Peek at My Week (Oct 6-12)

This week, I pushed myself to try to be productive as often as I could. It was hard because I was at my mom's house again helping there so much of the week. Since neither Pat nor I had any plans on Sunday, we wanted to spend some time together out of the house. We ventured to the book store. I got tickled by this sign as we were leaving. 

With all the capitalization and no punctuation, I read it as "ya book club" (Your book club). I know the YA stands for Young Adult, but saying it the other way cracked me up. 

Back at home, I worked on a few projects, even breaking out the soldering iron.

As my mom had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday, I didn't have much time that morning. However, I did manage to fiddle around with an art journal page before leaving the house for the day.

I spent all of Tuesday getting errands and chores accomplished at home because it was back to my mom's on Wednesday.

I tried to push my creativity some on Thursday, pulling out all kinds of tools and materials.

I did get a little frustrated in the process. 

So, I let myself have a little break out in the hammock since the temperature wasn't blazing. 

Friday was spent with indoor and outdoor chores. My lime tree was looking quite crispy since there's been no rain here for almost a month.

(Wouldn't you know it, it rained Saturday night - FINALLY!)

In the afternoon, I made a run to the coffee shop to upload a few videos for later and doodled while I waited for the internet to do its thing. 

Saturday meant football. I was back at my mom's to watch the game before taking pictures of my niece as she headed off for the Homecoming Dance. 

And, that was my week. How was yours?

Since it was such a busy week, there wasn't as much inspiration to be found (or rather, time to find inspiration.) But, there were a few tidbits.

• I've never been great at ring-making but Rena at Jewelry Making Journal makes this Spinner Ring looks easy enough. 
• I'm in love with these 20 Inspiring Quotes from Van Gough. 
• Fall For DIY shared how to make a pair of DIY Applique Wooden Earrings. 

Have a good one!

Spring in Silverlox

Today is the first full day of Spring. And, despite the fact that the Northeast continues to be battered with winter storms; we've already had lots of signs of Spring here in South Alabama for a while. Most of the weather has been nice, but we did have a cold snap a few weeks ago that withered some of the new growth. So, it hasn't all been sunny days and flowers. But, I thought I'd share some of the season as it's shown itself on our property which we call "Silverlox". 

Definitely the harbingers of Spring, these mini daffodils poked their heads out as soon as the weather began to warm. I have to admit that I was surprised as I had no idea these were there. I'm sure they were planted by the previous owners. 

The next to begin peeking up was this fairy ring of snowdrops. Though I know it's not a traditional fairy ring, I think it's pretty magical and call it such. 

Here's a better look at the snowdrops in bloom. I love the little green drops on the petals. 

In addition, the blackberry briars began blooming. The wild blackberries around here are really dewberries and are super thorny, but plentiful. 

A few of them are already showing signs of fruit!

Azaleas are also quite prolific in the area. The bushes everywhere were absolutely FULL of blooms. 

Alas, the cold snap we had withered almost all of them. There are still a few bushes that hadn't bloomed yet and may still (fingers crossed!)

Winter, in general, was not kind to the tropical-like plants on the property. 

We decided to chop the banana trees down as far as we could, and many of them are already starting to grow back. 

As well, the split leaf philodendron was in a sad, sad state. Again, we trimmed the dead leaves off as we did last year. This particular bunch amuses me as the roots make the plants look like they're tethered to the ground. But if you look close...

You'll see little sprouts rising from the ashes!

Elephant ears are also quite delicate and withered as soon as winter began. They're coming back quickly. This one, in particular, caught my attention as the water droplets really give it an appearance of a real elephant face. Ha!

Although I really love the smell and appearance of wisteria, we've done our best to rid it from the property because it takes over.  Our attempts have not been completely successful. Though, this is the only bunch so far that I've found blooming. Isn't it pretty?

Since it has gotten warmer, I've gone ahead and begun planting some seeds to be transferred into the raised bed garden and containers very soon. 

