The small blue bureau

Another example of putting positive energy out into the universe and having it come back to you. I was offering to give Scott one or two of my drawers in my bedroom bureau for him to put his clothes in. He said no worries, he was fine keeping his stuff folded on a chair. Well, THE VERY NEXT DAY I was going into town and a house along the way had a big FREE sign in the front yard with a bunch of odds and ends and small furniture pieces, one of which was a very cute little bureau in an ocean blue color. I came straight home and told Scott about it and we hopped back in the car and went and got it (it was only two blocks from my house). It works perfectly on the side of the bed and holds all of his things neatly. No more piles on the chair and on the floor. I love the way the color works well with the ocean painting we put leaned on top of it.

A case of shingles

I had English ivy in the bed below my dining room windows for years. Not a good idea. The ivy is so strong it would literally get under the shingles and pry them loose. On top of that they covered the pieces on the bottom rows near the foundation and rotted them across the bottom. Lesson learned. I'll never do that again. So Scott pulled them all out a few weeks ago. I wanted to plant new blue hydrangea in that bed but before I could do so I needed to have the shingles replaced. I got estimates from 3 carpenters and went with the middle bid. It only too two guys one afternoon to repair the damage and it looks good. It was a costly mistake but I'm glad it's fixed. Here's a progression of pictures from BEFORE to AFTER...

I realized after the fact that the shingles underneath the sliding glass door were rotted too. So I replaced them myself with the extra shingles that were left over from the job. 

She's a brick house

I've been working on overhauling my yards from top to bottom this Spring with the help of my friend Scott. Aside from clearing out all the beds from leaves, weeds, and overgrown ivy, he suggested I really continue the red brick edging I have in both front and back yards. But where was I going to get more bricks? If memory served they only come in huge pallets of 200 or so, way more than I calculated I needed. I need 50 or 60 at most. I posted a notice on Nextdoor.com, a community newsletter and bulletin board. Coincidentally my next-door neighbor Dan saw my posting and said our other neighbor Ron across the street from me had a pile of bricks he wanted to get rid of. He contacted him and just like that I had my bricks! It must have been the positive energy I was putting out into the universe for them to land right in my lap. It was just enough to finish all the beds and the brick path on the side of the house. Best of all was the cost. FREE is always the best price.

Privet haircut

The privet in front of my house had grown thin and woody, probably because these hedges like sun and my front yard is very shady. That said, I figured if I cut them way down they might fill in more. That's the wish at least. I had my yard guy, Alberto, cut them down to about 5 feet tall, almost half what they were. As the Spring progresses into Summer we'll see if my idea works.

Galleria

When I sold my apartment in the city last year I had a lot of artwork that I wanted to keep. I brought it all to the house and added it all to the walls in the TV room making a really nice gallery wall space. It took a few days of plotting out just where everything would go. I used 3M Command hooks so the walls wouldn't get marred. I think it looks terrific...and I even have some space left over in a couple of places for more pieces!

Rhapsody in blue

Last winter my big project was painting my guest room. Previously it had been a pale blue with a gray taupe trim. Then years later I decided to paint taupe stripes over the blue. It was a nice look but I was getting tired of it. I always wanted a navy blue room (navy is my favorite color) with super white trim. It took almost a month to finish but it was worth it. It's clean, crisp and minimal. I'm very pleased with it.