And not because of the house, but because of the yard.

Look at this thing- It was out of control!!

So with my trusty assistant in tow {see her hiding in the above photos- pink baseball cap?} we were going to get this yard straightened up!

First stop- the greenhouse! We needed some color to liven up that border.

Then it was time to dig, trim, and mulch!

CeCe might have gone a little crazy with the hedge clippers, but she promises it will grow back.

I’m loving the final product!

The “missing” hedge really opens up the porch, but no longer hides the fact that the railing needs to be repainted…

And of course the grass needs to be cut again, but just pretend like you didn’t notice that either!

]]> http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2011/05/my-green-thumb/feed/ 0 http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2010/09/all-stacked-up/ http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2010/09/all-stacked-up/#comments Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:22:44 +0000 admin http://www.bootsandtotty.com/?p=3791 So I think the Dragonfly on my front door was trying to tell me it was time for a change.

So I headed to the pumpkin patch after work yesterday and picked up these cuties…

and then I…

Stacked…

And stacked…

And stacked a little more…

I think the people at the Greenhouse thought I was crazy.  I must have stacked about 20 different pumpkins to get just the right look.

I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!!

And the best part is, I plan on using my Pumpkin Stack for not only Halloween, but also Thanksgiving, AND Christmas!!

Remember my post last December about a neighbor that painted her pumpkin stack green like a Christmas Tree?

YUP- that’s the plan!

Now I just want to find a little something to hang on the front door where the Dragonfly use to be.  Any suggestions?

{RIP Mr. Dragonfly. You were a good door ornament.  If I can’t find another one of you next spring, I might have to super glue your wing back into place and milk you for another season. xoxo Mrs. vB}

]]> http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2010/09/all-stacked-up/feed/ 1 http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2010/06/summer-time-is-here/ http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2010/06/summer-time-is-here/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:57:18 +0000 admin http://www.bootsandtotty.com/?p=3364 Even though it’s not officially summer yet, I always feel like Memorial Day kicks it off.

And in honor of summer, my green dragonfly is back on the front storm door.

I also got a cute fern for the urn on the front porch. {yes it needs some water- sorry for the droopiness}

I think it makes a nice combo…

I then moved my $1.39 Home Goods Flower to the garage door.

Gotta have alittle flair in both the front and back!  Didn’t your momma teach you anything?!

Flower beds need to be weeded and mulched, the grass needs to be seeded and fertilized… and don’t forget our Lasagna Garden!  {for more details on the garden click here.}

I found this diagram of a Salad Garden and an Italian/Salsa Garden in a not so recent copy of Better Homes and Gardens.

I love the layout of the Salad garden with the trellis’ for the cucumbers and the different layers of the greens, onions, carrots, etc.

We attempted to plant a bunch of goodies last year, but I think we were too late in the season.  Nothing really took.  This year we are taking a different approach.  Trying to get a head start and get our little veggies growing strong prior to planting them.

I’ve seen tutorials on using these pellet starter kits to get your seeds growing.  I’m gonna give it a whirl this weekend and see how it works.  {Any pointers from readers with green thumbs are welcome!}

Daddio is an avid bootsandtotty reader so I thought this post might brighten his day.

{LOVE YOU DADDIO- Feel Better!!}

On that note, thought we could all use something to smile about…

Here is my new front door accessory until it is time to break out my dragon fly for summer!

It was a Home Goods Steal and Deal for $1.39!!!!

Happy Friday!

Wanted to show you guys the progress my paper-whites have been making. (Here’s what they looked like last week.)  I can barley keep Milo from eating/pulling the grass out of the dirt, so who knows if the grass will still be around by the time I actually have blooms, but oh well.

There hasn’t been too much sun here in Richmond the past couple of days, but they do appear to be making progress.

I am going to take a short break for the Turkey holidays, but will be back ready to rumble next week with NEW Steals and Deals, plus the December Shoe of the Month!  I am also hoping to have our xmas decorations in full swing, so I will keep you guys in the loop with what I am doing.

Gobble Gobble..

First up was hanging the pelmet/cornice boxes in the guest room.  Remember this tutorial that I had gotten from Little Green Notebook?

Here is the boring window before..

Here is Mr. vB working his magic with the drill..

And here is the finished project…

What?? Did you think I was going to post the window with the pelmet box? ha-ha

I am really trying to hold out until the whole room is finished before I show everything, but okay twist my arm.

Isn’t it cute?

We also got 3 more replacement windows installed in the sitting room off our bedroom.  I didn’t take any photos during the actual install, because I was busy painting in the kitchen.  But here are some after shots.  There was such a nice breeze coming through all 3 windows, I asked Mr. vB if we could relocate our bed!

Finally- I also started on our xmas decorations.  Nothing fancy, but I always love to have Paper-whites around the house. {something I picked up from my mom}  I stopped by the local greenhouse and picked up a handful of paper-white bulbs and some cat grass.

Have you guys ever “forced” paper-whites before?  It is super easy- you just need a container, some dirt, H2o, and some sunshine!  Oh and yeah- the paper-white bulbs!  I added grass to mine as I think it gives it a great extra touch.  {Plus Milo loves to nibble on my flowers, so better for him to nibble on the grass than my paper-whites!}

Here I laid out the bulbs to make sure they would fit.  Then I dumped out some of the dirt, placed the bulbs where I wanted them, and then piled the dirt back on. Voila- Just that easy!

