Giving My Inner Control Freak a (Short) Break

Since I went a little postal on painting the girls' room white, and then when starting decorating, I decided to let them go wild with some stickers. They each got to pick out two different kinds, which did have to be along the same lines...okay, the control freak was speaking a little loudly in the back of my mind, there...

And here's how their room ended up:

They even had a few butterflies left for Sophie's room:

Not too bad, right? Personally, I want to take about half the stickers off the wall...but I have to take a deep breath and walk away. Not my room. And stickers are so easy to change. Unlike paint, which takes a while and some serious effort.

Now I just have to work on curtains, matching bedding, and maybe a few accessories. Like the title says, I only gave that control freak-voice a short break. Otherwise, I just wouldn't be me.

Under Pressure

Irrigation water - or secondary water - is wonderful. First off, so much less expensive. Secondly, reusing a resource, love it. And because of those two, I don't feel badly about using it and using it and using it. Even in this large yard.

If I were relying on culinary water, there is no way I could have planted more than 25 trees and still been able to look at myself in the mirror. And I couldn't have looked at my water bills, either. Unless I had the hiccups and needed to be badly frightened.

The only problem with our secondary water is that it had no pressure. Try watering without pressure - it's really quite a challenge. Doug was using the entire 24 hours in a day to water our yard, with not great results. So this year, it was time to buy a pump.

Doug found one at a great price - about $600, still a lot - and installed it. This involved pouring a cement pad, hooking it up to the water, and turning it on. How's that for a summary of a good morning's work?

And now, he just sits and watches his sprinklers. He'll see them in action and just stop, mesmerized. It is exciting to see everything getting watered - and watered well - but I'm not sure that watching sprinklers will ever be quite as fascinating to me as it is for Doug.

Ooooh. Ahhhh.

Obviously, though, watching the flowers bloom is fascinating for me...and watering enables my planting habit. So, great work, honey!

Somebody Stop Me!

This time of year, the nurseries start to call to me: Buy my plants! Look how pretty they are!

And my yard also speaks to me: Look how ugly I am! Why would you want weeds? Plant real things so they can be beautiful instead of these nasty things soaking up your precious water and puncturing your soft skin?

Okay, my skin is arguably not that soft anymore. But those puncture weeds could go through my van tires, and my skin is not that tough. Yet.

My darling husband isn't helping much, either. He keeps setting up lunch dates (with me, of course) at our favorite nursery. He isn't looking at landscaping plants, though. He wants tomatoes. And basil. And peppers. Whatever, I say. He has no imagination. See? Perfect little rows...

Just kidding. I'm sure he could be imaginative...were he not always working as an engineer...which I'm grateful for...

Anyway. So this is what I've been doing lately...scouring the nursery and spending too much money on plants. Here's what I have (so far) put in...

Catnip. Really, I just want to mess with the cats that wander through my yard. Including my own cat, the crazy Tae-Bo. To date, we've only seen the neighborhood cats wallowing in it...

Scabiosa (pincushion flowers) and candytuft. The former is to add to the show of purple, the latter to add some contrast.

White bleeding hearts. I've been looking for these for a long time...the pink are so easy to find, the red and white not so much.

Salvia, a relative of sage, but not really for cooking. I need many more of these to line the edges of my borders.

Anise, and an itty-bitty sage plant...that I can use for cooking...

And creeping jenny. This particular corner of my yard requires the most work when weeding - the ground is hard and stickers are everywhere. So hopefully a ground cover will, well, cover it up.

Yes, weeding still needs to be done. Blah, blah, blah. If the wind wouldn't keep making my allergies so bad, I would gladly spend most evenings outside. But, as it is, I prefer to breathe. Silly me, I know! Have you gone crazy at a nursery lately, or is it just me?

Okay, I knew the answer to that one.

What's Bloomin' on Memorial Day

There are flags lining the streets here - I love that so many remember Memorial Day and all those that have given their lives for this country.

So today, I dedicate my flowers in bloom to our servicemen and servicewomen past and present. I swear I didn't plan this, but...

Red...

