Wake Up the Neighborhood

"Alligator Alley" was the final color selection. (definately was not the color choice for the faint of heart!) New white paint trim on the steps and porch give it a clean vibe.

The outdoor battery candles are a nice (and automatic!) greeting each evening.

The old porch furniture and lime cushions find new life here.

New plantings out front.  My first attempt did not go well (more below).  These are a new variety of hydrangea called "Phantom" which are supposed to have these huge ball flowers late summer that go from lime green to white and in between is an interesting variety of evergreen.  (I forgot the name of it!) This area is definately for "shade" plants, only a little morning sun.

 These are the original "Pee Wee Oak Leaf" hydrangeas that I planted out front-- relocated to the back yard where they get more sun.

 Yes, believe it or not... you can't believe everything the expert at the nursery tells you.  After a few weeks and looking worse by the day, I couldn't figure out where I went wrong with these guys.  I pulled out the tag and was shocked to see that they like "full sun".  So I dug them up (there was nothing to lose at that point) and moved them to the back.  They have made a great recovery and even survived the hottest July on record.  Moral of the story, no matter what they tell you... read the tag and believe it!

 The infant stage of our future driveway hedge.  We were looking for an evergreen that didn't look piney.  Apparently in our climate, this is probably the only choice:  Prague Viburnum.  36 plants later....

We like them a lot.  With as many as we needed, we couldn't go very large.  So they will be getting regular doses of Miracle Gro!  The good news is they have already doubled or tripled in size after a month.

Screen Porch Season

Long time, no blog... (well, it is our busy season.) 

Here's an update on what's been happening at the homestead lately.

The screen porch got a fresh coat of white paint, inside and out.

Our favorite view from the inside.

Yes, this is our theme for this space... "Eat, Drink and be Merry!"

The room was actually designed around this table.  It once lived in a school library (evidenced by all the chewing gum I once scraped off the bottom). It's been re-refinished (yes that's twice by me) with a coat of liming wax (ala white tint) followed by a coat of clear wax.  We know the elements will weather it more, but we're going with it. It's too good to leave in storage and it didn't fit in the kitchen.  So we'll just enjoy!

  

Comfy chairs were a must for this multi-purpose space.  Here they are decked out in their newly covered cushions.

I took apart the old cushions to make patterns for the new ones.  A bit tedious, but the easy fit made it worth the effort.

Slightly worn, distressed furniture is perfect for this space.  A little more weathering won't hurt this $35 garage sale find.  We were told it was a barber stand in a former life.

These inexpensive ($30) lights from Lowes are perfect for the look and the budget. Even though they are outdoor rated the reviews were a little suspect.  They should be fine under cover.

 Unused accessories from indoors work fine out here.

 An old milk jug from the family farm works well and helps camo the satellite dish.

Simple Ball canning jars make great outdoor candles.  The sand gives it natural look with the added bonus of making it easy to replace the melted candles.  (hint: don't try using a butter knife to scrape out old wax... the jar won't survive--ooops)