PS-

Cannot wait for this bad boy to bloom. So glad the multiple cold snaps didn't kill them!

Pretty Veg Garden

Finally bought some tomato cages yesterday, though I can just hear my grandma's disappointment from beyond the grave. But hey, I didn't have any sticks lying around and we haven't a storm knock any branches off in a while. Anyhoo, I noticed at Lowe's the other day they had colorful tomato cages for sale. As in for $3 more a pop....um, yeah right. So I got my $3 cages at Big Lots and spray painted those suckas!



Sorry about the cruddy pic, the two on the right are blue, but the sunset wasn't doing me any favors.

I'll need some more stakes and lines (or whatever it is you use for beans and peas, need to do more research) eventually and I think I'll get some different colors just for them. Our garden is going to look cur-azy!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Last weekend my parents and my youngest sister, Jolie came to visit. We had a great time despite the nasty weather we had for a few days there. (We've had yet another cold snap...it was 40-something for a few nights!) They got to see what we've done with house since moving in. The last time they were in town we were *still* sanding the floors. The highlight of the weekend was going to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. Every weekend in May each year the Freeman family about 20 miles outside of Franklin open their home for tours and in the field across from their castle are food, games, shows, and Renaissance-thingies to buy. This was my third visit to the Ren Fest and I finally made it for the castle tour. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me, so I'll have to wait for Mom to post hers to facebook before I can share.    :-(

One of the real reasons you go to Ren Fest: Deep-fried Oreos!

One of the beautiful fountains from a local coppersmith. It was a bit too much, but I did get a copper rose.

And most visitors come dressed appropriately. And if you don't have any appropriate garb, there's plenty for sale.

Sunday was rather lazy since it was cold and gray and we were beat from walking all Saturday. We went for traditional Krispy Kreme (there's not one where my parents live) and they came over and gave me a TON of plants and bulbs! My dad works for the plant that packages and ships these bulbs to Home Depots and Lowe's all over ther company. Seriously, look at the bottom of the packaging and it will most likely say "Van Zyverden, Meridian, MS". The best part is at the end of a season the employees can take home whatever is left over and they brought me a few things.

Now where am I going to put all these?!

I've figured out a plan for most of them and planted a few yesterday. I'm really excited about the blue potatoes, but who knows if they'll turn out, I've never attempted to grow potatoes before!

Some of our blooms so far

Not quite a month...

since my last post but darn close. These past couple of weeks have been extremely tough and tiring for our little family. Two days after my last post a huge outbreak of tornados swept across our region. It was exhausting going in and out of the bathtub (our safe place) with the animals to checking the radar on tv, and then checking the live streams of the tv stations where we have family and friends. A tornado touched down about a mile from my grandmother's house and where my sister works in Meridian, then the huge one that tracked across North Alabama was about a mile away from our old house there. That night and the next day was spent trying to get ahold of folks to make sure they were okay and to see if we could help them out. Then we find out a family member is sick and it may be serious but we don't know yet. The next day Ben gets a phone call saying he didn't get the promotion he was trying for. I can't even remember the other little bad things that kept happening, but it has seriously been one crappy thing after another. I had joked if only April would get over with maybe things would look up, but May has been just as tough on us. Turns out that family member is seriously ill, and will have to start extreme treaments. And I just found out yesterday a friend of the family had passed away.

I know the Lord only gives us what we can handle, but I really could use a break! It's tough work trying to keep positive and not cry when everyone around you is so sad about what's happening. Thankfully we've had a lot of company lately. My parents and sister just left after visiting for the weekend, and some of my friends from Huntsville have been up to visit a couple of times. Once, just to get away from not having electricity and having a city-wide curfew!

House-wise not much has happened, I've mostly been working outside: I bricked out and mulched the rest of our front yard, cleaned the gutters, set up our vegetable garden, and cleaned up our window boxes.



The other half of our front yard's flower beds.





Our veggie garden! Soon we'll have tomatoes, yellow tommy toes, cucumbers (for pickling), black eyed peas, butter beans, and sweet potato leaves (and I guess sweet potatoes if someone else wants them).

 


The forests of maple saplings that were growing in our gutters. Ben said he felt like he was destroying whole civilzations pulling them out.




Petunias in the window boxes. Might build real window boxes one day...




Even Foster's been busy, just look at those holes he dug! Don't know if he wants me to plant something there, or he thought I didn't have enough to do and wants me to fill them. What a sweet dog...haha.



Fuse box solution....temporarily.

When we were doing the heavy work on our house, my husband was adamant that the wood paneling in the study had to go. Fine with me, growing up in a log cabin has made me despise wood in almost all forms. Welllll, turns out when we were hanging the sheetrock, we had solved all potential problems except the fuse box. For the past couple of months there's just been a hole and I couldn't for the life of me figure ou what to do with it. 



I was planning to put up trim and a door like the previous owners had, except there wasn't wood behind all the sheetrock around the box and I hadn't found something light and sturdy enough for the spot. I've seen plenty of blog posts about people hanging pictures over their fuse boxes to hide them, and some that put hinges to allow easy access. The only problem I kept finding was that, what if someone needs to find the fuse box in a hurry and isn't familiar with your house, like a fireman?

Ta-da!

It may not be the most obvious picture I could've put on there, but it does the trick. I found a picture of some vintage fuses (like what's found in our box...eek!) and decoupaged them on a canvas. I would've preferred having the picture printed on a canvas for a better quality picture, but I'm not willing to spend $70 on a temporary fix. Anyhoo, added  a couple of hinges and a magnet, and...

I figure this will work fine until we can have the box changed to a breaker box, and I'm hoping when that happens we can get a real cover put in that's flush with the wall. But I kinda love this until then.



Our main bathroom, now.

This is after what I'd like to call stage one in our bathroom's life. I finally found some colors that Ben and I both like that go together, bought the necessary items for a bathroom (remember, we moved in with almost nothing to our names!), and did a few repairs. But there is definitely more to be changed!



Small, right? Haha.



Our bathroom art for the past few years.





Curtains made from napkins I found at Tuesday Morning. Originally we had some cheap black cafe curtains just so the neighbors didn't get a show every morning, and boy were they dark! I think these work MUCH better.



Yes, the weight live in our bathroom. I like to do quick reps while waiting for the water to heat up.

The new toilet seat I installed. Who knew it was so easy, you don't even need tools?!

And here's my organizational skills getting a workout:


Before






After!

 



Before



After! I am in love with the little white bowl from World Market I got for my rings.
 Unfortunately, still haven't figured out what to do about that toothbrush charger...

Now here's what I would like to change at some point...


So far, haven't found anything better (that I'm willing to pay for).




Wondering if I can just give it a good scrubbing?




Brushed nickel, please!



This would be the biggie that I haven't figured out. Do we try to recover it and make it white? Do we take it out and tile? Either way, I can't stand the almond color and you can just feel how cheap it is.

 It's tough. I want to modernize the bathroom as much as I can, because you know it's a good place to put your money. Buuuut, I also love the original tile job and would hate to erase that part of the house. At least it's not pink or royal blue tile! Also, I forgot to mention we have to replace the sink bowl since there's a huge crack in it that is impossible to cover. By the way, if see something that claims you can paint it over a crack and it'll hide it, don't believe it. It ends up looking like a kid painted a weird-looking tree on your sink. And I want to tile the floor. Normally I love a checkered vinyl floor, but it's just too busy in a small bathroom and it doesn't even go into the closet. At least I already know what I'll put in though, just have to find the time and room in the budget for it.


Zoey says it's time to go now, she's ready for her bath!