Meet the additions to our family

Madison and Morgan--Madison (~10 wks old) is a female black lab mix and Morgan (~14 wks old) is a male golden retriever mix

These cute little puppies were adopted in Madison, GA and were originally rescued from Morgan County Animal Control.  We decided to give a little nod to their roots with their names.

 We are just in love with these little monsters.  They are into everything and love exploring the back yard.

 Morgan especially loves the kiddie pool, and it is a great way for them to cool off on these hot summer days.  Of course, he tends to be pretty dirty and wet most of the day.

Madison is full of energy and a little younger than her "brother."  She is very attentive, and you can almost see the little wheels turning in her head.

Cary is teaching them to sit and fetch, and we are both trying to teach them simple manners like no biting or jumping.  All of which is an on-going process to say the least!  Having 2 allows them to learn from each other...the good and bad. 

We know it is going to be an ongoing process and a lot of work, but we are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.

Green Thumb

    Although Kelly grew up on a farm, and I grew up in the city, gardening was something that we both were able to do growing up.  So we tried our hands at gardening this year, and it turned out much better than we anticipated.
   Our main garden spot was the location of the previous coy pond (removed and filled in with fill dirt).  The other garden spot was our neighborhood's residents garden. 

   It has been a lot of fun doing the gardening in our back yard, and it is certainly a learning experience.

Between the residents garden and the back yard, we planted tomatoes (cherry, parker's whopper, and better boy), bell peppers (green, red, orange), squash, jalepenos, okra, watermelon, and cantaloupe.  Several of these had to be transplanted due to the watering schedule at the resident gardens.  And the squash wasn't salvageable.  They were just getting too much water, and when plants sit in pools of water, they don't grow very well.

It's been fun to watch a 5-inch seedling turn into a 7-foot-tall plant.  Harvesting a variety of fruits and vegetables has been satisfying, too.

 

Tomatoes

 

Bell Peppers

Jalapeno

We got a little ambitious with extra garden plots and planted almost 75 feet of pumpkins last week so hopefully we'll post an update in a couple months showing trialing vines full of little pumpkins.  But, as we've learned with gardening, you never know what you are going to get when you put a few tiny seeds in the ground.

Row of pumpkin seedlings

Two down, two to go!

My mom was able to get her hands on two affordable Tobacco Baskets this past week!  While vacationing in Tennessee, my parents came across two Tobacco Baskets.

 As you can see here (maybe, squint a little), these are actually from Henderson, NC.  They were covered in dirt, but after a good scrub, a hose down, and drying in the sun they are looking pretty good.

I'm excited that I'm halfway there.  Soon I will be filling up that massive wall in my living room. 

 

Savannah

We spent the weekend in Savannah, GA celebrating the wedding of some good friends, Noah and Lindsay.  It was great to see everyone and get away for a few days.  While the wedding was on Tybee Island, we stayed close to Broughton Street.  We were able to walk to the great shops and get out of the heat by going into the air-conditioned stores. On our way out of town, we stopped by Forsyth Park, my favorite place in Savannah (Broughton Street is a close second).

 

Always something to do

 Whenever friends or family ask us how the house is, we say, there's always something to do.  We are always working on a project whether it is inside or outside.
Last week, we painted the downstairs half bath (or powder room, if you want to be fancy).  It was originally a burnt orange and done in semi-gloss paint.  Here's a before photo which was taken before we actually purchased the home:

 

 

I decided to go with a bright green, in matte finish.  I used Clark+Kensington's Briarwood from Ace Hardware.  You may remember a promotion they had a while back, giving away pints of their interior matte finish paint.  Our parents grabbed a couple pints for us, and we purchased a Kilz primer.   The entire project cost us less than $15...and of course, time.

The color was lighter and less saturated than I thought it would be, but I'm ok with it.  Definitely not gonna change it now.  Painting a bathroom is difficult the worst!  So many things to take down and paint around, it's a pain.  Climbing up and down a ladder to reach the 9-foot tall ceilings got old very quickly.  And, since they painted it a semi-gloss, I had to prime it first and then paint over it, so I basically painted the room twice.

However, I definitely like it better than the orange!  What do you think?

Perseverance

From today's Bible study:

"...Solomon succeeded because he persevered. He spent seven years building the temple (1 Kings 6:38), never wavering from his goal. Never give up when God is "building" with you. Though it may seem your work is moving at a crawl, keep doing what you know to do.

Purpose, plan, and persevere, and the Lord will build your house!"

This holds so many different meanings for us.  The obvious literal meaning as well as some, underlying, personal meanings.  And it was a great encouragement today. 

If you are looking for a good daily Bible study that's quick yet meaningful, I recommend the One Year Bible study that our church is currently studying together.  Read along with the One Year Bible via Church of the Highlands.

Front Yard Transformation, Part 4

It has been almost one month since the front yard transformation.  We have had a few days of rain and much cooler temperatures than the weekend we worked.  I've learned some important lessons from all the yard work.

1. God is faithful.  There were many answered prayers that allowed the project to finish when it didn't seem possible.
2.  Line up all help before you need them.  It's a good idea to know what help you need and who can do it before panic mode sets in.  Having a back up isn't a bad idea either.
3.  Hydration and heat cannot be underestimated.  We unknowingly chose the hottest weekend of 2012 thus far.  I am not used to working outside like that, and the heat was a beast.
4.  The better you estimate yard size, the more money you save (I had a full pallet of sod leftover).
5.  Be patient.  Sod work is not instant gratification.  It doesn't become an established yard for at least a couple months.
6.  Always budget for more than you think you will need.  Luckily, we didn't go over budget because I gave myself plenty of cushion.  

  Below, we've got some updated pictures of the yard.  The first few are just after completion and then after a month.

The new retaining wall:

Butterfly bush below: it bloomed shortly after this with pink buds but the recent storms
knocked most of them off

Just to remind you, here's the front BEFORE:

 And here's the yard one month AFTER:

 The boxwoods in the front of the house have been removed.  The shrubs (Ruby Loropetalum) and another Sago palm have been planted. The railings have been painted and then received a second coat.

    

The project was a lot of work and I'm not sure I would undertake such a large project again.  But I am happy with the results.