Garden Mooching

My 2012 gardening resolutions were "sort that crazy situation out" and also "spend as little as humanly possible." This combination of resolutions presented me with an interesting challenge -- we have a lot of empty garden space, especially in our backyard. You may or may not remember the failed wildflower seed experiment of 2011 (boo).

The obvious solution to this problem was to get free plants from other people! Look at me being resourceful. Once perennials get large enough you can split a lot of them -- and while spring and fall are the best, least stressful times to put your plants through this surgery, my garden waits for nothing because I'm impatient. I'm lucky I have such understanding family members and a father who really knows what he's doing.

When I was down at my parents' home for Aidan's birthday this week I convinced my dad that it would be a really good idea to split some of his plants and send them home with me. Because it's midsummer I'm really going to have to baby them for a week or so with lots of water, but we did a pretty good job of keeping root balls intact and some of the plants probably don't even know they've been moved.  We also chopped off all the pretty flowers so the plants would spend their energy and resources on growing new root systems instead of wilting because their roots weren't extensive enough to support all the leaves and flowers. Technical stuff -- did I mention I'm glad I have a father who knows what he's doing?

So on Wednesday I added probably 20 to 25 new plants into my gardens, a large chunk of which were first year hollyhocks -- I'm too impatient to let the ones I have drop seeds because it takes a couple years for hollyhocks to flower, so I just doubled the first year plants I already had growing to speed the process up a bit in my impatience.
 

(transplanted hollyhocks, daisies, black eyed susan and lamb's ear)

 
And of course because I'm a mind changer all these new plants in my garden meant I needed to move some of my existing plants around. It was a big job, and I'm out there watering a lot right now. Poor plants.

I also moved some "volunteers" around -- baby Lamb's Ear and Russian Sages that have cropped up from my existing garden. For example, I have an ugly little triangle of dirt outside one of my dining room windows where a meter sits, and I moved a Russian Sage there.

 (it's so tiny amongst the ugliness right now)

In a year or two it will be large enough to hide the meter and spill over onto the deck and that corner will be fabulous. And I will have flowers! And it will look pretty. I hope.

Boys' Room Details {Take #2}

The recent feature of my boys' room on YHL has generated plenty of new comments on the various posts, and lots of questions -- most of which can probably be answered by taking a peek my first details & sources post for the room -- but a few that needed answering!

Question 1: Is there a tutorial for the closet in your boys' room?

Answer: Um... no. Oops. I did go back and do my best to illustrate the process with a couple photos, though. Hop over to the updated closet post and have a look -- it should be enough to recreate the space if you or a building buddy knows how to find studs, level things and make them square :)

Question #2: What are the dimensions of your boys' room?
Answer: Almost exactly 10' x 12' not including the closet which is 67" wide.

Question #3: What color of paint is your bunkbed?
Answer: That was a tough one -- I made the beds pre-blog and I remember looking at what felt like thousands of paint swatches. I simply can't remember. But I can share the formula and say that I think the original color was either Valspar or Sherwin Williams? But I mixed it in Behr and never wrote down the actual color name because I'm confusing like that.

If I didn't answer your question, pop over the original details post and see if you can find your answer there at the end of the post. If not, feel free to shoot me an email! I'm flattered that so many of y'all like the room!

Birthday Tuesday

Today my oldest son turns seven. Seven amazing, crazy, wonderful, fast years. We've got baseball games, water slides, and ice cream sundaes to do. I'll be back tomorrow!

Secret Agent Party

Aidan's party was Saturday and after last year's Mario party I decided to keep it simple -- no fancy tables or stripey straws or buntings. Party planning is not my forte, and if I were to make buntings or themed food it would be for adults, not seven year old boys. This new philosophy makes me happy.

At the end of June I shared the invitations I mailed...

The party itself was nice and simple. Mike set up a spy training course for the kids to run through -- he timed them all the first time and then they played for a while more in it... it was definitely a hit! First up was the laser course through our kitchen...

Then the kids ran out through the garage and through the tire course (Dollar store swim rings), then practiced their grenade throwing accuracy (beanbags) before shooting Nerf darts onto targets and crawling through a tunnel to the finish line.

Lesson learned: boys like obstacle courses.

I made a bomb cake using a batter bowl and chocolate frosting (plus a frosted brownie bite on top + sparkler candles).
 

After cake, pizza and gifts, we walked a couple blocks to our neighborhood park, had a water balloon fight and played spy games. Easy, no fuss party... I liked it and so did the kids!

At the party's end the boys all graduated from secret agent training. They got spy sunglasses, ID badges (I took their photos when they arrived and made the badges while Mike ran the obstacle course), and their first mission assignments in the form of a candy bar. 

The paper tied to the 100 Grand candy bar read, "Congratulations on completing secret agent training... / Your next mission, should you choose to accept it, is to dispose of this 100 grand... / (thanks for coming to Aidan's party!)"

