Outdoor Deconstruction

As most of you know last May Casey and I bought a foreclosure. It has been an exciting/daunting task to take on these projects we originally said, "this will be so easy to redo." Well like many of you have said before tasks you thing are easy end up being much more time consuming.

Link it up...
I decided to link this post to Amanda's Show Me the Progress Linky Party. So as you enjoy seeing me, My husband, and my sweet daddy take down these ugly things tell me.. do you think we are headed in the right direction?? Any suggestions as to what we should do with our now empty space. All we knew is we wanted these two items gone.

1. because the mosquitos in the summer are insane out the frame
2. we wanted our daughter to have some more backyard place space
3. we wanted a place to put a table a chairs next to our grill so we can begin entertaining more.
4. So.... what do you think???? Have we gotten in over our heads??
   

The Backyard

We finally began the daunting task of taking out the koi pond, deconstructing the very tiny deck, and enclosing our screened in porch. Between last weekend and this weekend there isnt a bone, or muscle, rather that doesnt ache. I am learning the beauty of documenting my projects so i can bask in the after as i reflect on the before.
Casey really hates having his picture taken but was a real trooper through all of this.

mmm isnt this mildewed porch just gorg??? 

I am soooo glad to see this go.

Do I keep this fountain and repaint to reuse on the soon to be enclosed screened in porch??

Daddy, using the good ole crowe bar and hammer.

please note that we had to barricade the end of this deck because the nincompoop that built it didnt make stairs rather left it open. what does this spell for a beagle born to hunt???

TROUBLE!!! he kept getting stuck chasing all the neighbors cats who love to run around and taunt him. i am still devising a plan to keep them out... any suggestions?? cat nip.. bee bee gun?? Arsenic?? jk..

see this little buddy?? he is beginning to wonder if we are taking away his freedom.. or giving him more.... sooo confused.

did i mention that baby was soooo worried about daddy and poppy doing so much work. this over the top facial expression says it all.

pond filled with junk.... dont worry it was cleaned up.

This is the little pile from the last weekend in february.... Still need to edit the pictures from this past weekend. 

And thank you for sticking it out through this insanely long post.

Newest DIY Project

Hey guys, a small project for my new bedroom, go on over here to Preppie Peonie 

(my applique/my digital portfolio site to check it out)

Here is a sneak peek at the final result.

Old Wives tales

Okay so i have been debating on this post for a long time now...

My dad is OBSESSED with the 1 trillion uses for Vinegar. Then today at work several of the ladies were talking about all that onions can do....

Here are a few things you may not know.

1. if your child is teething put an egg in a brown bag (place over their bed or near their bed) when they are done teething the egg will be completely empty. {i personally didnt know about this one till today, but seeing as we are still cutting our 1 yr. molars i think i will give it a try}

2. If you are sick fill a teaspoon with locally polinated Honey.

3. when planting roses plant a metal coffee can with it. The can will begin to oxidize and release zinc into the soil making the blooms much richer in color and the soil much healthier.

4. pour coffee grinds on ferms and they will grow like crazy.

5. old tagline: red in the morning sailors warning, red at night sailors delight. (my pawpaw was a merchant marine so he would always say that one.)

6. if you have eggs that are about to go bad plant them with some new plants and the raw eggs will fertilize the soil

7.if you have slugs pour a can of beer in a shallow round pan and the slugs will all migrate to it and explode, {preventing you from having to put salt everywhere}

8. and my absolute most favorite is..... if you have really really really dry skin, crisco!!! its all natural and your body wont have reactions to any chemicals found in lotions.

Luke the wonder dog.

Okay so flash forward from puppy days to last summer.

Casey and i had just settled into our new/current home. We let luke out into his very own HUGE backyard to run and play. upon moving in we dismantled the current fence (see this previous post) and put up chicken wire till we had the money to put in a good privacy fence. (coming to my home april 2010. (stay tuned for that)

so... usually we hear our beagle barking/howling at something. this time we didnt, so we both went outside to find him and just about the time i start to panic i hear his jingle. not ahead or behind me but below me... you see we live next to a drainage ditch and luke had discoverd a way to figure out what it was.

i started to panic and think if he went to the covered portion he would have an aweful encounter with a sewer rat and since we couldnt afford his shots i started to panic. everything rushed to my mind, rabies, tetnus... ahhhhh

so casey jumps the half fence in the front of our house and begins his scale down the side of the drainage ditch to retrieve my puppy.

PROBLEM:..... once casey is down there he looks at lukes paws, THEY ARE BLEEDING!!! he fell down the 45 degree angle concrete ditch and couldnt get back up due to the steep incline. So i run to the back yard, get some extension cords, the leash and the tree trimmer.

{now is where i realize how stupid i looked and wish someone had been filming us so we could submit for america's funniest home videos}

i harness the extension cord around a tree, (not enough leverage, baby tree) then around my waste. casey ties a knot around the extension cord on the other end and attaches to his leash and he helps me guide luke up the hill. once over i rush him inside and put bandages on his paws.

then the real problem.... me getting caseys 200 lb body back up this steep incline. i had to slowly painfully help heave and howe him back up the ditch to safety. we were both laughing hysterically as our child and dog onlooked from the front door of our house.

oh the things we do for our pets. what about you??

