A Long View

Melanie at Old Country Gardens posted some wonderful pictures of her yard and garden and asked readers to do the same.

Here is the view of our house from across the road. I haven't done too much with the front of the house because a porch has been on the list of house projects. This year, I am not waiting any longer for the porch and have a new plan for some added plantings. This side faces north and is quite shady for much of the day.


This is the west side of the house. This is very shady this time of year. Last summer we put in the garden on the right. It has quite a few hosta and other shade loving plants. We are going to build this garden up so we can see the plants better from the house. This is also were most of the bird feeders are.


This is the my main perennial border. The garden on the right is the new enclosed garden that we are working on. We have made some modifications in our plan this summer and the new plan will include a new larger water feature. We will see how much of it gets done this summer.


This is where we do most of our entertaining, having people over for cookouts and enjoying the gardens.


Now, I decided to be honest about the whole thing and show all of our property and explain that I share this house with my wonderful husband that enjoys boats and tools of any shape and size. We also have five children, with their assorted bikes, balls, toys, trampoline and swings. We have a dog and cat, chickens and rabbits. So, these pictures aren't quite as tidy as the first ones. We try and keep the "house garden" free of the kids stuff, but we certainly get a lot of overflow from one area to the other.

Here is the vegetable garden, chicken coop, shed and boat shed. Oh, and Bessie on the tramp.


This is the pool enclosure. The fence needs painting and right now we are in the process of replacing the pool liner. You can also see my clothesline.


Here is the view of the kids side of the yard. Look at Bessie bouncing so high on the tramp. Our camper is also stored here. This is a large area where the kids can ride their bikes, play ball and run around.


It is often quite a challenge to try and keep the gardens and yard looking nice with such a large busy family, but we enjoy our outside space very much.

This is the view out our front door. I love this view and some day we might have that front porch to sit upon and enjoy and scenery.


Thanks, Melanie for sharing pictures of your lovely yard and garden.

Pay It Forward Giveaway

I read about Pay It Forward: Arts & Crafts Edition from Cynthia over at Life Is Good. I think she read about it from Lisa at The Berry Patch. I'm not sure where it originated, but it sure sounds like a lot of fun.

So....I was one of the first commentors on Cynthia's blog.

This is a very simple giveaway/challenge and will certainly be a blessing for me and hopefully also for the recipients.

The rules are:

-Anyone with a blog can join.
-The first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade gift from me.
-Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you for your mailing address.
-I will send your gift within 365 days (sometime during 2008).
-In return, you have to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

If you want to play, just be one of the first 3 people to comment to the post, and then go post the challenge on your own blog. Then sometime this year, a fun, handmade gift from me will appear in your mailbox.

I have a few ideas, but nothing definite yet! I like to do lots of different things from crochet and cross-stitch to scrapbooking and general arts and crafts stuff. It will be fun deciding what to make.

Enjoy!

Giving Thanks

I read about this particular challenge on De'Etta's blog. I think this is a wonderful idea.

We have tried in recent years to make Thanksgiving more about giving thanks than just a day off to gorge ourselves and watch football between Halloween and Christmas. Some years we have done well, others, not so well. I am hopeful that this challenge will help keep me focused on the thanks part of Thanksgiving.

Here is a brief description of the challenge from twolittlevikings. Won't you join us in making this Thanksgiving more meaningful?

"This challenge is not meant to be difficult or complicated. Simply make a list (written or mental) of thirty people in your life that make your daily walk easier: friends, family, those that have made you smile when your day is somewhat blue.

Then, resolve that every day from today until Turkey Day you will send a note (either snail mail, hand-delivered, or electronically) to one of those folks."

Front Yard

Liz started a new blog challenge after Chris posted a picture of her dry parched yard. Liz's yard was flooded.

So, here is our front yard, neither parched or flooded....just right! If the weather is dry, our front yard, which is quite gravelly, will get brown, but we have had a nice mix of sun and rain this summer so it is staying nice and green.

Window on my World

Liz, a cyber-pal, from SHS posted a blog challenge...what is the view from your window? I have to say that I don't think there are any bad views from any windows in our home. We are blessed to live in a rural area with lots of fields and woods. I will admit that Liz's window is much prettier than mine. I love all her stained glass. You can check it out on her blog.

I've decided to post three views.

The first is from our kitchen sink window. Now, I do not like to spend much time here. All the kids know how to put their dishes in the dishwasher, so that only leaves the pots and pans and Brian will often do those. As you can see, the kids have been blessing me with glasses full of wildflowers this week. This window looks out into the backyard toward the pool.

The second window is probably the view I see the most, at least to see and enjoy. This is the window right by my computer. Whenever I am sitting here, I have a few leisure moments to enjoy the view, watch the birds and listen to the sounds of nature. (I think I need to fill my birdfeeders!) Or, watch the snow, still watch the birds and lament our long, gray winters, but I don't like to think about that while the trees are green and weather warm.

The third window, well actually our front door, is toward the road and the field beyond. This is the view I get when I'm sitting in my chair reading or stitching. I don't actually look out this door, but it was hard to get a picture through the window by my chair.

I love all our views, each one has a different feel to it, but all of them are country. When we finish our family room, the main view will be toward the kid's play area and my perennial gardens, but right now I have to make an effort to look that way. I am very much looking forward to that view.

Socks!

Okay, so I was bored today and sent out a request to my loopy friends for a new blog challenge. Liz posted back and said "How about your favorite socks?". Well, I opted for me goofiest pair. Okay all my blogging pals, your turn!

Here are my black socks with white poodles.

Bessie did opt for comfiest, her ultra soft, pink stripes