Long post for a long weekend wrap up

Ahh, Memorial Day weekend.

The sand between your toes, sun on your shoulders and smell of sun block in the air…usually.

We did not do the traditional festivities for the long weekend. We worked on building our fence. I guess I did get to smell the sun block in the air, but the smell of sun block was mixed with smell of fresh-cut lumber.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Michael and I can look back and say that WE built that fence. It may have taken a month start to finish, but we (with some prior help of Patrick and Frank) did it!

We were officially able to let the girls outside last night, unsupervised. Boy were they not happy. You would think they would enjoy the freedom, but they thought otherwise. Once they have done their business they rush back to the door to come in, which is usually left cracked so they could push their way in. Last night was a different story. When they went to come back inside and the door was closed, they went into panic mode. “Oh my gosh did they really forget about us out here, outside?” From the sound of their cries I could tell that is what they were thinking. They do not understand they have a huge backyard to venture in. I guess the thought of no longer running next door to “attack” Mrs. Janice has lessened their interest in the great backyard adventure.

Yes, our neighbor is “deathly” afraid of dogs and I guess Holly and Penny can sense that because they would start barking her way as soon as they spotted her. I don’t know who could be scared of the girls, but whatevs.

We will make up for the lack of beach-related activities this upcoming weekend. We’ll be taking the girls with us to stay in a pet-friendly cabin at the Gulf Shores/Pensacola KOA. I’m not sure what they will think about going canoeing or fishing, but we shall see. I know Penny loved being on the boat with Michael’s dad when we were out on Lake Eufala, but it’s Holly who likes to play things safe, just like her momma.

We did manage to make it over to Star and Jeremy’s house for some crawfish on Sunday. It was all so good, and such a great break away from the fence.
Since project privacy fence has wrapped up, we looked at each other last night and wondered, what next? Well, I did manage to pick out a few paint samples while we were at Lowe’s over the weekend. We do not love the color that came with the house. Typically that is not a problem, I love to paint! The vaulted ceiling and the thought of getting on a ladder up that high, however, is a problem.

Then we asked each other the question, what color? It’s currently baby food peas green, as I call it. I was wanting a lighter shade of green. It was then brought to my attention that we have several shades of green in the house already. Our bedroom, office, laundry room, guest bathroom and garage (yes, the garage) are all different shades of sage. Why not ONE more room, it’s already green, right?

I guess I will venture out of my safe zone and try to picture a different color. NO other color is going to look right at first after having such a bold color in there since the day we laid eyes on the house. I’m thinking butter cream yellow/tan. Tan is one color we do not have yet. I already have 2 yellow rooms. Why do I have to be so stuck on the same color scheme?

I’m moving into a whole new post here. More on that later.

But I guess I can’t leave without at least one photo. After finishing the fence Michael and I went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, which happens to be right next to Krispy Kreme. Well, if you know me you know I LOVE Oreos. They now have an Oreo doughnut that is out of this world good. Start your mouth watering in 3…2….1.

Mmm!

Wordless Wednesday: Chill - Yogurt Your Way

Happy 'we found you in the bushes one year ago' Birthday to Beebee

We have had our sweet little kitty for a year today! We were out picking blackberries behind our house when Michael's parents and sister Jana were down visiting. I found more than I bargained for on that hunt.

It was on this day a year ago that Michael realized he is a cat guy.

Beebee was about four weeks old when I found her and took her to the vet. I don't know her real birthday, so I just think of it as today. She was a fiesty little Bee when we first got her. She loved to nibble on your hands and play rough. The vet said it was because by the time she was old enough to learn to play, she didn't have any other kitties to play with and learn what hurts when they are playing. I guess she had Penny and Holly as sisters, but they were more scared of her than she was at them, and they were like 10 times her size at four weeks.

Michael wasn't much of a cat lover early on. He didn't really like to love on her or do much hanging out with our new little furry friend. One day I came home from work and popped the garage and what did I find standing inside? A Michael holding a Beebee. Loved it.

