Let there be Fire!

This was what the corner of our back yard looked like 2 days ago. It was pretty much like this when we moved in. I added the bottles hanging from the tree and stained the fence last summer.



But it's been a pretty useless space for us. We just never feel like sitting over there when we have a great patio table under the shade.


So we decided to put something out there that would be useful to the space. We didn't need another table and chairs so we thought why not a fire pit!? We figure it will be great on summer evenings with some smores, and friends. Also we may buy or make a BBQ grill top for it so we can use it as a oak pit BBQ on occasion.
Here is Mr. B lighting the first fire in it last night.


The stones for our new fire pit are manufactured concrete stones that are made locally. They stack like a breeze and even dry stacked is really stable. We opted to not mortar them, so it went together in a half an hour.


We also picked up a couple of raw wood Adirondack chairs from Home Depot, we primed and painted them blue with some extra paint I had from a guest house project.


Let me tell you, Adirondack chairs are the most comfy chair to "chill" in ever.


That tall birdhouse in the back I picked up at our local town's annual day fair/my birthday. It was a great deal and handmade as you can see. We may mount it up higher so a bird could safely nest in it.



We used the extra flagstone that we took out of the center to make a pathway. Honestly this was the hardest work we did for the whole project. It took a lot of back pain and shoveling to removed those patches of lawn nicely so we could replant them elsewhere (where our lawn has died) and to set the flagstone flush with the grass.
It's super convenient though and we are glad we took the time to do it right.



Mr. Piggy got moved from my potting cart, to the corner "chill spot" (that's what I'm calling it) because he is blue and fun and just goes!



Speaking of blue...this is my favorite part. We went out and bought two hydrangea plants for our yard. I LOVE hydrangeas they are one of my favorite flowers and for years I thought they didn't even grow here. Well I was wrong. The first spring we lived in our new home I started seeing them in our neighborhood, and they looked very happy in these people's yards. Then this spring I saw them come up again, even our crazy lady's yard next door had them, and she never waters her dirt/front lawn!

So I thought I can do that!!! We bought a 5 gallon white (swoon) and a 1 gallon blue! Love.
Wish me lots of green thumb luck. I may need it.




Over all it is a great up grade. Not free but really no too bad cost wise. Mostly labor intensive, that's the best kind of upgrade.

Knit, knit.

In the middle of summer I find myself knitting.
I love it. It is a new passion, and although I am off seasonally I am really looking forward to sporting my new fashions this fall, when its cool.

I made this gray cowl scarf from an amazing yarn, Alpaca Seta. Its a baby alpaca and silk blend.

The pattern is "A Noble Cowl" that I found on Ravelry.


It's soft. Like super soft.


It might not go with my summertime tank top, but it will work in a few months I swear!

Shower decor

I have to post about the beautiful baby shower I went to today. I was in charge of the decorations and helping coordinate. It was so much fun for me to do, I love decorating and creating and as you may have figured out, if it's DIY I love it even more!!

I went with a "green" theme, because the momma-to-be is having her first boy and I wanted to incorporate a lot of garden elements.

For the decor I made Martha Stewart tissue pom poms in shades of blue & green, I strung them from the umbrellas at the restaurant with jute twine.


I had three beautiful floral arrangement made with some of my favorite green flowers, there are green and white Hydrangeas, Green Bells of Ireland, and Kermit mums. All in a terracotta pot.


I made the favors from cuttings of my own succulents out back and put them all in these tiny terracotta pots tied with a raffia bow.


I printed custom favor tags and hot glued them to a popsicle stick. The restaurant printed us a custom menu as well.


Of course I saved the best part for last! The dessert. Oh yum. In honor of the very Danish mommy the shower was for, I made "Danish Layer Cupcakes".
If you are not familiar with Danish Layer cake it is layer upon layer of delicious vanilla cake, with whipped cream, custard, raspberry preserves, and a marzipan cookie layer.

I filled my vanilla cupcakes with the custard and preserves.


They were so decadent, but the almond whipped topping was nice and light.


My favorite part was the little bit of raspberry preserve you get inside.


All topped with a marzipan leaf.



It was a beautiful day!

I'm a Nerd

When I first started dating Mr. B (8 1/2 years ago), he had just had knee surgery. So for the first month we dated we spent a lot of time watching movies and putting ice on his poor leg.
In that time he quickly discovered that I had never seen any of the Star Wars movies in my life. To Mr. B this was unacceptable. So he remedied my little problem and made me watch all the movies available at the time.
I was mildly impressed, but not smitten like he was.

Flash forward to 8 1/2 years later! After seeing each Star Wars movie about 50 times they have really grown on me. Okay okay I LOVE THEM, well some more than others.

So I am an official Star Wars nerd, not the kind that can say every line in the movie (Mr. B) but enough of one to nerd-out on these!



I found these on Etsy here, the patterns are for sale and I may need to make a set of these as soon as the weather cools off a bit. Aren't they adorable?

Just look at the Ewok?