Monday, August 31, 2015

Many Mason Jars



Mason jars. 

They have become such a trendy, shabby chic accessory to home decor or parties. When I was a kid, I never would have imagined that all of my Grandma's mason jars would make such a statement and I would be asking my Mom if she had any to spare. Who knew?! I obviously didn't a number of years ago.

Luckily, my Mom had salvaged some of those mason jars. I wasn't expecting to hear that she located twelve of them and that they were all mine, despite me telling her that I would be perfectly content with only taking a few. Regardless..... When I was at my parent's house last time, I opened up a closet to find one of the shelves adorned with mason jars. It looks like I'm taking them one way or another. Due to them being made of glass and not having a proper box, I cautiously brought back two on this past trip. Next, ten more to go... ( I know Z is *so* excited.)

I have a few ideas of how I may want to use the jars. I already have used one as a vase when I cut flowers from our garden. I have pinned many Pinterest ideas with mason jar ideas. But, I would love to know, what would you do with them? What ideas are there that I should know about?? One can only have so many flower vases.

Let me know what you would do with them, and I'll keep you updated.... I'm thinking Fall and the holidays could use some mason jars.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

What Happened ... What Didn't Happen ...

Hello, end of August. 

Sort of nice to see you. As usual, summer went by too quickly, and I am now dreaming of three day weekends over Labor Day and the approach of Fall. Sometime back, I wrote a post midway(?) or early(?) summer outlining some thoughts. For whatever the reason may have been, it was never posted. So here I am drinking a glass of red wine and looking at it on a Saturday evening in our dining room as Z runs wires behind a wall. He has so much more patience for that sort of thing than I would. I went back through the post and put my current thoughts in italics. It was fun to look back at this! It appears as if I go through phases of not posting for a while, but that doesn't mean that things aren't happening around our house. Pardon my blogging absence, and enjoy the thoughts of summer.....

-E-



Garden
  • I am so thrilled with the way our backyard is turning out. We had been so spoiled in the earlier months of summer to spend so much time outside with the mild weather!  Our hosta collection has grown (got to love a good plant nursery and sale), and we have added more to it. I have nicknamed our backyard "the retreat@ because it feels that way. Grab your bottle of wine (Sauvingon Blanc from New Zealand, Shiraz from Australia.....) & head out for a relaxing evening.  Many evenings have been spent outside and many more to come, especially with Fall creeping up on us!
  • Hot tub..... Didn't happen. :( Long story short, the motor gave out and the company has poor customer service. I loved that thing! If you are looking around for a pool or inflatable hot tub, I strongly advise you avoid INTEX. (I've heard people have better luck with the pools....) Still quite sad about this.... Discovered our local neighborhood pool, though, with Z's sister which was quite fun!
  • Raised bed hasn't happened yet, but to our delight the veggies on one of the sides of our house is doing well despite the endless amounts of shade! Still no raised bed, but the veggies have continued to do well! Putting it on the side of the house and expanding it along that way was a great idea.
  • Our compost pile is still a work in progress, but there is composting taking place already! I can't wait to get more involved in it. Still a work in progress.... :) Thinking Fall with all of our leaves will bring more time doing this activity. 
  • I bought roughly 5-6 pepper plants this year and 2 types of basil plants. Happy with what we have been able to get from it! Next with basil is homemade pesto! Pepper plants are still producing! Made 2 types of homemade pesto and put it in the freezer.... Can't wait to try it!
House
  • Organizing!!!! I tend to go through purges when I really examine things to determine if I need to hold onto it or not. The 4th bedroom in our house is top priority this summer. While it won't be done in time for the neighborhood garage sale, I predict trips to Goodwill this summer. Unfortunately, the 4th bedroom did not happen, but just about every other room did! Donations to Goodwill are piling up. 
  • Organizing more. That is my biggest goal for the house... Can you tell? Continual purges... 
City + State
  • I want to get to know my state and surrounding city more. I dream of frequenting local farmer's markets, local shops, sites in my state, charming towns, and getting to know my area better. Still exploring! Went to a few nearby towns but can't wait to dive more into it. I think that Fall will be a beautiful time to do so with the leaves changing.
  • Speaking of getting to know my area better.... We have been here for 4 years as of this coming October. I want to get to know my area even better. I can't believe we are approaching 4 years. I remember the day Z told me we were moving from Chicago! 
Etc.
  • With no concrete commitments aside for a few things throughout the summer, I am also looking forward to making trips to visit with family + friends. Mission accomplished.