the garden

At least somethings benefiting from all of this rain!  We have a wet basement, but I can look past that since we have a few cherry tomatoes coming in..

let there be light

Finally we installed some light fixtures!  It's amazing what you get done inside when the weather is crummy.  Ok so we didn't really accomplish that much- our workspace (aka the driveway) was rained out, but considering these light fixtures have been sitting around the house for 5 months, it felt like a lot more.  I'm just thankful we don't have to jump over the boxes anymore..

We had to swag the bathroom fixture to allow clearance for the medicine cabinet to open..

A few touchups are needed but I'll get around to that.. eventually.

And it's amazing what a difference the sconces make in the living room.  They're a huge improvement over the holes in the wall I've grown so used to.  Not to mention the extra light was needed.

Next up we'll be installing the real mantel- I wrapped the old one in burlap because I just couldn't bear to look at the mint green molding anymore.

for sale..

We're looking to sell Ben's Ford F150- if you've been following the blog I'm sure you've seen all the pictures.  

It's a 2006 with 68,400 miles, new brakes and new tires.  4 wheel drive, regular cab in good, clean condition.  $15,000 or best offer

If you're interested please email me for more info.. leah@leahmargolisdesign.com

garden update

It's actually growing!

I also wanted to post a few "after" pictures of the front of the house.  Not only were we able to relocate all of the lilies, but we also added a little stone to finish it off.

Of course all of this is somewhat temporary as I keep hoping (crossing fingers again) that we are able to pour the new concrete front steps/patio sometime soon, though it's looking like that may have to wait at least another year. 

and the landscaping continues..

We've spent the last few weeks clearing out the yard even more (yet there's still lots to do), planting a little in  hopes that we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor next year, and most importantly we've been taking advantage of our outdoor space.  Because we've spent the last five summers in New York City traffic (like most New Yorkers we left the city every weekend and without fail got caught on the FDR for hours at a time) we are thrilled to be able to avoid major roads, stay home and still get to enjoy the warm weather, smell of fresh cut grass and hamburgers on the grill.  So with that goal in mind we worked our bottoms off trying to get everything ready for the unofficial start of the summer- Memorial Day Weekend.

Our "Privacy" Bushes
Our plan was always to plant along Division Street- in hopes that obstructing Henry's view might bring a little peace and quiet to the neighbors- as much as I'm sure they all enjoy his following them along the perimeter of our lawn barking (more like screeching) along the way.  We opted to go with round arborvitaes- just to be a little different..




I could joke about how you can barely even see the house anymore (I tend to joke about it with Ben all too often), but we're crossing our fingers they'll grow very quickly.. for the neighbors' sake!

The Patio
The patio turned out to not actually be a disaster.  Can you believe it?  Once we got our furniture on and grass started to grow in between the pavers, it started taking shape.  I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like at the end of the summer and whether or not the grass will just take over (there's a lot of finger crossing at our house).  If all goes according to plan the patio will stay, but we're open to re-doing it next spring if need be.
You'll notice above, Ben also planted three of the arborvitae's around the patio (two in the back and one to the left).



The Lily Garden
Originally the yard had a random lily garden in the middle of the yard.  Ben tried to kill it a few times in hopes of growing normal grass, but it didn't work.  So instead we opted to dig them out and plant them in front of the house. 



It took a lot of time and energy, but it was worth it- even if it's temporary.

The Vegetable Garden
My vegetable garden has become my pride and joy.  I call it mine because Ben says it's my responsibility- I think he's worried that I'm going to just give up on it if I don't see any vegetables growing after a few weeks time.  I'm sure he's right, but at the moment it's growing so I'm loving it and the fact that I actually did something right!  We opted to go with a raised bed because we weren't sure if anything would really grow in our dirt.  So Ben built the frame and then we positioned it in the best area with the most light.



I got rid of the weeds and grass underneath and started filling it with lots of different stuff..


Finally I planted all 15 varieties of fruits and vegetables and Ben offered to water for me..

I decided to plant tomato plants instead of seeds (maybe next year I'll get gutsy and go with the seeds), but everything else I planted was seeds. 

Everything has grown a lot in the last few days- I'll keep posting updates, but in the meantime I'm hoping this weekend we'll get back to the interior of the house before we start scraping and painting the exterior.  I'd love to get the rest of the trim work installed and painted and start working on the doors before all of our guests start arriving for track season!