Show of Awesome

Not really a gardening related post at all, but I felt compelled to share.

I just got back from Crafty Wonderland's Show of Awesome at the Doug Fir Lounge. It was tied in with Hello Craft's Summit of Awesome which took place this week at the Kennedy School.

Anyway, I found a bunch of really nice things there for gifts and for me!
Here are some of the etsy stores that I would like to share with you.

rosecitysweets.etsy.com - fudge, caramels, toffee

marykatemcdevitt.com - adorable mini-goals chalkboards (this one suits me best.)

burdyflyaway.etsy.com - felt appliqued body suits and shirts for babies and shirts for adults (I got this onesie for the baby except in orange with a turquoise tree and I loved this one, but I think I will save that for September or October.

powerandlight.etsy.com - letterpress cards (I bought this one)

annajoyce.etsy.com - appliqued pillows, tea towels, aprons, bags, plus hoodies and tees (holly bought this tee and I am saving for this!)

trustysidekick.etsy.com - superhero shirts and capes made from recycled materials (I bought Joe this cape as a present from the new baby)

chetanddot.etsy.com - handmade stuffed animals and other adorable felted items.

manvsink.etsy.com - cool printed artwork especially if you like beer, bicycling or crafting in Oregon.

There were over 40 vendors there from around the country, so this is just a small preview. There was a ton of great stuff!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Or when life gives you a garage built for a Vespa and you are too scared to let your husband ride one, make it into a potting shed.

I was able to find the June issue of Southern Living today. Who knew that Southern Living magazine would be so hard to find in the PNW?

Anyway, there was indeed a great article about a couple who transformed their backyard on a budget and employed some of the same ideas that we are. They used pea gravel to make a courtyard and create a sort of outdoor living room feel using shrubs and trees and lots of containers.

They transformed their garage by removing the garage door and installing three sets of exterior french doors, whitewashing the interior and converting a space that is too small to park a car into a space that is useful for their family.

Our garage will be modified by replacing the roof, removing some siding and incorporating some old windows to make an area where we can entertain outside in the shade and also have some storage for gardening tools and a mower, etc.

Here are some pretty pictures from Southern Living to inspire you.

Patio furniture that is easy on the Earth and my wallet...

...although it might not be too easy on my back.

So I picked up the latest issue of ReadyMade magazine the other night at Target. I was actually looking for Southern Living because my mom said that there was an article about turning a garage into a potting shed, but they didn't have it. I couldn't let those $5 burn a hole in my pocket so I bought ReadyMade.

Anyway, turns out I kind of like this magazine! They had an outdoor spread with some great ideas. The above chair was designed by a Seattle man, Sanders Viegers, using basically 2x4s and a saw. I'm thinking it sounds like my kind of project! Simple and sturdy with the option of giving it a brightly colored coat of paint.

You can see more from Sanders Viegers at 2822shop.com including how to build a matching bench!

So please pardon the horrible cut & paste scan job I did above, but this was another project that caught my eye. This is a table made from two pallets, some 1x4s and 2x4s. I love it. I had originally thought that we would do some kind of picnic table in the covered entertaining area that the garage will become, but I am liking this idea more. I can build this table with a little help from Joe, I am sure, and I can get pallets for free.

I might even be able to pair the above chairs with it if I can increase the leg length. This table was designed by Jen Turner of NYC. You can learn more about Jen at thejenturner.com

I bought Joe a hammock from Kohl's for all the work he has done with the pea gravel. I hope that I can assemble it myself so that I am not making more work for him and he can just lay in it and surf the web on his iPad. Sounds like a nice way to spend some time, doesn't it?

One more reason to cloth diaper

What is this, you ask? Why, it is a disposable diaper found in our backyard under some overgrowth way in the back corner. How did it get there, you ask? I have no idea! The only thing I can think of is that an animal swiped it out of our trash and carried it back there. We end up some with odd things in that corner, like gatorade bottles and Doritos bags. Things we don't use at our house. Odd.

Its an environmental lesson for all you folks out there. Disposable diapers aren't going anywhere for a long time!

Blue Sky!

We finally got some blue sky! It is just what my soul needed. The forecast for the next week looks beautiful. I hope to make some real progress on the yard. !

The backyard plans are starting to come together. I ordered 7 cubic yards of pea gravel from A Oregon Decorative Rock and had it delivered on Wednesday. The driver almost delivered it to the house across the street. Luckily, I was paying attention and stopped him in time.

We got the landscaping fabric laid down to cover the raised portion of the yard and near the fence and arborvitae to create shade-loving plant beds in the future. These will be covered with mulch which I will order in the next week or so. I still need to weed-whack behind the arborvitae and get the area along the fence cleaned up.

Barb came over one night last week and helped move/rake the pea gravel. Joe did a lot of trips with the shovel and wheelbarrow. I think I owe him a trip to the chiropractor!

Here is a view from the back corner of the yard. The gravel is almost done being spread on the raised portion of the lawn. The rest will be used for the unpaved portion of the garage. I am going to make a bed around the deck to camouflage the underside of the deck.

Here is Joe golfing in the backyard. Even with it partially done it has still be fun to spend more time out there, which we never used to do. Our backyard used to kind of feel like a weight on our shoulders. Now it is starting to feel like one more place we can hang out.

The good, the bad and the fugly

There are not many good things about our yard, except it is a decent size. We have not spent much time in the backyard, so it has been neglected and our neighbors don't put much effort into their yards either.

I would like to improve our yard so that we have more living space to our house. And it would be nice to just be able to go out there and play, even though we are so close to Columbia Park.

So here is the good, bad and the fugly of our yard in photographic detail. Enjoy.

This is the deck that leads out of Joe's bedroom. Why the previous owners did not put a door off the kitchen I will never know, but its on our wishlist of things to do. and yes, our grill is bolted to the deck. Hey, its North Portland! I would unlock it if I knew where the key was. We had heard some bad things about NoPo when we moved in, but its totally fine.

Here is the overgrown hedge that used to block the view of those houses until our neighbors lopped about 4 feet off the top. Too bad they couldn't trim it on our side too.

To the right is our run down garage which will receive a bit of facelift. Actually more like a colon cleanse because aside from demoing some of the siding, the inside will see more of a transformation. The arborvitae along the back fence are not my favorite trees, but the previous owner planted them and they are staying. The crazy tree in the back corner of the yard is actually a sucker or something from the tree in the middle. We are planning on leaving it there, but taming it a bit because it blocks the view of a shed in the neighbors yard. and I promise one of these years I will start composting.

This is the east side of our yard. The garage is getting a new roof, but we are not planning on doing too much to this side. And yes, our neighbors have a trailer that someone lives in in their backyard. Obviously, we don't have an HOA. They are good people though.

This is the back of our house. It needs some lovin'.

So there you have the "before" pictures. It is already looking better from when I took these during a brief break in the our three weeks of rain. The weather is going to be sunny consistently now and so I hope to get a lot of work done.