Pretty Pink Front Door

Good Morning blog friends and fellow dreamers!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers day, either celebrating being a Mom or having a Mom.  I was privileged to be able to celebrate both.  It was such a beautiful and wonderfully relaxing day this year. I really hope yours was as well!

Progress has been rolling along very well with new color updates here and there at our house.  While there is still yet more to be done on the front porch, I wanted to share where it is now.  I've decided to link this up with

 Between Naps on the Porch for; Metamorphosis Monday

 I really feel like the front porch has gone from being stuck in a dull cocoon to a beautiful new butterfly now.  Let's take a look back now at how it looked in March when the transformation began.

In these two pictures above you can see the decking stain in it's old lighter beige color, Monterray Tan from Sherwin Williams, and how it was beginning to show some wear  Below is how things looked just after I restained the deck and steps in a darker shade called Tobacco by Sherwin Williams. 

With the decking all finished it was time to accessorize.  I repainted this small table and chairs from the pool area in the backyard in white and decided to bring it to the front porch this year.

  Then I brought out a few houseplants, some pillows for the rocking chairs and rehung the hammock chair.

This small washstand moved from the backporch to the front porch after receiving a fresh new coat of paint.  It went from a pretty light green to this more trendier mint.  But, I didn't stop there.  As you can see below, I decided a few more things needed a fresh burst of color as well this year. 

 Shut the front door right?  Oh no she didn't, Oh YES she did!  You better believe I am loving my new front door color!   Before we talk about the showstopper here though, let's talk about a few other things that got a redo, Okay?

 My metal initial K wreath went from red to bright yellow.  I originally did not intend for it to go on the door but to stay on the siding where the wooden sailboat is now.  I intended for the sailboat to be on the door but because of the way the sailboat is made it doesn't lay flat on the door when on the hook.  Still needing to rework that, so for now, the bright yellow K is popping off this pretty pink door.

The little metal bench beside the front door also went from black to navy and a new colorful welcome mat helped me to start to pull it all together.

Ok, now since you have been so patient, let's talk about my new front door.  Talk about a bold move here.  After I repainted the porch flooring I realized my black door just didn't cut it.  My house siding is an off white cream color and the black and the brown with the cream was super dull to me and not so inviting.  I really wanted something that would pop from underneath the covered porch and would also fit into the change of seasons.  Where I live near the lake there are many of us who have fun and brightly colored doors.  I seriously considered a beautiful turquoise but knew it would not fit into my holiday decorating at Christmas and I wasn't keen on the idea or redoing all my outdoor Christmas decor.  My husband wanted a red door but I new it would really have looked odd with the siding and the porch floor and honestly, I just wasn't into it.

So i searched and searched for a month and finally found the color I wanted. It was called Mom's Lipstick by Olympic paints.  I picked up the swatch from Lowes took it home and mulled over it for a few weeks then went back to get the paint and wouldn't you know it was no longer on display.  Olympic paints had done a total reset on their colors and I didn't have my swatch with me the day I decided to buy the paint.  The poor man who worked the counter wasn't feeling well that day but hung in there looking up the combination and mixing the paint for me.  When he opened the lid I looked in the can and saw a very pepto pink.  I said, umm, that's not quite right, sorry.  But rather then go home and get the swatch and come back I asked him to deepen it up closer to a new swatch I pulled and this is what I ended up with.  

I decided to bring home the paint and see if it was close enough for me with the understanding I could return it if I didn't like it.  I am so glad I did, because while it's not quite an exact match to the swatch it's close enough and honestly I really like it even more.   I am thinking someone else around here really did too because I noticed a neighbors house down the street whose door and her front porch rockers n have also changed into a color very close to this color just recently. 

While I may not have lots of pretty flowers all over the front yard, I can't help but think of Azaleas every time I look at my door. I cannot wait to see how floral wreath are going to look on the door as well.  So pretty! 

Well, I gotta run now, I am repainting my Master bedroom starting today and I'm chomping at the bit.  I wanted to hurry up and get this out there though before too much time goes by again between posts. It's turning out to be a beautiful spring and a very promising summer.

Thanks so much for popping in today, I hope you liked what you saw.

As always I love hearing from you too.  Have great day and great week friends!

