Russian Sage

For the first month of Spring I lamented quite often that our front yard was the worst looking one on the strip of homes all built and landscaped by the same builder. I really felt like we had somehow gotten the shaft when it came to number and quality of plantings. Now that we are well into summer however, I quite like what we have going on. We have some of the biggest and best looking russian sage plants and another funny little plant that must be some kind of herb as well, because it smells fantastic whenever I break off a stem. I almost wish we had our own hive of bees since the are loving our russian sage plants, we might as well get some of the honey they are making from them.

Side Yard Project

I spent what seems like weeks trying to get this how I wanted it. It all started when we found out we could submit our landscape plans at the garden fair and get the $75 fee waved. I scrambled the night before to get my drawn-to-scale sketch ready. We changed a few things since then and below is the final design.

Patio pavers were on sale at Lowes, 20% off and I had a 10% off coupon as well so I wanted to get as much of our supplies as I could in one go, especially since we would have it all delivered and I only wanted to pay one delivery fee.

This is how it started out. Well almost. We had to move a ton of rocks in the yard and used them to build up the patio space. So many rocks!!! And the ground is full of more rocks.

Since our yard is mostly shaded during the day I wanted to do a little shade garden in one of the corners.

And here it is after we got all of our mulch around the perimeter and in the center is our biograss garden soil spread with lawn seed. I sure hope it grows a lush beautiful lawn! Until then, we'll enjoy that we don't have to mow.

And here is our paver patio. Its a little less than perfect, but we did our best given how tired we were by the end. A few pavers sit a little higher or lower than they probably should, but at 11 at night after a full day of yard work, we weren't really noticing it as much. Hopefully it will stand the test of time. Just imagine some potted citrus trees on the corners and a patio set...oh and the lawn and we are almost there!

A New Appreciation for Topsoil

While putting in our side yard we have had to clear a lot of rocks and dig several holes for our plants. The ground out here is nothing but clay and rocks. You can't put a shovel to it without hitting a rock or 20. Needless to say, it has been quite the task to put anything in the ground.

Growing up, the family business was a sand and gravel company. My grandparents and all their kids contributed in the mining operation where they mined and sold topsoil and sand. Today as I dug several holes in our yard I couldn't help but have a new appreciation for rich topsoil, the kind that is found on the family property.

I feel slightly like Scarlet O'Hara from Gone with the Wind when she comes to understand her relationship to Tara.

Space or Upgrades

The house next door to us sold recently. We have watched it go from drywall stage to completely finished inside. The house is fairly small, something like 1300 square feet I think, but it is really cute. I remember when we walked through it, really not liking how the upstairs was just a small landing with 4 doors coming off of it. The master bedroom was really small too. The price of the house when we were looking was $13K less than the one we went for with 1800 square feet. I know we made the right choice, but every time I walk by our upstairs window I can see right into the house. They got all the upgrades, nice tall baseboards, 3-tone paint, upgraded carpet, dark wood floors. nice hand rails. I can't help but think about how cosy it must feel in there and wish we could have had a few more of those extra touches. I just kept thinking it was too small, that we would outgrow it quickly, oh and it doesn't have a yard at all. Sometimes I think it would have been worth it to sacrifice the space and spend more on finishings. I am learning that you can really make any space work, but then again, having more space when you need it is definitely nice.

Paver Patio

We went to Lowes last night to look at the pavers in person and they happen to be 20% off this week. So now I have deadline. I need to get everything figured out by Saturday. The choice came down to a Holland Paver and a 4 Cobblestone Paver.

New Smart Phone

My poor little phone had an unfortunate accident a while back. I'm not sure what happened, but there is a big spider web crack that starts in the upper right hand corner and spreads down about 1/3 of my phone. Fortunately it still works okay, but now that our contract is up with AT&T, I can get a new phone. I contemplated going back to the days of simpler life and getting a non-smart phone (gasp!), but when we got to the store and I looked at them, I was sad at the thought of having just a regular ol' phone. Call my spoiled, I am used to my snazzy iPhone. Andre showed me an Android smart phone, which I promptly disregarded. Eek, "It looks like a windows device," I thought. I looked at a few others but somehow ended up back by that HTC Inspire. Upon actually checking it out, I kind of started to like the huge screen and it was surprisingly responsive. I liked looking at the calendar on that big screen and the camera was cool too.

