outside || our home

Oh I know it's been a while since I last posted!  Since summer is upon us in all of it's sunny, warm glory, I thought I would post a few pictures of little projects I have been working on outside.  Matt has been so busy with work (like he wakes up at 3:30am to start working, comes home for dinner around 6/6:30, and then some evenings even goes back to work in the barn!) that we haven't done any projects around our house.  But our 'to-do' list continues to grow, so hopefully this winter we can start back up on some of our own projects!

Our 'back yard' is were the girls play ride bikes and kick the soccer ball around.  We had this long stretch of artificial turf from when the previous owners had a batting cage.  I have been stumped as to what to do with this space!  We thought about a big play structure, but we couldn't find one that would fit right.  We thought about a soccer field, trampoline, the list goes on and on.  I finally figured an herb garden could be great there and go with our overall outdoor plan!  Plus, with artificial turf, I wouldn't have to mow the grass or worry about weeds ;-)

We measured and laid out the beds.  I started cutting holes into the artificial turf and filling it with compost and soil, it took a while!

I still have a lot of work to do, and eventually Matt will build a fence around it.  But for now, I enjoy having my herbs so close and a pretty view out my kitchen window.

We still have a lot of work to do on the barn this Fall!  Matt needs to build a barn door for the front entrance.

He also needs to build a large barn door for the bottom entrance.  You can also see we need to get the retaining walls and gravel in before the rain starts!

The girls and I have been enjoying the garden this year!  The girls wanted their own cutting garden so they could have fresh flowers in their bedrooms.  These girls crack me up!  Anyways, the zinnias and sunflowers are just starting to bloom...

The girls and I just made our first batch of home made cucumbers!  Can't wait to try them!!  Have a lovely weekend!

PAINTED HUTCH || miss mustard seed milk paint

I finally finished painting a hutch that has been sitting in the garage for a few months.  I bought it to use as a milk paint display for the new shop, then things fell through with our downtown shop location so I just let the hutch sit un-finished.  Well, things are moving forward again with the shop space so it's time to get these pieces painted!

Since it will be a display for Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint line, I figured it should be painted and finished with Miss Mustard Seed products {wink}.  I layered, and dry brushed with IRONSTONE, LINEN, GRAIN SACK AND LUCKETT'S GREEN.  I accented some areas with LINEN, distressed the entire piece and finished with with white wax.  I left the original hardware because I liked the look of the brass.  That may change when it gets into it's new space, but for now it works!

We are starting to work on some outside projects {of course, before other projects are finished}!  I am starting to plan the garden, the chickens have spent the winter in the garden so I need my sweet husband to build a chicken coop and a new pen.  Of course we want to add some goats to our little family this summer, so they will need a little place to live, and the list goes on and on.  Plenty of fun projects to keep us out of trouble!

And my little baby is turning two next week!  Time continues to fly and I am always reminded that each day is precious.  No matter how long the to-do list is, I always want to cherish the time spent with family and friends!