lately! With a pump up sprayer, I spray down the green areas, let it sit a few minutes and then blast with the hose. Any areas that don’t ungreen, I go back and hit it again with the bleach/water and a scrub brush.
I love that planter. I really have wanted some rain chains too, both are wish-listed.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Steph!
xo
s
linda says
lovely updates!
good luck with that hose pot….. we had one and hated it! returned it and got the metal winding reel….
if you don’t plan to ever use the hose it is a nice look…. but i hated unwinding the hose when we needed to use it and even worse was winding it back into the pot….
YoungHouseLove says
We had a winding one that always got tangled. So glad it worked better for you!
xo
s
Kristi says
Can I ask what deck stain and color you have on your deck? Looking for a color like that!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s Olympic Maximum in “Russet.”
xo
s
Amanda says
Don’t you hate it when you notice things after the fact? :-(
The white door looks nice but as someone who has a white door in an area that receives moderate traffic, I highly suggest you paint the door itself one of the gray colors from your siding. You will be surprised how fast the white door gets dirty. At least if it is gray, it will hide the dirt better…..
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Amanda! It leads to our garage so we don’t use it much at all. Will have to see how it holds up!
xo
s
Amanda says
If you don’t get a lot of traffic with that entrance, it might stay clean. :) Having 3 boys, all of my white doors looked terrible all the time. Most of them have been painted black as it compliments our house color and hides all of the dirt – but we just built a new garage and I’m hesitant to paint that one black as it might just pop more than I want it to…..but the white can’t stay either as it’s nicked up pretty good from a 6 year old using his foot to open the door instead of his shoulder and from the rain splashing on the concrete patio outside of the door. Maybe a rug would help counteract that problem – or maybe I should just get on it and finish the pergola, at least over the doorway.
I am going to keep my fingers crossed that Teddy isn’t as rough as my youngest. He’s like a bull in a China shop most days. HAHA
Wendy says
My doors need some work too. They have developed some very long cracks in the wood – would you just use wood filler on those too?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes I’d just use that, sand it well, and possibly re-putty and sand again to get it smooth if the first application isn’t perfect.
xo
s
Michelle | Birds of Berwick says
That 3-tier pot is great! I love the copper look and will have to figure out where to put one!
We built a raised bed this past weekend and had hopes to add a vertical garden, but I think these garden novices are going to stop there! It was so easy and looks great though! I can’t wait to pick my own veggies!
http://www.birdsofberwick.com/2014/05/22/raising-a-vertical-garden/
YoungHouseLove says
Really nice!
xo
s
KDot says
You remind me of my parents.
The morning of my backyard wedding (at my parents’ home), my dad was painting the garage door! The booze was set up in front of it so it did become a popular place!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Emily @ Life on Food says
The tiered planter is super cool. We are trying raised beds but I have a feeling the critters are not going to let us be successful in growing veggies.
Liz says
Hi Sherry and John!
Great post! I have several doors in my home that are in bad shape – would you guys consider doing a more in depth post about rehabbing doors that need serious work? I see you scraped off the old paint; have you ever had to fix up dented, chipped or split door bottoms and door jamb moulding? I don’t know if they’re fixable or if they should just be replaced.
YoungHouseLove says
We had some holes (from where the old screen hinges were) and cracks and divots in the door that we patched with wood putty. Just smooth it on with a putty knife, let it dry, and sand it smooth (repeat that twice if it’s not perfect after the first sanding). It’s usually a great way to save an old door :)
xo
s
Deb says
Target has a green doormat with a bicycle that won’t match the house but has John’s name written all over it!!!! The first time I saw it I thought…
well surely I will see that on the YHL blog!!!! Plus…it was recently on
sale. Father’s Day maybe????
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet!
xo
s
Krissy says
The deer at my parents’ house come up on their deck, and it’s higher up than yours. It’s a pain.
We live in the woods and have deer ALL OVER, but they don’t bother our raised beds. I don’t really know how that happens, maybe because of where they are in relation to the house, or the fact that the dog spends a lot of time around them.
katalina says
another caulk question– what brand do you like for outside?
have you had any luck with the non-gun brands??
thanks so much.
YoungHouseLove says
We like Dap window & door caulk (the white paintable kind), but we use it with a caulk gun.
xo
s
eliza says
did you lay sod to get your grass so quickly improved? or did you start from seed?
YoungHouseLove says
We seeded last fall and again this spring. We like Scott’s tall fescue mix and we water it every day while it’s getting established. Good luck!
xo
s
Ariel says
Did you guys not prime the door after sanding and before painting?? Or was it a paint and printer mix?
YoungHouseLove says
This outdoor Sherwin Williams stuff seems great without primer (it’s how we painted the sunroom door a while back and it’s still going strong). For a metal exterior door (or with a lower quality paint) I’d prime though!
xo
s
Mia says
You know I think we all struggle with this sometimes, wanting the house to look “perfect” for our guests. I didn’t host guests for 2 years (!) when we moved in to this house because I wanted everything to be in order. I regret that now, it’s a nice house and we worked hard to be homeowners.
