Not much sun, lots of rain!

Everything has been put on hold in the garden… we actually have had the heater running! In June! This makes me extra sad because I won some very cool Malibu solar spotlights from a contest on Home Construction Improvement (thanks Todd).

I plan to use them in our front garden to highlight some plantings. We love solar around here and have a lot of solar powered garden accents, but these solar spotlights are pretty different! Usually solar lights have the panel right on the light, but these are set up a bit more like the low voltage garden lights you would install, meaning that they are connected to each other with a wire, and the actual solar panel can be placed a little further off.

Anyway, if and when it stops raining around here I will get them set up and take a photo. And if you are looking for solar lights, or other green options for the garden, check out Amazon’s new Green Home and Garden shop! There are some very cool things I would love to have (adding stuff to my wis hlist as we speak).

Simple Garden Project

This is what happens when I am in the garden and realize that I have a broken fountain, a bag of dirt, and some pansys that need a home! I turn the broken fountain into a fun planter! Super easy project, and the most fun part is that it still acts like a bit of a fountain when the little “pots” have too much water.

*originally posted at Aimee’s Adventures*

More storage please!

Storage space, or lack of, is a problem in our house. We don’t have much clutter, but there are some things that you just need to store. Stuff like towels, blankets for the different seasons, seasonal decorations, and other storage items that we need.

Our home has one small linen closet. It works well for bathroom storage since it is near the main bathroom, but it really can’t hold much else. And it has no ventilation whatsoever, and things tend to get that musty smell pretty fast. We also have a short bed, meaning that those “under bed” storage things don’t fit under the bed. One idea that I have had for some time is to get a storage armoire for our laundry room. I think that it would be a great way to keep extra blankets and such. I found one that has louvered doors, which would probably help keep things fresh too. And, I found it at JCPenny! They are having some great stuff lately!

It’s on sale, but since we have a “use what you have” budget right now, I am trying to figure out other options using what we already have in our house. What storage solutions do you use for seasonal stuff? I would love to hear what you are all doing!

We have a decision!

Actually, a decision has been made on two things we have been pondering. The deck versus patio question, and the leave the trees in versus taking them out. And the winners are…. patio and trees staying!

That’s right, we will be creating a patio. Most likely we will pour concrete and then stamp and color it to create something gorgeous. I am pretty excited about this because it’s our first time doing a project like that, and the patios that we have seen that use this method are really good looking, so it will be a nice addition to our home. Plus, gaining usable space in the yard to add a BBQ and patio chairs is going to be a lot of fun.

Turns out the trees aren’t as big of a problem as my husband made them out to be. He has come up with a plan that he likes to incorporate them into the yard better, so we are going to do that (more to come when that starts). I thought for sure they would be on their way out, but they provide so much shade to the house, and it would be costly to replace them with new trees along the fence, so they get to stay! I am glad because I really do hate to take out healthy trees.

Another fun thing that I hope we get around to doing this summer is digging our trampoline hole. This might get tricky because of the sprinkling system, but it would be so nice to have the trampoline in the ground. It would make mowing the lawn a ton easier!

So, now that we know what we are doing, it’s time to get started! And of course I will post all about it here when it happens too!