The above photo is what the bulbs looked like on Sunday.

Here is what they look like now after some sunshine!  The grass is sprouting and the bulbs are about to as well!

As they grow, the paper-whites will get very tall and have blooms like daffodils.  I’m envisioning them on the mantle, the dining room table, or maybe even the console table by the front door.  We shall see!

Here is the finished product!

We divided the beds into different sections for the various veggies.  We planted lettuce, mesculin, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, and come spaghetti squash.  I also moved some flowers from the main back border to create a new little area between the garden and the grill.  The plants don’t seem to be taking the transplant too well, but I have been giving them plenty of water from the rain barrel.  Let’s hope they perk up soon!  OH- and you might also notice the little fences we put up.  Gotta keep Boots and Bailey out of the beds.  Mr. vB had the good idea to drill little holes directly into the wood to mount the wire fence.  That way we can easily remove the fencing when we need to get to our veggies!

But what I need help on is the other corner of our yard…I like to refer to it as no-man’s land.  Here are a few shots….

You can see this is where the gas, power and fios meters are.  It is also where the stairs go down to the basement.  I feel like the rest of the yard is somewhat manicured and this section is so BLAH.  I am trying to think of what I can do to jazz it up a bit.  My first thought was to take the large flower pot off the deck and put it right in-front of that basement window.  Then I can get some trellis and try to grow something to hide all the meters.  I was also contemplating painting the concrete.  What do you think?  Have you guys seen anything cool that you can recommend??

So Lasagna Gardening is the concept of “a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that results in rich, fluffy soil with very little work from the gardener.” See more details here.  It’s referred to as lasagna gardening because of the layering effect.  You alternate the layering of brown items such as fall leaves, pine needles, and newspaper clippings with green items like grass clippings, vegetable scraps, and garden scraps.  How great is it that you can mix grass clippings, junk mail, coffee grinds, and banana peels and get FREE organic soil!!

Mr. vB and I have been debating about where to locate our new garden.  We decided the best spot would be right in front of the deck.  Now remember our backyard is about the size of a postage stamp.  We are trying to leave enough room for the Boots and the Bae-Bae to run around, but we would also like a few nice flower beds.  (I can’t believe I am actually posting a before photo of this area.  I haven’t done a good job tending to it and it looks horrible.)

We figure that we could get a 12′ x 2′ raised bed and have it separated into two sections.  Mr. vB started by nailing a 12′ board directly to the deck.  It was my job to use to pick ax to dig up the weeds and even out the existing dirt.

Then he added the 2 side pieces.

And then the front piece.

The finishing touch was the piece to separate the bed into 2 parts. (I am thinking one side for veggies and one side for flowers.  Mr. vB envisions the whole thing full of veggies.  We will see.)

And if you didn’t believe me before that our yard slopes to one side, this picture says it all.  There must be at least a 4-5″ difference between the right corner that is flush with the dirt and left corner that is hovering above the ground. (Don’t worry we aren’t going to leave it like this, we just ran out of lumber)

The next step will be to fill in the beds with the brown and green layers.  We are also thinking about ditching the border that runs the length of the yard towards the back gate.  We can use the extra soil in our new raised beds and in it’s place we will just plant some more grass for the boys.  See below.

(On a side note, Yes Boots is still wearing his head gear- which I am SO over.  He has lost his peripheral vision and is constantly banging that damn thing into a wall, my leg, or Bailey.  It makes the most wretched sound too.  We head back to the vet this week to hopefully hear that it can be removed.)

So we will keep you updated on the progress of our Lasagna Garden! Next weekend we are going to start the layering process.  It sounds pretty darn simple so we shall see!

P.S. If any of my local readers have some old newspapers they can part with let me know.  thanks!!

Not sure if Mr. vB and I were on the same page as to what to get accomplished during our “stay” part of the vacation but finishing the bathroom was at the TOP of my list!!  I was also hoping to fit in some yard work, but I only had 2 days to get it all done, so I knew it was going to be jam packed.

So on Stay-cation day one, after the Baby Bird’s visit, I jumped into working on the bathroom. I needed to get just one more coat of paint on the walls and then touch up ALL the trim and the new crown molding.  Mr. vB got to work fixing the sink drains and then made a trip to Lowe’s to purchase the necessary parts to fix the leak in the exhaust fan.  It’s amazing how the little details are just taking forever to finish.  Am I being too much of a perfectionist??

Here are a few more teaser shots..

Then Stay-cation day two, I was up and at ‘em early because I was trying to beat the heat.  My plan was to weed the flower beds, cut the grass, plant some new flowers, and then mulch…SHEW!  It makes me tired just recapping it.  These photos were taken a week later, so the grass needs to be cut again, but I am pleased with how the borders look.

Also check out my new door decoration.  Isn’t it cute??  My neighbor buddy got it for me at our local Botanical garden.  It actually is suppose to hang down, but I just tacked it onto the door with a nail.  I love how the lime green looks against the blue door!

Now on to Vacation Part Three- Family Reunion Time!