Landscaping the Front

Okay so this is my neighbor’s yard (the landscape architect) where Clemmie is happily trolling around.   I hope someday our yard will look as good as his!   We have been hard at work this week trying to shape up our front yard and plant everything from the plan.  Here it is again…

My mom is in town so she has been helping me finish up the front garden bed, along with other projects.  Yesterday we spent many hours planting, moving rocks, and just generally organizing the front bed.  Thank you, Mom!!  I think it’s looking pretty good, and now I just hope I can keep things alive in this brutal heat!

Here are a couple pictures from the start of the project., before my mom came into town.

The large concrete rock that I pulled out of the bed.  Where do these things come from?!?

Today we finished up the last of the planting, and it looks great!  One of my neighbors offered their leftover landscaping stones so we removed the ones that I had put in and replaced them with nice stones that are cut in a rectangle shape.

I think the landscaping is pretty much complete, except for a few perennials that are no longer available and the annuals that I will add after the roof is complete.  I think they’re a little too delicate to have wood and shingles thrown onto them.

Here are some photos of the finished look.  (and of Kitty and Clemmie, our two sidekicks)

Our new tree, a Shumard Oak.

Now we can sit back and enjoy all the beautiful colors and textures!   The crepe myrtle should bloom within the next couple of weeks so that will give it a nice pop of bright red.  Hope you all have a great weekend!  :)

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At Home in Houston

I took a quick flight down to Houston this week to see my family and celebrate a belated mother’s day, and it has been a wonderful week!  I always forget how beautiful and green everything is down here, and my mom does a really good job of keeping everything in the yard looking fabulous.  I thought that while I was down here I would post a tour of my parent’s house since there are so many great details and beautiful decorations.

Let’s start with the kitchen since that’s where everyone loves to be.

Flowers for mother’s day in a beautiful vase.  The little Chinese animal is keeping watch over everything.

This display behind the sink makes washing the dishes much more fun, although I still avoid washing them whenever possible.

I have always loved this bread box, and I’ve noticed that they are back in style.  Well, at least I saw Martha Stewart is selling a very similar version of this guy.

My mom and sisters usually make the snowflakes hanging at the top of the picture around Christmas and then hang them around the house.  It seems that we have built up quite a supply of these little guys and they are now on display in the doorway.

Here’s a close-up of them.

The window display in the kitchen with lots of little handmade hearts and butterflies….

Part of the living room area.

A flower painting that my mom did a couple of years ago.  It’s a little bit dark in the photo I took, but the flower looks like a photo itself in person.

The display when you walk into the door.  My sister, Zoe, painted the inside robin’s egg blue, and it looks so great with the silver pieces!

My mom redesigned the upstairs bathroom a couple of years ago, and it went from looking like 4 teenage girls had been sharing it for a few too many years to sophisticated and fabulous.

Here is their doggie lounging in the backyard with her new summer coat.

And some more garden pictures…

And the post wouldn’t be complete without some pictures of my mom’s favorite kitties!