Hugs and Waves,

Looks whats Blooming Now

Good Morning!  The sun is just barely peeking out this morning as I was sitting inside browsing on my  little Chromebook when I saw there was a garden party going on in blogland.  Well, immediately, I knew I had to get my butt, um I mean myself in gear and share a little outdoor love myself.  

 It seems time is flying by so fast lately and I've hardly blogged at all.  I truly intended to do more blogging but time just ticks away so fast.  To be honest, I enjoy sharing my photos and projects but sharing them is not on the top of my list these days.  I know this is probably one of the most discouraging things I could say as a blogger but its true.  I say this because I am more in the phase of just getting things done lately.  I am learning to take things slower and not to pressure myself with adding in so many additional responsibilities.  For me, adding in the time it takes to snap photos and write a post often comes at the expense of putting aside something else.  I am choosing a little less of that right now because when the weather is nice I am all about "living" outside.  I wish I could juggle it better as so many do and share it all but I cannot.  I don't want to stress either so its hit and miss blogging for me right now.  I hope you will understand.

 One of my most favorite visions each morning is this gigantic knock out rose.  I love seeing it outside of my glass kitchen doors and how it cascades beautifully over the railing. 

It just blooms so beautifully!  Unfortunately, it is also so very aggressive and has almost completely taken over one corner of the bedding area by the deck.  I think it's trying to make its way past our rooftops.  LOL!

In that same area we have two very large camellia bushes (trees) and a snowball viburnum, shown here.  We are relocating the snowball viburnum soon to the back yard along the fence.  As you can see here, I also have gardenias in this bedding area as well.  I have them all around my house and they are all budding well but not blooming yet.  The gardenias are one of my summer delights.

This is the area I hope to relocate the viburnum too.  As you can see it is a very shady area under large oaks.  It's problematic because we have red clay and abundance of leaves that fall ever year.  We let it go for awhile now and just this year I cleared away years of dead leaves.  I am taking a risk putting it here but I think it's going to be fine as we do get a some sun here and I have been able to sustain the gardenias and azaleas that I've planted here as well.  I say sustain because that's what they are doing, not quite flourishing though.  What really needs to happen over here is amending the soil more and perhaps adding a better bedding base.  Again, more work and more time!

As you walk towards the gate from the backyard to side yard I have few more budding beauties.  First is a little bed near the back steps and deck that I've shared recently but I wanted you to see the mint that is growing so vigorously despite the ivy it is pushing up out of.  

Smells devine!  It's so funny that the cats rarely ever take notice of these.  

 The jasmine that I planted last year along the fence gate area is starting to take off.  I cannot wait to see this spread more this summer.

And though I hadn't realized it until just this morning, my Oakleaf hydrangea next to the side steps and screen porch are indeed starting to bloom.  Stacy, I have no idea how I could have not noticed one of the largest bloomers in my yard.  LOL!

Okay, now let's move on into our side yard where we have new blooms popping up everywhere. 

I have a row of these bushes that separates our yard from out neighbors drive.  They are tall and beautiful when in bloom and then bushy and green the rest of the summer.  I'm sorry but I cannot seem to ever remember the name of them.

Along this side of the house where the utilities are is where I have also transplanted Iris several years ago.  It was also a great spot for the Christmas amaryllis to end up as well.  They seem to love it here!

This beautiful climbing rose is the only one left from when we bought the house.  We had a whole bed of roses in another area that I struggled with.  So they all came up and this one I relocated to the side of the house.  It was cut back drastically and is now on the mend.  I see I will need to find a trellis for it this year.  So pretty!

The Iris are finally just starting to bloom.  I have them everywhere but they are no where near full bloom yet.   I wanted to share a few with you anyway.  I cannot tell you how much I enjoy these flowers.  I love everything about them.  I love their shapes and variances of colors.  I have many different colors but only the purples have started to bloom.  Each one is so unique!

As you can see, I love enjoying the beauty of outdoors, but I still have so much more to do out here.  We desperately need to mulch all the outer beds and continue removing more leaves.  We have mostly been very focused on getting the pool area ready for the summer recently.  I have so much more I could share around the pool area but I will stop for now and make that another outdoor post for another day.  If you enjoyed this post be sure and check out more similar posts from so many others by clicking this link for;

The Garden Party 
hosted by Stacy at Poofing the Pillows

Thank you all so very much for stopping in today.  If you do I'd love to hear from you if you have the time.  If not, that's okay to because believe me when I say I totally get it!  If a peek in my yard gets you going to your yard and you don't have time to comment...then Yay!!!!  I've done my job here today!!!  

