Garden Early Last Week

Our front landscaping was started late last summer.  It was taken care of through the builder so we didn't have any say as to what was done, which was pretty sucky but I have tried my best to turn it into something ok.

In addition to the sod, they planted the requisite one tree.  In our case, a crab apple, which I am not too keen on, but it sure looked pretty last week all in bloom:

I'm not sure if we'll get any apples on this thing or not this year though.  Plus, I am still on the fence about switching it out for something I love a whole lot more, like a lilac.

We also have a little shrub bed that kind of wraps around the walkway/front step area.  It wsas really weird how they did it, and didn't put any ladnscaping border or anything.  Plus, they literally wrapped the sod right up the slight incline to it.  I believe the area guidelines actually stiplate 6 bushes, but they got away with only putting in 4 and I am not exactly sure what they are.  Plus the end two were looking pretty dead....

I added the pagoda-style solar lanterns last summer in between each bush for added interest and obviously, practicality.  They were a fall clearance item from Zellers and I actually like them quite a bit since they're larger than most.

Back in October, right before the snow came, I had the forethought to pick up and actually plant some tulip bulbs.  I'd never had much luck with bulbs so imagine my suprise when I saw some sprouting through the soil!  I've been lucky in that the first few to come up, are still kicking around. Here are the shots from their first few days.

It's been so much fun watching my first ever in-ground garden take shape!! 

We had originally planned to add a stone retaining wall around the whole deal, but ended up scraping it for the time being.

We had however added one more change and I will show you that tomorrow!  It's nothing extreme but I find it makes a huge difference!

First Photo Shoot

My sister in law sent me the link to my nephew's first photo shoot yesterday.  The pictures turned out sooo cute!! 

So here's a quick little shout out to Helena Knittig of Apple Fresh Photography .  She only shoots in natural light so it was a wonder she managed to get such great shots inside the pretty dark condo!

Here's my fave and of course, check out her blog with a few more sneak peeks at little Phoenix.

Gotta love this little stinker and the funny faces he made for the camera!

Open for Business!

The tulips in my front flower bed opened up over the weekend! I have 20 bulbs that managed to do their thing and about half were blooming or on the verge. The rest will be on their way short enough.

I have some better photos on the way, but it's all still in progress. I had hoped to get the front bed finished this past weekend, but we had some family stuff to take care of and with my debit skimming escapade, I couldn't pick up the last piece I needed.

I am gonna go buy the last block tonight and hopefully finish off the retaining wall (provided it doesn't rain). Then top it all off with the mulch.

We also made some other progress but you'll have to wait til tomorrow to see !
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Bad news Bears!

I've been a little busy this week. In addition to my mom being in and out of the hospital, I had a little unexpected disaster! My debit card was skimmed and earlier this week and my bank account was cleared out. :(

I didn't notice until I went to by a $1.50 pack of gum and was declined. A trip to the atm to figure things out, spit out my card and told me I was unauthorized to use it. Minutes later I was told someone skimmed it.

Yikes! Not good. Thankfully, the bank is reimbursing my money (hopefully today) and my work has loaned me some money so that I can have something in their for my mortgage and car payments scheduled today.

But I really hope they catch whomever is doing this. Both the scanner and the person buying my info. Since it appears they spent thousands at a grocery store(?) in Montreal, I'm hoping they at least used it to feed their family in addition to whatever else they bought via the cash withdrawls!

If there's anything I can say about this situation it is that I will be 100 times for careful when using my card going forward.

Here's some tips to keep you safe:
* always cover the keypad when you enter your pin
* always watch your card when it is being handled by someone else (if you're like me, you most likely do something else when you hand off your card. Flipping through magazines, loading your groceries into cart, talking to your spouse). All these things give people an opportune time to swipe your card!
*be wary of using your card where you can not see what they do with your card (ex. drive-thrus)
* never give out your pin
* check your bank statements regularly

Hope this little bit of info makes you all take heed when shopping! I know if has certainly opened my eyes to the type of awful things out there.

Enjoy your Friday!
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Bouclair Bench

A few weeks ago, I hit up the new to the city, Bouclair Home  and then completely forgot to post about it! 

It was actually a pretty neat place.  Lots of affordable, on-trend accessories!  Today, while perusing some old magazines, I noticed a few ads in them for the same store and loved some of the stuff, especially from last years' Christmas issues.  So I will definitely be checking out their seasonal stuff when the time comes around!

But back to my shopping experience - I wasn't actually in the market for anything that particular day, but wanted to check it out nonetheless.  Well, I didn't leave empty-handed:

This cute brown ottoman came home to replace the lovely one that the boys took to destroying  during the "stressed out" stage they went through shortly after we brought the puppy home....

At only $30.00, it's obviously not real leather like the old one, but looks just as great!
 It still has storage inside; featuring a great hinge top that I don't have to manouver when my hands are full.  Plus, I love the tufted top that is a lot more plush than the old one - perfect for perching on when you want to put your shoes on.