Then I checked out the iPhone 4 and what would you know, I just don't love it. The screen seemed small all of the sudden and I don't like the hard edges. Of course a bumper would take care of that, but I went back to the HTC. I was actually considering getting an Android phone. Yuck! I really dislike the word "Android". We went home and did a little research. Turns out the battery life on the Inspire is awful. But it really had me thinking. Do you know what it does?? It senses when it is in a pocket and rings louder. My husband can attest to the fact that I often miss phone calls simply because I can't hear/feel my phone.

I know the iPhone is a superior device though and their clever marketing campaign was ringing in my ear, "If you don't have an iPhone...well, you don't have an iPhone." And I worry I might be sad if I don't at least give the iPhone 5 a chance to make its appearance. But congrats HTC on making a phone that actually had me thinking!

My Fav Nick Jr. Cartoons (for kids of course!)

There are a few cartoons on TV that I really have a hard time with and that I avoid letting my 2 1/2 year old watch. I won't mention any specific ones, but words to describe them include crude, loud, busy, impolite and pointless.

There are a few cartoons that I have come to appreciate however and do not mind my child watching while I get some things done. Most of them are on Nick Jr. My favorite is Max and Ruby, a cute little show about a bunny and her little brother.

Sophie also enjoys Wonder Pets! and The Backyardigans which I also think are cute. Backyardigans is pretty amazing. The choreography and composition for a daily cartoon are incredible. It is obvious to me (someone who has taken dance classes), that there are talented choreographers and dedicated artists working on this show.

One of Sophie's favorites at the moment is Ni Hao, Kai-lan. I have a like/dislike relationship with this show. This one teaches more Chinese than Dora or Diego teach Spanish, which I like. And I have a soft spot for Chinese. Sophie is probably just too young for it though. They teach great lessons about dealing with your emotions. The thing is, Sophie doesn't get the actual lesson, she mimics the negative emotion that the cartoon is trying to address. Its kind of cute when she stomps around the living room saying, "I'm mad!" and making a mad face, but she doesn't get the part where they teach that when you are mad, you should take a moment to calm yourself down.

I am grateful for quality children's programming. There are a lot more that I haven't mentioned here, but as Kai-lan would say: It makes me super happy!

Recipe: Carrot Cake Cookie Bars with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting

I am always taking recipes I find online and in books and adapting them to what I have on hand. One recipe I find simple, easy and yummy is the one for cake mix cookies. Below is a twist on that using a boxed carrot cake.

Carrot Cake Cookie Bars

1 carrot cake mix

1/3 cup oil+apple sauce mixture, you pick the ratios!

(I did a little less than 1/4 c. oil and the rest apple sauce)

2 eggs

1 c. coconut

1 c. walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray (I use the butter one for baking.) Spread dough in the pan and bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool.

Frosting

8 oz. Neufchatel (reduced fat cream cheese)

1 cup butterscotch chips

I'm sure there is a better way to do this as the butterscotch chips did not melt nicely, but the result was still great (luckily).

In a glass bowl, soften cream cheese in microwave (30 seconds on defrost). Measure out your butterscotch chips in a glass measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute. Stir chips and then add them to the softened cream cheese and stir until you have a smooth butterscotch frosting. Spread on cooled Carrot Cake Cookie Bars.

Note: The butterscotch chips did not come out all creamy and melted, but looked rather crumbly, but when I added it to the cream cheese it blended right in and became creamy goodness.

These are yummy and super easy. If you like carrot cake but are open to try it in a slightly different and denser form, try these!

Do you have a favorite variation on the cake mix cookie??

What happened after we got the keys...

We got excited and started painting. Literally the day we closed on the house we went to lunch and then went to Lowes and then picked up our keys from the sales office. Sophie had a sitter for the day and Andre had work off, so it we figured it was our best chance before filling the house with furniture. 2 weeks later we finally finished. Its definitely not perfect, and could use a little (a lot) of touching up, but we'll live with it for a while.a We just really wanted to get the living room the way we wanted it. Some of you know we were going for a light, neutral gray for the walls, but we got light blue walls instead. That's okay though, it still works. We were a little over zealous I guess. We completely did not estimate time for taping off all those base boards or the annoying rounded corners. They look nice and are a little safer for kids I guess, but they are not fun to paint. That's where most of the mistakes are, but we are happy to have it semi-finished for now. Here are some pics of the completed project. I finally got to put a few things up on the walls and in the book shelves. There is still a lot I'd like to do, but patience will be required.