Have a great day dreamers,

until next time,

Hugs and Waves!

Spring in Living Color

Hi Dreamer Friends! How colorful is your world?  I hope it is like mine and bursting with new color everyday.  I just adore color, don't you?  Understandably,  I've never really been able to do the grey or monochromatic look.  It's just not me.  I live and breath most happily in a colorful world!  

Today I am sharing a few colors that are bursting onto the scenery in my yard.  Some are new colors that I have added in a few pots and some of the color you will see are return visitors every year.  

Be fore warned, there is still so much more planting to do and you will see a few empty pots here and there.  We are just in the beginning stages of outdoor plantings here at our house.    I enjoy taking my time and mulling over what to add to here and there.    

Since I am at home now my potting table is sure to get quite a workout this year.

I've started adding some flowers to  a few of my pots as I see what I like when I'm out and about.  The red Ivy style Geraniums are from Walmart and the hot pink Verbena I found at Home Depot.  I have also added tons of Kimberly Queen ferns all around.  I found these smaller ones, but not too small, at Home Depot and was so excited. I like the smaller ones because I can buy loads of them.    I have such good luck with Kimberly Queens where I live.  They always grow so rapidly and abundantly.  I have even had several that have wintered over like the one below.

I like having ferns everywhere! Especially on the front porch area as well.

I also have several different types of Ivy scattered here and there throughout my yard.  This pretty variegated Ivy by the back steps used to be under a tree that we took down in this spot.  It has grown like crazy here spreading so wonderfully.  I feel like I'd like to have a fountain here as well eventually.

Over on the other side of the top deck you can see my knockout rose that is nothing short of full fledged tree in my opinion.  It is massive!  As you can see here its already so tall that it towers over the railing and this is a raised deck as you will see in the last picture of this post.

 This is the only rose I have had such great success with.  I basically just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.  LOL!

My Snowball tree, Virburnum Opulus, is again blooming green.  I am wondering if I may need to amend the soil as you do with Hydrangeas to get it's color back to white.  

The Tiger Lillys have popped up and filled in nicely along the walkway.  No blooms yet because it's still too early.  It's still too early for the Iris's too.  I do hope they will give me a good show this year.  They haven't given me many blooms over the last few years but I am hoping with all the rains we had last summer that this year will bring a beautiful display.  I will share them if it happens.

I am spotting little blooms here and there on some of the other bushes though like my Rosemary in the front yard and the Lavender in the back yard.

No blooms on this red wisteria vine or my Oakleaf Hydrangea below though I do see some bulbs.  It's so exciting!

I also see some small fruit beginning to grow on my fig tree as well.

The Dogwoods are blooming everywhere now too.  I thought you'd like to see both of the photos.  They are the same exact shot but each with a different focus.  Pretty cool huh?

I have only one azalea blooming right now.  Isn't it gorgeous?  This is the azalea given to me by my husbands family when my sister passed away 13 years ago.  It is so special to me and I am always so amazed at how well it has survived.  When I got this bush we did not live here yet and were in the process of selling our old house and moving into a rental.  I kept this bush in a container for about a year or more before we bought this house and I finally decided where to plant it.  It is such a beautiful reminder to me of all that was beautiful about my sister.

I am in the process of adding a few new things to the back this year.

I am trying out a few of these Lantana topiary style bushes along the fence.  They will stay in pots here as I have not previously had good luck in the past with Lantana in the back.  I am hoping it will thrive here by the fence where there is full sun.  

And finally, we have decided to go ahead and plant a palm tree here on the corner of the fence.  What you may not be able to see is that our yard slopes quite a bit from this corner going down towards the woods.  The whole pool area had to be built up because of the big slope we have.  We are going to have to do some more landscaping on the backside of this fence to build a retainer wall on the corner now that we have decided to level out the slope and add a tree here.  We have been going back and forth on what to do with this corner for several years now and finally decided to go with this palm.  I think it's going to be great!

Yeah, it's going to be a busy summer!

There is new color popping up all around outside and new colors are making their way around inside the house as well.  Living in color is so refreshing.  Thank you Lord!

And thank you so much for stopping in today.  I hope you enjoyed the outside tour.  

Until next time my sweet friends,

Hugs and Waves!