Just like starting over.

It is May.  How is it possible that my last post was from Christmas of last year?  I’m not sure where the time went or why I’ve been finding it so hard to post.  I realize there’s blogging etiquette – you should inform your readers that you’re taking a leave of absence from posting, but I didn’t know I’d be gone for so long.   Things have happened around the house – nothing amazing – but I do have some photos to share nonetheless.

Recently, Fernando spent a day cutting out the chain link fence that was crowding the hedge out front.

The hedge was really cramped and parts of it had started to wrap itself around the chain link.

Exactly the look we were going for:  much less ghetto.

We will be removing the rest of the fence at a later date and replacing it with a vintage wrought iron fence and gate.  I'm wishing for something like this:

photo found here.


I hope the privet will finally have the opportunity to grow in fuller along the bottom.  There was a wrought iron fence in front of the house before the privet hedge was planted.  I think it will go well with the new urn we purchased for the front garden from Martin Viette:

We needed something to place the urn on and remembered that there was a square piece of bluestone in the backyard that used to be under another stone.  I think it was a horse mounting block.  Since we don't ride horses in our backyard, I thought using it under the planter would be a good reuse.  I'll probably add the actual step to the side garden in the future since we've also been using the old tie ring (which was set in concrete) there as a corner stone. 

Speaking of horses... mounted Police near the house today!

Anyway... the urn weighed a ton and it took three of us to carry it from the car to the grass.

I really loved how it turned out and immediately wanted a pair of matching urns for either side of the front porch. 

The next evening Fernando attended an auction and surprised me by bringing these home:

They needed a some sprucing up since they were a little rusty in a few areas:

He also painted them a nice glossy black and we planted them over the weekend. 

They're not out on the porch yet because we're having the porch, columns, lattice and vestibule painted this week!  Well, I'm not sure if it will be finished this week but it is being worked on:

If only I could decide which color goes where and what color to paint the front door?
Coming up: more on sprucing up the garden and more exterior painting. 
Upcoming stories: the night the house became a gas station, a friend in the chimney and a ghostly visit! 

Stay tuned.