Flagstone....check!

That is one project I can check off my "to do" list! It is done...the project I started here. It took three trips to the "rock store" and two trips to Meek's for sand...and two trips to Lowe's for topsoil. But whatever...it is DONE!!! 

Well, until it "settles." Seems no matter how well you pack the sand base, a few rocks always "sink" after a little rain and wear. No biggy...just pull it up, put a little sand under it and then reset it. 

We had a 90% chance of rain Thursday (didn't happen!) so I wanted to get this project finished so the sand wouldn't wash away and the rock could begin "settling." 

I had a bench sitting in one of my flower beds in the side yard...thought it would look great in the corner. The terracotta pot is one I bought at an auction last year and was just sitting around. I decided it would look better with a few plants! 

This is another area that still needs a little "something." In time...for now, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!

Get ready for a BUNCH of pictures!!!

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Again, there are hundreds of tutorials online for laying flagstone...it may seem laborious, but it really isn't that difficult and you won't regret it! 

I will offer a few little "tips" for laying flagstone. Make sure you have a good sand base, well packed. After your rock is down, water the sand and rock well so the sand will wash down under the rock. After that, dump a mix of top soil and sand on top of the rock and sweep it into the joints. Then lightly water it again. Rain may wash it away a tad the first few times, so you may have to add a little more sand and soil over time....just dump the soil and sand on the rocks and sweep...eventually it will pack and stay put.

If a rock "sinks," lift it up (just pry it up with hammer), toss a little more sand under the rock to build it up and level it out, reset the rock and then fill the joint with the sand and soil mixture. 

I have a tiny front porch and I love how this has opened up the front of the house a bit! It's still not that wrap around front porch I want, but it is a lot better than it was before! It eliminates an eye sore AND the need to crawl around every year filling it with plants! I just plant the pots and I'm done! Super simple to maintain! 

I use to decorate the front of the house in the fall with hay bales, corn stalks, pumpkins and scarecrows. I quit doing it because I had to deal with mildewy hay bales after Thanksgiving...but I may have to start it again this year...this area would just be too cute with all the "harvest" decor! 

Hum...guess we will see...fall will be here before you know it!

Swing into spring...

NOW is the time to do this project...too stinking hot in the summer and you will want to enjoy it during the lazy days of summer!​

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I have built 5 of these swing pergolas...two at my house, one at my daughter's first home, one at her current home and one for a neighbor.  It is not a difficult project to built but one that requires two sets of hands and a little muscle!  ​And with everything, patience!!!

I have posted a tutorial HERE​.  It is not a terribly difficult project and one I think most DIYers could easily manage.

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This is the SUPER sized pergola I built onto my house about 11 years ago...I won't even begin to tell you how it is constructed...but I can promise you, if the house is blown away, it will probably still be standing!  And notice the wisteria canopy...seriously, that stuff is CRAZY!​

Pathetic little shed no more....

Time flies... I didn't understand why my 4-5 year old shed looked so pathetic and was already showing signs of rot in places...then I realized that it was actually 9-10 years old and had never really had a makeover other than adding some little window planters!

I didn't want a "typical" storage building in my backyard.  So when I bought the "kit" at Meek's originally and contracted them to build it, I had them put a higher pitch on the roof and use architectural shingles.  I designed a cute little "cottage" style door for them to build and I also added two inexpensive windows and shutters. Cost a few pennies more, but is much more attractive than your typical storage building!!!  

But now it is time to spruce up the little place.​

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I really just wanted to paint the shutters and door black, but as you can see, the door had a few issues....like a serious case of rot!  As did the siding on the side...and I have always wanted to add little "scallops" above the door and paint the hinges black and add cute little lantern style light fixtures...

Even the simplest little projects turn in to complete "rehabs" around here!!!​

But that is when you learn that doing this stuff is not THAT difficult! Sometimes the only thing stopping you from making a change is FEAR of it being too big....how do you eat an elephant...one bite at a time ;)  

How do you start a project....just be willing to take the first bite!!!!

