Spring and summer it seems every year we get an itch. The home improvement and landscaping itch. We have commented that we do a dramatic shift from inside projects to outside projects. It is so easy with the weather improvement! This year was no exception, and with the arrival of an earlier than normal spring, we certainly took advantage! I would classify two major projects that were in the works.
Landscaping:
Although a normal scheduled event, we laid it on pretty thick this year. Not to be outdone by last year we took advantage of home depots black Friday sale and hauled in 48 bags of cedar mulch for half price. This bolstered our ever growing flower beds. On a whim, we decided to "start" and then virtually "complete" our visionary border of shrubbery. We planted seven alpine spruce, two dogwood, two peonies, two lilac bushes and a rose of Sharon. Although small, a thorough assessment of the label and variety will result in a nice border in a few years. Melissa went on the hunt and picked up about a dozen new perennial flowers to add some awesome color to the yard. She really does a fabulous job! Jon finally got around to Melissa's mothers day gift from 2011 and completed her raspberry patch complete with paved border. Along with the obligatory pruning and bush trimming. The yard looks fabulous!
Indoor Upstairs Lighting:
The project born from a wager was underway. As you recall there was a set investment if said packers made it to the super bowl. Sadly, that did not happen. But what to do with the budgeted cash? Project time. This time the focus was the upstairs lighting. We decided to replace all of our fixtures in the kitchen (including the "operating room" light) as well as the drop down chandelier over the table. We added five can lights in the kitchen, two over the table and a special drop down pendant over the breakfast bar. While we were at it we decided..what the heck..lets replace the range hood with a microwave..actually this turned out to be the best idea ever..so convenient and we look back and wonder how we did it before. To add a little ambiance...(Jon's choice)...we added three under the cabinet lights..at extra cost..but decided that this was a major project and if we didn't do it now, we never would. Moving onto the upstairs living room we put in six can lights and another can light in the foyer...I may add that all these lights are on dimmers..to further add to the ambiance (Jon's choice.). A final touch was a fan put on a dual switch..and the project was complete!!! We should add that although we are somewhat skilled in home improvements...electrical is too complex and frankly scary for us..(Jon) so this was contracted out...
And a final note in the beauty of community supported agriculture "CSA". What a great opportunity. For the second year now we are participating in conjunction with a farm out of Fort Atkinson, WI. We look forward to a new box of veggies all through the summer every week. The portions are more than enough to feed the three of us and Melissa is having fun finding "new" recipes on Pinterest. Our gardens are thriving and will be providing us beans, tomatoes and peppers for the months to come! By the way, did you know that if you bury a banana peel by each tomato plant they grow gangbusters? Try it, you won't regret it...
No comments:
Post a Comment