It is a sign of respect to have a clean house, you want folks to be comfortable. For me that means clean bathrooms and kitchen, living room in order. But otherwise I don’t worry about the rest.
Our loved ones visit us to well, show love. They are more concerned about good conversation and just being together :)
Debbie C says
The updates look nice and fresh, but I don’t think anyone at the party cared/noticed because they were a)having fun, b)drooling over little Teddy, or c)both. Usually when we have a party my main worry is that the bathroom is spotless, and the food is done on time. Which means I tend to forget about dust bunnies under the furniture…sigh.
Lisa S says
I love the door. Anything painted white is really great.
We also hosted a giant bash last weekend celebrating one child is 3 and the other is 1. I have been obsessing about spiffing my house up before the party which is how I even found your book and blog.
We painted the entire great room of the house, built a mantle, changed the floor plan of the furniture in the two weeks leading up to the party. Then I had to chill out because the house still isn’t where I want it to be–budget and time constraints and remember my guests just want good booze and food and a place for there little ones to have fun. I loved your pink and gold and everything pictures. We had a red Mexican luau thing.
Deer like to eat roses and ivy. I grew up in a really deer heavy area. Now I guess there are deer in my new abode but I planted a lot of lavender and rosemary and never see them even though I have tons of roses mixed in (I like English cottage gardens). The roses keep the dogs from pooping in my flower beds which was a problem before I planted them.
But anyway–no roses or ivy for you guys because it looks like a more wild place similar to where I grew up.
Oh and planters–yes. I got rid of a large raised planting bed to put more hardscape down for my kids to play with there cars and toys and also to put a deep seating collection. But things weren’t growing great there anyway and it was truly a misuse of space and pretty ugly.
What I did was go up to Napa (it’s nice that it happens to be in my backyard of Marin County, CA) and pick up two old wine barrels that were halved for $15 a piece. I drilled holes in the bottom about the size of a quarter to a nickel in each for drainage. Then, I hit a sale on compost at Lucky grocery and poured it in with potting soil on top. I planned to put lemon trees in there hence all the soil.
What I didn’t think of was MOVING them with all the soil in it. Fast forward– I think we had to hire a couple of day laborers to help us lift them onto large planting discs on wheels. So–make sure you buy the wheel contraptions first. Or, if you are planting shallow things–put rocks in and then soil so it’s not so heavy or expensive for soil.
But anyway–the two planters are filled with lovely varieties of organic tomatoes–cherry, heirloom, other yummy things that I can find at the farmers markets. The planters are great because I move them around the hardscape depending on the time of day to get sun or out of the way if we have a party. I think some wine barrel planters would look great on your deck! You guys are so handy, you would probably just find a way to sensibly screw the castors onto the barrel and then paint them a vibrant color and weather proof them.
Oh yeah and I treated the inside with apple cider vinegar to help things grow in them. I don’t know why, but I read somewhere to do that and last summer I had a really good tomato crop in them. My tomatoes are just starting to go crazy. It also helps to bury fish heads in the soil. Just ask your local fish monger for some or make friends with a sushi chef! Or cook some fish up and cut up the heads and mix it with the soil.
Mia says
Love the plant hanger. That basil looks ready to pick, reminds me I need to make some pesto with mine!
Hilary W. says
Love your fun adirondack chairs. Are they painted? If so, do you leave them out and did you treat them with anything to better withstand the elements?
YoungHouseLove says
We ordered them that way but they could use another coat of paint after fading and wearing down. Primer plus spray paint meant for outdoors should work.
xo
s
Rachael Nichols says
I know you guys DIY pretty much everything but we have a tower garden and LOVE it. So much that we decided to sell them. They are moveable, no soil (aeroponic), uses less water then a traditional garden. AND in the winter you can throw some grow lights on it and move it inside. Fresh produce all year around. It comes with a timer too to turn the water on and off. Plus it sounds relaxing to when the water is trickling. Please at least check out my site. https://teamnichols.towergarden.com
Val says
You could build a salad table that is moveable. You could even add a little chicken wire or frame along the top of the frame so it’s not at deer-snacking height. Or even several rows of string tied to posts at each corner.
Our worked really well last year, though hubby added more braces along the legs than the plans call for because it felt a little wobbly. http://livingonthecheap.com/how-to-build-and-grow-a-salad-table/
We have occasional deer, but they didn’t bother ours last year, probably because it’s right up against the house. We had to wire-fence off our blueberry bushes though, as the deer nearly killed them the first winter they were planted.