We love you, our sweet Beebee. If you only knew what it took to talk your daddy into keep you on this day, one year ago.

May I take your order?

Yes, I will have two cheeseburgers and a large fry on the fly, please.

Capture the Everyday: Something You Need to Upgrade

The carpet in our master bedroom!

It came with the house we bought last year, and granted, it was put in when the house was built 4 years ago, it needs to be replaced. It's the old, cheap, builder-grade carpet that I feel brings the rest of the room down. You can definitely tell where the high-traffic areas of our room are. We have recently upgraded to hardwood floors, updated the baseboards throughout our home and got new carpet in the guest rooms, but it's time to show our bedroom some love.

Michael and I have been talking about upgrading but can't decide if we want to stick with carpet or continue the same hardwood into our room. I think the hardwood would look so good up against the off-white antique bedroom furniture we have. But alas, hardwood will cost more than the frieze carpet we have looked at. Now we just have to motivate ourselves to move our furniture out so we can replace the flooring and upgrade to some taller baseboards.

Capture the Everyday is about getting you to capture those everyday moments in your life! Each Thursday, Melissa at Adventuroo will issue a cute and simple challenge to capture something that is a part of your day-to-day life. You can post just a picture or add some words to go along with it.

The fruits of our labor

Our garden is booming!

I know, I know, I talk a lot about the garden lately but we are so proud of it this year. We are about to have more than 100 tomatoes! Too bad I don't like them, huh? Michael better be ready for tomato casserole, tomato soup, fried green tomatoes, tomato quiche and tomato whatever else I can find a good recipe for. Be ready Michael, be ready. I guess I need to find a good salsa recipe, or something.

Yesterday we had a big harvest - husky cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, strawberries, jalapenos and one banana pepper

They are so pretty. Makes me want to eat them. Maybe I can start to like tomatoes this year.

Other than working out in the garden, we have enjoyed some great meals with great friends lately. Ready for more friends and fun this weekend down in Gulf Shores. It has been a month since we were at the beach, which is way too long if you ask me.

Fire

It's what happened to my neighborhood on Sunday.

So, Sunday I'm out in the backyard with Penny and Holly and start to smell smoke. Didn't think much of it, we do live out in the 'country' so people burn stuff all the time. Then a gust of wind comes along and I can see smoke in it. This made me curious so I walk to the front yard and hear our neighbors - who live across the street and two houses down - screaming "oh my God, somebody bring water!"

Early on

I'm now in full panic mode! I see smoke coming from their backyard and can't tell if it's their yard or house on fire. Michael calls at this time and I tell him what's going on, run and put the girls inside and call 911. Luckily someone had already called and the fire dept. was on the way. I run over to the people who live across the street and one house over as they're hosing down the treeline behind their yard. I try to see if there was anything I could do to help. All I had to offer were two waterhoses, but they didn't have any remaining faucets. It was a brush fire that quickly spread to the trees behind the people across the streets' houses.

Just a few minutes later

So, I thought I was in pull panic mode earlier. I'm standing on my porch waiting for the fire department to show up and I could feel the heat from the flames at my house. By now the trees behind the house across the street were ablaze and our street was completely full of smoke! Panaic mode for real, I loaded up Penny and Holly into my car and Beebee and Ceecee in the cat carrier (together, poor kitties) and got in my car to leave. All I could think about was a gas explosion since most homes in our neighborhood are gas. (Maybe I was overreating, but I was freaking out!) The firetrucks had finally came right when I was trying to leave and I was blocked in and couldn't leave. I backed into our driveway and could only watch.

Seeing these flames behind the house directly across the street from me was terrifying

You can still smell the smoke today, even in my car

Thankfully no homes were damaged and everyone is safe. I'm still not sure what started the fire but know the firemen were out there for about five hours working on the fire, which spread behind five homes. Thank you, thank you!



Capture the Everyday: Summer is Coming

It feels like summer already in Mobile, AL - temperatures in the 90s and the beach on everyone's mind.

