This Vintage Chica

modern version of an old gourd birdhouse

Or the other title I was considering for this post was "I love using my husband's power tools when he is gone."

Some of you asked for a little more explanation about the photo from Friday.  

On a whim Friday afternoon, the boys and I made a few birdhouses from last year's penguin gourds.  The gourds have been drying on the fence for a year now and they have been begging for that long to be used in some creative way.

And this gave me the perfect excuse to use the husband's power tools.  I love using S's pretty green drill and the bit that cuts circles in things.

 (Please don't tell him I called his drill pretty...or that I noticed that it is the perfect color of kelly green...ssshhhh!)

After doing a little research, we found a great chart with the correct size holes for the birds we are wanting to attract.  We made holes sized for chickadees, nuthatches and robins.  We also used a super small bit to make a few drainage holes in the bottom to keep the inside dry.  Next we cleaned out the seeds and dried flesh from inside the gourds, then sanded them down good using extra fine sandpaper.  Lastly, using eco-friendly paint left over from a previous project, we coated the gourds with two coats of white, green and blue paint and tied them near the stem with gardener's twine.

I think they turned out pretty sweet.

Love a modern twist to an old craft.

Hope our little birdie friends like them too.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by Amanda.

 

crazy summer = beautiful garden

After a very difficult and crazy summer, I am welcoming Fall with open arms.

Welcome!

I'm glad you're here!

A few weeks ago, on a drive out to the farm to pick up our CSA and I spied the first yellow leaf clinging to a birch branch.  I almost broke into tears at the promise of a shift in the season - both the natural season, and our season of grief.

When things have gotten tough around here, in true "me" fashion, I've retreated to the garden.  And good for me I have done so, because the garden is beautiful right now.  The fullness of the garden right now seems to be in equal proportion to the heaviness I've been feeling.  

*note* when you are surrounded by things you can not change, its good to focus on things you can, like gardening.

**another note, I think I need to repaint the large pots on either side of the front door...hmmm....now what color?

The backyard vegetable garden took a beating thanks to Hurricane Irene, but the front beds are absolutely gorgeous in all their Fall bounty right now.  

This time last year, a good friend and I began tearing out the large boxwood bushes that covered the front of our house.  They were gangly and not getting enough sun now that the trees are beginning to mature.  It was time, and I needed a project on which to focus my energies.

The front beds sat there bare and frozen all winter leaving the neighbors to wonder what the heck I was thinking.

I planned those beds all winter long.

And when Spring poked its little head out the very first time, I began digging in again.

I knew I wanted to stick with more texture and a simple color pallet.  Purples, lime greens, dark, greens, whites, variegated leaves, and simple flowers that would attract birds and butterflies.

All of that planning and digging paid off this summer.

Today, I added a few dark purple colored mums to the pots on either side of the front door replacing some of the summer annuals that were looking sickly.  They blend perfectly with what's already in place.

If you interested, a list of what I planted is below.  Are you getting your beds ready for Fall too?  I'd love to hear what your planting.  What's your favorite new addition?

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Purple Leaves: Sweet Potato Vine, Weigela, Heuchera, Purple Cabbage

Lime Green Leaves: Choleus, Creeping Jennie, Japanese Maple

Texture:  Lamb's Ear, Swiss Chard, 

Smell:  Gardenia, Verbena

Variegated Leaves:  Hosta, Pittosporum

Edibles:  Purple Cabbage, Kale, Swiss Chard

Pops of Color:  Echinacea (Purple Cone Flower), Swiss Chard, Verbena, Salvia, White Periwinkles, Morning Glories

Attractive to Birds and Bees:  Sweet Potato Vine, Verbena, Salvia, , Gardenia, White Periwinkles, Echinacea, Foxglove

chic, chic, chickens

Hello peeps!

Its been all about the chickens around here lately.  Since getting our girls back in April, we've built a coop, fed and watered and cared for our three Dominiques (which weren't Black stars after all) and three Buff Orpingtons.  After the girls started trying to roost in the backyard neighbor's tree at night, we learned how to clip wings.

And the neighbors haven't fussed too much so far.  But I think we have earned the reputation of the crazy, hippy people who have chickens in the city.  

Oh well...

This past Monday, just about the time we were starting to get antsy and my husband started threatening them of becoming fried chicken, the girls started earning their keep.

Eggs!

Stars, one of our Dominiques laid the first egg and you would of thought she really was a star the way the boys oohhed and aaahhhed over her and her new ability.  

"Oh, Stars!  You are such a good girl!  You did it!"

Then yesterday we discovered a little nest of 6 more eggs behind the air conditioning unit...those sneaky girls.

We should be up to our ears in eggs within days.

Anyone for a spinach and cheese omelet?

on the other side

Whew!

What a few weeks we've had.

Thank you for all of your tweets, emails and facebook posts.  We survived Irene with very, very minimal damage.  The summer garden was pretty much destroyed.  But other than that we escaped with little more.  

Which leaves me thinking about those up the coast a bit more who are still experiencing power outages and flood waters.

Our thoughts are with all of you.

Today is a busy, busy day...

haircuts, first soccer practices of the season, teacher meet n' greets, etc.

As with so many themes in my life, it was the little things that amazed me during the hurricane...a little hummingbird visiting the window in the middle of some of the strongest winds of the three days, looking for the feeder in its usual spot...wings just humming right along as if nothing was any different.

I want to be the hummingbird in the middle of the strong winds.

The garden spider that went right back to building a new web even before the rains had ceased...while we were still hunkered down indoors with the power off.

I want to be like the garden spider, so focused on the work at hand and not the dramas in life.

And the morning glories that continued to open and close in perfect timing even without the sun shining brightly.

As always, thank you for the lessons little creatures.