Last veggie harvest

In outdoor preparation for "Sandy", I quickly harvested the last of the vegetables still growing in the garden. How yummy?!?! Can't wait to grow more next year!

Taste of fall

Leaves are beginning to come down in town. Beautiful day outside with the pup. She's loving the weather!

Garden take 1

My attempt at gardening this year was fair at best. My biggest challenge this summer was defending myself from West Nile Virus. I had a horrible time keeping up with the vegetation this year because every second I stayed outdoors with skin exposed, I was preyed upon by mosquitos! In the spring time, I planned my garden. I bought a few plants from the store: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and cantaloupe.  I decided to plant 2 items by seed: lettuce and broccoli. The lettuce grew quickly through the spring and provided us with several salads. It was very exciting. The broccoli began to grow quickly as well but showed itself just as leaves. I really had no idea what to expect from it, since I was a first time grower. As late summer came, the plants continued to grow big and plentiful. Finally, the fruit became visible. I will harvest it in the next few days and give it a try. It's a very rewarding feeling to grow your own food. I'm excited to take my little bit of knowledge into next year's season and grow more produce in a improved quality and quantity.

The non-functional room becomes FUNCTIONAL!

After many evenings of standing in the "foyer" and "breakfast" room of our house, staring at the walls, waiting for them to speak to us of what to make of them, we finally reached a solution of how to update the space and make it more functional. Something about wood paneling and green slate tiling does not scream 2012. Am I wrong?







So, the demo began. We destroyed the entire room and built a closet in a weekend. The overall plan, was to open up the two rooms more and build a coat closet, since there is not a single closet on the first floor. The demo and the construction went smoothly!

Nikki trying to "help"

French closet doors are probably the hardest thing we had to install. But they are very pretty!

Behind all the new drywall, we installed insulation. Many of the walls in our home are not insulated due to the age of the house. We painted both rooms the same color, allowing them to flow into each other.  We used Woodlawn Sterling Blue Valspar paint from Lowe's. I love it! The color is just perfect. We painted all the trim and doors Ultra White Behr from Home Depot. We had engineered hardwood installed throughout the rooms. The dark floor with the bright white trim and light colored walls looks very fresh and bright...significantly better than the wood paneled walls!  The light fixtures we installed were all from Lowe's as well. I think the dark brass color pulls it all together!

Now we are moving on to decorating! I finished Nikki's spot yesterday. What do you think? I'm on the search for a raised bowl that has storage. Can't seem to find anything I like yet. Maybe that'll be the next "project"!

We ordered furniture from crate and barrel and should be here in a few weeks. Stay tuned for final pictures!!

After a long winter of Nikki's rehab, she is all better :) She is back at the dog parks and playing with her frisbee. It was a long road, but she is healthy again!

Site change

After a break from writing, I have decided to pick back up a continue on a fresh page. For older posts see:  Lifeinlahill