In Praise Of: Colorful Patio Umbrellas
Spring has arrived, the temperatures are warming up, and we are so close to being able to dine alfresco. That’s why I have all things outdoor furniture on my mind, including colorful patio umbrellas. I’ve been solidly in my black and white patio umbrella phase for the last few years. If anything were to tempt me cross over into the land of color, it would be one of these colorful patio umbrellas. Check them out! Bourbana 9′ Market Umbrella | Wayfair A pop of yellow sunshine on your patio would bring a big dose of happy no matter the weather. (image: Wayfair) Having the beach in the background wouldn’t hurt…
Spring Break 2024 & What’s Trending On Pinterest
Hi! It’s Spring Break! My kids have been counting down to this week since Christmas. I’m sure their teachers have been too. Ha! We are determined to have fun this week, so I will be out of the office, so to speak. New blog posts will resume next Monday. However, I’m sure I’ll be posting on social media (Instagram or Facebook) this week, so be sure to follow along there if you aren’t already. That’s where all the unpolished, behind-the-scenes stuff happens. If you’d like some blog posts to tide you over until I return with fresh new content, try one of these: The darling of Pinterest, the post all…
Happy List: #339
Hello! Happy Good Friday and early Easter to those of you celebrating. I’m so glad you’re sharing part of your day with me. This week on the blog I shared all the ways I have decorated wood Easter eggs. I love those little orbs so much! I also shared how my porch plants have fared after spending the winter vacationing on my sunporch. The sunporch is a favorite spot around here in the dead of winter for plants and humans because it becomes toasty warm on sunny days. As always, thank you for being here. Truly. It means the world to us and helps keep the lights on. If you…
How Many Porch Plants Survived The Winter?
I brought our porch plants inside for the winter approximately six months ago. How many porch plants survived the winter inside on our sunporch? *drumroll please* Technically speaking, all of them. Not-so-technically speaking, our green pepper plant might be on its last leg due to pests but I haven’t given up watering it hope yet. While the pepper plant might be dropping out, the ferns are the overachievers of the group. I really wish they’d dial it back a notch. They’ve already been trimmed multiple times this winter and in the below picture, you can see their current state. To describe it delicately, they are bustin’ out of their britches,…
7 Ways To Decorate Wood Easter Eggs
Today I’m sharing 7 ways to decorate wood Easter eggs. If you haven’t had the pleasure of decorating wood Easter eggs yet, what are you waiting for? Carpe diem the wood egg! Decorating wood Easter eggs makes me egg-cited because I can keep them forever. Plus, there’s the uniqueness that comes from working with a natural substance like wood. Each egg ends up with its own quirks (relatable) and I’m here for that! If this post gives you additional ideas on how to decorate wood Easter eggs, please let me know. I have wood eggs I haven’t decorated yet and I gladly welcome new ideas. Now, let’s hop to it……
Happy List: 338
Why, hello there! Welcome to this week’s Happy List! This week on the blog I shared how the gaps in our wood floors are doing after I filled them with oakum two and a half years ago. Long story short, the experiment continues. And in other old house news, I also wrote about the stone steps leading into our basement. We’re not sure when those steps were added but we love that they aren’t made of wood. As always, thank you for being here. Truly. It means the world to us and helps keep the lights on. If you want to connect with us, and I hope you do, you…
Foot Wear On Our Stone Steps and A Basement Mystery
I noticed an interesting thing while we’ve been repointing the basement. There is foot traffic wear on our stone steps. If you look closely, you can see the slight dip on the left side of the stairs closest to the handrail, especially on the fourth and fifth stairs down from the top. Fascinating, right? How old do stone steps have to be and how much foot traffic do stone steps have to receive before the treads start wearing down? I’m not sure. I went spelunking on the internet to try and find the answer to this question. There might be a mathematical way to solve this question but we are…
Filling Floor Gaps With Oakum: Update 2 1/2 Years Later
Two and a half years ago, I filled the gaps in our original wood floors with oakum. You can read more about that process here. This is a niche solution to a common problem with homes built in the 1700s and 1800s with original wood floors and gaps between those floorboards. Our house was built in the 1780s and later added onto in the 1800s. It’s time for an update on how that oakum has held up! First of all, what is oakum? Historically speaking, oakum is a combination of natural fibers like hemp or jute and tar or oil that was used to caulk wooden ships to make them…
Happy List: #337
Welcome to the Happy List. Top o’ the morning to you! I’m glad you’re here. This week on the blog I shared how our living room has evolved in the last five years and how many throw pillows I have accumulated in that time. At this rate, we’ll be overrun with throw pillows in short order. I also shared on the blog the one thing we did not anticipate, or maybe buried in the back of our brains when it comes to repointing the stone walls in our basement. Now we are living with our choices. Ha! As always, thank you for being here. If you want to connect with…
What We Didn’t Anticipate When Repointing Our Stone Walls
We live in a really old home with a stone foundation. We started repointing our stone walls in the basement because it was time to tackle that project. Read more about that here. Homeownership 101 says you have to take care of your foundation if you don’t want your house to develop a catastrophic issue. For a stone foundation, the outer layer of stone has to be repointed periodically – every 50 – 100 years. Repointing stone walls means you remove the old lime mortar that is failing and replace it with new lime mortar. You only need to chip out an inch or so of the old mortar to…
