So why mulch?

It looks nice, but are there other reasons to mulch?  What type of mulch should you use? Where do you start??

Today I'll share the reasons we mulch, and I use the term "we" loosely.  This is one area that Brad really takes over and does the bulk of the work.  The boy loves to mulch, and I love to let him!

Anyway, why we like to mulch:

• To keep in the water.  Around here, it gets hot and humid in the summer (along with hazy, we all it the HHH days of summer).  Without mulch, the water that does go into the ground won't stay. 
•  Nutrients: Over time, mulch will break down in the soil and just make it better.  When you start will the red Virginia clay, that is a huge deal!
• Weed control: A nice layer of 3-4 inches of mulch will help with weeding. 
• And yes, it looks nice!

There are so many types of mulch, and a lot of the choice is personal taste. Where I grew up, we had a lot of pine trees.  We raked pine needles and mulched with those, mostly because it was free!

Today, we use a basic shredded hardwood mulch. Check out all the colors you could get: 

There are many organic choices (grass clippings, coffee grounds etc), and stones and rocks can also provide good ground cover and weed control with a layer of plastic underneath. 

As our MOPS speaker last week shared (from our local garden center Snows), you can get creative.  They recently did huge planters at a golf club, and mulched with mass amounts of....golf balls! 

So get out there mulching, and get creative! 

Linking up with Centsational Girl Today!

Today Kate at Centsational Girl is hosting a link party to share your favorite souvenirs from travels....just in time for the summer season!

Hop on over and see what great finds other bloggers have from their trips: here

I shared our collection of magnets: small, packable, and fun to look at on a daily basis. We started this before Carter was born, and he is continuing to enjoy the tradition. He is an awesome finder of the perfect magnet wherever we go...he also helps me to remember!

Check out my old post on using magnetic paint here: magnet board.

Happy travels this summer: where are you headed?  And what do you bring home?

Proof

A

 beautifully

 mulched

 yard was

 left behind

 in Maryland

 

this weekend.

Did you pick out mulch man in one picture? They say that to pick a good man, find one that treats his mother the right way. All true, and good advice.

Weekend fun!

We headed over the river and through the woods and arrived at grandma's house late (very late) last night.

Today was a planned work day in her yard. Carter and I decided to run away (aren't we terrible??) We went on a wild ride to find something fun to do, and settled on a trip to a Dave and Buster's.  It was 64 miles to get there, and 33 home.  I know...it's the new math, and mom getting used to trusting the navigation on the phone.  Oh how I miss thee, paper maps....

Anyhoo....get there we finally did.

crazy mom finally got us here!

Score!

the biggest claw ever seen...

We ate. We played. We clawed. Tickets were gathered, and prizes were won.

  We made a quick walk into thie enormous mall (must make another trip there sometime!) to find a Lego store!! This is a score! We have gone out of our way to trek to Lego stores (and had the van smashed in the process at Christmas).

But this time....it was different.  Legos: five minutes.   Here is where we had quite the adventure: The.Bass.Pro.Shop.Outdoor.World.

World of hunting, camping, guns and fishing, camo and bows and arrows. All the things we know nothing about. The boy was fascinated. He loved it all. I have no idea where this originated. We're not hunters. Or campers. We fish, but it's hit or miss.  (For the record: I will hook the worm and take fish off the hook). But guns? Nope. Ammo? Nope. Never owned a piece of camo clothing. No hunting here.

But here we are, mom and son, and we wandered and had a great time.

  What he's saving his allowance for:

What mom is saving her allowance for:

This one even has three seats: we'll take dad along when he's done his yardwork.....

For a last minute fandango, the boy and I had a great afternoon. 

And I have to say: the mulched yard at grandma's looks awesome!

It's a ball corral y'all!

I started on my ball corral today.  I'm not sure what to really call it, but it's to corral the myriad of balls in the garage, so for now, it's the ball corral.

  I started in my usual manner: cut first, think later. I don't know why, it's just my way. Jump in with both feet, and stop and plan later. Yes, I waste time, but it's more fun to just start cutting now and worry about pesky details later. 

My first footprint was too narrow; I made it bigger, and it was better.  Then I looked at the boards I was going to use (9.5 inches...why can't anything be an even number??) and that was just too short to corral the balls.

Plan #34(b) Section 1a: Keep building.  And I did. And it worked out.  As with the first garage shelf, I was going for usability, not aesthetics at this point.

The first part is a box....most cabinets and fancy stuff begins with a simple box, and this is no different.  To add the height of the second board, I added 1x4 pieces in the corners and attached the second level of boards to these.  

Because I am working to do this on the cheap, and without buying anything new, I decided to keep the back open.  It will back up to the concrete wall, so using an extra piece of anything to wall that in seemed like a waste. 

But a girl has to have a little fun, right? The front seemed just so square and cold to me, and I wanted to do something a little different. 

 I learned a trick watching our fence guys cut the top of our pickets with this method, and decided to give it a try.

