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…
Evolution of Our Living Room and New Bench Pillows
I’ve discovered a perk of not moving every two or three years. If you stay put long enough, you’ll have the time and inclination (the itch, really) to redecorate your home. As it turns out, redecorating is cheaper and easier than moving. I’m not ready to say it’s more fun because I actually enjoy moving. However, redecorating is pretty darn enjoyable too. You’re going to get hung up on the fact that I enjoy moving, aren’t you? Let me explain. It’s not the physical act of moving homes that I enjoy. It’s the adventure and newness of moving that really flips my switch. And let’s not forget how liberating it…
Happy List: #336
Hello and welcome to this week’s Happy List! I’m delighted you are here! I hope the first week of March treated you well. On the blog this week I shared an Easter craft. Easter will be here before we know it. I used gold leaf to decorate wood eggs and I think they look very sophisticated. Let me know if you try this technique. I also shared the St. Patrick’s Day floral arrangement I made with a more subtle nod to Ireland’s favorite holiday. Multiple holiday ideas in one week. Phew! Maybe I should take next week off. Ha! As always, thank you for being here. If you want to…
St. Patrick’s Day Flower Arrangement With Dried Lentils
Subtle is not an adjective usually paired with St. Patrick’s Day but this St. Patrick’s Day flower arrangement has a more subtle nod to a holiday I absolutely adore. No leprechauns or pots of gold in sight. That’s kind of a shame. I could really use a pot of gold. The star of this St. Patrick’s Day flower arrangement is not the flowers. Although, they are lovely. The star of the show is the vase! The vase finally gets its moment to shine. The vase is filled with dried lentils to mimic the design of the Irish flag. I used roughly equal amounts of green split peas, white rice, and…
