A new DIY patio

Good morning my friends, how are you?  Hope you all had a nice weekend.  Today is another beautiful summer day here in the south.  We've been having some lovely warm summer days recently and unusually cool evenings, cool enough to open our windows at night and feel the breezes.  Just perfect!  

I want to show you photos of the new patio we put in ourselves.  Well, actually, that Galen put in, since he did most of the work, but I supplied him with plenty of iced tea and coffee.  We now have a small new patio under the big holly tree in the back yard.  
By the way, this coleus growing in the flower garden caught my eye the other day and I had to take a photo of it.  

As you can see, the patio is between the two stone walkways that lead to the garden and the back of the property.  

Galen dug up the area first, put down paver base and stones, and then made a molded frame out of wood for the concrete pavers.

He poured each paver individually from the one wooden frame.  

All finished!  

And now we have another sitting area ~ a place that we can enjoy alone or when friends and family come to visit.    

Home and garden ideas and inspiration

Paging through "The Gardener's Idea Book" that Lowe's puts out for the Proven Winners Plant Brand, (a small catalog that comes in the mail), I was delighted to find so many great ideas and inspiration for the home and garden....

 just had to share these lovely pictures!    

Notice the colorful pillows and accessories.  

Flowers on the front steps or near the front door says "welcome".

The garden shed  ~  not just a place to store those garden tools, hoses and fertilizers, but a friendly spot to work and sit a spell.  

Have you noticed all the different containers you can plant flowers in?  

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of spring garden inspiration!

Change

Change happens everyday, and a lot of changes can occur over 15 years.  That's how long we've lived in our home, now called Mourning Dove Cottage. 

What prompted this post was a tree that was cut down over the weekend in our neighbor's yard right behind us.  That neighbor (an elderly lady and an avid gardener) has now gone to a nursing home and her house is up for sale.  She had a beautiful garden, by the way.   

The tree that was cut down has made a big difference in the look of our back yard because it was along the fence line and gave us a lot of privacy, not to mention a haven for the birds, and it softened the look of the fence.  

I miss the tree.  It was a big beautiful Elaeagnus tree.  

Let me show you some of the changes that have occurred in our back yard since we moved in 15 years ago.  

This was the back yard looking toward the back of the house (before we painted the house) and before the patio was layed, and before the pergola was built, and before the back yard was fenced in.

The back yard when we moved in.  A tree stump in the middle of the yard.  One tree.   

The above photo shows the neighbor's tree that was recently cut down. 

This is the neighbor's house, minus the tree.  It looks so bare now.  We had the privacy fence put up several years ago.   

So you see, many changes have occurred over the years.   

And many more changes will come!   

Cheery cherries

What's not to love about cherries.

I was in the Big Lots store the other day and found these fun cherry lights.

I like to string lights on the back patio next to the screened in porch. It's just enough light in the evening to add a little whimsy to the atmosphere.

Usually, I use clear christmas lights but they're hard to find in the middle of summer,

so I was thrilled to find these fun red cherry lights!

Little clusters of cherries hanging on a vine.

Whimsical and fun

and so pretty at night!

Enjoy your day!

Donna

A taste of spring

Ahhhhh..........early morning coffee on the patio. Even though it's the middle of February, it was one of those sunny mornings that felt like a spring day.

Absolute joy.

Spring fever has just set in and taken over. I want to do a million things in the garden.

Otis and Riley enjoyed the warm sun as temperatures reached the mid 60's. It was the kind of day you want to spend outside ~ all day. And we did.

One of the things I like to do this time of year is dig up a hyacinth that has started to push up through the winter ground ~ I put it in a pretty flower pot and bring it inside. I love the smell of hyacinths.

Spring cannot come soon enough for me.

I'm thankful for a beautiful day like this to enjoy in the middle of winter.