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So we begin...I took down the shutters...marked them on the back so I would know where they go (remember...paint fumes cause memory issues...this has nothing to do with age!) Gave them a good little bath and then used good ole' spray paint!  Beautiful!​

I also took all the screws from the shutters and the hinges, stuck them in an old styrofoam lid, and sprayed them with black paint!!  Easy way to paint screws to match!​

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​I pre-primed and pre-painted all the trim I was going to be using on the building and door.  I still have to caulk and do paint touchup after it is installed, but it makes that job a little easier!!!

I took the door off and left the hinges attached to the trim on the building...but I have always wanted the hinges black, so I taped them off and sprayed them with black spray paint as well.  The siding on the side of the building had some "rot issues" from years of standing water, so I chipped away the rotted material and put a ​new piece of trim along the bottom of the building to "hide" the rot. (Before you do this, make sure the area is now VERY dry and there are NO termite issues...look for little ant creatures with wings or their little "tracks" in the wood.  If you see ANYTHING that is remotely suspicious, call your termite company!)

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On to the fun part....rebuilding the door.  Unfortunately, I was so focused I didn't take pictures along the way.  But I basically used the old door as a "pattern."  Any time you need to replace or rebuild, examine closely what is there....what materials were used...how is it put together.  Fortunately, this door was a pretty easy read for me...so I bought the materials, measured, cut, glued and nailed.  And presto...I have a new door.​

After cutting the door out of the wood siding material, I had enough left over to make the little scallop things I wanted to put above the door.  This took a little creativity, but I had made a scallop fascia for a little cabinet I made for my daughter years ago, so I pretty much knew how to make it.  I took 6" strips of the leftover wood siding material, used a coffee can to mark the scallops and then cut them out with a jig saw!  I then installed them on the little building by overlapping one row on top of the other and painted them!   No biggy!​

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I added some little lantern style fixtures! (they don't REALLY work....there is no electricity in the building...but they are kinda cute! But I think I need bigger ones) 

I still need to repaint the little porch railings...and I can't wait to get the planting done in the beds...but all in do time! ​

For now, the MAJOR work is done! And my little garden shed has new life!

This may seem like a HUGE and daunting task for a novice DIYer.  But seriously, if I can do this YOU CAN DO IT!  Before you can complete any rehab or makeover, you just have to START IT!  Take it slowly and examine what is already there...but conquer your fear and start!​

My father did not teach me to rebuild a storage building door.  He didn't teach me to make scallop siding...he didn't teach me to tile or sheetrock or install hardwood on my stairs.  He taught me to DO....to think...to look at something you want to change and figure out what you have to do to change it!  ​Really if you think about it, DIYing is kind of like life...if you don't like something change it...but you have to be willing to take the first bite! And honestly, if you get stuck, you have to be willing to ask for help when the going gets tough....but never quit or give up!

We are soooo fortunate to have the internet...you can Google just about anything and find a ton of places that will tell you how to do just about anything!  They may differ in some respects, but that is where you have decide what you are comfortable doing....and what makes sense for the project you want to complete!  ​

Dad didn't have internet...he just had a lifetime of experience and knowledge...I get very sad when I think of all he took with him.  I am grateful for the knowledge he gave me...but more than anything I am grateful for the confidence he gave me to start any project and figure it out!  ​

If I can give you just a "smidge" of that confidence, you will have received a tremendous gift!​

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Curses on the moles....

Spring is almost here and the daffodils are blooming.  I went to take pictures of a few beautiful blooms in my front flower bed, only to find the dreaded "mole runs" scattered about.  I know the little creep is in there...I have seen evidence of him in the last few weeks...mole runs...even saw him "bumping" along one time but even with my well honed, quick mole reflexes, I somehow missed him.  I believe there is a deep cavern under my front flower bed where they can quickly retreat.​ I expect my entire front porch to disappear into it one day.

If you are unlucky enough to have been cursed with moles, you completely understand my frustration, and subsequent obsession, with the little monsters!​ I spent years, and hundreds of dollars, pouring poison peanuts down mole runs, only to find out they are carnivorous and don't even eat that crap.

