A New Fence!

What have you been up to with the longer days? I love this time of year and getting to spend so much time outside.


Right now I am so excited- we just got a new fence for our back yard and it's like Christmas in May! We have been telling our kids we wouldn't get a new fence or a dog unless we won the lottery. So now that we have a new fence you know what they are thinking. They are already talking dog names. Ummm we love dogs but not anytime soon... 


The new fence has already made such a difference to the whole family. It has opened up the yard and extended our outdoor play time. Before we had a short picket fence that only enclosed part of our back yard. It was cute and I liked the look of it but we wanted more privacy and a feeling of security. It's a little hard to describe without showing loads of pictures but there is a retaining wall on one side of our lot that the picket fence met up to. A stray dog could jump in our yard before, and people could cut through our yard where it wasn't enclosed. There is a natural wooded area on the back side of the lot that was outside of the fence. 


BEFORE



Now we have a 6 foot tall wooden privacy fence for security and privacy. 
We opted for arched gates for a more decorative look. 


AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER



We just realized that we can take some yard toys (mainly a battery operated children's jeep) in the back yard that we couldn't before. YAY for wider gates. Our property is fenced in all the way to the back now so it is a great feeling to know I can let the kiddos out to play in the back yard and not have to worry so much. I'm thrilled that we finally took the plunge and fenced in the whole back yard. Pretty cool!


So if you live in a house as opposed to an apartment, condo or townhouse, do you have a fence and what kind? What do you prefer?

Organize Outdoor Toys

Ahhh to sit and kick my feet up is nice. I have a problem if I haven't mentioned it before. I do not know how to relax. Does anyone else have this issue? I seriously cannot sit still. I have to force myself to slow down to veg out and relax. Ridiculous, huh? It takes pure exhaustion to cause me to lounge. 


Having said that I have been working non-stop after hours in the woods of our back yard. I've been working steadily for a couple of months to clear out the brush. I am starting to see progress. YAY! While I work to cut down trees, weed, rake leaves and such, the kids like to play in the fenced in area of our back yard. They have got so many outdoor toys but they stay entertained playing with each other.  


I was at Aldi a couple of weeks ago and found this Suncast deck box below. It was about $40.00 which I thought was a steal because I have seen it for much more. I couldn't pass it up. It was one of things on my "to look for list" but I had not begun to look for one. 


Anyhow it has been the best money I have spent since having Auto Bell clean my car! You should have seen me get this thing in my car. Ha, it wouldn't fit so I had to open the box and dissemble it to get it home.




The box is awesome! It's super simple and has no extra parts. The sides and lid all snap in place. It feels good to have some organization to the patio. Talk about bringing the indoors out! Is there anything you have bought this Spring that has made life a little easier?

Moving Furniture As A Cheap Compromise

So tell me, are there things that you and your significant other don't agree on in your house? My hubs is pretty good about handing over the decorating to me, but there are moments when he has an opinion that I would rather ignore. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and compromise though!

Here is the thing we haven't been agreeing on. LOL. It's really so silly too. Hubs mentioned it one day and I just figured he'd forget it so I kinda ignored it but then he said it again so it was obvious it was something that bothered him.

It's the position of our rectangular butcher block type kitchen table. We have a fake french doorway and the door that leads to our back yard is on the left side and he thinks you need to be able to open the door all the way to have a wide walkway to get out the back door. The problem is that we have a small light fixture in the kitchenette and if you move the table to open the pathway, the light won't be centered over the table. It's not a problem for him but it's a problem for OCD me! hah!

We originally had the table so it fit the room well lengthwise. I've racked my brain about how to solve this problem. Should we get a round table or a square table? What would fit the best? Hmm. Hubs even talked and moving the light fixture but I really don't want to move it and have to fix a hole in the ceiling. No SIRREE!

SO finally, I just turned the table in the room and it works. I should've taken a picture so you could see its position up against the bar but I'm excited. I'm telling you, it's the littlest things that make a big impact!


The room is still very functional and there is plenty of room to get around the table on all sides. Pretty sweet! Are you furniturer changer/switcheroo? I love moving furniture around but we rarely do. If we find a good room configuration, we normally keep it that way but this was fun and it made the hubs happy!

Clearing Woods and Enjoying It. Seriously.

Long time no see! How you been(and yes, I meant to say "you". : ) Since I have shared very few pictures of myself I thought I would start out with a recent one of me. It's my poison ivy/poison oak PREVENTION getup! I'm clearing out some woods in our back yard so I got my prescription sunglasses, safety goggles and mask thing going on. I do not want poison ivy, poison oak or any other kind of poisonous leaf rash. This is Mu-Wa with my ears pushed out a little from the goggles! No wonder my kids were laughing!

Hope you had a great Saturday! Mine started off with a neighborhood yard sale. After the last one I said NEVER AGAIN so I couldn't believe I was doing another one but this one turned out waaaay better! The rest of the day was great too!


Sooooooo... The back yard is something I started working on a few weeks ago after getting two high estimates from landscaping companies to clear the wooded area. It would be great to have it all cleared in one day but I'd rather save the money and do it ourselves. We have a fenced in area but want to make use of the extra land on the back side of the property. Eventually we hope to tear down the fence to have a bigger yard.


BEFORE I STARTED


AFTER Lots of raking and cutting trees and weed killer.



This picture doesn't quite capture all the work I have done but we can tell a huge difference already. I have taken 4 huge loads of trees and  several bags of leaves to the curb for pickup. Lots more to go but I'll keep you posted on this job. 

AFTER LOTS OF CUTTING, RAKING, BAGGING & PILING - see the pile of trees to the right just behind the fence. Oh it might be too hard to tell what it is...

Do you have any experience clearing out woods? I have been watching videos on the best ways to rake and bag leaves and you wouldn't believe how many I have found! Unreal! 


Until next time, I hope you are enjoying this Spring weather! I absolutely LOVE being outdoors after hibernating so long! 

Conserving Now ENVIROSAX Bag Review and Easy Entry Giveaway!

I'm very excited to get to review Conserving Now! 

Have you ever heard of them? If not you need to:

 Check.Them.Out.Now!

Conserving Now is working to educate people about reducing consumption 

and preserving our planet. Who isn't all about taking care of our planet?

I had the awesome opportunity to try out a bag of my choice and 

I chose the ENVIROSAX After Dark Series Bag 2 (below). 

I love it! I love what the company is trying to do to make the planet more GREEN  

and not adding to landfills.

100% of their profits from ENVIROSAX bags fund their classroom kits. 

It is the company's goal to give every teacher and student in America the tools necessary to stop using plastic bags themselves and to educate their friends and family on the dangers of plastic bags.

Here is my bag, in person! I've been using it as a diaper bag and I absolutely LOVE it!

With the style I picked out, my husband shouldn't be stealing my bag!

Here is how it arrived!

It's very stylish!

SUPER CUTE!

I would recommend the bags from Conserving Now!

If you'd like a chance at winning your own, please sign up for the EASY ENTRY contest below! It starts April 16th.

Disclaimer: I received the ENVIROSAX bag for this review from  Conserving Now.
All opinions are my own.