A Cheery Little Deck

I had some fun yesterday getting our deck spruced up.  I purchased new plants, swept and rearranged.  Definitely a lot more cheery and inviting!

I can't wait to cook with the rosemary and basil.  When planting my new plants I added some new potting soil to the containers to give them a boost.

I typically grow these in containers all summer long. This year I hope I can transplant the rosemary at the end of the season.  I like to change up my colors each year.  This year we are going with red and blue.

By rearranging the pots and keeping them neat and tidy, it looks a lot more inviting.  I like to keep this ivy going in my larger pots.  It last from year to year and gives a more mature look at the beginning of the season.

Don't you want to come over and visit?  You are welcome anytime!

Stars and Stripes

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Going to a party today?  Catching up on things around the house?  I will be doing the latter.  But will have our men and women in uniform and those that have served in the past in my thoughts.  It is an incredible committment to make and I appreciate everyone who makes it.

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I like to see a star or two in home decor. It is a nice tribute to our flag and country.  Like the sweet house above.  What a slice of americana!  But even if you don't have the flag itself.  Stars always make me think of the good old US of A.

I had a couple of outdoor stars that I wanted to hang together on our deck. But because they were not the same I thought they needed some friends.  I put them in a gallery wall with some other iron pieces I had.  The largest one is a doormat and the smaller circles and rectangle are actually trivets from Southern Living Home.

This heaviest piece was hung with an anchor, the lighter pieces were hung directly into the concrete.  I am pretty sure this is not how I was supposed to do this.  But they are very sturdy.

I am loving my wall and being able to see all these pieces together.  So nice to see them when sitting on the deck. 

Covering A Chain Length Fence With Vines

Rudy and I have a section of our chain length fence that we need to camouflage.  We are putting in new fencing for part of the yard but leaving our chain length fence intact. 

We are going to start our new fence where our neighbors fence stops but as you can see we have a section of chain length that will need to be spruced up.

Our thought is that we could cover the fence with vines.  We currently have ivy that would work.  I took some of the longer pieces and wrapped it around the fencing to encourage it to grow.

I am thinking though it may look better to use prettier vines.  I found an article on DoItYourself.com listing other things you can use such as black eyed Susans which I love.

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And Cardinal Climber...



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And I do love jasmine vines which I bought recently.  So we shall see.  I think our new fence will be in by the end of June most likely.  All depends on when we can get the time to put it in.

The Pop In

Have you heard of the "Pop In" phenomenon?  I think it is the reason why I have found the coolest things in my house.

You know that saying that if you have money to spend, you can't find anything to buy?  But when you don't, you see so many things?  That is sort of true for me except that when I am looking for something I can't find it, but when I am not I see all kinds of great things.  That is where the pop in comes in to play.  Sometimes you just need to pop in places because you never know what you are going to find.

All the best things I have ever found have been by happenstance.  Yesterday before the painting party,  I "popped in" the Ross near my house.  Typically this Ross does not have the best inventory.  But its a you never know kind of thing.  And I was in luck!  I found these great outdoor pillows for only $6.99 apiece!

So glad I did!  Kind of nautical but not over the top.  I do need to freshen up the other cushions...fade resistant is what I am on the hunt for.  Any tips - please share!

Backyard Redo - Plant Selection

Happy 7 months to Reed! Yay!

On to the post...Rudy and I are well on our way of getting our yard in shape.  Rudy transplanted a bunch of ground cover, I have planted some flowers and we have put together our plan for the back yard.  We have a need for some privacy plantings as well as flowering shrubs.  After doing some research at our local home improvement store we came up with the following plants.  Our yard is very shady so we had to stick with plants that had flexible light requirements or preferred shade or part shade.

Privacy "fence" - Emerald Green Arborvitae

Layered with several flowering shrubs like this Indian Hawthorne

And this Gardenia

And some Rhododendrons

I love Rhododendrons...you can just feel the coolness that they bring to the air as you get near them.  They cover the landscape in the mountains of North Carolina nestled at the foot of trees and the beauty is so calming.

I do need to identify some smaller shrubs to plant around our patio.  I like Juniper Shrubs like this one but they need more sun then our back yard will have.



So I am going to keep thinking on this one...perhaps there is another plant similar in look that can be used in part shade yards.

First we are going to put in our fencing and then get going on the plantings.  So excited!

Fire Pit In Action!

I posted about the fire pit I made for Rudy and I couldn't wait for us to use it!  We used it on Sunday night and really enjoyed being outside.  We even had dinner sitting by it!  Here is Rudy pre-dinner tying flies for his Monday fishing trip.

Of course when you have a fire pit, you must have some chairs to sit in to enjoy it.  And preferably chairs with cup holders.  I picked up these great cypres adirondack chairs in Troy, NC for about $75 apiece.  They were already assembled and are very sturdy.  I have been on the hunt for a good deal on these types of chairs and although not super cheap, these were one of the best prices I have seen without having to assemble them yourself.  If you have seen better deals, let me know!

I like how the chairs back up to the french doors.  It makes a nice flow from upstairs to downstairs.  I still have work to do down here.  See that raised brick bed in the background?

I thought it was a good place to put wood for the fire and purchased this for $15 from Big Lots.

Originally there was  not a deck on this house so the lower level was the only patio.  These planters were probably used more then but now they are in the way.  We are not doing any major work down here so I am not going to take them out.  I am going to fill this planter with gravel instead.  We also have a longer one that sits completely under the deck now.  It is now being used to store lumber but hopefully I can  think of something better to do with it!