Snippets.

This is kind of a flow of consciousness.  A bunch of things that have been happening around here since fall has befallen us.  Ultimately it hasn't rained since July (!!!) and in the past few days it has more than made up for that and then there was a water main break so it was all "water, water, everywhere"  Except for the tap. Booo.

Now for the snippets.  Lots of pics, few words.  You're welcome.

So it hasn't rained here since July. Oh, I mentioned that already?  Whoops.  But no rain around here for two months catches people's attention.  It also destroys dahlias.  The excess weight of the rain just busts those bad boys.

Next year we stake!  Or go with something different.....

Now for lots of pictures....

New trees!  A Magnolia and a Smoke tree to be exact.  ( Top to bottom)

My very favorite tree in the world.  Vine Maple.

All of the hanging baskets are still holding on.  It amazes me that I still have flowers growing in mid-October.  The last picture gives a sneak peak at the latest curb appeal project.

I forgot about the water.

All of the water!  The F%@&$ing water.  Funny how it can immediately irritate me.

The garage has reached critical mass (as described by the husband...)

So many projects crammed in here..... Honey, I promise it will look better after Christmas!  PS- A few of those boxes are yours....

Upcoming:

Downstairs bedroom update/reveal.

What lies beneath???

Finally.  To my husband.  Thanks for doing what you do.  You're wonderful, my love!

Linds.

Outdoor Appeal.

I spend a great deal of time sitting on my porch outside because it has a great mountain view and it's super peaceful.  Unfortunately it was starting to look a little sad.  It all started with something I've done a million times: washing the outdoor cushions.  I usually just throw them in the washer and dryer with no problems.  But this time......

You can see that the washer or the dryer ripped the cushion apart.  In a bunch of places...boo..  Which actually is a blessing in disguise because it was about time for an upgrade.

Once I started thinking about that, I got the balling rolling and decided to refinish the deck, paint the ceiling and get all new accessories.  It's funny how that happens.

I used the same cleaning technique on this deck that I did on the back deck.  Find it here.  It worked great and I was left with a completely blank slate.

There was also the ceiling to contend with because my husband had treated all of the wood outside and there was some overspray.  It wasn't pretty but it wasn't something that bothered me until the cushions ripped.  I painted the ceiling a really, really light blue color.  I decided that when it gets dark and dreary here, it would nice to have a little blue overhead.

See that orange stripe around the edge of the ceiling.  That's what was bothering me....

And then....

The difference is super subtle unless it's cloudy and then my little piece of blue sky is great.

From there it was time accessorize.....my favorite part!

At the time Pottery Barn was having an end of summer super sale.  I decided I needed an outdoor rug and some new cushions. 

First up the rug.

It's the Oliver Stripe rug. Here's a pic from Pottery Barn's website:

Right now it's available and on sale for 149.99 plus shipping!

Now that I had the rug down I decided not to stray too far from Pottery Barn and I went with some complimentary cushions.  Not matching, but complimentary.  Unfortunately they are no longer available on the Pottery Barn website.

For a side by side comparison:

The colors play really nice with each other.

I moved some furniture around which means another outdoor post in the future :)


Before:

And After:

And one more after:

Linds.