Freshening Up

The general theme of the past week was 'freshening up'. Jeff took the week off work to mentally refresh. Early in the week we did very little, played a new game on the PS3, read, visited with friends and things like that, but we eventually got out to a couple of stores to get some things to freshen up the house and yard.

First, we stopped at the local Linens-n-Things that happens to be closing, just to see what was on discount. I've never tried any of the Rachel Ray cookware (I use Cuisinart and Le Creuset), but these non-stick skillets were cheap and I've been wanting some non-stick ones for making omelets and frittatas.

On the 4th, Jeff and I bought a pressure washer which we've been needing for awhile now. He tried it out on the barn siding first and then scoured the patio bricks and furniture. It really gives everything a face lift! I don't know how we managed without one! He even did the dog house...though the dogs didn't seem to notice.

Here you can see the back of the barn, which was the dirtiest part of the buildings, by far. What a difference!

The dampness is a big drawback to living near the ocean. Everyone around here battles the green grot that forms on the siding and decks. Here is the back of the barn all done. We've been sitting out there to admire the cleanliness!

He even used the pressure washer to strip the paint off the porch, so it can be redone with a couple of fresh coats of paint in the next week or two.

These are the backyard chairs that we use out by the butterfly garden. They are light plastic and easy to move when I mow the lawn. We actually have a set of four and a little matching table too.

To go with the freshly cleaned patio furniture, we got some new cushions as the old ones were pretty tired looking after 8 years. The old ones were green and white striped and the new ones have a more colorful red stripe pattern. It's kind of fun to have a change. We still have to sweep a little fresh sand over the patio tiles to fill in between the bricks. The pressure washer took most of the old sand out, but fortunately we have some more.

The lilies are in the bed behind Jeff (who was enjoying some coffee with me this morning), but the Lollipop ones are through and the Casa Blanca are not flowering yet. There is some Coneflower starting to bloom though.

In the bed on the other side of the patio, I have some herbs. They were getting overwhelmed by the oregano, but I gave that a haircut, so things should do better there again.
Sage

Oregano

Horehound with some pink Lavender behind it.

Thyme which was the most smothered by the oregano.

Feverfew, a doubled variety.

The dogs have had a lot playtime lately.

I love the way all the ears are straight up in this pic!

We relaxed and enjoyed watching them being goofy.

We had dinner on the patio tonight. Jeff did a great job grilling some chipotle marinated kabobs for us.

We even saved a few little pieces for the cat and dogs, who don't seem to mind the chipotle flavor at all!

I've managed to get a start on my TdFKAL project and will probably post a quick update about that tomorrow.