Surprise!!! (I’m still here!)

Well HELLO out there! 

Since the last time I posted, a lot has probably happened in your life.  Let’s see, like…

School is out? 

You’re celebrating the end of Crazy-May like I am? 

You got your planters planted with some lovely petunias and you feel sorry for your neighbor’s (um, “my”) nekkid planters every time you drive by?

You’re planning your summer vacation or staycation?

It’s been pretty nutty around here as well.  For one thing, I had to keep my blog quiet for a while, because the only thing I had to talk about was, well, a surprise.  I planned a surprise birthday party for Nick, and the next day, Avery was baptized and we had another full-blown party.

The theme of the birthday party was “techie”, since my hubby is definitely a techie.

I used old CDs and a pool noodle for labeling the various dishes:

The menu included summer staples like BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, fruit salad, “frog eye” salad (LOVE that stuff), and I made German Chocolate Cupcakes with binary code written across the top of the cupcakes like the old Hostess style white curlicues.  (I piped the coconut frosting into the middle of the cupcakes so I could use plain chocolate frosting on top.)

For drinks, we had “Techie-la” Sunrises and one of Nick’s favorite summer drinks that I labeled a “Beer-nary Cooler”, which is half beer and half lemonade.

I used a glass cylinder from the dollar store and stuffed a bunch of old cords in it, then hot glued a plastic platter on top for a cupcake stand.

Decorations were photos of Nick from each year, with captions explaining the photo and his age in it.

For his birthday, Nick even got some new outfits!!!  They don’t fit him all that well….but they do look pretty cute on Avery

He also got some cool new lanterns to hang from our new pergola when it’s done.  I’ll save pics of those for when they’re not sitting on our dining room floor

The next day, Miss Avery started the baptism festivities by waking up at about 5 am.  Luckily, her Gigi and Papa were staying with us and offered to get up and keep her occupied for a couple of hours so Nick and I could actually sleep in (we’d almost forgotten what that’s like…)

Then, on Sunday Avery got some nice time with her godparents before the ceremony:

Avery wore my christening gown, which was sewn by my grandma.  My aunt made the tatting on the sleeves and the wide Hardanger lace on the bottom hem.

The bonnet is my great-great-grandmother’s handkerchief, and I also had it pinned under my wedding gown as my “something old” when we got married.  It was really cute, but Avery pulled it off pretty quickly

And in OTHER news….one of Nick’s sisters graduated from dental school a few days ago and we stayed in a hotel with Avery for the first time (not the greatest night, but it could’ve been worse), Avery finally rolled over front to back,  and our new deck will be started on Monday!!! Whoop!

I’ll keep you posted!  We also got some mulch down in the back garden, so a tour of the yard (before and after the new deck for sure) is in order soon.

Deck-orating

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Flood Wood Care. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hiya peeps!

Welcome back, and I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day!  We had a nice day.  Avery took some good naps (which makes for a nice day regardless!) , Nick put a new shelf up in the master closet, and we heard from the deck guy.

Unfortunately, Deck Guy didn't have great news....he'll be starting our new deck a week later than planned.  It will now be completed probably closer to the middle of June rather than the beginning of June like we first thought. 

Even though we're going with composite planks for the deck, the skirting and the pergola will be cedar.  We like the idea of the "no maintenance" composite, but with the money saved by using actual wood for the other portions, it's worth it to us to learn how to take care of it.

Luckily, I've been reading up about the various options for wood stains and sealants, and I think I've found a brand I want to try on our brand-new deck: Flood® Wood Care

Flood® is known as the "wood care specialist" and has been around since 1841.  Their CWF product line comes up often in online forums I've looked at regarding the various types of stains and sealants available for decks, and it's always highly rated by the users.  I think we'll be giving it a shot.  Lucky me Flood® was also looking for some bloggers to do a sponsored post!

We want a high quality product because (hello!) who wants to be restaining their deck or pergola every year?  Now, honestly, if it needs it every year, I'll do it, but if we can somehow help it look great and only refinish it every few years, even better.  Flood® seems to be the best option out there for protecting outdoor wood from the elements and UV rays.  For our western-exposure deck and pergola, that UV protection will be even more important.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of our awesome deck (because it's still pretty rotten at this point?), but as soon as work starts, you'll be along for the ride!

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

Some (Plant) Food for Thought

This post brought to you by Whitney Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hi friends! 

Since my last post about our sad, rotten deck.....

     ....the deck guy still hasn't gotten started.  Hopefully he'll get to us soon, since our weather has been beautiful and his schedule should be right on track.

