Inspiring Fall Colors

A Once Beautiful Old Tree can Still Keep on Giving

An old decaying tree stump can add texture and interest in the garden. It can also be the perfect place to set a pretty pot of flowers. The old decayed bark, green moss, sprouting mushrooms and undulating surface can add lovely texture to the landscape. Proving once again, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Cabbage Wow Factor

For a uniquely beautiful outdoor/indoor centerpiece, try a terra cotta pot filled with ornamental cabbages. Get small, inexpensive ornamental cabbage plants in the spring and fill different planters with them. They look lovely in their pots all summer long but by the beginning of fall, they are huge and gorgeous! They make a simple but bold statement piece. Note: If your dogs love veggies, watch out - one day, while the planter was sitting on the porch, Bailey ate an entire cabbage, which is why they eventually ended up on the table. Accidental inspiration :)

Back in the Saddle Again...

As the days of summer disappear and the leaves turn their beautiful fall colors, many of us are turning our attention, once again, towards home projects. As it happens to all of us now & then, life events had gotten in the way of my blogging but I have decided to restart my posts & continue to share my remodeling and decorating adventures/projects again. Hopefully you will find some useful advice or at least some food for thought when diving into your own projects – maybe you’ll even be inspired to try something new.

As I restart my blogging adventure, I have some sad news to report - We lost another member of our house dog team: Drucker, our much beloved 15 year old Cocker Spaniel, passed away in May.

He was a great source of pure love & joy in my life and sometimes I feel like I can hardly breath without him. However, I know his beautiful heart & soul would want us to find happiness and contentment again. Drucker always had a happy, joyous, content disposition (from the first moment we saw him until the day he died) and he was always a trooper, even though he had many health problems over the years. He filled my world with pure happiness and made my life feel complete. Hopefully Drucker and his sister Callie are now chasing balls and napping together somewhere in the great beyond. They are both greatly missed but stay forever in my heart.

On the flip side of the coin, the now lone house dog, Bailey, doesn’t seem to miss his “siblings” to much. He LOVES having all the attention at all times and enjoys not being slowed down by any older dogs. I think he’s been dreaming of these days for a while. J He always wants to stick his nose into EVERY thing, and he loves to supervise, so I think that role will be sufficiently filled.

So here’s to restarting the journey, minus a couple members of our team, but still moving down the road to exciting new endeavors…

Dog Hair Unlimited

I don't just have dust bunnies, I have dust dinosaurs. Especially at this time of year, I am shocked by the staggering amount of dog hair that keeps collecting in the corners, under tables, closet floors, on my ice cream, etc. Everyday, I'm down on my hands & knees chasing the rolling dog hair tumbleweeds across the floor. It can be maddening.

Since I haven't yet replaced the tile floors with wood and because I still haven't found a vacuum cleaner that I really believe is worth the money and actually works well on dog hair, I've been using my shop-vac. It's big & somewhat bulky but it has great suction (I have to be careful not to suck up a sock or other no-no items - like a small chair), a really long hose (I can vacuum almost all the way up the stairs without moving the canister - could I be any lazier?), and it works better on dog hair than any other vac I've owned.

One weapon of choice that I have found to be extremely helpful removing pet hair from rugs, upholstery, bed linens, etc. has been the Gonzo Pet Hair Lifter (I am not associated with this company in any way, nor do I receive any money from them - unfortunately :) I still find myself down on my hands & knees wiping the Pet Hair Lifter (it looks like a sponge) across my throw rugs but I get tremendous satisfaction from seeing all the hair that comes right off! It works better than any vacuum I've tried. With the amazing amount of hair that I've been able to hunt down & capture, I keep thinking that our dogs should be BALD by now. I keep waiting. However, I'm beginning to understand what people see in those strange, alien looking bald cats . . .

Surely someday the higher powers will find a use for shedding pet hair (like maybe doggie toupees or couture dog hair dresses) but until then, the war between house & hair goes on . . .

Sunshine in a Vase

Flowers are a must to brighten up a drab winter day.

Quick & Easy Recycled Paint Chip Wall Art

Several months ago, I bought a unique wall accessory at a home decor store. It is metal/wire with alligator clips so it can be changed out with whatever the imagination can dream up. At first, I used it to create a collage of local vintage postcards and then at Christmas, it was used for displaying cards. Then, after the holidays, it sat empty for a couple of weeks. Finally, today, I decided I had to find a temporary "fill" while I considered the next installation phase. I couldn't stand the empty frame any longer!

Luckily, inspiration struck while I was organizing my office - I found an out-of-date paint fan deck and I decided to use the paint cards as the art. I went through the deck, pulled out

colors that were repeated in the adjacent rooms, clipped them in place and voila, done . . . at least for now! Cheap, Easy & Recycled.

Happily, I am not the only one who liked this idea. Here are some other examples of paint chip artwork:

Goodbye, Our Sweet Little Callie

Unfortunately, yesterday our sweet little girl Callie had to go to heaven. She had been sick on & off for a few weeks.

We were thrilled when she made it to her 15th birthday on September 4, 2009. Last year she was very ill and we did not expect her to make her 14th birthday, let alone Christmas. But she made it a whole year past that and she was more loving, sweet and snuggly than ever before. She was our first "baby" and the first dog that we have ever had to watch die. It is extremely heartbreaking and devastating. You realize that they won't live forever, but when the time comes, you are never really ready.

Goodbye my sweet little Callie girl. I love you and miss you, and I want to thank you for the incredible gifts, lessons, love and fulfillment that you brought into my life.

Fall Colors

As the Morning Glory Blooms . . .

House Dog Blog: Drucker

While out patrolling the yard for possible bunny sightings, Drucker (13 yrs. old) decided to stop and smell the roses. Of course, he also took his ball just in case anyone wanted to play a game of catch.

Empty Nest Syndrome

Once again, some robins snuck in and made a nest on the porch. But no matter how annoyed I get when this happens (because of the mess & not being able to use that part of the porch until they leave) . . .

I still get a little sad when they all finally grow up and fly away.

Turning a Negative into a Positive - The Garden Shed

The property had several ugly unfinished structures - this "shed" was one of them. Apparently it was originally just some plywood pieces to cover the previous owner's boat. Over time, he added on to it and finally enclosed it with old pieces of misc. wood, fiberglass garage doors as walls and plastic sheeting for a roof. It was quite hideous - inside & out.

We ripped down about 1/3 of the front of the structure (since it impeded on the garage entrance), rebuilt the front and added some recycled old windows and doors purchased at a Habitat for Humanity store. We also added a small entry deck and then shingled the roof and added vinyl siding to coordinate with the house.

What a dramatic difference! A cute garden shed to add much needed charm to the property.

Water Lily

Beautiful pink and yellow water lily's are blooming in the fish pond.

Guest Powder Room

Since there was no guest bath or coat closet (which is a MUST in Michigan) on the first floor, I decided that needed to be one of the first interior construction projects. The original blue print for the house included a 1/2 bath on the first floor but the previous owners did not include it. I needed to fit the new powder room & closet into the foyer area (the only space available) so it would flow with the rest of the space and not make the foyer seem tight and awkward.

I added bead board wainscoting (I used a prepackaged kit) to give the room some architectural detail. To get the wainscoting to the needed height - higher than the sink, I needed to double the bottom trim. I used the prepackaged kit since I thought it would be quicker to install than individual boards. I would only recommend boards/kits that look like real individual bead boards and not the paneling that just has grooves cut into it.