Rose bush

White, and...

Allium, just starting to open

 Blue.

Salvia - looks blue when opening, once fully in bloom, they look more purple

I also had a pink one, and although it doesn't fit today's theme, it is still beautiful...

Weigela...I'm hoping it will eventually get a bit bigger!

Have a restful Memorial Day...and spare a thought for those who made our life in the USA possible!

We're Hangin' Again

Oh yeah. It's time to plant hanging baskets again.

Now here's the typical formula for a smashing basket: one spiky plant, one draping plant, and several "fillers" that typically have colorful flowers. Of course, colorful foliage like the coleus plant also works.

Last year, I didn't even do hanging baskets. Not interested. This year, I can't pass it up. One of the grocery stores in our area, Smith's Marketplace, had full flats of flowers for $10.99. Normally, you can't find flats any cheaper than $17 or $18, and that's the 24-pack. These "full flats" have no separations. You have to pull the plants apart yourself. I counted at least 36 plants per flat. Wa-to-the-wa-hoo.

Bright colors have really gotten to me after doing that yellow room for Collin, so I went bright. Red and orange for the hanging baskets...

And purple with red highlights with spiky plants...

Notice that I didn't get around to doing both the spiky and the draping plants in the same pot even once. I think it works, though...the hangers are draping down, the sitters are pointing up. Almost like stalagmites and stalactites.

The best part? The kids played quietly while I put them together and put them out. It was a zen moment, which I will treasure for at least a week.

She's a Big Girl Now: Eeeek!

Sophia surprised me last night: she climbed out of her crib to watch "Star Wars" with the boys. "A New Hope", in case you are wondering.

This morning, she climbed out again to announce that she was awake. Sigh. Time to get rid of the crib.

Actually, not a bad thing in some ways. We are going on a trip soon, and it would be much easier to leave the Port-a-Crib at home. Also, the crib we have is starting to fall apart - and after five kids, it's certainly not the only thing around here. And, truly, if she's going to climb out, she is much safer in a bed that she can just get out of easily.

On the other hand, however, now she is free. No more containment for this little one. That's where the "EEK!" comes in.

Today was a moving day as a result of Sophia's newly-acquired skill. Jack lost his extra bed. The top was getting supremely old - I could feel each one of the springs in it - and I needed the box spring and the frame for Sophie's "new" bed.

The extra bed, along with Jack's messy room.

Jack's room, sans bed, still needing cleaning.

Sophie already had a bed hanging out in her room. It was simply a question of removing the crib and putting her "new" bed together. Sophie and her friend helped.

Sophia's room with a crib

Once it was done, they were both very excited about the new bed. They had to try it out and pretend to sleep.

Ahhh. Her first nap went pretty well, too.She was excited that she could be "up" from her nap at any time. I laid down with her, and she was sleeping in a few minutes. Maybe all that moving and playing wore her out.

Here's what I'm hoping: Jack will decide he really wants Sophie's bedroom (downstairs) so that Sophie can come upstairs with us. This will solve a few problems: her being downstairs (obviously), it will split up the boys, and Jack wants a green room. Hah! Buddy, there's one waiting for you just down those stairs there!

He's not convinced. So right now, I'll have to wish that Sophie will get a girlie comforter that matches her cute green and blue room.

Malena, My Flower Arranger

Flower arranging is an art.

An art that I cannot do, no matter how often I tell myself I can. Here is my latest effort at arranging:

Looks like a bunch of weeds. And it is way too big for the mirror. Doug just rolled his eyes. Then I went to Target and got a cute vase, and it just rolled around the house for a week or so. Until Malena saw it. In a fit of inspiration, she filled it with a spray of white flowers, and found the perfect complement to my entry shelf/mirror combo:

Like how the "family" blocks are scrambled? They seem to be one of the kids' favorite toys. Every other day, someone will rearrange them, or give them to Sophie for playing on the floor. Just trying to keep it real, right?

