gardening and landscape
Out With the Sad Mailbox In With the New Mailbox
Goodbye, sad mailbox. Hello, new mailbox that is the best-looking one on the block. Not that it’s a competition. It’s not. But if it were… Our old mailbox was competing for the worst one on the block. Here it is after it made its acquaintance with a snowplow. There was no coming back from this. That door never opened or closed well after that unfortunate encounter. Who needs dry junk mail anyway? We’ve been working on reducing our curb appall and maximizing our curb appeal by restoring the low stone walls that run along the front of our property facing the road. It seemed natural to include a new mailbox…
My Favorite Solar Lights
If I must leave my house and return to it in the dark – shudders – then I want to come home to the cozy, welcoming glow of my favorite solar lights. Outdoor solar lights are inviting, practical, and don’t impact my electric bill. Do not get me started on the electric bill. Ugh. Here are my favorites: The Workhorse Solar Light | Amazon My go-to, all-around MVP for a solar light is this up-light disc. They come with a stake, but I also have them sitting directly on the ground without being secured by the stake in most places. Surprisingly, they have rarely blown away. Hope I didn’t just…
Maple Seedlings Make Their Own Sunscreen & 4 Trees We’re Growing
Seedling maple trees have a cool trick to protect their fragile new leaves from the sun. They can make their own “sunscreen.” Are you kidding me? I wish I could do that. I learned that cool fact this week after riding the rollercoaster of “will it or won’t it live” for a volunteer maple tree we’ve been watching grow. The emotional investment is getting out of hand. The Maple Tree’s Origin Story In the summer of 2025, we noticed a maple tree was growing out of a potted fern we had on our deck. This wasn’t completely unexpected since there is a giant maple tree in our backyard. What was…
Unique Indoor Plant Displays
I overwinter many of my porch plants (ferns, geraniums, petunias) on our sunporch, and don’t have a great way of displaying the plants that makes it easy to care for them and looks aesthetically pleasing. First world problem, I know. My Current Plant Display Setup: The plants do seem to like it out here, and the photo below shows the best my current sunporch plant display has ever looked this winter. I have a couple of boards perched on top of a seed table that we don’t use for starting seeds. Because of these boards, I can rest three plants on top of the table, so I guess we do…
Overwintering Plants Set Up On Our Sunporch
By necessity, I have tweaked how I’ve set up our sunporch to overwinter plants. That specific necessity is that there are more outdoor plants I’m trying to save. It started with three ferns, and now I have six ferns, two gigantic geraniums, three polka dot plants, one rosemary, two basil plants, a couple of petunias, and some other plants I don’t know the names of. Let this be a lesson. I’m not sure what the lesson is, so we’ll call it a choose-your-own-lesson type of story. Every plant on this sunporch spends six months of the year outside, either on our front porch or deck. If they survive the summer,…
Building Fieldstone Stairs: Part 1
My friends, it is time for our next project, building fieldstone stairs! Have we done this before? Nope. Is that going to get in the way of a good time? Maybe. This project needs a little context, so let’s step on up and get to it. Where will we be building fieldstone stairs? Outside, of course. There is a set of wood stairs in our backyard (4 steps) that we walk down to get to the first floor of the Carriage House. The stairs are set in the middle of a loosely stacked fieldstone wall and below a slightly out-of-level flagstone. Why we are replacing the old steps? For kicks.…
Plywood Side Table Makeover
Some life lessons need reminders. Today’s plywood side table makeover is one of those reminders. (Yes, I can find a life lesson in almost anything.) I found what was clearly a DIY plywood side table at my favorite thrift store. It was $10. Do you think I overpaid? I never regret buying wood tables for $10 (maybe more depending on the table) because I know the lumber it took to make it, not to mention the time, costs more than ten bucks these days. Plus, side tables are one thing we are short on around here. I knew I was going to knock off the orange-y finish of the table,…
A Neighbor’s Compliment That Stuck With Me
We were doing yard work near the road recently and a neighbor walked by and said, “Hey, Man! Your flowers are so pretty.” “Thank you!” we both responded in unison as if we had everything to do with those flowers blooming. I’m fairly certain he was referencing the rhododendrons since they were in full bloom then. Truthfully, I had nothing to do with the rhododendrons blooming. I didn’t even plant them. We have three of them and I think they are older than me. Not that my kids would believe that since I was born in the *GASP* 1900s. Anyone born in the 1900s must be ancient according to them.…
Front Porch – More Seating and a Light Update
It is front porch season in New Jersey. Finally! New Jersey likes to trick you a little on this topic. You’ll think it is front porch season and then one morning you’ll wake up to find everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, covered in a coating of yellow dust. Pesky pollen. I made the mistake of sleeping with the window open during this time and woke up to my nightstand, and I’m sure, all my bedding, covered in pollen. Is this why they call it spring cleaning? Because I had to do a BUNCH of it that day. Regrets. I have a few. Anyway, I cleared the front porch of…
Fairy Light Mason Jars (Solar and Battery Powered)
Today, it is my privilege to remind you of the simple joy of fairy light mason jars. It’s not a new concept, but it is one I had forgotten about until recently. In addition, there are not one, but TWO easy ways to light them up yourselves. First, how this reminder came about in case you don’t like DIY projects. (There’s something for everyone here.) I was killing time in the lighting aisle at Lowe’s recently because Handy Husband had parked himself in the electrical aisle and I’m pretty sure he was there long enough that folks started mistaking him for an employee. If they offer an employee discount, it…