Here's the badge I made:

My boys spent the rest of the day running around telling me to freeze and to hand over the money... I'll take that to mean they had a good time!

Honey Lime Dressing

This sauce is one of my all-time favorite things on the planet. It's amazing over chicken or salmon, or drizzled over a fresh green salad. My kids dip things in it... you get it, it's an all-purpose summery concoction of fabulousness.

It's a very simple recipe.

Just throw everything (except the olive oil) into a blender and mix it up. Then with the blender running, slowly pour the oil in with the other ingredients. This creates an emulsification, which means the dressing won't separate.

It's tangy and limey, with a bit of sweetness from the the honey with a touch of heat from the cayenne pepper.

In a word, amazeballs.

Just please, please, please, don't try to mix it by hand. It will not work. Whip out your blender for all our sakes.

Honey Lime Dressing
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 Tbs. honey
2 Tbs. fresh chives, minced (or 1 Tbs. dried)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (don't skip it, it's not too hot!)
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients except for oil in a blender or food processor. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil to the rest of the ingredients to make a smooth, emulsified dressing.

YHL Effect

I am drowning in my best laid plans right now while I get ready for a book club tonight and a birthday party on Saturday (the party is only about 10% planned so shoot me some good party karma in your spare time today, okay?). But while I was out getting a last minute tub o' spinach dip (shh, it's homemade) I noticed that my boys' room posts were getting some action in the form of comments.

Color me surprised when I came home, threw open my laptop and saw that my room had been featured on Young House Love today! Since I was secretly born in 1930 I'm going to throw the 'tickled' word out there again: I. was. tickled. Pink, in fact. I'm a big fan of John and Sherry so this was a very fun surprise.

Then I checked my stats, and that's when I noticed it... the YHL effect:

Heehee. If you're not familiar with Young House Love, let me first welcome you to the internet, and then second let me send you on over there to check things out. I'll see you in 4 days.

Mom's Bedroom {Details & Sources}

I thought I had shared the details and sources for my mother's room makeover ages ago, and today I realized that it never posted. Oops. Forgive our technical difficulties! We only had half a brain in June. And by we I mean me!

Wall color: Sherwin Williams "Contented" mixed at 75%
Bedding: PB 'Mari' duvet cover & shams (no longer available); PB 'Essential Quilt' in Porcelain Blue (found at Downeast Home on a crazy clearance score; PB 'Grand Embroidered' euro shams in Porcelain Blue (also found at DownEast Home -- another screamin' deal as in $15 for all three); DIY yellow pillow made from 2 Target placemats
Headboard: DIY project
Pleated lampshades: Target
Nightstands: DIY construction, painted Rustoleum's Heirloom White, blue knobs from JoAnn
Paneled wall: DIY project
Bird prints: DIY project
Bamboo shades: Dali Native shades at Overstock
Curtains: Matilda curtains at IKEA
Accessories: Hancock Fabrics, Michaels, TJ Maxx

What's Up Chicken Butt? 07.02.12

It's been a while since I posted about the chickens so I thought it was time for an update. The girls hit the big 4-month mark a couple weeks ago - so of course we celebrated. Dunk tanks, clowns, a multi-tiered coming of age cake... you name it. Nothing's too good for our poultry. 

Now we just wait. You see, all the books say chickens usually start laying between 4 and 6 months of age -- and although I'm feeling a bit cynical and am betting we bought a bunch of late bloomers in February, I can still hope.

To mark the occasion we filled the nesting boxes with chopped straw and dropped a couple plastic golf balls in there as a subtle hint to their subconscious minds.

We previously had closed off the boxes because the younger chickens at the bottom of the pecking order would try to roost on the lip and would then poop inside it. Dumb chickens. Apparently you can't train chickens though (much to my chagrin) so we just covered the box entries until I felt the chickens were mature enough to handle the extra space and responsibility ;)

So far, so good. Now I just need some pullet eggs, y'all.

July Photo-a-Day Challenge

It's time for July's challenge, and I will do better. I will do better. I will do better.

I did well in June until it came time for all our traveling, and then I couldn't even stay caught up with my laundry let alone take photos. I'm hoping July will be a better month for this -- if you want to read more about the way the challenge works, hop over to Fat Mum Slim for a how to. Otherwise, follow along and remember to tag your photos with #photoadayjuly so people can find them!

Here's my shameful last five photos before I fell off the photo-a-day wagon last month:

Best part of my weekend: being back in the mountains I grew up in. Love.

1. Haven't seen this #door since Thursday morning... Awfully glad to be home!

2. Behind again! Gloriosa Daisy from low angle.

3. Day 14: #time ... to kick some #ragnar behind.

4. See that valley floor? And see where the photo was taken? I just climbed that. Brutal, not cut out for this! :) #outandabout