I was pretty impressed. So I gave Malena the vase for the original arrangement and told her to make something of it. Here's what she came up with:

She really likes the white flowers. They contrast well with the darker colors of the furniture and the gray-green walls. Light-colored or white accessories are my plan for that room - although I hadn't told Malena. She must have somehow just figured it out.

Looks like I won't have to try and put together flower arrangements anymore...I have an arranger in-house! Thank you, Malena!

What's Bloomin'

As promised, the irises have bloomed!

I completely forgot that they were yellow. Makes a nice counterpoint to all the purple, though, right?

The chives are also in full bloom, keeping up with the garlic and oregano...

And the globe allium is also in bloom. Fun fact: chives and allium are both from the onion family. So I guess I could eat these globes if I wanted to...although probably not after I spray paint them later in the season. Oh, I am soooo planning to do that again!

Still lots and lots of purple. Do you have lots of purple in your neighborhood, or are you getting more of a variety than I am?

Just Give Me a Deadline...

And see what I can do!

My friend called a week or so ago and told me she was coming to stay for a weekend. My dad, if you remember, only gave me a couple of days. Ah, the difference between a wedding and a funeral - one gives you at least a little bit of preparation. Here's what the guest room looked like for them:

Back to the wedding. The couple getting married only decided to get married two weeks ago, so that's why I only got a week and a half to prepare. But that is still more than the two to three days you normally get before a funeral, so watch me put together a guest room!

Each time I have a guest, you know, I have to up the ante a little. Right? RIGHT?

So I started priming. This was when I also primed the girls' room downstairs, so the painting stuff was out. Why wait?

I'll give you one good reason to wait: poor little Sophia, who was being watched alternately by her two sisters. This is one of their ways of watching her:

Yes, she is tied to a chair. With her daddy's ties. Sophie thought it was pretty funny. Mostly.

It was at this point (in priming, not with Sophie tied to a chair) that Doug asked about the color. I told him it was going to be a yellow room. Then he gave me one of his looks. This particular look was "are you kidding me? Why are you going with yellow? Didn't you just get rid of a yellow room?"

I told him to trust me. I don't use colors I don't personally like. Even if the kids beg. Collin's favorite color is yellow, and he also wanted red. Not a combo I would ordinarily choose. But, I try to be open-minded. So I went off to JoAnn's and picked up a few samples that I could live with.

My favorite is the zigzag, although the florescent yellow and gray leaves are cool, too.

 Collin made his choice, sticking with just his two favorite colors.

Next was paint. I took the sample and actually went a shade darker. Collin's room has that chair rail, so I was doing white on top and the yellow/gold on bottom. With the chosen fabric as curtains, I figured I could get away with a more intense color.

Intense, huh? And let me tell you, painting over that dark blue and brown wasn't a picnic. I probably should give it another coat - even though I primed and put on two full coats. But Doug loves the color (hah!). So party on, time for shopping!

Target's comforters just happened to be on sale. Yes, I love Target. They seem to walk the line between fashion and cost and keep everything in balance. Most of the time. Target also just happened to have just the colors I was looking for - I didn't want a white or ruffled bedskirt, and typically you can only get neutrals and ruffles in open stock sheets. The comforter that I wanted also came with shams and a bedskirt too, so score! A red bedskirt!

And here it is, put together:

My poor guest didn't get the artwork until the day she was leaving...sorry about that, girlfriend! I do love that I already had several pieces that worked well. The question now is, what will I do the next time I have a guest?

Oh wait, I already know the answer to that one: we need a new bedside table. And carpet...and those curtains I promised Collin from his fabric swatch. Um, never mind. Plenty of projects still in the wings.

Here's your question: which fabric swatch would you have chosen?

What's Bloomin': A Purple Profusion

All my daffodils and tulips are wilting away. Sigh.

But what is that? More flowers on the horizon! Or rather, tucked into foliage. For it is the purple profusion starting...last week it was the periwinkles, which are still blooming frantically:

This week it's the tradescantia (Spiderwort - again, who would name a flower that?!?).

A landlady in Connecticut called them thumbprint flowers - because the flower looks like those child paintings where they use three imprints of their thumbs to make a flower. I prefer that nickname, definitely.

