House and Garden

Well spring is finally here. Although we've had a cool start, the yard and flowers are looking pretty good. I planted some Allium last fall and they came up full force this year. I really like them, they kind of look like big exclamation marks, I love the purple color too. I moved my herb garden so that the herbs are a bit closer together they were a little too spread out last year. I still have them mixed in with my flowers I kind of like the informal effect. I liked the texture of the onions against the giant leaves of the hollyhock. My sister and I gathered the hollyhock seeds from plants that were growing behind the restaurant my grandparents owned. They were originally planted by my grandma 40 or so years ago. I guess they could be considered heirloom. I'm glad to have them growing, they should bloom this year, will be interesting to see what color they are.


We got our veggie garden planted around Memorial Day. Planted the usual tomatoes, variety of peppers including: red bell, cayenne, jalapeno, hot banana and habenero. Now we need a little heat to make these babies pop. I also tried some red and green leaf lettuce, spinach, radishes and carrots. Everything looks pretty good except the carrots came in a bit spotty. Another week or so our lettuce should be ready to eat! We never had much luck at our old house with lettuce and spinach. I think our yard was too shaded by all the big trees. Our new house gets more sun, so it seems the plants do much better. The underground sprinkler system doesn't hurt either!




I did a bit of work in Jon's bathroom. I scraped off the wallpaper border (goodbye lighthouses!) and painted. I was kind of inspired to make him a travel themed bath. Nothing too over the top tho. I repainted a dresser that had been in the bathroom, black and added some cool checkerboard type knobs - they look kind of vintage. Added some new soft white towels in his suitcase, gave him some new rugs and a shaving mirror, plus the new black and white shower curtain. I think it updates the bathroom a bit, and Jon seems to like it as well. I even added some little baskets under the dresser so he could put his slippers and other items in there to stow. I made him some new artwork by framing some old maps of California. It was super easy and I like the pop of color.