     ....the neighbor's big dog has busted (Batman style - ka POW) his way through the fence into our yard and/or dug and shoved his way under the fence three times now.  He thinks digging in our garden and mulch is SUPER FUN FUN FUN!  He's gotten our wheels turning once again to generate a little more privacy in our backyard.  Not privacy from the dog, alas.  But privacy from the neighbors, yes :)

     ....and whatta coinkydink! We met with a landscape designer to get ideas for said privacy!  One of our local nurseries was offering 30 minute sessions with a designer for a $25 donation to the American Cancer Society.  What a great way to get a little professional input for not much money!

We really like the designer's ideas, and we'll be implementing them as we can.  But in order to bring in new (expensive) plants, I need a good plan in place to help them get established.  This includes transplanting the existing plants, amending the soil as we go, and finding a safe and effective plant food for both the transplants and the new trees and shrubs.

Here's a grouping of recent transplants (some of which have been dug up by the neighbor's dog.)  Obviously, they need some time (and help?) to get re-established!

I've been thinking a lot about the chemicals I use in our yard, and now that we have a baby and plans for these new shrubs and trees, I'd like to get away from the conventional, chemical fertilizers (Miracle Gro, anyone?) and cheapy soils. 

Side note - I got BLASTED on an online gardening forum one day for asking for suggestions on fertilizer.  Apparently the use of "fertilizer" is a HOT BUTTON for a lot of folks. 

Instead, organic "plant food" seems to be the better route. 

Honestly, I'm pretty uneducated about the whole chemical-fertilizer thing, but if there were good alternatives I actually knew about  (other than compost - already doing that), I'd reach for those instead.

Enter Whitney Farms®.

Whitney Farms has a line of organic plant food and organic soil.  I recently learned about these guys, and although I haven't tried their products yet, I'll definitely be looking for them next time I'm at the store.  Clicking on the link above also gives me (and you) a $3 coupon for a Whitney Farms product. 

 Their products are 100% natural with no additives and nothing artificial.

I'm not sure I could go wrong with that concept.  Plus, those same gardening circles who told me to jump in a lake with my fertilizer question (maybe they're a little pretentious) have *nothing* nice to say about many potting soils, including the Miracle Gro brand.  Apparently, many potting soils have very junky ingredients that aren't helpful for plants at all.  Who knew?  Maybe that's why I have so many planters that look *awful* by the end of the summer?  Maybe an organic soil would pass muster?

A few more perks of Whitney Farms plant food and soil are:
   -Low to no dust (because who likes stuff blowing into their face?)
   -No manure odor (we live near cow pastures.  We have enough stink.)
   -Easy to apply (whoo hoo! Easy is my M.O.)
   -Contains beneficial microbes (it had me at "beneficial".)
   -Specially designed protein-based blends (plants love protein.  Remember those images from school of Native Americans showing the pilgrims how to put a dead fish in each planting hole? They were on to something.)

But first things first.  In order to eventually get some new shrubs and trees into our yard, I need to do some more transplanting of the smaller plants currently in the way.  A little organic plant food would probably go a long way in helping them re-establish in their new locations, and it would be the perfect opportunity to test it out.  So pardon my dust while I go print off my $3 coupon and chase the neighbor's dog out of our backyard. I've got some plants to move!

 

All Decked Out

Howdy, friends.  Welcome back to the ‘burb.  I’ve got a really, super duper FUN little ditty for you today.  It’s all about our deck.

Here goes nothing:

So we’ve got this stellar deck

On the back of our house

It’s Trex and lumber and pretty big

And was built by a totally moronic louse.

See, he didn’t use treated lumber.

Or cedar or redwood.

He just screwed those composite planks on pine

And decided to call it good.

The joists, the beams, and the skirting boards

Are now all rotten through.

So we get the pleasure of rebuilding this deck

Oh yeah, and tearing it down, too.

Now you might say “that’s not so bad”

But how about some icing for the cake?

Plywood squares separate cement from wood

And too few case-ons make it quake.

So in swoops the deck guy

To take a good look around.

He exclaims “This is like, WAY unsafe”

“And must be rebuilt from the ground.”

Later came the estimate

And boy, it surely stank…

But we want our deck to be usable again

So we’re breaking out our piggy bank.

Mr. Deck Guy is busy

For another few weeks

But the new deck should be completed

Before June starts to peek.

We’re bummed it’s so pricey.

But glad it’ll be fixed

And at least we get to say right now..

Our squishy rotten deck is soon to be nixed.

The End.