A Little Fall Clean-up

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather this weekend to get things ~ meaning landscaping things ~ under control. With all the rain we have had, things were getting a bit unruly so it was high time that we took back control. We don't have a lot of property, but we did inherit lots of bushes that grow wildly no matter how much we wish that they didn't. Here's a look at the before:


Like that butt shot of Ed? He is very happy with me about that one. :) With my gardening gloves on and my gardening shears in hand, I went to town. It was time to trim back those mother's so that we could actually see the numbers on the house again! We also bought some mulch and weed killer for the front garden to spruce things up a bit. Take a look at my handy work after a few hours:



There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment after a good day's work. :) With the addition of some beautiful mums and some Fall fun, it looks like we are ready for the Trick-or-Treater's come Halloween!

Oh My Sod!

Progress! Progress! Progress! I am happy to report that our back yard FINALLY looks like a real yard rather than a gravel pit in a quarry. That's right...the lovely people of Mow Cow showed up unexpectedly this morning and graced us with the green stuff. It only took a few hours to install and I have to say it makes the place look 100% better. It's amazing what a little grass can do.

Before...

...during...

...half way there...


...Lucy checking on things...


...almost done...

...watering...


...and after!

The yard finally feels like a place that we want to spend time. And with the addition of an adorable bistro set and pillows, some fun lanterns and 2 hanging ferns, it is a regular oasis!


I must say, we have been very skeptical about the work we hired Mow Cow to do. I don't want to bash anyone, but they are not the easiest company to work with. We actually had convinced ourselves to cancel the remainder of the job over the weekend because of all the frustration, but after spending WAY too many hours outside sanding the deck (more on that later), we decided to give them one last chance to redeem themselves. Their showing up this morning made way for a check mark in the "Pro" column.

There is one last job in the backyard and it is a doozie. We have hired them to fix some broken floor boards, replace the top railings and stain the sucker. Over the weekend we had the task of choosing the stain color and while you may think that sounds easy, it is not. There aren't a ton of colors to choose from...that is not the problem. The problem is that our deck was once stained using a solid color resembling paint. We were told that after a good power-wash, all that color would come off and we could use a semi-transparent stain.

Not so much.

The power washing did take a lot of paint off, but there was still a ton left which would have made a semi-transparent stain look awful. We actually bought some stain and did a test run. Results = not so good. We were so annoyed that we didn't even snap a photo so you will just have to take our word for it.

We then thought...hmm, why don't we try to sand the paint off the deck which lead to many hours of this...


...and this...


...and this...


In the end, we threw in the towel and picked the solid stain color known as Cedar. It's not ideal, but we know it will look good. We just want it done already!

We are told they are coming this Thursday to do the work so everyone please keep your fingers crossed that they actually show up. If they don't, I can't be responsible for what might come out of my husband's mouth. God love an Italian from New York ~ these people down here won't know what hit 'em!

It's a Beautiful Day

One of our favorite things is to enter a weekend with zero plans and see where the days take us. That was the case yesterday. After 3 consecutive weekends of being out of town, Ed and I were very excited to have a weekend home to catch up on house projects and catch up on local flavor.

We spent Friday night hanging out with Grandma Basile while Mama and Papa Q. were at a wedding. It was a classic date night - dinner (pizza) and a movie (Grandma friendly "Morning Glory"). After a great night of sleep, we awoke to a gorgeous day. Ed had plans to go to the shooting range with some of the neighborhood guys, so I decided it was time to trek out to Tyson's Corner to pick up the plant stands I have been eying from Crate and Barrel. Of course the purchase turned into more than just plant stands...but how often do I get to go to one of my favorite stores!!! And I didn't stop there. I then headed over to my new love, West Elm, and picked up all kinds of stuff that I was lusting over in the catalog. The shopping outing ended at Pier One where I needed to pick up a dish that we broke and found a few cute things along with way. All in all, I say it was a BIG success!


P.S. I'm OBSESSED with owls lately and West Elm fed right into my obsession!




After my shopping spree and Ed's shooting spree (in a gun-range mind you!), we decided it was time to get down and get dirty. More dirty then down. :) It was time to finish our landscaping project in the front of the house. Luckily the weather was not at brutal as it was when we dug the flower bed out. So here is the before:


...the digging...


...the plant purchases...


...the planting...


...the Lucy...

and finally, the after:



We are LOVING the way it looks and can't wait for the plants to perk up a bit now that they are in the ground. And how much are we loving the JMU garden flag?!?!?? A job well done!

Our Saturday continued with a visit from my bestie Beth Belluzzo who happened to be in the neighborhood for a baby shower. Beth is not only one of my dearest friends from college, but one of the MOST fun people I know. It was so good to see her...but I think Lucy was the MOST excited. She gave Auntie Beth LOTS of love and kisses.