Then there's the verbascum, which can be a weed in many areas. It hasn't really taken off and given me any volunteers here. Which is sad, because I've decided I rather like this flower.

And for next week, there will be chives and maybe even iris...and my globe allium is starting to open. So lots and lots of purple.

For variety, my crabapples also bloomed this week. I really like crabapples, particularly when they are in the middle of the yard so that cleanup is as simple as mowing the lawn.

This picture didn't turn out so well. I've found that taking pictures of trees in a windy environment doesn't work out so well. Any tips on making that happen, other than waiting for the wind to stop? My neighbor jokes that it's only not windy at 7 am and 7 pm. Maybe that's when I should be out with my camera.

Hope you all have a great week!

Wired and Ready to Go

Doug has continued working on the basement. The prize of a new TV is loomin' large in his vision.

Now we have wired can lights, as well as outlets.

The can lights

An outlet!

A light switch for the can lights. Super exciting.

Yay! We have lots and lots of light in that room now. Compare this shot:

With this:

I know! Look at all those lights! You can see things now! This might mean that I'll have to clean more often down there. Or maybe even go down there more often. Miracles do happen, you know.

Jack likes to pretend he can help

While Doug was doing this, I was organizing books. This is actually one of my favorite things to do. I stopped myself from alphabetizing by genre, and just separated: Mine, Doug's, Big Kids (chapter books) and Little Kids (easy-to-read and board books).

Ah, don't they look beautiful? I know, the lights are way more exciting.

Buh-Bye, Yeller!

The girls' room (the one they sleep in, not their "extra" room) is still the fun-tastic shade of yellow it was when we moved in. The walls are also trashed, which has resulted in countless hours of patching and prep for painting.

Trashed walls. Not even my family's fault (for once)

The yucky yellow

Last weekend, the girls wanted me to paint. However, this would require their room to be clean enough to move furniture around. Didn't happen. Malena did ask me why I didn't just do the work while I was at school. I mean, weren't we going to start painting the minute they got home?

Hah. 

So we waited a week. This time, they got their room...well, more clean. Bonnie was also grounded to her room, so she was able to devote much of her time to cleaning and removing their stuff to the extra room. So painting got under way (yahoo!).

Can I tell you how much I hate doing closets? Here you go: I Hate Doing Closets. Way too much surface area to paint. Luckily, this is the last one that is painted a color in the house...so all the others can just be painted instead of primed and then painted.

And what color are we going with this time? White!

WHAT?

Oh yes, the girls could not decide on one color. One of their ideas was to alternate blue and purple walls, with the blue walls splatter-painted with purple and the purple walls splatter-painted with blue. Another version called for purple walls with cloud-like blue at the top. I am not doing splatter painting. Way too messy. Also not excited about blue and purple painted on the walls. 

So. White it is. Then they can decorate in whatever colors they want - blue and purple today, pink and orange (or whatever) tomorrow. After all, who knows how long they'll be in this room together anyway? 

So here's the final result with beds and a little bit of decorating (a very little bit):

The picture went up, then Bonnie changed the location of her bed.
Sigh. Now I have to make another hole in my pristine walls.

Sophia trying to ruin the picture.

I even put up a set of hooks. Ah, a little organization.

They had pictures and fun things on the wall when it was painted yellow. I didn't really like the arrangement. I had a hard time resisting my inner control freak, so I listened patiently while Malena told me where things would go, and then I put them where I wanted them. 

"Mom, you didn't listen!"

Oh yes, I did. I just didn't agree with you. Sometimes I can control those inner voices, sometimes not so much.

So, it's a start. I still need to:

• Hang their new mirror (finally! A mirror!)
• Sew curtains - I bought some long ones from Target that I'm going to cut in half to make a matched pair. Wish me luck with that.
• Get the girls some cute bedding, or encourage them to use the cute bedding they already own. Preferably the latter.
• Put up decals - the girls have picked them out and they are winging their way to our front door.
• Get the girls to clean their room. Again. Daily. Again, need serious good luck with this.

Still lots to do. But no more yellow!