It's All About The (Unused Fountain) Base...

Hi everyone!

I had an old iron solar fountain base taking up space in my garage for the past several years.  The ceramic fountain itself has been long gone, yet for some reason I held on to the the iron frame.  I think you all know how that goes. (Wink, wink, nod, nod!)

I, along with Mr. Bluebird, had gotten tired of kicking the old thing around waiting to do something with it "someday."  Happily, "someday" arrived this afternoon when I made a quick stop in my local WalMart to grab a few things and came out with some inspiration.

Cheap - but it ain't free - inspiration. A beachy turquoise beverage dispenser for $14.00 and a $3.00 geranium from the garden center. Now for the tricky part - brace yourselves, the instructions could get long....I took the fountain base, put the beverage dispenser in the base and then placed the geranium in the beverage dispenser.  Tiring, I know!

 I do plan on either camouflaging the pot or putting the plant in a container that fits the dispenser a bit better.Years ago, I worked for a florist, so I know covering "the mechanics" is an important detail.  In the meantime, I think it's pretty cute and works with the bright colors I've decided to go with for our backyard this year.

Some other backyard prettiness...

Still lots to do before I show you the entire back patio.  In fact, I was working on planting my zinnia patch today....

Hopefully I will have some photos for you early next week.

A special thanks to one of the sweetest bloggers I know, Kathryn over at the Dedicated House. She's featuring one of my recent blog posts on her Make it Pretty Monday link party this week.  Stop on over and check out the  inspiration from loads of bloggers.  Always enjoying partying with Kathryn.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jane

Linking with:Wow us Wednesday
Swing into Spring
Party in Your PJ's
Share Your Style
Grace at Home

Kiss Today Goodbye (And Point Me Toward Tomorrow!)

Whew! Time to review 2013......talk about a fast moving train!  So, without further ado....some highlights of this year.

One of my favorites was the little makeover to our front entry. Practical and pretty all wrapped into one....we entertain alot so we have put the coathooks to good use!

I also shared some of my favorite things. Like my Pottery Barn cow and....

...my scale collection.

I shared lots of photos of our patio redo.....from demo to done!

  

Our kitchen remodel finally was revealed. A year later and I still love oak cabinets turned white.

A little holiday decor......

One King' s Lane invited me to write about my favorite chair. 

And one last look at Christmas! 

Now it's time to turn toward the New Year. I have been working on a few projects that I look forward to sharing in the next weeks. I also have alot of hopes for starting many more throughout the year. One thing I plan on doing is a big purge and reorganization of our house....I will share the good, the bad, and the ugly of that along the way!

Thanks for stopping by throughout 2013.....looking forward to having you visit in 2014. What are your New Year's plans?

Jane

 

Amaze Me Monday

Make it Pretty Monday

Best DIY Projects 2013 - Southern Hospitality

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday

A Stroll Thru Life

 

 

 

I'm Still Here & Patio Progress

Hi everyone!

Oh my, have I been MIA or what? I didn't mean to put my blog aside for so long, but I have been busy at work and at home, and truthfully, not much pretty has been going on around my hacienda the past weeks. With summer break fast approaching, I assure I will have MUCH to share. Hope you will hang in there with me.  For now, I will update you on our patio.

When last we spoke, I was awaiting the start of a big patio project.  Finally, the spring weather gave us a break and our landscapers started the job late late last week.

First things first - remove the old concrete.

This process took all of 30 minutes....

Blurry because it was taken from the inside screen, but there is a pile of concrete where our swimming pool used to be!

Next step, adding stone for a good, sturdy base.

The beginnings of a retaining wall.

Today they started laying the pavers. The wood squares you see are where the posts/pillars will go for our gazebo.

Another view looking out from our kitchen.  We have about another two weeks to go according to our contractor.  Exciting stuff for us!   We also added a cool, custom feature that I can't wait to show you once it gets installed.  If you are from Wisconsin, you will be envious!

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing you happiness,
Jane


A Stroll Thru Life

Let the Patio Demo Begin

 

Well, spring has been slow to arrive in my part of the world, but that hasn't stopped Mr. Bluebird and I from planning some major yard renovations.  After ten years, we have decided to have our existing patio completely  ripped out and replaced with cobblestone pavers. Our existing concrete was starting to shift toward the house and we didn't want to risk water getting in.



 

 

Here's a little look back on last summer, when everything was lush and summer was in full swing.

 

 

 

Before:

 

Before:

 

 

Currently:

Today, we took down our metal gazebo frame and started clearing out all the patio junk. We've also taken down our pool and will fill the area in, add grass seed, and landscape. We will miss the pool, but now that our daughter is in college, it just didn't get much use.

A view from our backyard looking toward the house.  Everything you see (except Mr. Bluebird!) is being torn out and replaced. We are also doubling the size of the patio area.

 

Looking out our kitchen window, this is the messy view of today.  Looking forward to something like this in the next month or so:

 



 

Photo: Extreme Exteriors

We are adding an open air gazebo, as shown in the photo, but with stone pillars, and also a large seat wall.  In the end, it will be very similar to the picture.

Pretty exciting stuff for us.  We usually are the do it yourselfers, but this seemed like a big undertaking and with Mr. Bluebird having major back surgery last summer, it also seemed just a bit too risky. 

I will keep you posted on the progress! Hopefully the demo will start this week if the weather holds.  We have had rain and more rain the last two weeks, but fortunately we live on a hill with great drainage and we also had a good two and a half days without any significant rain.  Can't wait to enjoy a Pina Colada on our new patio!

Wishing you happiness,
Jane