YoungHouseLove says
Love all the ideas and tips everyone! Thanks!
xo
s
Katie says
I’ve been growing tomatoes in 5 gallon paint buckets (with holes drilled into the bottom for drainage). It’s not super attractive, though I’m sure you can build a wooden box to house the buckets to hide the plastic-ness. However, the benefit is they are definitly portable, break down at the end of the season for easy storage, and can use less potting soil than traditional raised beds. And my tomatoes thrive in it! I’m growing various beans this year too and they seem to be doing wonderful.
Kate Craig says
a hose pot! I love that!!
Lynda says
If I may make a suggestion, if you would paint the meter a lighter tone of that color, it would blend in and not stand out.
gail says
Teddy sure looks like Clara!
Michelle says
Yes! I totally clean up to make it look “perfect” vs the perfectly imperfect of everyday life when throwing a party! Quick question – love the idea of painting the meter box. Can you also do this for the huge silver power “boxes” in yards? I would love toms me that monstrosity “disappear” in my front yard!! Thoughts?
YoungHouseLove says
I think you can! Maybe just call the county to make sure it’s not “their property” (we own our meter boxes in our county so we can paint them).
xo
s
Lauren S. says
The door and planter look great! I definitely get house project anxiety before we have visitors- I’m pretty sure the majority of home improvement projects get accomplished 24-48 hours before my old college friends roll into town.
Also, shout out to fellow rock n’ play owning parents! My newborn practically lives in hers – I don’t think she’s actually slept in that crib we repainted for her once.
Sarah @ Sarah's Daybook says
Omg. Teddy is huge! Where does the time go??
Sarah
http://www.sarahsdaybook.wordpress.com
Jenn says
So first of all Teddy does look like he’s filling out in his new weekly picture and looks a lot like his older sister. the picture of him in this post while he is chilling in the swing should have the caption “go go gadget arms” lol
ok now on to the house question. I noticed by the back garage door you have rocks spread out against the house. Is there a reason you did not mulch straight up to the house? It looks nice i was just wondering if there was a reason for breaking it up.
Thanks, have a great holiday weekend!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s just for drainage and so mulch doesn’t splatter since we don’t have gutters.
xo
s
Em says
Quick question about your hose pot: does it have drainage on the bottom? I’m not afraid of snakes, but I’m VERY concerned about creating a mosquito breeding ground in my yard!
As for gutters, ours used to get clogged all the time and create a waterfall over our exterior basement entrance (so the water would come through the door.) a couple years ago we had them replaced with covered gutters from Thomson Creek. They are awesome! We had to endure a painful 2 hour presentation about their windows from the representative, but even that was worth it. If you do get gutters at some point, I recommend those. I also recommend having a toddler boy running around the demo window during the presentation- when our son woke up from his nap, the Thompson Creek guy quickly wrapped things up!
YoungHouseLove says
So funny! There’s a hole in the pot near he bottom for the hoes to go into and it’s wider than the hose so I think water would flow out of that.
xo
s
Jaz says
Hi John & Sherry,
It may sound silly, but this post is one of the main reasons I love reading your blog. It seems like we all have some small (& big) neglected areas and seeing the small updates you made is so inspiring. Thank you!
Congratulations on baby Teddy! He is beautiful. Sherry, your courage and grace throughout this second pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is so admirable.
As always, thanks for sharing!
Jaz
YoungHouseLove says
You’re so sweet Jaz!
xo
s
Kim says
Of course my only take away from the entire post is “you got a rock and play!” How’s it going with sleep??
YoungHouseLove says
That’s an old one we had with Clara! It’s great for little cat naps or awake time while we eat dinner but we wear him a lot too. Night sleep is still in the crib, but it’s getting better!
xo
s
Sue says
Love the back door update. The changes in just a year are wonderful. I’m just getting started getting my garden in the ground (Central Oregon, where we have no guaranteed frost-free period, and plenty of deer and other critters that love to nosh on my plants). Actually, the biggest threat to my veggies have been my chickens, sheep and goats. The deer seem to understand that I know plenty of hunters who would love to come help me. They didn’t even bother my tulips this spring, which are deer candy.
Alicia Long says
FYI, Black Widow spiders like to hang out in our hose bowl!
YoungHouseLove says
Yikes!
xo
s
Aprill says
We are about to plant our starts outside that we started from seed for our first garden. We are so excited to have all the ingredients for fresh salsa. Who doesn’t want fresh salsa in the summer? We did onions, garlic, 4 kinds of tomatoes, cilantro, Jalapenos and also some cilantro and pumpkins:)We are also building a stained wood planter box tomorrow! Your post has inspired us to beautify up our backyard/porch area this weekend!
Cathy says
I live in the same general are of Va and have the same deck and yard situation with the deer. I have four dogs and the deer still come up on the deck and eat my veggies growing in my pots. I have tried everything and can’t grow anything g they won’t devour, even with all the recommendations of things that are said to keep them away. If anyone has any solutions, share.,