Steph... care to blog about good ole judd and his adventures. they sure do make for funny stories later on huh??

Where to Begin

I have to go back to Luke's "puppy" days to tell these stories. First best story was right after Casey and I got Luke {casey and i were still dating at the time} Casey had Luke at his apartment and he had taken him out to use the restroom. While out "exploring" as we like to call it. Luke smelt a new and very exciting smell, it was the scent of big fat ugly CAT. He found this creature to be of similar characteristics, being four legged, and living with humans and all.... well. he decided he would like to formally introduce himself to such cat. This cat did not in anyway find this introduction welcoming so it began. Dog chases cat, but not just anywhere. He chased him right to the gutters, and down into the underground sewage world they went.

[Casey called me as this chase had commenced and convinced me i needed to get over to his apartment immediately, so off i went. You would have thought my child's leg had been sawed off, but no, all of this craziness, panic, and mayhem for a tiny 12 week old through and through hound who was on the feline trail.]

As I arrived Casey is in the streets of his apartment complex frantically trying to find our new puppy, we can hear water spashing, a cat hissing, and this little howl that is indefinately our pup. Finally after the cat had enough he emerged right from the gutter he went down in to and soon after followed a very disgusting puppy, full of life, and knowing he had found his calling.
You see, we purchased him from a hunter in a small town outside of Tuscaloosa, the only reason he was being sold is because the man had bred his pup for more hunting dogs, the others were to go to good homes. Jake and Stephanie bought Beau, i mean lucy {they weren't too experienced in deciphering animal genitalia, therefore they thought this girl was a boy, until steph's dad sat the record straight and he, must be renamed a she.}

HAHA silly story within itself. Needless to say brother and sister will forever stay in contact, oh and did i mention Jakes's brother Cody has one of their brothers, his name is Hank and he is a mess too.

So it began, or adventurous love affair with Luke, stay tuned more to come.

Luke Turner Rodden

This is Luke. He is the heartbeat of our family. There is not a day that goes by that he is not providing us with some sort of entertainment.

I have forever debated blogging about him. We have stories upon stories of adventures he has taken us on, but yesterday when i talked to yet another friend who ADORED The Pioneer Woman; I decided it was time for me to check her out.

Well as soon as the page loads, a post to talk about your dogs comes up... How could i ever resist. So throughout the next several days i will be showcasing pictures of our luke and the adventures he takes us on.

Preppie Peonie

For those of you I have met through Mrs. Pearls and Grace's McLinky party also check out The Preppie Peonie.

This is my applique site.. This is my new hobby. A little bit about me....

My love.... DESIRE... GOD GIVEN TALENT is sewing. I could sit down at my sewing machine, turn the sucker on, change the settings and just go.... I literally have sat at a machine for almost 12 hrs straight in college working on various projects. On preppie peonie you can be directed to my wordpress site where i started my portfolio. (hence started) my current two blogs are for me to showcase the work i actually have done on my own without a class room.

My grandmother was a wedding dressmaker. My mom a french hand sewing master. And me... i dabble in a little of everything. (but i am scared silly of making a wedding dress)

I learned how to sew at 9. I taught myself to smock at 13. And began learning Adobe Illustrator, and Auto-CAD in college. The most exciting thing about sewing to me is pattern making. I want to be able to buy some muslin drape my form then create my own pattern, my own look, my very own specialized just for me dress. What do i need for this outlandish task???

A DRESS FORM

I am currently in the market for a professional WOLFE dress form. These suckers can set you back as much as $400 bones. I am about to start scavaging all thrift stores and flea markets come spring and hope someone has one of these fabulous gems tucked away somewhere just waiting for me..

For now i will just dream and one day soon begin to sketch again. Right now those dreams are being lived vicariously through one of my college school mates, Anthony. He is on the current season of Project Runway.

Super Cute.. and Homemade!!

A couple of days ago i stumbled upon this blog. I loved the idea of the rose petal trim. So i ran over to Hobby Lobby and whipped up a top for my little bit..... just in time for Valentine's Day.

Now go on over to This Blessed Nest and check out her cutie patootie in her cute shirt. Dont you just love her stuff?? Ahhh another Tennessee girl. I just happen to be on the west side of the state and her on the east.
Here is what my cutie patootie looks like..

Valentine's Day

So my sweet hubby sent me tulips at work Of course there were plenty of them to split them up and place them all around the house. I just love them all. My husband is so kind and so thoughtful. I am so lucky to have him in my life!!!! 

And Her Bedding!!!

After getting everything (well almost everything ironed)i rushed downstairs to get the bed made. 

For those of you that havent had the priveledge of meeting my inner obsessive comulsive tendencies, brace yourself... its ugly. I will pull and tuck at a flat sheet until its just so. 

Then the hospital corners... my sweet friend Abbie and I lived together our sophomore year at Alabama and she really taught me the art of hospital corners. So then i begin to perfectly tuck the corners. Next comes the pillow placement, fluffing and tucking then comes the comforter. 

Yes i ironed the comforter 3 times, once on the bed i even ironed!! 

Enjoy!!

Love the embroidery on the sheets.

Just like the bedding in the Serena and Lily catalog!

Ended up finding this at TJ Maxx for $39.00!!