All said and done, I'll definitely be back to Bouclair.  They are the perfect price point for adding pops of color and on-trend pieces since they are so affordable.

Under pressure...

I have been trying to get this post out for a couple weeks now, but I was having some photo loading issues...  So here's my shot:

Since the weather finally decidd to get it's act together a few weeks ago, we really wanted to freshen up the exterior of our house.  Not having any rear landscaping has made everything incredibly dust-covered and overall, filthy!  Not to mention the "mess" Finley created in her pen over the winter... Yuck!  So, a few weeks back, Cory and I hit up a few stores to check out some pressure washers. We actually managed to luck out at our first stop, Sears and an hour later, were able to work on the house!

This beauty was perfect for us!

Small enough for us to store, considering we have absolutely NO place to store things, it also offered a soap dispenser so that we could clean cars,etc.

We managed to grab it on super sale. PLUS I already had a $110.00 gift card so in the end, we only ended up spending just over $100 for this baby!!

Of course, since it's been a few weeks since we purchased it, it looks like we deleted the photos of the BEFORE and AFTERS.  I had planned on taking some more photos this weekend, but with the crazy winds we've had around here, the house seems to be covered in dust again...

I promise though that when these chinooks calm down, we'll take some before and afters just to show how great my new toy is.

A little insight

When I set out creating this blog, it was just an outlet for me to share beautiful home things I found. Then, we moved and I wanted to record some of the things we did around our home. Unfortunately, it has less become about that, and more about... Well a little of everything. Which I don't mind, cause it's nice to be able to post about whatever my mind wants that day. But lately, I've been a little consumed.

You see, my mom has been struggling with some health issues for the last while and just recently, it has taken a turn for the worse. She is constantly in and out of hospitals, and in and out of the city for this test or that. We're still not even entirely sure what's quite wrong... She has completely lost her strength. Basic tasks like walking are harder each day and doing laundry is a 3 day ordeal.

She currently needs surgery but can't even proceed with that, as she's not strong enough to be put under...

The hardest part, for me, is that she doesn't live here in the city with us. She's only an hour and a half north, but the drive is still long and exhausting. Especially during the week, when I still have to go to work in the mornings.

I had briefly broached the subject to her about looking at an alternative living arrangement a while back. Surprisingly, I wasn't shut down. In fact, she was the first to mention an adult living facility... My original thought had been a small place in the city, so she could be close to us.

I've started researching possibilities and realized it's a lot more daunting than I believed. I mean, she's totally still capable of taking care of herself - she's just not strong enough to do so. Especially living in a very old home that requires a lot of work.

Then there's the expense. From what I have inquired about, those facilities DO NOT come cheap. And that's if you can even get in one! There are long wait lists...

Mom was admitted again last night. She told us not to come. We respected her request, but at the same time I feel awful, leaving her alone there. Especially since she is not well.

I will most likely be making a trip out there tonight to see if she needs anything. And mostly just to be with her.

I do actually have some posts, now that the weather is nice and I can work on things, so they will come. But for now, this is where I am.

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Bloomin!

I got a bit of a surprise yesterday when I went to take the dog for a walk and noticed something green poking through the shrub bed in our front yard.

Yup, they're a little late cause of the late season snow storms we had, but 12 of the bulbs I planted last fall are finally making their appearance.

I'm not sure if I will actually get some flowers since it's their first year, but I am hopeful. I choose some very cool white and pink tulips for this spot and can't wait to see what they look like.

What's bloomin' in your yard lately?
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Happy Mother's Day!

Since I am not "technically" a mother (apparently fur babies don't count?) I am anxiously awaiting the day when I can celebrate this day. In the meantime, I am enjoying a day on the couch, snuggling with my 3 "babies" doing nothing in particular, just enjoying life.

Although, I am starting to think maybe motherhood isn't that far off for me! Last night, we spent sometime at a friend's housewarming party. We don't see them all that much as they have 2 kids and the next group of kids in our circle, are infants. However, somehow all the kids last night took to me right away and there was quite a few people who took notice. Including my own man. It's no surprise that I want kids of my own but he's never felt fully ready to take on that responsibility. Something seemed to change last night, and after a half-joking conversation, he seemed ready for the challenge!

While we aren't trying, or not not trying. I look forward to someday (soon) joining the ranks of the wonderful ladies who hold this day special in their hearts.

A very happy Mother's Day to my own mom, Cory's mom and of course our very own brand-new (2 weeks now) momma Fairlight!
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In the works...

Just a quick post to say I am trying to get some posts out. I've started some, but Blogger seems to be having problems loading my photos, I leave them loading all night and still, nothing!

I also can't access any loaded pictures from my phone... So trying to finish them up here, doesn't work either.

We got a few new additions around the house so they're coming soon!
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