Myth buster #1...Nothing but a spade shovel (or pitch fork...I have both) and quick reflexes will kill the little monsters.   I have tried every old wives tale out there, mole traps, and treatments for grubs...you name it, I've tried it. Forget it...you are wasting your time and money.  And the more time you waste, the more time they have to construct an underground nation below your yard.

So I have found there is only ONE sure fire way of killing the little boogers.  Mind you, you will NEVER rid yourself of the creatures...once runs are established, you won't get rid of them...kill one, another moves in.  But on average, I kill 10-12 year.​

This process requires a great deal of skill and patience.  First, about an hour before you have an hour or two to spare (hahahaha!) smash down all the fresh mole runs. 

Myth buster #2...moles are NOT nocturnal and basically run all day.  So it doesn't matter when you do this.​

I use to take my coffee, cigarettes and paper outside every morning...walk down the runs, grab a lawn chair and my spade shovel, and settle in...in my bathrobe...and watch...and watch...and watch.  And when I saw the little booger "digging" I would pounce on him with my spade shovel, screaming and cursing at the ground.  I wasn't aware of what a sight that must have been until my new neighbor cautiously mentioned my frightening ritual.  She had NO idea what I was doing.  She thought I was "watching my grass grow" but had no idea why I was spearing it violently with a shovel while cursing at it. ​

I use to just pounce, spear the area where I knew the mole was digging, and leave it be.  The thought of digging up a bloodied corpse was more than I could stomach...but I discovered that sometimes even my best aim MISSED!!!!  So I started digging to make sure it was infact dead...only to find that sometimes it was only injured or worse, completely unscathed.  At first, I would humanely "relocate" the moles to large pastures where the only damage they could do would be to someone's livestock (JUST KIDDING! I took them out to the woods away from homes and livestock). ​

But honestly, after awhile I was so fed up with the creatures that it didn't bother me to pop them out of the ground alive and beat them to death with a shovel.  Problem solved...until their friend moved in.​ But I was waiting for them!  I was certain word would get out and they would stop coming to my yard.  Obviously they don't communicate with one another.

Myth #3...Lots of "runs" means tons of moles.  Nope.  They are pretty much territorial and usually there is only 1-2 moles per acre.  That means that one mole is tearing up your entire yard...seriously...one.  They can dig 100 or more feet in a day...so they are fast and constantly on a hunt for food.  As a matter of fact, the "runs" you actually see in your yard and flower beds are their "feeding runs."  They actually have other runs deeper and entire little caves even deeper...which is where they hang out in the winter (told you, an entire underground nation).  But they must eat a tremendous amount of food, thus the reason for their very active digging.​

Myth #4...Get rid of the grubs and the moles will go away.  WRONG.  Moles love grubs but they also eat a lot of earthworms.  And you DON'T want to rid your yard and beds of earthworms.  Several years ago I put down Milky Spore in my yard....it has made a HUGE difference in how much the moles run in the yard...usually they stay in the flower beds.  Well nourished soil, easy to dig.  Lots of worms and grubs. ​

Myth #5....​Moles kill your plants.  Wrong...again, they are carnivorous.  They eat meat, not plants.  If something is eating your roots, it is probably a vole or other rodent, not a mole.  Moles may inadvertently kill a plant by disturbing the roots, but most well established plants won't be bothered by them.  If your hostas or bulb plant roots are being eaten, you have a completely different problem.

I have a friend who has a few little Jack Russell terriers...there are some dogs who will hunt and kill moles.  I have a cat who I think is hunting them.  And if you have an animal that is proficient at hunting and killing them, you probably won't have much of a problem.  But then you have a problem with a dog who digs and big holes in your yard from that activity. 

If you ask me I think you should just use the mole hunting ritual as a way to take time to relax while enjoying your coffee and quiet time, communicate with nature (your grass) and work off some serious frustration.  After all, how often can you legitimately beat something to death without it being frowned upon by law enforcement.