I first started with the seeds I had on hand, planting them in K-cups that I had saved and cleaned. 

Many of those are just about ready to be transplanted into their new homes. Above are my black beans!

A week or two later, I worked on my second round of seed-planting.

Those have just started to peek above the soil. 

That's just SOME of what's been going on around here. In addition, we planted fruit trees, and I've been steadily kicking bamboo in an attempt to keep it from spreading. 

And seriously, it's just the beginning of spring. I'm sure there will be more plants and projects to come. I hope Spring is treating you well and that the bad weather spares you so you can get to the warmer weather soon!

Peek at My Week: March 4 - 10

Last week I started this weekly feature sharing snippets of my daily life through the pictures I've taken. 

Even though I work from home, I don't really mess with elaborate breakfasts on the weekdays. However, I will get a little more creative on the weekends. On Sunday, I made Monkey Muffins (the original Pioneer Woman recipe). These are what I based my King Cake Monkey Muffins off of. 

After that, Sunday was all about working in the yard. I started by checking on my seeds from last week. The beans were just starting to poke through!

After that, I went bamboo-kicking (the best way we've found to prevent the spread of bamboo) as the bamboo shoots are also poking their heads above ground. 

I did some reading in the hammock while Zoe played. This was only to bide time while Pat finished up other projects. 

Then, we were able to get to the task I was excited about - planting the fruit trees. Pictured here is a Persian Lime, but we also planted a satsuma, a fig, and a blood orange. It could be a while before they bear any fruit, but we've been talking about getting these since we moved here. So, I'm glad that's handled!

We rounded out the weekend with a late afternoon walk along Mobile Bay. 

I started Monday out much like the day before, searching for bamboo to kick. While tromping through the yard, I almost squashed this beauty of a snail. He was huge!

Getting down to work, I decided to start planning out and deciding what I might make for this month's We're All Ears Challenge at Earrings Everyday. It's a monochromatic, black-and-white theme so I went searching through the black and white drawers in the bead cabinet for inspiration. 

Later in the day, I got back outside and was able to take in some color. Namely, I admired the burst of pink from the azaleas. They're EVERYWHERE in the area!

After that, I listed this Vintage Watch and Pearl Necklace. It's a favorite of mine!

And, of course, there was a cookie photo shoot. It was seriously the main thing on my list to get done on Monday.  After that, we were able to eat the "pretty cookies" I had saved for the shoot. 

Tuesday was rainy. When I was finally able to get outside, I realized that my black beans had taken off and were looking like real plants. I was so very excited!

I spent the day restocking the bead box using Fusion Beads' 30 Day Challenge as inspiration. 

And, I was able to stock the whole thing! I'll share what's in it later.

While Pat had band practice Tuesday evening, I worked on darkening copper and brass wire. It's nice to know I have a good supply ready to go!

On Wednesdays, I go to my mom's house to visit with my grandmother and help out. I don't usually get a whole lot of anything interesting accomplished. But, I did post my recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies!

Thursday was a day of errand-running. I started by updating my booth at Southern Antiques and Accents with some new pieces and rearranging the existing ones.

Thursday was also International Women's Day. I was pretty pleased that I just happened to be reading this particular book. And, it's really got me thinking and inspiring me - just as I had hoped it would!

Of course, the setting for reading wasn't all that inspiring. I had to get my oil changed as my last errand of the day, and this was the view. Oh well, you take what you can get!

On Friday, I rose with the sun and had to capture a quick photo of its golden beauty. 

Part of the reason I had to get up so early was that I had to take my niece downtown Mobile to handle a couple things.

Later that afternoon, I drove her and a friend to a retreat in Gulf Shores. Since I had captured the sunrise, I thought it only fair to document the sunset (from the beach!)

Saturday started with a big mess in the kitchen. Like I said from the start of this post, I make a little more effort with breakfast on the weekends. 