The evening then carried on with an impromptu BBQ with some of our neighbors - Mr. Chris Newland (who was sans wife and kids for the weekend) and the Miller family, Shawn, Laura and their beautiful daughter, Ariana. The adults shared in a delicious meal (complete with venison steaks and wine) and some great company, while Ariana basked in the glow of "Toy Story" and her new Barbie doll. We are SO lucky that we not only have our dream house, but that it is in a neighborhood with such wonderful people. Seriously...a house is just a house. It's the people that fill it that make it a home and we are so happy to have people like Chris and Kim, Shawn and Laura, and Ed and Michelle (who sadly were out of town) over to make it swell with joy and laughter. It was a great night and we look forward to many more.

Landscaping DIY

The time has come for me to shed my black thumb and turn it green as we attempt to landscape the flower bed in the front of the house. I think I have mentioned once or twice that I am a plant killer - they see me coming and just jump off the bridge in order to save themselves from the torture. But I am ready to change that and it starts with our first major landscaping project.

After spending a lovely Easter weekend in NY with Ed's family, we decided to make the most of our Monday off and the sunny day by prepping our outdoor space. Since I'm a novice at this, Ed took the lead as Foreman on the job. We started our day with a trip to Home Depot to pick up the necessary tools for the job: Pitch Fork and Edger Shovel Thingy (yes, that is the official term). Of course while Ed was off in his man-aisle picking the tools, I was over in the garden center picking out a pretty pot and stand for our new indoor tree (thank you Sarah!). Leave it to me to find the girly stuff at Home Depot!


After stopping by Casa de Quartuccio to pick up our Lucy girl who spent the weekend while we were in NY, we headed home and got to work. We started by loading up the Scion with the paver bricks from both the front and back yards. We've decided that our landscape design will be 100% au na-tu-ral so the bricks had to go. Plus, Mow Cow will be by soon to place the sod in the backyard so it was time to get them out of there. After a quick trip to the recycling center to drop them off, we were off and running. Here is a look at our official "before".

We wanted to re-shape the flower bed so we used our hose to map out the new design. Ed then used the Edger Shovel Thingy to carve it out. It was hard work and the intense heat of the sun did not make it any better, but he did a great job! I played assistant by feeding him tons of water and keeping the cold, wet towel on his neck cold and wet.



While Ed was hard at work on the flower bed, I had the chance to prep my new pots for my herb garden. Lucy even shared in the fun and found herself the only shade available in the yard.

Once the flower bed was carved it out was time to turn the soil and that is where the Pitch Fork came in. We had to be careful of the newly buried drainage pipe, but all in all, it was a success. The area is now prepped for us to plant our pink azaleas, lily turf and lots of colorful annuals.


But the work didn't end there. You might remember that we have a miniature Dogwood tree in our front yard. In order to keep it alive for many more years, we needed to add more dirt and mulch to cover the roots. We also decided to attempt to carve out a perfect circle at it's base. This process included me, on my hands and knees in the dirt holding a tape measure as Ed made his way around the tree. It's not so perfect, but we are very happy with how it looks.


The day ended with a quick mow of the lawn and some watering. We are very proud of how it looks and we haven't even planted anything yet! We made a quick pit stop at Merrifield Garden Center after dinner last night to get an idea of what we want to plant (and how much it is going to cost!), and hope to get there tonight to make our purchases. The good news: Azaleas are on sale!! The bad news: We need a LOT more than just Azaleas! Stay tuned for the finished product!

Dinner Done Up Right

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so please excuse the short post. I started feeling the twinge of a sore throat yesterday afternoon so I reached for my handy dandy Zicam swabs and thought to myself...this time I got it. It's early enough ~ no WAY I'm getting sick. Well, not so much. I woke up this morning with a full blown sore throat, nasal congestion and an ear ache. That Zicam stuff doesn't work!! (sorry if any readers work for them!) Thank God for Sudafed.

But I digress...yesterday was one of the warmest days of the season thus far so Ed and I took full advantage of it by dining on the newly power-washed deck. It was a simple meal of tacos, but we decided to do it up. We whipped out the trusty folding table and chairs (since we have yet to purchase patio furniture), threw a tablecloth on top and voila ~ dinner in great outdoors!




Lucy is a big fan of tacos...well really anything that Mommy and Daddy are eating. She joined us on the deck and was a good girl. We are always nervous that she will slip through the railing on the deck since she is such a small nugget, but her interest was solely focused on taco meat...yum!


It was a lovely meal that we thoroughly enjoy...even if it was only tacos. Our goal is to buy some patio furniture soon so that we can have a proper deck dinner. We have a lot of work happening on the exterior of the house including the deck (power wash, sealing, staining, board replacing), burying of the drain hoses in the front and back of the house, a new fence so Lucy girl can run around in the back yard with ease and new sod to replace the gross old slate.


We will also be tackling our biggest landscaping project to date since we've known each other - The Front of the House!!! I'm really bad at plants...I have a black thumb if that gives you an indication of my track record with living plants. So our taking on this project without any guidance is very risky...but we are up to the challenge. Stay tuned for before and after pics coming soon!

Wow...not so short a post after all!!! :)