Penny and Holly "The girls" like checking out the ducks and geese at the park. It's not far from our house and we always have some type of bread/crackers that are a bit past their prime. I hope to enjoy many summer days at the beach, park or hanging out in our backyard doing some gardening or yard work.

I love summer, and have a good feeling this one is going to be a scorcher!

Capture the Everyday is about getting you to capture those everyday moments in your life! Each Thursday, Melissa at Adventuroo will issue a cute and simple challenge to capture something that is a part of your day-to-day life. You can post just a picture or add some words to go along with it.

Fences and farmer's tans

Yep, that's what went down over the weekend!

We are about 75% finished with the fence and just that much closer to getting a doggy/kitty door.

I can't wait to see what our furry friends are going to do with anytime access to the big ole world out there. They already seem a bit confused about the fence as it is. I'm so excited and just can't say that enough!

Saturday morning Michael and I woke up even earlier than we do for work to go hit up a benefit yard sale Dayspring Baptist was putting on. My mom was a volunteer and told us to come early for the good stuff. She wasn't lying! We got there at 6:45 a.m. and both got some cool stuff for the super super cheap. We left there and grabbed breakfast at Chic fil-A before deciding it was too early to start on the fence, so off to more yard sales we went. It's funny the things older people were selling, like VCRs and 3.5mm floppy disks - ha.

Finally we knew the neighbors were awake and it was time to start putting up the fence planks. This looks like an easy task, but boy is that nail gun heavy. I felt like a dental assistant all day, with Michael being the dentist. Loud tools that shoot nails are not really up my alley, but by the end of the first row I decided to give the nail gun a try, and it was actually fun. I also played with the saw-zaw as well. Look out people! Power tools are my friends now.

Thankfully by the time my poor little arm could barely lift the nail gun to hand it to Michael, Patrick was to the rescue. The fellas worked the rest of the day Saturday until it was time for Carrabba's. We had a great time out after a hard day's work!

Hopefully we can be finished with the fence by the weekend. I am now sporting a lovely farmer's tan, but hey, it's totally worth it. Only about 50 more feet to go and three gates until we're DONE.

Not sure if we'll have a chance to work on it tonight due to the fact that our new dishwasher is coming TODAY! This is the last appliance we need to replace to match the rest of what we've bought for the kitchen. Our current dishwasher requires a secret passcode to get it started each time. Whether it's open the door, close the door, push the start button, turn the knob, open and close again, say a prayer, then hit the start button...it's always victory when it actually starts.

Goodbye old dishwasher, you will not be missed.

Capture the Everyday: Something You Grow

Heirloom tomatoes growing in my garden.

The previous post on my blog shows a few more photos of my growing garden. We are growing a few different tomato varieties, red bell peppers, banana peppers, strawberries, jalapenos and several types of fresh herbs.

Capture the Everyday is about getting you to capture those everyday moments in your life! Each Thursday, Melissa at Adventuroo will issue a cute and simple challenge to capture something that is a part of your day-to-day life. You can post just a picture or add some words to go along with it.

Happy growing!

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The fruits of our labor...and Beebee

Guess what?!

We finally started on the privacy fence this weekend! A big thank you to Patrick for the helping hand. Hopefully we can finish up next weekend so we can start enjoying our new outdoor room. I can't wait to let the girls outside - unsupervised! Beebee and Ceecee will have to learn the sport of fence jumping. While the guys worked the auger I spent a little time working around the yard and garden. We have picked a bunch of strawberries, roma tomatoes, jalapenos and one lone banana pepper so far.

Red bell peppers are coming along. I feel like they're getting close!

10-tomato cluster

I should start looking for some salsa recipes - we're going to have a lot of tomatoes!

The strawberries are killing it!

Beebee sneaks into our bed when she gets allowed inside - that's a no no!

Beebee has been hiding in bags since she was a wee little Bee

We have almost had our sweet little Beebee for a year. I'm super scared about picking blackberries behind our house now. I don't want to find anything that is alive besides a few possible bugs.