I had spotted this Breakfast Pizza from Skinny Taste last week and had to make it.  Y'all, they were SO GOOD and so easy and so versatile! I'm definitely making them again. I may even use the dough recipe to make real pizzas. 

The rest of the day was spent just taking care of things around the house like getting more seeds planted. Most of them were useful things like food and herbs, but I had grabbed a few flower seeds to plant out in the yard. I really hope my daisies, zinnias, and sunflowers show up. I'll have to wait and see. 

And, that about wrapped up the week. Sunday is halfway through and the rain is pouring. I'm not sure how much more I'll get accomplished today. But, I'm hopeful. Here's hoping your week was full. What's on your plate for the week to come?

Our New Home | Pool and Property

Over a month ago I shared a look at the inside of our new home. I guess it's time that I show you some of the FIVE ACRES we also bought, including the pool area. He're what I was able to capture on camera the other day first thing in the morning (the lighting was weird so the pictures are a little odd, but I think you'll get the idea). Of course, I also filmed a video if you'd rather just go to the bottom of the page and watch that. This is a little picture heavy, bear with me. I'm excited to show you some of my new space.

The view off the back porch. Pat's already cleared away a bunch of the vines and overgrowth that had been covering that fence.

Also from the back porch you can see this shed. Again, the fence was covered in jasmine that we are slowly working on clearing out.

Taking a left off the porch, there's this little walkway to the pool, and a nice grouping of  banana trees and split-leaf philodendron. 

On the other side of the banana trees is this little area. We've decided to make it a fire-pit area since we found that fire pit in some weeds.

THIS is our pool!! It's kinda large and goes to 8 feet deep. It's also well-shaded which makes for quite chilly water. It'll be perfect during this sweltering Alabama Julys!

Okay, so back in the fire-pit are is this arbor (that was covered in air potato vines- eek!) and a few lampposts. It seriously feels like Narnia out here!

Out past the lampposts is this open area where we plan to plant our garden. You can see the light on the other side of the trees in the back, that's where out property ends and a large farm begins.

Next to the open area is this wide path that cuts through an area of bamboo and the back of the 'backyard'.

The path also cuts behind this pole barn. My husband says it's in better shape than it looks.

The pole barn hold all kinds of stuff that was left on the property - some treasures and some not so much.

Circling back toward the house is this basketball goal covered in overgrowth, I think it really speaks of the rustic nature of our new home.

I'm completely smitten with the variety of plants and flowers we have all over the property (with the exception of the air potato and jasmine). We joke that we've got one of everything. Take a look:

There are tons of gardenia bushes - it's a good thing I love them so!

As well, there are hydrangeas scattered across the property. I actually found this tiny bloom on one of them.

For the most part though, the majority of our hydrangeas look like this right now.

The previous owner had planted some mums. This is one small bunch like you would get in front of the grocery store. However, it's blooming. I don't mind!

In addition to lots of pine trees, we also have a few large oaks. This large, majestic one sits toward the back of the property.

There are beauty berry bushes scattered all over. I adore the color of the berries. Isn't it divine?

Elephant ears are mixed in with all the other plants. These are right outside the pool gate, giving that area an even more lush feel.

Also near the pool are several palms. This is the biggest of the bunch.

We've even discovered a few citrus trees. Though, this lime is the only fruit I've found on them. We think the other plant is an orange. I can't wait to find out for sure!

And that's just a partial look at the property, I didn't take you to the front of the house or the way back. I mentioned that it feels like Narnia out here but we're now joking that it's more like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter. We've found some many cool items on the property, some we had recently mentioned we needed - like the fire pit. I plan on sharing a bit of a peek at some of the cool items we've discovered, but that's for another time. For now, here's my video tour.

I do apologize for making y'all wait so long for this reveal. It's been a ton of work trying to catch up and unpack and manage the property and enjoy the pool and excuses, excuses, blah, blah, blah. I do hope you understand.