 Take a piece of anything flimsy, attached on each side, then pulled down in the middle for a nice curved edge. It really works! I marked it out, then cut, leaving a bit of straight edge on either side. 

 Edges were a little rough, but nothing a good sanding couldn't handle.  I like the look of this, and it opens it up a bit that you can see in. 

Four sides were attached, and then came the balls.
And you wondered why I was doing this?  I counted over 40 balls: 6 basketballs (I don't know why), softballs, golfballs (which went into another pile), a lacrosse ball (we don't play, and never have), wiffle balls, baseballs, kickballs, soccerballs and others.  We are a ball-playing family I guess!

Once they were all in the bin, I realized that the little balls (wiffle, soft, that mysterious lacrosse one etc) were hiding under the plethora of basketballs.  That wouldn't work. 

Which prompted one more shelf:  I may increase the height of this, but for today, I was done. 

Rough edges around the top and me doing one more step; to finish it up, cover the various corners, and also as a training for future projects: I used some nicer 1x2 and made a face for the top. 

But oops: as close as I am, I am 18 inches short.  But I came close. 

Balls not underfoot or tucked into various mystery corners: Priceless.  And the cost....well, priceless too!

Ball corral y'all: Free.

(After looking at this post and picture, I've decided it does, in fact, need the back....and a coat of nice white paint. My work is never done!)

Shark attack

I've been on the lookout for a new vacuum for the house; we have three levels (basement, living, bedrooms), and the heavy vacuum gets so cumbersome to carry up and down. So mostly, one floor went without regular vacuuming, and with 3 pets, that just wasn't working anymore.

The basement is now without carpet (yay for cork!), so mostly I just sweep that for now. Our living area is mostly hardwood, with one room carpeted (and yes, I'd love for that to be gone one day). Upstairs is all carpet, so that needed the heavy vacuum. So I set out to find a good answer for the combination of hardwood and carpet. Here is my needs list:

1. Smaller size: Lack of storage on this floor means it has to sit out somewhere, or fit in the tiny coat closet.
2. Small pricetag: I'm not willing to pay $600 for a vacuum. Just not happening.
3. Able to pick up pet hair.
4. Able to do carpet and floors, both well
5. Have attachments for getting into corners
6. That's it. 

And then I just couldn't find what I wanted. For months I've been putting this off; that's not too hard since it's not the most exciting thing to shop for.

I finally did make a decision though, and wanted to share. (I know...you're excited now too, huh?)

I went with the Shark Navigator Lift-Away.  It has everything I was looking for, including a great pricetag ($179 less 20% at Bed, Bath and Beyond). 

So I brought it home and tested it out.  I vacuum downstairs regularly, and think I did it last night.  I went over it with the Shark, and here is the outcome (Warning: Yucky dirt pictured:)

My hand is only there to give you an idea of how much dirt and pet hair came out of the canister.  Gross.  And not gross, since it's not there anymore. 

The Shark was easy to put together, easy to use (including the attachments) and obviously the suction is what it claims to be.  All parts clicked together very tightly and nothing seems flimsy.

It's not that big, so I think I can find a place to stash it once I clean out the mess that is the hall closet.
So for the price and the amount of dirt removed, I'm very happy! Who knew a vacuum could brighten one's day? 

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Shark or Bed Bath and Beyond in any way.  Shopping for a vacuum is a pain, and I just wanted to share something I've found that I like so far.  This can be found on Amazon, of which I'm am an affiliate, but I am not out to make money selling vacuums, so am not including the link.

Here comes the bride.....smaids....

(That's bridesmaids if you can't understand my singing...)

I'm sharing a new offering today from my hand-stamped jewelry collection:

An initial, a birthstone swarovski crystal, and a petite heart all float on a sterling silver chain for an elegant yet dainty statement piece.  All charms, chain, findings and wire are sterling silver.

This is a  personal gift for your closest friends on your special day! 

Me? I wear mine on a regular basis just as a mom piece: my boy's initial, heart and a pearl (I don't sell diamonds, so I substitute a swarovski pearl for April babies).  This is one of my personal favorite pieces to date.....to make and to wear.

  I hope you like it too! 

Garage Storage and re-org: Getting there!

I'm making progress, but progress is not always as fast as one would like.  The building is going fast, but the organizing painfully slow.  I'm being very particular about going through each pile, each shelf, each group of items.  Nothing....nothing....is going on my new shelves that isn't current, usable, unbroken or needed.  Simple, huh?  I thought so too.  So far I've filled up another bag for Goodwill, and the trashcan can't wait for the trash man in the morning....it's groaning in it's fullness.

But I'm happy with my building progress.  As I said before, I'm going for function over style for this part of the garage; usefulness over aesthetics.  Here is where I started:

....and here is where I am at this point:

I'm using a very simple shelf "design", and that is using that word loosely, but it does work.  2X4's form the vertical supports.  1x4's are screwed into each side at the height of the shelf; those support the shelf itself.  The width of the shelf is only 46 inches, and is not built to hold a lot of weight.  You have to keep width and weight in mind when building; more width or more weight on the shelves would require an additional middle support. 

