It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog. I will hopefully, be posting a little more regularly in the future =) Here is a brief update of things that have been happening around here. The garden guest bedroom is now a pretty shade of Lilac.

 I did try to paint it green first, since the hubby wasn't a fan of the lilac color.

 But the room just kept telling me it wanted to be lilac =) Does that happen to you?

 We've already had several guests stay in this room, picking it over the blue room, so I must have done something right.

 I shopped the house for the pictures on the walls, picked up the owl print at goodwill, painted the little owl on the dresser at a paint it yourself pottery shop. The chair came from a consignment store near my sister in Utah. I still need to recover the seat, but haven't found fabric I love yet.

 I collected the bedding, lamps and purple pillow at TJ Maxx, and made the coffee sack pillow. The comforter at the bottom of the bed came from Costco. The best part about this room is that it looks out onto the back courtyard.

 I love to bring a cup of something warm out here in the mornings and watch the squirrels and birds.

 Listen to the birds chirping and the water fountain. We extended this patio this summer, we added about 10 feet in length and took out a huge bed of plants and weeds. The hubby has been rebuilding the fireplace, he has a bit more to do to it before we can have smores.

 We brought in all new gravel to create this dining area under the tree, just so I could hang my candelabra from the branches.

 Added new gravel, extended the walkway and rebuilt flower beds.

 We had the house stained and all the trim painted. We had College Painters do the work, they were wonderful!

 We added all new gravel down this path also, we gave away our chickens and turned the chicken coop into a garden shed, for now.

 We fenced in the garden, built new raised beds and added hazelnut shells to keep the deer out.

 I bought the cute gated arbor at a store near my sister in Utah.

 We added blocks and pavers around the backside of the driveway and took out 2 trailers full of brush and bamboo.

 I can't even tell you how many trips to the yard waste dump we have taken, probably close to 10? maybe 12.

 All the trim was painted, along with the shutters.

 We cut quite a bit of the wisteria down, including all of it near the kitchen door. Moved a few bushes, and took a few completely out.

We also cut down a total of 5 trees! Whew! Oh, and I have 150 tulip and daffodil bulbs planted in the front and back of the house. It should be beautiful come spring! It feels good to be back! Have a wonderful evening!

 The weather here in the Pacific Northwest has been unbelievably sunny the last few weeks. For Mothers Day the hubby and I worked in the yard a bit.

 After a lovely dinner on the front deck...

 we retreated to the back yard fireplace for some s'mores and bird watching!

 While sitting watching the birds and eating marshmallows, Graham crackers and chocolate

 the hubby began talking about extending the patio, redoing the paths, and removing more of the over populated vines.

 On the back fence alone there are (were) 4 grapes, 3 virginia creeper and a wisteria. While I LOVE the wisteria it had to go. We have purple wisteria on the front of the house and a lower arbor with white wisteria.

 The next thing I knew the wisteria was outta there!

 (See that small mound of overgrown plants and bushes on the left side of the fireplace above?)

 (Notice the gorgeous tree to the left of the picture above? The empty spot in front of the large rock, behind the old bird bath was once a pond that we tore out a few weeks ago.)

I agreed with all the hubbys fabulous ideas for the changes to the back patio (except maybe removing a tree, I love that tree!) But reminded him we needed to get the garden done first... and clean out the large pond by the driveway, and paint the deck and well, you get the idea, lots of other projects first. (What?!? You don't sit out in your back yard in your pajamas? Ha!)

Does your husband listen well too? Gah!

 The tree is gone =(

 The mound of plants are gone... I did dig a few up to repurpose elsewhere. Not to worry though, I have more of everything on our property!

 He reassured me he must make a huge mess before it gets better!

 Can't wait for the new extended patio with a large arbor! Soon it will be time to move a few grape vines! ;)

Vintage market and picnic on Camano Island.

 Yesterday, against my hubbys wishes we went on a road trip! (He would rather a flying trip, hehe!) I HAD to go here! Summer Retreat Vintage Market on Camano Island!!! I was SOOO excited to finally be attending another Vintage Market! I did not take my camera inside the gates, sorry you can go here to get a view preview pictures! Did I buy anything? Mayyybeee!

 After our little adventure to the market we headed to the beach.

 I packed us a vintage picnic to go with our roadtrip!

 I had found this little drink carrier a few months ago at TJ MAXX. One is lemonade from Trader Joes and the other is homemade suntea. Perfect for a vintage picnic right?

 I rolled up a couple IKEA dish towels to use as napkins... why did I only buy 3? I need at least another 3-4 at only $.49 each! Tied some twine around the napkins as a napkin ring. Love the new recycled paper plates that are kraft colored! Silverware came from an inexpensive set from TJ MAXX that I picked up a few months ago. I thought about using my old silver, but didn't want to worry about it getting left behind or thrown away.

 I used a quilt for us to dine on and some blue plastic goblets for our beverages! So fun to put together!

 It was a perfect day for the beach!

 While someone napped...

 I tried to read... but I had forgotten my reading glasses!

 Koko and I spent most of our time playing ball and exploring the treasures to be found on the beach =)

We planned on stopping at a few antique stores on the way home, but instead stopped for icecream cones for dinner! So far the day has been almost perfect! But it isn't over! I'll tell you about our evening in the next post! Thanks for stopping by!