working it out around here

 We have finally had some nice weather!!!   Today we were busy relocating some of our raised garden beds and the beans helped me drill our box together.  I made a special point to tell my daughter that she is a strong girl who can work a drill just as good as any boy!  The good thing about my little helpers is that they are amazing at amending the soil for me and finding worms to add to our boxes.

The lovely Jennifer from Three Dogs In A Garden  (her blog is beyond inspiring) sent me this gardening book for the beans.  It has so many project ideas for little ones in the garden.  The beans have already bookmarked the ones that they would like to try for this season!

And I would like to add that Jennifer was one of my first followers.  Always leaving me encouraging comments when I had none.  And for that I would like to say thank you Jennifer!  

Busy working Beans!

So with a couple of jobs checked off the list in the garden here is a project that we knocked out inside.


A year ago we tackled our tiny bathroom.  (we are lucky to have one off of our bedroom) I enjoy being somewhat of a minimalist so a small bathroom actually works for us.  It is the size of a closet and its 1967ness was really starting to show.  With a broken toilet. rotted pipes, and funk growing in the shower we decided to fix it up. 

Do you like our wire hanger rigging?!?!  

With the space being so small it was a bit hard to even take a picture!  The little things that help us live in our small bath are hooks for hanging, trays for extra this and thats, and a large medicine cabinet over the sink for storage.  The old vanity was donated.  Its replacement is an extra small size that makes the space feel larger.

And the week has already been a good one!  I will be around to visit your blogs here in a bit as it has been a bit busy here!  At a doctors appointment today I was taken when I walked into the office building and was greeted by a stunning indoor garden.   It was a reminder that even when your mind is consumed with other things that it is important to slow down and look around you.

May your week be filled with beautiful things!

Fine Foliage

This past weekend I went to see Karen Chapman speak about her book Fine Foliage.  I have been intrigued with this book for some time now, and was delighted to see that she was doing a speaking tour in the Chicagoland area.

The barn where the presentation was held was decorated with sprigs and pots to add a bit of garden to the room and the adjoining greenhouse was open for us all to stroll through for that bit of spring inspiration! 

Her humor coupled with her keen eye for plant combinations left me inspired and driven to do everything I can to make my garden layered with harmonious colors, forms, and textures.  Karen's presentation spoke to me because the emphasis, as the title portrays, is on foliage first and then flowers when creating the garden.  I enjoyed learning about color echoing which is the idea of picking up common color tones from the plant foliage you select.

Here is an example of a color echoing combination that I came up with for my garden...

The lime green of the Bellwort compliments the green in the sedum leaves.  And the barberry's tones pick up hues from the sedum.

I would highly recommend Fine Foliage to anyone who is looking for amazing foliage ideas to carry their own garden through the seasons.  And if you would like more inspiration Karen has a lovely blog called Le Jardinet.

Here is to a great week! 

Happy Making, Baking, and Growing!

the thaw

The thaw is on!  Spring is finally at our door which means that my mind is full of ideas and plans for our garden.  Piles of books and my trusty notebook have overtaken my nightstand as I stay up way too late working on this seasons doings.

Some of my most recent color order......"Cherry Queen" zinnias, "Bluesette" dahlias, "Salmon Queen" zinnias, "Cafe au Lait" dahlias  

flower photos via ~Eden Brothers.com~

Our backyard currently looks like it has a large river running through it with several small wading pools of water.  There is an overwhelming amount of work to do back there which only makes my eye twitch slightly!  So while doing some basic assessing this week of what has to get done, the beans were busy making nests from the many twigs (and logs!) that have fallen throughout the winter.  I worked on plotting out a new area for more crops this season.

what's going in so far this year.....

~tomatoes

~cucumbers

~carrots

~peas

~greens

~peppers 

~basil

~raspberries

~strawberries

And some this and thats.

a pretty potting shed...

~source unknown~

Vintage sports calendars that this guy and I found at a resale shop...

He picked out his 2 favorites for 4 bucks which we will be using to decorate his room.

A new blouse for me....

A pot of happy flowers for my daughter.  The most fantastic woman works at our local Trader Joe's.   Every time she sees my daughter she let's her check out all of the groceries from our cart while taking the time to teach her about being a cashier.   She makes her feel so special and on this particular day she let her pick out flowers because my bean had fallen earlier that day and had a bad scrape on her face.

There really are so many awesome people in this world!  

Happy Friday Friends! 

Floral Fridays...made me smile

Oh the joys of spring!  My list of loves for the season are a mile long.  Garden digging, plants sprouting, and new adventures beginning!  The theme for Floral Fridays this month is all about blooms that "made me smile."  Looking back at blooms for this post brought me pure excitement of what is to come!

  Though the beans do thoroughly enjoy pulling petals off of our flowers to use as confetti, they also like to collect blooms for bouquets.  And their bouquets are the best!  Innocently put together with their own reasons in mind.  I just wish I had photographed more of their creations.  A new year a new goal!  Peonies and hydrangeas are blooms that they like to cut because in their words, they are "BIG"!  

{some blooms arranged by the beans}

So blooms that make me smile are the ones that I find on our table.

Made by little hands, stuck in different cups or jars, water splattered everywhere, dirt and bugs, sticks, leaves, flowers, and JOY.

Floral Fridays is a monthly photography project with different themes each month. This series is about fun and taking time out to smell the flowers. To play along, please email Trishie (trishie@underlockandkeyblog.com) for next month's theme.

I do hope you will join in with your special blooms!  
Happy weekend everyone!