I specifically built the top shelf to house the height of our massive cat carrier, which formerly sat outside with no home of its own.  The rest of the shelves are an average of 14-16 inches in height.  I've left the bottom part open for now to house grass seed, potting soils and ice melt, along with a tub of summer/swim "stuff".   Nothing is housed permanently at this point.  I'm just moving things here that are keepers, and as the garage is cleaned and organized, I will make more permanent decisions. 

My love of pegboard continues!  These pieces are leftovers from my closet re-do in our master bedroom.  

So what's next?  Well....if you could see the rest of the garage, you would know there is a lot of cleanup left to do! 

My next challenge, though, is this: I want to make a storage "corral" for all the balls we have (basket, soccer, base, kick, foot, tennis, and more....).  The "kicker" (haha...pun intended!)??  I plan to make it completely out of leftovers currently on hand.  That's my plan...I'll keep you posted!

Cost so far for new storage:

• Four new 2x4's: $9.88
• Two pieces of particle board at Habitat: $8
• Kreg Screws: on hand
• Pegboard: Leftovers
• other shelving: leftover from temporary dining room shelf, which I de-assembled but have plans to re-do in a permanent, but different, design.

That's it: $17.88.  (Update: I realized today I only used one of those Habitat boards, so reduce that number by $4!)

I'm saving for the good stuff for my next project: building a "mudroom" type area in the part of the garage that goes into the house.  For that, I'm also saving for this:

 Isn't she a beauty!??  I stalk her at Lowes, just waiting for  the day I can take her home. 

If it makes you feel any better, I also have a thing for shoes.  :)

ps: I did some google searching, and came up with a great link for shelf length guildelines here.  Stick with 3 feet in length for average loads, and for heavy loads, have a support every 2.5 feet.  Also pictured is this shelving idea, which is just what I had in mind for our basement! love it!

Friday Faves

• The Habitat Store: Scoring two more pieces of shelving for my garage re-org project at a great price, and finding this glass-front cabinet door that I have an interesting idea for: for $3, it's worth a shot;

 

That my first ever attempt to have an orchid is going OK; still alive and blooming after three weeks!

• Pegboard! Still! Again!!

• Spray paint! Again! Still!  Changing a plastic "really looks like plastic and not a clay planter" is undergoing a makeover....and for finding useful things as I clean up the garage;

• Organizing: 'nuff said.

• Goodwill....the latest trip to drop off usable stuff and living with that much less in my house;

from www.wikipedia.org

• Lunch out: In the midst of all of the above, I couldn't pass up the invite for a quick lunch with my favorite husband and puppy, outside, or a gorgeous day, at our favorite spot in town. 

• Looking forward to a semi-quiet weekend at home, with family downtime and hopefully catching up and posting about some of these finished projects.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

A 2x4 by any other name

Did you know that a 2x4 does not measure 2 inches by 4 inches? It's more like 1.5 by 3.5....does that make sense to anyone?  I wonder who named it a 2x4 when it isn't 2x4?  And those 9 inch wide boards I bought? Not 9 inches either.  Now I knew about the 2x4's, but I expected 9 inch boards to be 9 inches.  I guess I've learned my lesson!

I'm in the garage today starting on my new storage shelves.  I was off to Lowe's and perusing the aisles of wood, trim (thinking of another project), bead board (another project), baskets (you get the picture), and then I finally got back to the 2x4's and loaded up. 

Why 2x4's? Why not something nicer, more finished?  I thought about this.  I decided to go with basic, cheap (they are only $2.47 each) lumber to build basic shelves at this point.  I just need to stash stuff.  When I get to the point of building "mudroom" type storage near the door, I'll do a more finished look.  Working with inexpensive pieces allows me to test my basic shelf ideas and do it cheaply.  And without planning.

Back to the "2X4" boards: When you forget this, and measure based on this width, the above is what you are left with.  I wanted the depth of the shelf to equal the "supposed 9 inch" boards, and it's a simple x+y-a type of math.  And I was a math/accounting major in college, so I should be able to handle this.  After I figured out why I had 1 inch of overage (each board being 1/2" short than the 4 inches I added in), I just went with it.  I'll add some trim or something to fill it in.
See why I'm not using the good stuff yet? Here is the side of my shelf.  Since I have studs attached into the concrete wall, I am just building sides and then attaching them to the wall studs.  

shelf/wall section

shelf  side, not attached.....

....and then attached to the concrete mounted stud.

This? Just the 4.5 inches I had to cut off the length when I realized that the ceiling was not, in fact, 8 feet high.

So this is how far I got before the bus came today. And you know what? Looking at these pictures I realize a problem I will need to correct first thing tomorrow! (I think....) So this is how I roll. Cut, measure, think, install, rethink, redo and start again. And that's ok, because I enjoy the process. I learn a lot this way also, so there's no harm in trying and failing. Tomorrow's a new day! Bring it on!