The Retaining Wall

The area where the retaining wall will be placed.

The wall in progress

J using the skidsteer to backfill the wall.

The wall is just about complete and steps are installed. Next step: sidewalks!

Thanks for stopping by!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Another Garden Added

The second part of the back porch border garden is in now. Above is the Oak Leaf Hydrangea and some hosta on the side.

The red flowers are Astilbe. In the center is a Bleeding Heart plant and the plant on the right is a perennial geranium. Soon the lattic will cover the stuff under the porch.

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

More plants!

Uncle Sam hiding out in the deck planter

Oak Leaf Hydrangea

A closer look at the foliage and flowers



Other plants for the shade garden include hostas, astilbes, geraniums and a white bleeding heart plant.

I'll post pictures when they are planted later today or tomorrow.

~Peace and Blessings~

Lisa

Herb Garden

Another free photo collage by Smilebox

The herb garden is finally in the ground! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to get the border put around it and the lattice up along the decking to hide the mess behind it. We planted Echinacea, Black Eyed Susans, two types of Bee Balm, Lemon Balm, Curly Parsley, Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Cilantro, Basil, Lavender, Thyme, Garlic Chives and Chives. I think that's it! I can't wait to start using them in my cooking!

~BLESSINGS AND PEACE~

Lisa

A porch in progress....

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

This and That

Miss M and I made ourselves some new flip-flops for the summer. Just enough bling for us!

One of my black urns, that I searched high and low for and found at Michael's of all places. The plants look a bit wilted due to the excessive sun and heat.

These are the same plantings, but in a regular pot on the porch. I hope to have pictures of the porch loaded later today!

Happy Memorial Day! I have such respect and gratitude to those in the armed services today and every day! God Bless America!


peace and blessings,
Lisa

Deck Update

My contractor and husband

Rafters are on....

....soon there will be a roof!

If the weather improves, it could be done by next weekend. I ordered our new patio furniture and am itching to get some landscaping started in the front and back of the house.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and blessings,
Lisa

Around the house....

As you all know, we're adding a porch to the back of our house. I am thinking about purchasing the above furniture for the porch. We already have a bronze table and chair set, and thought this wicker would soften things up and still coordinate. Our house is blue, but the pillows have the same blue in them so I thought if I added the paisley pillows to the green cushions as well as some solid or striped pillows that it would coordinate beautifully. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

These are the pulls and knobs I bought today for the den desk. I think the pull has a lot of character and hope it will add something to the newness in the house.

Miss M had dance pictures today. Here she is in her costume at the studio just after having her picture taken. I think she looks too cute!


Blessings,

Lisa

The Back Porch

This is the back of our home, where dh is adding on our back porch.

Here are the holes we dug for the concrete supports. Yes, I was the other "man" on the two-man post digger. LOL

This is a view of the deck from the yard earlier this afternoon.

Now the cross supports are in and the posts for the roof are in place.

I'm so thankful that dh is handy and can do these kind of projects.

Stop back for more updates!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

New things from Ballard Designs

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Ballard Designs is one of my favorite catalogs. So many of their items are way out of my price range, but recently they've been having "Bring Home Ballard" specials. I took advantage of it and ordered a few things. I bought the pillow, above, for $15.00. It's a feather pillow with velvet cover and was personalized for FREE! I've had my eye on a pillow that size that coordinates with my bedding for months and it's always been over thirty-five dollars. I am so thrilled with the new pillow.

(sorry about the crappy pic!)

I've also been on the look-out for a letter "D" plaque for the photo gallery I am starting in the hallway. I bought this one at Ballard Designs as well. I think the gallery turned out very well! I still have to add some photos to the 4x6 frames and I need two more black 8x10 frames to make it complete, but this is a good start. If you look here you can see my attempt at planning the photo layout.

I also ordered a boot mat for the foyer, to keep our wet shoes in during the winter months, but it is on back-order. It was only $15.00 too.

This house is starting to feel like a home, yep, I finally said it. It's been a long haul and it's far from done, but six months later I'm finally getting it together. (I think!) Thanks for stopping by today! Peace and blessings to you!

Lisa

Some new treasures...

At the end of January, I hosted a Celebrating Home Party. For being a hostess, I recieved 250 dollars in free merchandise and 7 or 8 half off items. It was time to shop for the new house! As you can see above, dd was in love with the packaging and despite having a temp of 100.8, she made the box into a car and is still playing with it 2 days later. Here are some of the things I bought...

This is the Versatile Wall Decor, which can be hung vertically or horizontally. It needs candles, but I haven't gotten that far yet. It hangs above our bed.


These are two prints I bought for dd's bathroom. A coordinating one hangs on the opposite wall. I love the glass mats because it allows it to match with your bathroom colors.

I picked this foyer table as one of my freebies. I still have to arrange the shelves, but LOVE it!

These are the Berry Canisters to add some color to our kitchen.

This is the matching dip chiller. It has a compartment under the serving part to hold ice and keep dips cold. Love that idea for the summer months.

This is a candle holder...love the color of the metal.



This is my future photo gallery. I read somewhere to hang paper the size of the photos on the wall to get an idea of what it will look like when you actually hang the frames. I like the way it looks and will probably hang the photos sometime this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Ice, Ice, Ice

The icicles to the ground five days after being cleared by dh.

Same problem in the rear of the house....

Also on the side of the house.

Obviously, there is heat loss coming from the finished upstairs of the house. I'm just sick over this whole thing. When will it stop?

Peace,

Lisa

We have Drapes!!

After 2 months, we now have drapes in the living room! They instantly warmed up the room...that along with our now functioning gas fireplace! It's getting more homey each day...just taking awhile.

Here's a close-up of the finial...thought the room could use some "bling"....

...and our fireplace. (don't mind the cable box, still haven't found a stand for it yet!)

Thank you for stopping by today!

Blessings,

Lisa

Autumn Outside Our New Home

This is my simple front door display.

The trees surrounding our backyard full of autumn colors.

The trees outside my den window showing their autumn colors.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Lisa

Painting....

The laundry area in Haven by Sherwin-Williams

J starting to paint the den. The color is Clary Sage by Sherwin-Williams

The desk area of the den



Love these large windows!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings and peace,
Lisa