The Weekend

This past weekend we spent in Alexandria to celebrate Rachel and Michel's engagement. Congrats guys!! It was a good little trip, but by Saturday night we were both saying we were anxious to get home so we could fiddle and tinker with our projects. We loaded up on some plants from Forest Hill (squash, cucumber, lavender and cilantro!) and some supplies at Home Depot, including this can of wonder:

{can-o-wonder}

This fancy little can turned our almost-gone BBQ into something that looks like it didn't sit outside for a few too many hurricanes. We tested it out that night and deemed it a success.

{No rust here!}

{Isn't she pretty?}

At the same time I picked out a color for the chalk board and we rummaged around to find a good piece of wood to be the back board. It will be complete before you come Julie!

{getting closer...}

Tonight as we were walking home from the running club the evening storm was rolling in and the wind picked up. It was just starting to rain as we got home, so we nabbed a few blackberries from the neighbor's yard for dessert and watched the rain fall into our buckets for tomorrow afternoon's watering. Free dinner, free beer, AND free water. What a night.

Plenty of Projects

Today was my idea of a typical southern afternoon in the spring: As I was outside taking some pictures for the blog I heard the thunder rolling in. Just as I finished up and got inside the downpour came and the air instantly turned from muggy hot to perfectly chilled. I opened every window and door in the house, then sat on the porch and watched the lighting from my dry nook. It was perfect. All I needed was a glass of sweet tea.

{downpour}

Last week I picked up the window frame at Habitat ReStore - I can't seem to decide on what color I want to spray paint it, so it remains bare and sitting in the spare bedroom.

{future chalkboard - green or blue?}

We got a huge score when Travis picked up an old cabinet/dresser piece sitting on the side of the road in Spanish Town. FREE! It is in need of some serious work, being that half the doors are broken off, but the old fashioned key-hole and knobs had me sold. A cabinet and TV stand maybe? That's if we ever break down and buy a TV and cable....

{keyhole & knobs}

{Potential}

And just a little update, we have an eggplant!!! I go outside and check this guy every day, and I'm already trying to figure out exactly how I will cook it.

{baby eggplant}

Goodbye 505

We finally rented the apartment!!! This means no more paying rent AND a house payment - huge sigh of relief. The only small downside to not paying for two residences is our free internet from the State Museum. Now we have to actually call the cable guy and have them come install internet in our house - and we have to pay for it .... wha wha wha. So in the mean time my internet access is limited to Barnes and Noble on my breaks and trips to Travis' office in the evening.
Our last night of having the apartment we took a few pictures to remember how much we've upgraded (no more lattice!!) Sadly the purple and gold dining (for two) table didn't make it out of the apartment. The new renter bargained with us and we let it go. I think we came out on top though.

 {Lattice and the 3/4 light}

 {goodbye 505}

In other news, we took a trip to the Habitat ReStore last week and got some house goodies. Remember the fan blades  that were warped and sad? We dug through a pile of them and found a set of 5 match ones, got them home and nothing fit. I guess that's what you get for paying $2.00 huh? Other things we found were: an awesome window frame that I am hoping to turn into a chalk board for the kitchen, underground landscape piping, paint brushes, a cord that Travis had been searching for, and some caulk. Let's hope most of those work out better than the fan blades.

Tomorrow is my day off, so we'll see if we can get some crafty projects going to brighten up the wood. Maybe something like this? And maybe even a little wedding planning??

Spring!

After a few too many days of nasty, humid, grey-skyed-ness it's finally bright and sunny out. I think our potted veggies were just as happy about it as me, as I'm trying to soak in some sun before heading to work.

{veggies!}

Our tomatoes are growing!! I know this probably doesn't seem terribly exciting to most, but last year we had a big gorgeous tomato plant with tons of flowers but never any tomatoes. I guess the bees couldn't find their way under the staircase... Now we have four plants all with little tomatoes. I guess those wood bees could be doing some good after all. We've also got two kinds of peppers, two blueberry bushes, an eggplant, mint that seems to want to own the whole backyard, and of course, our orange tree! I'm still not quite sure how the eggplant is going to work out, but it's got some good size buds. Tips anyone?
With only a couple of each plant we'll probably manage eating all of the crop, but I'm hoping we have extras to freeze just so I can use these awesome freezer labels. Someday....

Shed/Garage

Firstly, because of all the requests, here it is, a picture of the ring!

{Pretty awesome, huh?}

Our (actually more like Travis') first big project was the shed/garage being closed in so we can actually store things in there. This included our first trip to Home Depot where I realized how expensive a piece of wood is. Maybe scrounging for scraps really isn't a bad idea... The wall is only temporary because eventually the whole thing will be torn down (or fall down if I kick it hard enough) It has massive termite damage, making it amazing that it withstood Gustav. The shed is also home to a large group of wood bees. These things are huge and at night when they are in their little wood holes eating away its the creepiest sound. Hopefully this wall will prompt them to find a new home and let me tend to my tomatoes without fear of being nailed. 

{framing}

{termite damage/new wood}

{SO excited about the new wall!}

As you can tell from the pictures, night seems to be about the only time during the week that we can actually get stuff done on the house. Probably not the best time, but it made for a neat picture! 

Stay tuned, the next projects to come:

• Windows, windows, windows
• Exterior lighting
• Gardening

And don't forget to let us know what you think of the blog!