Boxwood at the front door

Are you as excited as me to get outside and garden?
Are you sneaking out there at the first sign of 
warm sun rays, like I am?


I have almost finished all my spring cleaning, but
I just cant wait to get out there!!!


So what happens if I am not done by the time the 
real gardening weather kicks in?  Well, for me,
it just has to wait until the fall.Our summers
 are fairly short in the interior, so you
don't waste a moment indoors.




It was so sunny today,  I ignored inside and went to
 work on my front door planters. :))

 They were filled with cute little cedars,
but the deer nibbled them into a bare little cluster of branches!
They need to be replaced with some sort of evergreen,
because I keep these planters out in the winter too.  


Now that the deer know that we have cedars we
 need to plant  something different...they are relentless.
 I don't think they like  boxwood, 
so boxwood it is!


I love boxwood, they are just a little more
expensive than cedar and there root balls sometimes
can be quit large for containers. But we found two nice 
sized ones that would fill the planters perfectly, for a decent price.
I like the shape of them , and I think they should spread and get
  more of a natural shaped through out the summer.



The picture above is what our home looks like today....
and below is what it looked like in 2012.
Click here to see the full Front yard fix  post.


I am really happy with how everything is growing and filling in.
The hydrangea is in the middle, it looks like a bunch of twigs, 
 grows to a nice size in the summer, with great big white
 blossoms.  I will show you when it is in its full beauty.


 These planters have been sprinkled with a few
 pansies.  Pansies work well in this cool spring climate.
As the weather gets warmer I will change them out
 for white petunia waves, they are good in the heat.
  

The planter filled with daffodils and pansies
came from Costco, it has been outside
surviving in this freezing weather for about  3 weeks.
Their planters are inexpensive and lovely.  A win-win. 
 I think this one was about $12, I couldn't fill one for that price!
I am keeping the wreath that I made in the spring up.
I think it will stay for summer too!
Click here to see the full post on 


The boxwood has been in this planter since we moved in.
It  was one of the first planters that I bought for our front door.
It has that 'cottage' look, I am going for.  I add a little
 'Natures Gold' to it every spring, and that seems give
 it enough nutrition for the season.

  
Because it sits under the roof line, I was
 able to add  bacopa a little earlier than normal.
With the protection it should be fine.


The sunshine sure felt good today, while I 
played in the dirt!  I hope you are able to enjoy some sun too.
 Now.(sigh)... I better go finish up inside.


I am partying @





Easter Weekend

I hope you had a nice Easter Weekend.




 We have had a fun weekend our family.
 Eating, playing games, visiting, hockey 
watching, and egg decorating.
We even managed to get my husband to do a little
Easter Egg Decorating too!
I also remembered  my camera for
a few shots along my walk.








 I cant wait to see how many hatch.
It is so much fun to watch the little
guys grow through the summer...usually
by the end of the season they are chasing me off 
the path. 






Have a great week!



Spring Cottage Curtains

It's Monday again! 
Call me crazy, but I really like Mondays.
Its the beginning of a new week.
Usually, just getting over a busy weekend getting
jobs done in and around the house.
I have been slowly spring cleaning every where.
Bit by bit.


Cleaning and begging the sunshine to 
come on in!  So when I got to the living room
and the dining room I knew there had to be some changes.
No matter what I did it just felt dark in here...
see...


This  picture is from a while ago, but it shows the difference
between the lower dark brown curtains and the new curtains.
Cozy for fall and winter, but it felt dark for summer.
And dark isn't the look I am going for.
Light, airy, and breezy.
Please.
:))


I have been thinking about sheers or light curtains for 
a while now.  So when I saw them on sale ...well you know the story :)


They are longer then I expected, so 
my husband raised the curtain rod so that
the sheers just graze the floor. It really added 
height to the space.




I liked them so much in the living room and dining room...






I still love the old curtains, so they are in storage.
I just wanted to lift the winter away...
 I can't  do that!  What I can do is
open up our home and let that sunshine in!

Spring in the Living Room




Just a little bit of Easter
in our house today...




I am at a less is more point right now, I think it is
the spring cleaning talking!




I have had these pictures for about 20 Years, maybe longer....
(Wow, that makes me fairly....nvm!!)
The candle holders were on sale at Williams-Sonoma
 last fall, and the bunny is from Winners.


I spent the day I took these pictures,
 cleaning, de-cluttering and redecorating.


Even though this is spring we still need
our blanket basket, at least for another month.




Once I finished taking photos of this room...



We changed our curtains to sheers, and raised
the curtain rod. I love the change they have made to the brightness.
I will show you once I am done decorating/cleaning the dining room.

Happy Nesting!